The Leeds United Thread

Townsend played well today, rather impressed! And Thompson played well also!
Our inablility to convert chances was worrying me! OK we won 2-1, but the equaliser was an OG, thought we made a 10 man side like very hard work! Think Grayson has been saved for a couple of weeks atleast!!
MOT
 
Think the fans are expecting way too much of Grayson and anyone who thinks he should be fired is having a laugh, He has done very well considering what he has to work with which lets face it is not alot, The signings have been weak overall, The loan signings have been hit and miss, Some weeks they look the part others they look out of place.The backbone of the team is pretty much the same team that he had back in league one apart from a few half assed signings who really have'nt replaced the players we had in league one.

Kasper, Kilkenny, Johnson and Gradel all went this season, The keepers we signed i have no faith in at all, Longergan is nowhere near the quality of Kasper, We conceeded alot of goals last season too but Kasper won MOM enough times during that, Lonergan just does'nt keep us in it like he did, I dont blame him ofcourse because that defence is so poor but still with Kasper you knew he would make some quality saves.

As for Johnson, Kilkenny and Gradel, 3 of our key midfielders last season well we signed Brown, Hes just poor, No pace, Cant tackle, Not the best passer, Pugh is ok i think he was a decent signing but he does lack pace and as for Vayrynen well i've seen so little of him i think hes a waste of wages, Our best midfielders are Howson, Snodgrass and Clayton.

The keepers are poor, Bruce, O'Brien and Bromby are just taking up wages in defence and apart from Lees and White the rest are pretty average too, Brown, Vayrynen and Sam are taking up wages in midfield and Forrsell and Keogh in attack are taking up wages, Keogh is only on loan but we needed a goalscorer and we did'nt get one playing him along side McCormack when hes not firing is poor its like having two Paynters upfront, As for Paynter the less i say about him the better.

Bates thinks that team is enough to get Leeds to the premiership, A large part of our starting lineup struggled to get us out of league one, Most our signings have been rejects from midtable championship sides or loan signings who were not needed by low premiership sides, These fans wanting Grayson out need to understand Bates will not give anymore money to a new manager, He will have to work with those same players and right now they are about where they should be, Midtable at best, Plus if Grayson does get sacked we have to pay him some money and knowing old Ken that will mean we cant afford players for another season.
 
paddy out for the season. Feel sorry for him because he was out all last year but really it's not a massive loss, he hasn't been great. May convince Bates to finally invest somewhat (whether that be a free or loan) for a centre back
 
Jak said:
paddy out for the season. Feel sorry for him because he was out all last year but really it's not a massive loss, he hasn't been great. May convince Bates to finally invest somewhat (whether that be a free or loan) for a centre back
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You can have him for free, please take him :D
 
Calum said:
Will Mr Bruce be playing on Monday? :)
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not sure, he too is slightly injured. only recalled him from Huddersfield the other day :S we have a small injury crisis going on :/
 
hope we don't lose too badly tonight haha
 
I dont think it was a matter of raising their game at all, I think they played without fear and thats the one thing you always get from young kids, White, Lees and Thompson are still very young and have nothing to fear, O'Dea was our oldest defender at only 24.Plus those kids are playing for a first team place week in week out so once they get a shot they are giving it their all, Maybe some of the older defenders have been coasting on a starting place they did'nt deserve.

Lees has be our most impressive defender all season, He has a bright future ahead of him as does White.Thompson has impressed the few times i've seen him play, Yes he switched off for the goal but apart from that one little lapse the defence were very solid, Ok Arsenal were quite poor infront of goal but any danger was snuffed out.

I like how that defence worked and that could be the answer although i would'nt be suprised to see Thompson dropped, The CB paring worked and White has plenty to offer going forward atleast.Still think we need another CB before the window shuts now we're without Kisnorbo, Would like to see another CM too because Brown is'nt good enough, Clayton and Howson are a decent partnership but when one is out we dont have anyone else who slots in and looks comfortable there.

Asking alot i know but another goal scorer would be the icing on the cake, McCormack is decent but hes alittle hit and miss, Becchio i like alot but he needs someone who works well along side him seeing as were not playing him uptop alone this season, Nunez did'nt work there tonight, Keogh is'nt a goal scorer, Forssell is too old, Paynter is pure ****, That leaves McCormack really and i've yet to see those two really gel.
 
noobito said:
I dont think it was a matter of raising their game at all, I think they played without fear and thats the one thing you always get from young kids, White, Lees and Thompson are still very young and have nothing to fear, O'Dea was our oldest defender at only 24.Plus those kids are playing for a first team place week in week out so once they get a shot they are giving it their all, Maybe some of the older defenders have been coasting on a starting place they did'nt deserve.

