 Monday 20/2 Heidi Haigh's superb blog on the weekend's game at Ipswich Town http://www.followmeandleedsunited.co.uk/ipswich-town-18th-february-2017 Definitely a glass half empty result, not the best performance Heidi or the rest of the travelling fans have seen. Stuart Dallas expects Leeds to push on after the weekend's draw at Ipswich, he said there were 'tired legs' at the end of the game as Leeds settled for a point. He added that the mentally within the squad never changes despite recent setbacks "Obviously we want to win games but if you can't you make sure you don't lose and we showed again that we've got great a great determination." Leeds United under 23's 1 Huddersfield Town under 23's 1 Stokes with the Leeds goal in the first half, Huddersfield replied in the last minute through Dyson. Tuesday 21/2 Sixteen years ago: Leeds thrash Anderlecht 4-1 away to qualify for the Champions League Quarter Finals, Smith(2), Viduka, Harte(pen) the Scorers.  Also on this day in 2004, one of the greatest players ever to wear a Leeds shirt passed away. He was nicknamed 'The Gentle Giant'. 327 games 157 goals Club record of 42 league goals in a season.  John Charles in the first version of the now famous white shirt. Gone but will never be forgotten. Owen Coyle sacked as Blackburn Rovers manager, he lasted eight months. Division One here they come! Wednesday 22/2 Tony Mowbury appointed Blackburn Rovers manager, good luck you'll definitely need it! A very quick appointment. By @LUFCDATA Points won by Leeds United: Last four seasons. 2016-17 (33 games): 58 2015-16 (46 games): 59 2014-15 (46 games): 56 2013-14 (46 games): 57 Impressive Thursday 23/2 Kyle Bartley: "It's a very big game, a local derby, we are all looking forward to it. But it's three points at the end of the day." He added that he'd be interested in a permanent move to Leeds if Swansea allow him to leave. 
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 My old colleague and friend Jim Pickering how long have you followed the 'Owls'?
Ive supported The owls all my life. Went to my 1st game in 1966. I was 3 yrs old. so thats 51 years Why did you choose them as your team? I chose the Owls has thats where my dad came from. My parents have been married 65 years in July. Who is your favourite player to put on the old Wednesday white and blue? My favorite player of my time. I have 3. Roger Wylde. Roland Neilson. David Hirst. What is your most memorable time as a Sheffield Wednesday supporter? The early 90's are my best era of supporting the owls. You certainly have made people look up by the amount of money your owners have spent on the squad. In your opinion who has been your best buy? (Apart from Tom Lees) Best buy has got to be Jordan Rhodes. Who is the best player that has come through your youth system in the last two seasons? Best player to come through youth system is Liam Palmer. But watch out for the next star coming through. David Hirst son George Hirst. Already banging goals in for youth team and scored goal for England u18's. How do you think the season has gone for the club and do you see the top two changing. Do you still think that Wednesday could catch one of them ? The season so far has been okay. If some of the drawn games had been victory we could be pushing the top two. I think they still is a possibility of catching the top two. Who do you think will be in the playoff spots come May? Brighton. Reading. Huddersfield. Leeds. Which teams won't be able to avoid the drop this season? Rotherham. Wigan. Bristol City What is your most memorable game at Elland Road? 3rd march 2007. 3-2 Wednesday. What's your prediction for Saturdays game? 2-1 Wednesday Scorers. Hernandes.Leeds Rhodes. Wallace. Wednesday. Gonna be a good game. Good atmosphere. Good luck. We'd like to thank Jim for taking the time to take part in our interview and wish him and Wednesday the best of luck for the season. There's no reason two Yorkshire teams can't be promoted this season I suppose!  Kevin Markey aka @LeedsUnited_MAD gives his first impression of his first visit to Elland Road. My dad took me to my first game at Elland Road on Monday 6th May 1974. Not an ordinary Monday. It was the great Leeds United legend Billy Bremner’s testimonial match against Sunderland. We had just romped away with the Division One title finishing 5 points ahead of Liverpool. Oh, and Man United got relegated as well. What a time to be a Leeds United supporter! I honestly don’t remember too much about the game itself. I was a little boy stood in the kop unable to see much of what action there was. My dad raised me up on his shoulder’s but I kept swaying to the motion of the crowd and found it hard to concentrate. It was a 0-0 which was very unusual for a testimonial. I think with us losing to the Mackem’sin the 1973 Cup Final (almost a year to the day) in what was a such major surprise at the time (still is)the game was probably played more keenly than most benefit games were.  It was a surprise Sunderland were chosen for the game anyway with the history between Don Revie & Bob Stokoe but maybe that’s why Billy wanted them too. He was a very hard competitor and probably wanted some revenge for ’73. For himself & Don!
