I know you've a massive downer on Becchio, but you've got to admit Rich - you wanted to see McSheffrey up front with Beckford (like I did) - and Grayson did it but he was shit. No doubt you'll now pin all your hopes on Kandol?
I'm not Becchio's greatest fan but I think you're totally blinkered - he DID make a difference when he came on. With the players we have - our best option up front is Beckford & Becchio. He (Grayson) took a chance on Lowry & McSheffrey but they are not our saviors. White (and/or) Parker are better than Lowry and I cannot see what benefits McSheffrey offers. It's late - and I'm fed up of defending us (tonight) from scum & Hull fans. Fcuk 'em. And while I'm on - yes - I hate this division but I've enjoyed the last couple of seasons - and I (and I know a lot of you too) want to escape but as someone who goes to games, the Man U result makes up for YEARS of having to take sh*t from them.So fcuk it, if we don't make it, so be it, we'll still be there next season. Acedemic anyway, cos we are going to make it. I love Leeds, me. Did you spill my pint? Cnut. Ted H . On 20 February 2010 22:40, Richard Walker <[email protected]> wrote: > My early morning optimism lasted until around 3:30. We kicked off towards > the South Stand and immediately the ref made Leeds re-take the kick because > Johnson encroached into their half by a toe nail. Two minutes later Leeds > got a free kick and he brought play right back to because the ball was taken > a centimetre from where the free kick happened. Oh no, the ref is a wanker > we all thought and he ruined the game today with incorrect decisions, petty > decisions and stupid decisions. He really was incompetent. That’s not to say > in any way that he was responsible for our performance but it would have > been difficult to have a decent game of football with this clown in charge. > > So what went wrong today ? I could go through the team and give you 5 > things every player did wrong today (I might do that in a minute). You could > argue that every player doesn’t deserve to get picked next time however I > think the main problem is a team problem in that we’ve hit that period for > the manager and his team when nothing is going right. This results in low > confidence and the team not playing as a unit. Everyone begins to panic a > bit , everyone has a bit more pressure on them and as a result everyone does > things that they previously wouldn’t have. As a result the shape of the team > gets lost, people waste energy chasing lost causes and we start conceding > silly free-kicks and goals. > > First half today, we started ok. When I say ok I mean we had a lot of the > ball, it wasn’t good pass and move football but we did create some chances. > The difference for me is that the players have lost a bit of self belief and > as a result we see lot more high, long balls when previously Kilkenny would > marshal things through midfield. Our main tactic at the moment is the long > ball to Johnson which for me is too predictable and most of the time > ineffective, the problem being that when he do lose the header we aren’t > picking up the second ball so Brighton found it very easy to stop us > playing. The low confidence, long ball game is also pretty ineffective when > you’ve got 2 ft tall Mcsheffrey playing alongside Beckford. Neither got a > sniff today, and for all those that slagged Mcsheffrey off from the first > whistle because “Luciano Becchio” should have been playing, well f*ck off > ‘cos it wouldn’t have made the slightest bit of difference today. > Becchio wouldn’t have done toss all with the tactics today. Coming on when > they’ve got 10 men is a different job than having to feed off aimless long > balls when they’ve got 10 men behind the ball. You could have had Clarke and > Jones playing for Leeds today and they wouldn’t have had a shot between > them. > > The only positive for me in a first half which we controlled without really > threatening was Howson who was really lively on the right. So obviously and > painfully playing out of position he reminded Grayson what he can do. He can > pass (he played the 2 best balls of the match from the right), he has pace > and he passes and moves quickly. Grayson though decided to take him off > early in the second half whereas he preserved with the hapless Doyle who > turned in the worse performance of the season for me (and that includes some > of Becchio outings). Doyle never got near the ball. He scampers around and > on the face of it makes it look like he’s a tiger of a player never giving > up and always a problem to the opposition. Nothing could be further from the > truth, he is too slow, always a yard behind the ball and never actually > getting there. He really is crap and when the chips are down like they are > at the moment he really offers nothing to get us out of this > slump. With Howson on the right and Johnson, being Johnson on the left you > are really looking to Kilkenny for the spark and he unfortunately can’t do > it on his own. He needs the players around him to make runs, offer > themselves, without that he might as well do what everyone else did and pump > it long. > > Their keeper made one comfortable save in the first half and that was from > a decent run and shot from McSheffrey, something that Beckford failed to do > in 90 minutes. As I just said I’m not blaming the front 2 today but as a > Beckford fan I did think he could have done a bit more today. He didn’t look > that arsed. > > Second half was much of the same except Brighton having weathered our long > ball game decided to push