another thing - what happened to the traditional pre-match warm up , the sides used to come out with a few balls and warm up by passing the ball around and taking a few shots at the keeper. What I witnessed today was unbelievable ! Both teams spent 5 minutes hugging and slapping each other on the arse. Every player with each other player. It's sickly ... and obviously fake given Beckford's reaction to Howson later in the match when he tried to push him over 'cos he was upset at a decision.
You should be booked for hugging another bloke. --- On Sat, 28/2/09, Richard Walker <[email protected]> wrote: > From: Richard Walker <[email protected]> > Subject: [LU] Scunny > To: [email protected] > Date: Saturday, 28 February, 2009, 8:35 PM > What a game. I thought the standard of the football > throughout was really poor and there were more individual, > unforced errors than any game I’ve seen this season, > however the second half was fantastic entertainment and I > was on the edge of my seat as Scunny took control and ran us > ragged. > > First half was shocking from both teams. We played with a > 4-4-2 with Delph on the left wing, Howson and Kilkenny > central and Robinson on the right. Douglas filled in a right > back. It didn’t work and we struggled to create anything > despite some good movement from Snodgrass and Beckford up > front. I must admit though I was thinking I hope we get > Scunny in the play offs ‘cos they looked like a team of > cloggers with a decent bloke up front. They’re a big team > and they have a big lad up front who causes problems but I > just thought it was a question of time before we started > playing and took control. Well, I was completely wrong. > First of all we didn’t start playing well and take control > although we did go 2 up and secondly Scunny showed second > half that they’re a decent side and in Hooper they really > have one of the best players in the league. > > Robinson went off injured – I think this will be the > story of his career from now until he has to retire through > injury. He’s too big. Johnson came on to play on the > right wing – very strange choice although he did put > himself about a bit and did have our first shot after about > 30 mins. Our first goal came from one of the few bits of > skill in the 1st half. A lovely ball from Snodgrass to put > the lively Howson through. He crossed to Beckford who seemed > to side foot it without much pace. I really can’t say what > happened from the NE but it looked like their keeper made a > complete arse of it. > > Scunny didn’t improve and we pushed forward. Johnson hit > a speculative, low shot which got a wicked deflection and > ended up in the back. 2-0. Their heads then went down and I > could only see us going on win by easily, but in typical > Leeds style we imploded. Throughout the first half we had > been making elementary mistakes. I lost count of the number > of times that we gave the ball away or even worse just > passed it in to touch or miscontrolled the ball whilst not > under pressure (Douglas and Naylor being the main culprits). > The midfield didn’t function. Delph is too good to stick > on the left wing and Kilkenny and Howson are definitely too > lightweight as a central pairing. I think Kilkenny can play > – more than anyone else in a white shirt he can pass a > simple ball effectively and also has excellent awareness. He > also did his fair share of running today, but ultimately > there is something missing. It’s too powder puff and I > don’t think the others in > the team are on the same wavelength as him. > Up front I didn’t think the Snodgrass / Beckford really > gelled however I think it might be worth persevering with > because Beckford is … well Beckford and Snodgrass has > ability but really works his arse off. I thought Snodgrass > was the man of the match today. That’s not to say > everything he did came off – it didn’t but he’s such a > 100% player who also has ability. > > We let Scunny back in to the game with a disastrous bit of > defending. I completely disagree with Eddie Gray who blamed > it all on Casper. Rubbish. Parker was the defender who was > in control. He was running back to the goal. He had 2 > options > > 1) Head it out for a corner / throwin. > 2) Head it back to the keeper. > > He did neither and ended up just getting in the way. Casper > was unconvincing admittedly but Parker dithered like a > school boy leaving the ball to sit nicely for the Hooper who > just rolled it in to the net. It was a really bad goals. > > This changed the game completely. Second half they came out > with much more confidence and looked like a completely > different team. They looked sharp, they passed it well and > in Hooper had someone who frightened the life out of us. We > played on the break but were second best for most of the > half. Parker just lost all confidence which put a lot of > pressure on the other defenders who seemed to bail him out > on many occasions. Hooper’s second was class. He got the > ball, ran at Rui, made him look like a twat, ran into the > box and whacked it on the top corner. Great goal. > > At this point it looked gloomy. We were on the back foot > but in Beckford and Snodgrass we still had options up front. > Grayson made his intentions clear though by putting on > Trundle for Kilkenny – a brave move. The winner came when > Snodgrass made a good run and played the ball into Beckford > who did well to draw the keeper and put it past him. > Fantastic goal. Scunny came forward repeatedly, Howson go > himself sent off for a ridiculous challenge – he was on a > yellow card for God’s sake ! > There were a few nervous moments but overall I thought we > defended pretty well in those dying stages. Lubo came on for > Trundle, it’s always funny to see a sub get subbed and he > didn’t look impressed. > > Scores: > > Casper – 5. Dithered for their first goal. A few good one > arm punches from crosses and one good save from a great > Scunny volley. > > Douglas – 5. Piss poor. Out of position and it showed. > > Parker – 1. It’s like watching Ian Harte. He can’t > defend, he has no pace especially when he’s on the back > foot. He looked completely out of his depth second half. He > suffered badly due to the first goal. He’s just not good > enough. > > Naylor – 7. Defended pretty well, however he showed that > he’s not a great footballer. I don’t think that really > matters too much for a centre back at this level. > > Rui – 7. Lots of good defending. Hooper made him look > stupid but he will do that to a lot of defenders this > season. > > Robinson – 5. Didn’t do much before he got injured. > > Howson – 6. Not his best game although he did make a good > run for the first goal. > > Kilkenny – 7. I thought he played well. He’s not the > answer but he can play. > > Delph – 7. First half looked out of sorts. Lots of effort > second half and really put a shift in (that’s Grayson > speak). > > Beckford – 9. You can’t ask for more that he did. 2 > goals, should have had 3 but his pace and his runs always > gives us a chance and the opposition can never relax. We > don’t win when he doesn’t play. > > Snodgrass – 9. Good performance. > > Subs: > > Johnson – 6. Limited but got stuck in. > > Trundle – 4. Just looks fat. > > Lubo – 7. Good contribution for last 10 mins. > > Crowd – nearly 25,000. Tense second half. > > Grayson – you can’t argue with the team’s effort. It > was 10 for effort, 2 for ability. Great win though. > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > the Leeds List is an unmoderated mailing list and the list > administrators accept no liability for the personal views > and opinions of contributors. > Leedslist mailing list > [email protected] > http://list.zetnet.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/leedslist > Sorry Macca - it's the curse of Bates old lad _______________________________________________ the Leeds List is an unmoderated mailing list and the list administrators accept no liability for the personal views and opinions of contributors. Leedslist mailing list [email protected] http://list.zetnet.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/leedslist Sorry Macca - it's the curse of Bates old lad
