Another great report, thanks Dave. I think the reaction of the crowd on Saturday will be as important as that of the team.
Nigel. On 17 February 2010 12:10, DAVID NATTAN <[email protected]> wrote: > As others have already said last night was just not good enough -OK the > unbeaten home record had to go some time but to lose it to such a poor and > unadventurous team as Walsall was awful > After what was supposed to have been a good display on Saturday, SG stuck > with the same 2 - Johnson and Kilkenny in centre midfield - and given the > injury to Kisnorob (& Higgs) picked what I agreed was out best possible line > up. With Snoddy and McSheffrey on the flanks we had width allied to skill > and guile and with Beckford back up front I really could not see anything > other than a comfortable home win ! (shows what I know !) > We started brightly , pinning them back in their own half and a lovely ball > from McSheffrey was met by some would say audacious , I would say ridiculous > volley from Becchio that went miles over. Then another good move ended with > a crisp strike from Johnson that the keeper saved well (I do love Clayton > Ince - one of the few 'characters' in todays game - joining in MOT at half > time again and generally playing up to the crowd). Then it all started to > fall apart. It reminded me of many of our cup games against lower league > teams where they seem to realise after 20mins that we are not that great and > somehow lower us to their level -for make no mistake Walsall are awful , as > bad as any team to visit us this season. The half then petered out with us > mainly camped in their half but never finding the right ball to create > openings and looking decidedly suspect when they broke forward. 3 times on > the run Lowry played an easy ball down the left flank that went > straight into touch. Johnson kept trying to beat a man on the edge of our > area with a little turn that got us into trouble, and our passing was woeful > at times. Still 0 0 at half time and things could only get better we thought > as the crowd gave muted applause \ some boos as the team left the field. I > agree with those listers who have already had a go at the booing and > catcalls etc - not what is required. A crowd of 18,000 meant that almost > half the Leeds fans who turned up on a Wednesday night to watch us v Spurs > (a game on TV) did not bother last night - I know cash is tight and we have > 3 home games in 8 days but even so... > The 2nd half got off to a nightmare start - we let them make a few passes > near our area and failed either to clear the ball or get tight on the man > and a ball pulled back was smashed with some style past Casper. > We did up our game a bit as they sat back and wasted time wherever possible > - then McSheffrey ran down the wing and his ball in went into the net - I > think Mr Emmott is still in a minority of one if he thinks McSheffrey meant > it - although he did celebrate as if he did with no hint of embarrassment. > We took the mickey out of Ince - the regulation "1 1 and its your keepers > fault" joined by the witty "you're not dancing anymore" which set Ince off > skipping and dancing to prove us wrong. > A double sub led to Grella and Gradel coming on with 30mins to go - > Beckfords reaction when the number 10 went up for being subbed was very > noticeable - he shook his head vehemently at the bench and was not pleased. > We could not decide if that was because he was not fully fit and wanted > subbing himself or, more likely, he likes Becchio being there to take the > weight off him - perhaps a reason why Grella is never in the starting line > up ? > The 2 Gs added a lot of pace and directness to an otherwise lacklustre > performance but we kept playing the wrong ball - Crowe being guilty of one > of the worse when Gradel was tripped after a mazy run and the ref played > advantage as Crowe stormed into the box but instead of picking out his man > blasted it over everyones head - either an awful cross or an even worse > shot. McSheffrey seemed to want to prove his goal was not a fluke and on 2 > or 3 occasions balloooned his cross into the crowd. We huffed and puffed and > only some desperate defending kept us out. > Then on a rare break they go a corner and the huge centre back beat Naylor > in the air and Casper clawed the ball back from his goal - the flag went up > and there was confusion all around till we realised a goal had been given. > It was impossible from the Kop to tell if it was in and no replay on > the screen was allowed with it being a 'contentious' decision. What made it > worse was that the defender should not have been on the pitch - he had been > booked and then pulled down Beckford who was clear of him - a cast iron > yellow but the ref - a Sikh, Monty Panesaar look-a-like, bottled it and let > him off with a last warning. Other than that decision I was well impressed > with the ref. We kept on going and when the board went up with 5 extra > minutes the crowd did come to life and tried to roar the team on to at least > a draw but despite a lot of effort we continued to mess it up with a number > of high balls being meat and drink to their giant centre back against > Grella, Gradel and Beckford. So it our home record ended with barely a > whimper (and a lot of boos) to a team who are nowhere near as good as us (3 > defeats in 4 home games now in all competitions - fortress Elland Road ???) > To me Beckford did not look fully fit - given the amount of ball and > territory we had it seems amazing that he never had a decent shot all game. > So now is the time for Grayson to prove that he really is the manager to > take us up - Wise and McAllister both looked like frozen rabbits when things > started to go wrong and could not make the necessary changes either to > personnel, tactics or attitude - lets hope Simon can, starting with 3 points > on Saturday > Dave > _______________________________________________ > 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 > www.leedslist.net > -- blog.mindbrix.co.uk/2010/01/20/zoomable-gallery/ www.concentrichron.com -- Mindbrix -- Dream it, draw it, build it, love it 69 Derby Street Beeston Nottingham NG9 2LG +44 7905 311 352 [email protected] www.mindbrix.co.uk Skype: ntbarber twitter.com/mindbrix _______________________________________________ the Leeds List is an unmoderated mailing list and the list administrators accept no liability for the personal views and opinions of contributors. 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