forward. They realised that one of our defenders > was actually a failed central midfielder masquerading as a right back who > had convinced the management and the fans that effort and 100% commitment > can earn you a place in the team even though you haven’t got the faintest > clue on how to defend. Yes I would have started with Hughes, but what does > that say about Bromby and Crowe, the latter not even making the squad? > Grayson’s signings coming into question again. > > So, on come the subs, off goes our brightest midfielder and Bradley Johnson > and on comes the one man team that is Max Gradel and our brightest star > Snodgrass. Off goes McSheffrey to loud cheers – the same folk has been > shouting “Luciano Becchio” everytime McSheffrey went near the ball – wankers > of the highest order in my book, most seem to come from the Kop because > there were a lot of groans near me when Becchio came plodding on. I’d like > to say they made a difference but I think it was mainly down to Brighton > going down to 10 men, having to take their best player off (the winger who > roasted Hughes about 50 times) and their whole team dropping deep. Gradel to > his credit did look up for it and really did get stuck in. He should have > scored but he did enough for me. Snodgrass eventually got the goal in the > 3rd minute of injury time. We didn’t deserve to lose this game, however we > didn’t deserve to win it either but forget all that the > worrying thing is that we are a team in crisis, low on confidence and not > knowing where the next chance, goal or win is coming from. It really is that > bad and this must be Simon Grayson’s hardest challenge so far in his career. > I currently would worry that we won’t make it this season. > > Scores: > > Casper– 6. Didn’t have to do anything really apart from pick the pen out of > the back of the net. Moved far too early for me. > > Hughes – 2. Terrible. All over the shop. > > Lowry – 4. At left back he looks out of position. He made a number of good > defensive headers from their corners making me think he is a central > defender. Yet another player playing out of position. > > Kisnorbo – 6. Yes, he’s our best defender and as usual he got through a > load of hard work today however he is a player that plays close to the edge > and I think he was lucky to stay on the pitch today. He made at least 5 > dodgy tackles that resulted in free-kicks but only got booked late on. He’s > a nutter, the type you want in your side but when under pressure as we are > could turn into a bit of a liability. > > Naylor – 5. Some good work at times but I think he’s struggling a bit along > with his team. > > Johnson – 4. Started ok but then he reminded us of what he is capable of > with some aimless passing. I was beginning to turn a bit of a corner with > this lad although I still wouldn’t have started with him. He’s not going to > make it is he !? > > Kilkenny – 4. Will never have a good game when all his team mates are > resorting to long balls. > > Doyle – 0. I can not think of one contribution he made to the game today. > When the ball did eventually make its way to him he gave it away. Slow and > lacking acceleration which is not good when you’re supposed to be the > harrier in midfield. > > Howson – 6. Lively. Was once the captain but now the player who is pushed > out of position by crap loanees and then gets dragged off to be replaced by > loanees. Grayson is ruining this lad. > > McSheffrey – 4. Showed a couple of runs in the first half and one decent > shot. Never really got near the ball much in the second apart from one > decent cross that set up the Gradel chance. Fellt the wrath of the brain > surgeons in the Kop before being dragged off. If I were him I’d fuck off > back down to Solihull sharpish. > > Beckford – 3. Didn’t do anything. There were a number of 50:50 balls which > in my opinion he came off 2nd best too easily. Also some of his deft flicks > were inappropriate today. > > Subs: > > Gradel – 7. Tried to beat their whole team on occasions but definitely made > an impact. > > Becchio – 5. Just fought with their number 6 – literally they were having a > barging and punching match for the last 10 minutes – the ref missed it > completely. Anyone else see it ? I think he unsettled them a bit. Usual > Becchio performance, loads of effort no attainment. > > Snodgrass – 7. Scored the goal and looked lively on the right. Why was he > dropped ? > > Grayson – oh dear, it’s all going wrong. I liked his post match interview > ,were he said he will roll up his sleeves and get to work to put things > right. I am behind him, I think he can but I feel we’re sinking fast. Have > we got the bottle and determination to dig ourselves out of the slump. > > Finally, my mate rang me from the West Stand at final whistle , he sits > just behind the away dug out, He told me that there was nearly a full scrap > between the benches after Leeds scored. Apparently Glynn Snodin took offence > to something their assistant manager did and wanted to fight him. He had to > be held back but others got involved too including Poyet. I heard Poyet’s > post match interview where he blamed it all on Grayson and the Leeds bench > who he thought over celebrated the goal in front of them. He said he felt > sad because the Leeds management team were obviously under pressure which > made them act like that. Interesting. > > > > > _______________________________________________ > 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 > _______________________________________________ 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