It was a full house as you’d expect after our success that season. More of a celebration for Billy and the team’s heroics. Perhaps it was best there were no goals as I would probably have got lost in the crowd somewhere! I never forgot the experience though and it’s something that stays with you a lifetime. It’s not often you get to see household names like Bremner, Giles, Clarke, Hunter, Madeley & co. playing together in one of the best club sides there’s ever been. In your hometown! We were ‘Super Leeds’ and it was a joy to be around at the time to soak it all up. We seemed as we were going to be invincible and on top of the football tree forever. Sadly, Don left for the England job that year and things were going to change at Elland Road. Billy wasn’t as young as he was and all the players seemed to be aging together. Such is life. I remember getting Billy’s autograph outside my old school once. I think he used to collect his niece now and again. His car was always crowded with little boys and girls wanting to see the great man close-up. My mum managed to get closer and he obliged and signed the bit of paper in her hand. It was something I kept close to my heart for a long time until my brother went over it in a different coloured pen and ruined it. Brothers! Still the memory of Billy and that game in 1974 will never be erased. Surely the greatest player to have put on that famous white shirt. God bless you Billy, it was a privilege to see you play. By Kevin Markey If you'd like to have your first game told on the site then please get in touch with weallloveleeds92@yahoo.com or tweet us @weallloveleedsu and we'll make sure to get your story told!  Monday 13/2 Monday morning blues banished by Heidi Haigh's superb, as always blog of the disappointing defeat to 'Colin' and Sol's team http://www.followmeandleedsunited.co.uk/cardiff-11th-february-2017 Cheers Heidi, hope the eye heals very soon. Lee Johnson on the trip to Leeds: "We have to go there with no fear and enjoy it. When players enjoy it, they'll perform." Last five home games Leeds 1 Bristol City 0 Champ Jan 16 Leeds 1 Bristol City 0 Champ Jan 13 Leeds 2 Bristol City 1 Champ Sept 11 Leeds 3 Bristol City 1 Champ Nov 10 Leeds 3 Bristol City 1 League Cup Sept 1997 Tuesday 14/2  Team News: Four changes; O'Kane, Sacko, Roofe and Jansson replacing Dallas, Pedraza, Bridcutt and Cooper. Team: Green, Ayling, Bartley, Jansson, Berardi, O'Kane, Vieira, Hernandez, Sacko, Hernandez, Roofe, Wood. The Game: After two defeats, the win that was needed was achieved and despite the closeness of the scoreline Leeds were good value for the three points. Chris Wood added a first half goal to his tally, intelligent play by Hernandez creating it from a quickly taken free kick. Goal maker became goal scorer when the Spaniard doubled Leeds' lead early in the second half with a deflected shot, instead of pushing on to increase their advantage, Leeds gave Bristol the opportunity to get back into the game and were thankful of goalkeeper Rob Green for keeping out the visitors. Their consolation goal came from Djuric in the sixth minute of injury time. One of those games when the result mattered more than the performance.  Monday 13/2 Monday morning blues banished by Heidi Haigh's superb, as always blog of the disappointing defeat to 'Colin' and Sol's team http://www.followmeandleedsunited.co.uk/cardiff-11th-february-2017 Cheers Heidi, hope the eye heals very soon. Lee Johnson on the trip to Leeds: "We have to go there with no fear and enjoy it. When players enjoy it, they'll perform." Last five home games Leeds 1 Bristol City 0 Champ Jan 16 Leeds 1 Bristol City 0 Champ Jan 13 Leeds 2 Bristol City 1 Champ Sept 11 Leeds 3 Bristol City 1 Champ Nov 10 Leeds 3 Bristol City 1 League Cup Sept 1997 Tuesday 14/2 Team News: Four changes; O'Kane, Sacko, Roofe and Jansson replacing Dallas, Pedraza, Bridcutt and Cooper. Team: Green, Ayling, Bartley, Jansson, Berardi, O'Kane, Vieira, Hernandez, Sacko, Hernandez, Roofe, Wood. The Game: After two defeats, the win that was needed was achieved and despite the closeness of the scoreline Leeds were good value for the three points. Chris Wood added a first half goal to his tally, intelligent play by Hernandez creating it from a quickly taken free kick. Goal maker became goal scorer when the Spaniard doubled Leeds' lead early in the second half with a deflected shot, instead of pushing on to increase their advantage, Leeds gave Bristol the opportunity to get back into the game and were thankful of goalkeeper Rob Green for keeping out the visitors. Their consolation goal came from Djuric in the sixth minute of injury time. One of those games when the result mattered more than the performance.  