Lees has be our most impressive defender all season, He has a bright future ahead of him as does White.Thompson has impressed the few times i've seen him play, Yes he switched off for the goal but apart from that one little lapse the defence were very solid, Ok Arsenal were quite poor infront of goal but any danger was snuffed out.

I like how that defence worked and that could be the answer although i would'nt be suprised to see Thompson dropped, The CB paring worked and White has plenty to offer going forward atleast.Still think we need another CB before the window shuts now we're without Kisnorbo, Would like to see another CM too because Brown is'nt good enough, Clayton and Howson are a decent partnership but when one is out we dont have anyone else who slots in and looks comfortable there.

Asking alot i know but another goal scorer would be the icing on the cake, McCormack is decent but hes alittle hit and miss, Becchio i like alot but he needs someone who works well along side him seeing as were not playing him uptop alone this season, Nunez did'nt work there tonight, Keogh is'nt a goal scorer, Forssell is too old, Paynter is pure ****, That leaves McCormack really and i've yet to see those two really gel.
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could also be the fact that Arsenal aren't a physical side, unlike a lot of Championship teams. but ye I agree about playing without fear. Ye all we can really hope for is more loans, though Towsend has been good so far. I agree with another decent CB (we are extremely lacking) ye Brown is pretty **** so another player would be useful but dunno who we could get. I think Forsell is decent, hope he gets more chances. Keogh is back at Wolves now anyway. Don't forget Somma should be coming back from injury in the coming weeks. Hope he's the same player as before :)
 
Arsenal did'nt need to be physical against us they beat us in midfield, Defence and attack wise they were a very weakened side but Wenger was smart and fielded a midfield that could control the game for them and thats exactly what they did.It played into their game plan that our midfield was so weakened, We had no Howson or Snodgrass who are two of our star players, Vayrynen actually played quite well for the first time though but his fitness levels let him down so we had to bring on Brown.

As far as Townsend goes, I agree he is looking like a decent signing and i'm looking forward to seeing how we work when we have him and Snodgrass on the wings, That being said he needs to stop going over so easy, A few times against Arsenal he went down like a sack of **** and thats just not needed, Thats not the type of team we are and i really dont like seeing players making a meal of things like that.The ref picked up on it and actually had a word with him about it, With that in the refs mind already had he gone over for a actual foul in a good position or even a penalty his play acting early on could very well cost us a freekick in a good area or penalty, Plus he has the pace and ability to take players on he does'nt need to go over like that.

Somma i liked alot everytime he played for Leeds, Not the quickest but he has a eye for goal and i hope this injury does'nt set him back too much but another striker would still be a welcome one, I like Becchio and McCormack and given alittle more time to gel they could work as a partnership but even if that is the case we still have no real backup, Paynter should be offloaded but hes league one at best, Forssell is a decent player but i dont see him as a starter, He is a useful impact sub for the last 20 mins or so but i would rather a player with alot of energy be starting for us, Keogh did a fine job and worked his *** off for us but his goalscoring record just let him down alittle, That being said i would rather we got a CB and CM in the window over a striker even if they are loans.

I dont want to see Lees replaced at CB and O'Dea is a decent player too so any CB we do sign i would rather see used as cover, Unless O'Dea switches to RB with White at LB ofcourse.As for CM i dont know who we can bring in but again Howson and Clayton have a good partnership when fit so a backup would be handy, I would rather we had a holding midfielder though, Clayton and Howson both like to get forward to join in attacks, We just need someone who is happy to sit in the gap and break up the play, I'm sure theres plenty of young players we could pick up on loan who would fit the bill for both areas, Just depends who teams are willing to let leave on loan i guess.
 
Signed Robbie Rogers, subject to work permit. another free signing, but in fairness Rogers looks ok! Time will tell I spose
 
Rogers is another winger, I would say that is one area we did'nt need to strengthen we have plenty of options there, Ok not all of them are good but compared to our options in defence and the middle of the park were fine.Snodgrass, Townsend, Nunez, Sam, Pugh, White and McCormack can all play on atleast one wing, Ofcourse White and McCormack are better suited to defence and attack but still with the limited budget we clearly have i'm not sure another should have come before a CB/CM.

