A few minutes after our goal I headed down to the gents in the Kop…and approached the doors with some trepidation as there sounded to be proper old barney going on in there…screaming and shouting and all the rest. Some things being more important than others, I carried on in, pushed the door open and peered round the corner to where all the troughs are…and inside there in one fella all on his own…standing there pissing, facing the wall, jabbing his finger at the bricks yelling (really yelling!) “…and who thought buying that fucking Carayol was good idea eh…useless twat, Huddersfield must be laughing their cocks off at us…at least fat bastard has subbed him off…and that's another thing, that fat bastard…how can you be manager of a fucking football team and that fucking fat…I fucking ask you we’re a fucking joke…what a fucking joke this club is…” then he notices that I’ve come in and am going to have a piss and he just says, “alright mate” and starts whistling a happy tune.
This was by far the most interesting thing about yesterday’s game. We have now had a run of 4 or 5 home games - unbeaten - in which we have had fewer shots on goal than actual goals we have scored. It really takes some doing. Yesterday, 1 shot on goal. 1 goal. And it was the winner, so yes, 3 points and yes a clean sheet. But fucking hell this is unmitigated garbage we are being forced to endure week after week. So what is wrong - some of it is confidence - see Silvestri for this one - he is a good keeper, in the main, yes he needs to command his box a bit more…but the one thing he does not need is barracking, because he just folds…show him a bit of love and he will do well. There was a pretty hard core Anti-Kaspar Schmeichel brigade…look where he is now. But most of it is the way the team is set up at home - 4-5-1 - especially with someone who is not an out and out striker as your front man. It is an appallingly defensive mindset and hands the initiative to the visitors. If you then have visitors who want to defend and play on the break (because this is Elland Road after all…) then you are set up for a turgid stalemate. We need 4-4-2 at the very least. And one of those 2 being Antenucci - he has a bit of guile and can hold the ball (yes, getting him to let go of the ball is our major problem with him) - I have no great love for Wood but bloody hell it shows where we have sunk to that people we relieved when he came on. Some will point to him “making things happen” in the run up to the goal…and that is certainly one interpretation; the other is that he is a big lump who stumbled around in the box trying to get on the end of the cross, when the ball bounced off him and fell kindly to Doukara, who slotted it home first time…decent finish. I don’t know what it is about our midfield…we seem to be turning Bridcutt and Cook from being useful tenacious little players with an eye for a good pass into a couple of players who expend tons of energy achieving nothing, losing the ball needlessly, playing dangerously bad passes to team mates, then charging recklessly into challenges and getting booked. Adeyemi, I was never particularly convinced by, but he seemed to be more at home supporting the front guys and had a decent couple of games just off there, so we drop him. Murphy flatters to deceive, but at least works hard when he’s trying to close down their play. Dallas - has flashes of good play, mixed with long periods of anonymity - which is pretty much the JD of a winger. Mowatt has finally decelerated so much that he is overtaken by growing grass. Oh, and we sold Byram…(photo of him in the WH game in our paper this morning, did nothing for my mood). Carayol - only 2 games (that I’ve seen) so far and one moment of brilliance…and what of Botaka? Then there is Scott Wootton…this is one of the longest running jokes in recent history…other teams actively leave him alone so that we pass to him…it is like putting the game on pause…as the “converted centre half” tries to work why this round thing keeps coming back to him cos he’s sure he kicked it away only a few minutes ago. The other problem is our inherent negativity…the passing goes along our back four minute after minute until one of the witless fuckers gets bored and thumps a punt out towards a corner flag. Even when we have made a sudden break and turned play and are heading into the opposition half, the odds are that one of ours when he gets the ball will turn around and play it back…and further back…eventually ending up with the keeper. It is demoralising stuff. There is value in keeping the ball, yes, but there is even more value in scoring a goal or two. I can’t believe this is the “natural way” this group of players play the game, this has to be a directive from the coach. Just look at how we take all 11 men back into penalty area when the opposition get a corner/free kick. just having numbers in there solves nothing - they have to actively defend, mark a man, watch the runners etc - never mind that it leaves us with no outlet. And yesterday, we win a corner 5 minutes from time and we are so scared that we leave 7 men back around half way…just in case…the City defenders were looking round to see what was going on. So, in summary, Evans is out of his depth, he has been reasonably lucky but it won’t continue and we look to be a good bet for 15th again…and next time it will probably be me yelling at the walls in the gents... Rarely have I “enjoyed” a victory so little. > On 23 Jan 2016, at 20:38, nat...@sky.com wrote: > > On my way to the bus stop one of my neighbours asked if I was off to the game > and who were we playing. I said 'yes' but could not recall who our opponents > were. That reply was about right in so much as I will have no recollection of > this match come Monday.One the one hand we won, we kept a clean sheet and > Doukara scored with his only shotOn the other, it was dire and the goal was > the only shot we managed all game - they had 2 chances in the first half and > missed a sitter (header) in the second. It really was awful stuff. If anyone > was taking a friend / relative to this as their first ever football game they > would never come back for another one. From first to last minute it was > terrible, two bad teams playing poorly in front of 20 thousand uninterested > bored supporters, who struggled to raise any enthusiasm.We won and the three > points will help make sure we do not get dragged into a relegation fight (you > can forget the play offs) but this was as bad as it gets (add this to MK dons > and Preston) and it is 2 shots in 3 home games (MKD was an own goal)I would > give Dallas half his wages and the rest 30% tops. None of them did anything > to deserve the wage packet they will be picking up - Ok maybe give Doukara > 50% too since he did score.In fairness he did put it away nicely when the > ball fell to him in the area and it was the only chance that fell his, or any > other Leeds players way.There was a total lack of desire, skill or cohesion > in the first half and we went in to a chorus of deserved boos at 0 0 only > because they were as bad as us. This was not the team that beat Hull and were > unlucky not to beat Derby, two of the better teams in this league.To be fair > Evans (again) realised this was not good enough and changed things early in > the second half bringing on Wood and taking off the totally ineffectual > Carayol. The fact that the under fire Wood was greeted with cheers and sighs > of relief shows how bad things were.We offered nothing and did nothing. Then > a ball in the area fell to Doukara and he hit it into the corner of the net - > a good finish. Would we go on and win 3 or 4 nil or would we shut up shop and > keep the points we had . > Really we did neither - we did not put our foot on the gas and go for it but > we did not settle for the point either, we just continued plodding on not > sure what to do and got a lucky escape when they missed a free header. The > players played as if the season was over and the crowd bought into the > 'nothing to play for vibe' that surrounded the whole set up We really need an > exciting signing or just something for the fans to buy into or this season > really is over wiht a long way to go > As bad as it gets for a win and 3 points > 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 _______________________________________________ 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