Well, so far anyway! So what’s changed this season? After the worst start to a season in 40 years that saw Leeds take only 4 points from the first six league games we now sit 5th in the table, 6 points ahead of the team in 7th. We have 14 cup finals left to ensure we at least get a shot at promotion via the play-offs. How the hell did we do that? For me two things happened. Firstly, for five of those six league games we had either Sol Bamba or Liam Cooper at centre back with Kyle Bartley and it meant we were just as prone to errors in defence as we had been for years. In the sixth game we unveiled Pontus Jansson and although we lost to Huddersfield that day in mid-September, it was the start of a centre back partnership that finally looked fit for purpose. Kyle Bartley is a Rolls Royce of a player, all calmness and thought while Pontus is mighty in the air and all heart. They are both giants and each compliments the other. Neither is Rio Ferdinand, but both can play a bit and Pontus showed against Bristol that he’s got great feet for such a big fella.  With the experience and calmness of Rob Green having replaced the insecurity and lack of presence of Silvestri and the arrival of Luke Ayling the whole defence looks as good as anything in the Championship and indeed at the time of writing ahead of the Ipswich game only 4 teams have conceded less. Secondly, Chris Wood has found his feet. For those first six games Wood missed more chances than a blind Monopoly player. He’d scored 2 league goals and that penalty at Fleetwood but should have bagged half a dozen more. Had he done so our start might have been so very different. But from that point onwards or maybe it was from the ear-cupping moment when he got us that last minute equaliser against Fulham, he’s been way more clinical. In the run of four wins that followed the Huddersfield game, Woody got four in four and secured 8 of those 12 points though his goals alone. Since then he’s scored regularly and currently has 22 in all including 19 Championship goals. When we get a penalty these days, no one runs to hide behind the sofa or phones NASA to get our ball back. As with Bartley and Jansson, Wood is not the best player of his type in the World but he’s proved that at Championship level, given the service, he can stick the ball in the net. If I was pressed for a third reason I’d have to say that Garry Monk and his coaching team have managed to weld together a team with a unity of purpose and togetherness that we have also not seen at Elland Road in years and on our day we can beat anyone. We are still a young side and therefore we’re not as consistently brilliant as we’d like and, Preston aside we can’t really say that we’ve battered anyone so far this season but I have the feeling we are not far off the day when we will. So the question that everyone is asking is, “Will Leeds make the Play-Offs?” We’ve had a little wobble recently, losing 4 of 6 including that 3rd XI debacle at Gander Green Lane in the Cup, but three of those defeats were suffered without Pontus and I’m putting it down to that and maybe the inevitable learning curve when new players arrive – Pedraza came on in the Huddersfield defeat and played in the Cardiff one before Garry Monk went back to his tried and trusted players for Bristol. We haven’t seen enough of either Mo Barrow or Alfonso Pedraza yet to form an opinion but they will take time to settle as the whole side did at the start of the season. So let’s hope the wobble is over and those wheels are now screwed on firmly as we head down the final long straight. The greatest threat to achieving one of those top six places is injuries or suspensions. We now have both Luke Ayling and Kyle Bartley one yellow card away from a suspension and while the loss of Ayling should now be coverable with the return to fitness of Charlie Taylor allowing Berardi to resume in his more natural right back role, Kyle is a different matter. Pontus collects yellows like a Dyson collects dust too.  Luke Ayling himself can cover at CB and he looked OK doing it against Derby but we spent so much of that game attacking that it was probably not a fair assessment. When he played alongside Bartley at Barnsley the pair looked altogether less solid. The alternative is Liam Cooper and, as nice a bloke as Coops seems to be, he’s either not good enough or his confidence is shot. Our failure to pick up a serviceable replacement CB in the transfer window my well still come back to bite us where it hurts most.