CB,CM and striker would have been my top 3 positions we need to improve, I suppose i can see Rogers on the wing with Townsend which would give Snodgrass a more attacking role in the team which short term could solve the striker issue.Hes a very creative player who can score goals himself and no doubt would create plenty of chances for Becchio/McCormack.Only time will tell where Rogers will feature in the team if he gets the work permit but i hope hes not the last signing we make.
 
****** off is an understatement! Im going to refrain from typing what immediately comes to mind, so in a slightly more polite way.

Oh please do go away Ken Bates, your destroying our club, you utter (insert word of choice here)!!!
 
could not agree more with you Grenwald. Bates is really taking the **** here. He's ruining our club. I don't blame Howson for leaving, he wants to play in PL and he knows we have 0 ambition so has to go. I wish him good luck. Once again Bates fumbling with contracts has screwed us over (just like Johnson/Kilkenny) last season but this time a good player will be leaving. Leeds just seem to finally develop decent club grown players and as soon as they become good, we sell them. Tbh £2 mill isn't bad for a good champ player with 6 months left on his contract but we shouldn't have left his contract get to this situation. I now fear our other good players will also want to leave because of this lack of ambition. More than ever, Bates out!
 
Howson wants to play in the premier league its that simple, I dislike Bates as much as the next Leeds fan does but we would lose Howson on a free in six month, Beckford, Kilkenny, Johnson, All went for free because we did'nt sell players who just were not interested in the deals they were offered, I like selling Howson at this stage because its money we would'nt have in 6 month and we would still be without him, Had we sold Johnson and Kilkenny at this stage last season rather than hoping they would have signed new deals we would be better off.

In this case i will say Bates made the right call in selling Howson, Even with a improved offer i doubt he would have signed because he wants premiership football as soon as possible, Had he signed a new contract the chances of us accepting a bid for him would be much lower and anyone with a brain can see its going to be awhile before Leeds hit the premiership again, Yes alot of that is down to Bates not spending but in terms of selling players atleast this season he has done that rather than letting them walk for free, Kasper, Gradel and now Howson have all been sold and given his stance on contracts is it likely none of those would have signed again and we would lose the lot for free, Where that money is i have no idea though.

Taking bets on who is next to be sold, Clayton, McCormack, Snodgrass or Lees?, My money is on Clayton due to his contract talks stalling, 18 month left he will be offloaded come the start of next season if not before, McCormack and Snodgrass are probably the next most likely, Lees is tied down until 2015 so if Bates sells him it has nothing to do with losing him on a free.Eitherway we've lost one of our top 2 CM's when we were already lacking in that area and we've signed...Pugh a winger, Townsend on loan a winger, Rogers oh thats right....A winger.

Theres talks of us bringing back Delph which before this news i was quite happy about but if Bates thinks a 6 month loan deal is going to make up for selling our captain he is very wrong, Sign a replacement or just **** off because you cant build a team on loan signings.
 
Thing is though Howson didn't hand in a transfer request or anything so he can't have been that desperate to leave. He is a young club grown player and also our captain. We should never have let it get to this stage. He should have been tied down to a long term contract last summer or earlier. I appreciate Bates keeping tight control on wages but sometimes you have to be a little lenient to keep your good players. Ok some players don't deserve more money (Johnson and Kilkenny) but others do (Kasper, Howson). You have to balance it. The future doesn't look too good right now. Looking like we're doomed to be a mediocre Championship club or even relegation if our best players are sold. Lets see this £2 million used well otherwise we'll find ourselves in a similar situation to Blackburn, with the fans protesting against Bates which won't be good for team morale. MOT
 
well alot of fans on WACCOE, alot claiming to of been season ticket holders for 10 years or more, many saying 30 or so, are saying they will not renew, or come back to ER until the old crook is gone. Why have we let howsons contract get this close to the end. his dream was to lead his boyhood club to the prem, now he doesnt see any chance of living his dream, so is just having to make do with playing prem for another club!
Also, why does White's contract run out end of this season, why did we allow Beckford, Johnson etc to go. That fat chelsea ******* is really starting to wind me up! and ive been fairly tolerant of him until now!
 
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