I watched on TV so got the truncated view that that allows. I got my substitutions correct with Poleon and Smith replacing Varney and Hunt after an hour - I wish I could claim inside knowledge or a great football brain but I think it is just that there is a certain predictability within our squad.
It was a poor game - good job Sky went off the air straight after the final whistle - they would have struggled to find highlights and talking points if the programme had gone on for the usual half hour after the game. Having said that we looked as solid as we have done for a long time - despite them having a number of corners and a long throw specialist we never looked like conceding from a set piece and that has got to be a major plus. They even brought on a quick winger and he failed to cause us problems - another plus. Their only near miss was when they hit the post and I think that if it had been going in Paddy would have got a touch to it and saved it. Last season I think we only had one 0 0 draw away from home (Blackburn) and so we have equalled that in our first game. We also, last season, failed to keep clean sheets especially away from home and lost the points that would have put us in the play offs in the last minutes of games so to hang on for a point was an improvement Having said that we looked poor going forward at times and had little to offer. Poleon and to a lesser extent Smith did make a big difference but Hunt has yet to impress and Varney never looked like scoring I am a Rody fan - I think when he first joined the club he looked a real prospect but that after injury and playing far too many games before he joined us and then for Jamaica really took its toll and he became a shadow of himself . He has his limitations (they ALL do at this level which is why they are playing in this Division) but if we concentrate on his positives I think he will do a good job for us - is he captain material ? Well McDermott thinks so and at this moment in time that is good enough for me. Pearce and Peltier both did Ok but both are dodgy but we all know that - Bryam is training today so that could help and we all know McDermott is after another centre half, so these are problems we are trying to fix. All round a decent result and performance without giving us anything to get excited about. It will be along road to recover from Bates and Warnock so it is all about small improvements and we are seeing them. The Leeds fans came over on TV brilliantly again but we all know our away support is as good as anyones and better than the vast majority of clubs. We need to get the home support buzzing again - Brighton was great, let's do the same v Sheff Wed and make those watching on TV think they are missing out and want to come to the next game ! Dave _______________________________________________ Leedslist mailing list Info and options: http://mailman.greennet.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/leedslist To unsubscribe, email leedslist-unsubscr...@gn.apc.org MARCHING ON TOGETHER