We are also vulnerable to injuries of course and not only to Barts and the magic hat man but also to Pablo Hernandez and Chris Wood. Pablo makes us tick and, as already noted, Wood’s on fire. Either would be a huge loss. Rob Green would also be a big loss at this nervy time of the season. So, play-offs or not? It’s a yes from me. All we can assume (and we know it makes an ASS out of U and ME) is that, on average we’ll continue to accrue points at the same rate as we’ve done since Pontus arrived and that injuries and referees will be kind to us. If so, we ought to average 2 points a game which would get us to 85; that would be more than enough and leaves some wiggle room. What I do know is that, having got ourselves into such a great position with 14 games to go, it would take us all summer to get over the disappointment if we mess up. Promotion is another question altogether mind, the play-offs are a lottery. By David Watkins  I got the chance to speak to Mike Codrington ahead of tonight's crucial match against Bristol City, here's what he had to say.
How long have you been a Bristol City fan? Pretty much all my life. My dad’s been going to Ashton Gate for over 50 years and as soon as I was deemed old enough (four) I’ve been doing the same. Got my first season ticket at ten and I have not missed a home league or cup game in 17 years. Who have been your favourite players to watch, both old and new? When I was growing up Brian Tinnion was the main man, a wand of a left foot who played more than 450 times for us. Even though he had anunsuccessful spell as our manager he will always go down as a club legend. In more recent times Lee trundle was an absolute magician. Although it didn’t quite work out for us and making only 53appearances before being loaned to Leeds, hisgoal in the playoff semi-final second leg against Palace will be one I will never forget. Him andand now Lee Tomlin are the most naturally giftedand skilful players we’ve ever had. Do you have any memorable moments against Leeds United? Unfortunately our record against Leeds is poor to say the least. I think this season is the first timewe’ve beat you in a long time and the first that Ihave ever witnessed home or away. Last season’sdramatic comeback is probably my mostmemorable memory trailing 2-0 in the 89thminute to the pull it back to 2-2 and earning usour first point of the season. Former City defender Luke Ayling departed the club and joined ourselves in summer and has become quite the cult hero, were you sad to see him leave? At the time selling Luke was probably an easy decision. We just recently signed Adam Matthews on loan again from Sunderland for the season(who we had for the last 3 months of last season and he was quality keeping Ayling out the team all together). And we also have Mark Little and an exciting academy product in Zak Vyner. So we had four Right backs at the club. Leeds offered a good bit of money for Luke so it was common sense to accept. Since then the right back positionhas become a thorn in Lee Johnsons side with Matthews being plagued by injuries Mark Little being League one standard at best and we had to recall Zak back from his loan spell at Accrington to cover us. Luke was fantastic for us in are double winning season in league one and I just wish you bid the same amount for Little instead of Ayling! You signed Matty Taylor from your rivals Bristol Rovers who was formerly linked with Lufc, do you think he's a good signing? Welcome to Bristol !!!! Even bigger than Tevez To City from United!! When we signed Matty Taylor from Rovers it didn’t matter if he even kicked a ball for us!! Signing your biggest rivals best player who has single handedly won them back to back promotions with his outstandinggoal scoring record albeit in the lower leagues)for 300k was an absolute bargain no matter how good or bad he is at championship level. He got his first start for us against Derby and played a part in all three goals, opening the scoring and got both assists for Tammy. At 3-1 he had a chance to probably win us the game but somehow missed from 2 yards out. I do think with Tammy and Taylor we will always have goals in our locker and even if it doesn’t work out for him we would always recoup the 300k we paid out. On Saturday your team went from 3-0 to finish 3-3 against Derby, what happened? Before the Derby game I would of took a point before kick-off, being 3-0 up at half time whichcould have easily been 4 or 5 and tearing them apart in the process forcing them to make a double change on the half hour mark to draw 3-3 is just shocking. Defensively we lack confidence and quality. I think it must be a confidence thing as it’s not the first time we have thrown away leads from winning positions this season. I have no doubt that Johnson would of told them at half time to keep playing how we are and keepattacking, but as soon as we concede heads dropand no one wants to take responsibility and we all knew that we would throw this away. I think if we lost that game 4-3 I don’t think we could have bounced back from that and I think it would have been a nail in the coffin of relegation. Who will be your danger man on Tuesday? I think if we play with the same 11 that played against derby, then we will create chances, you would have to say Tammy is the main danger with 21 goals so far this season, him and Taylor will always be sniffing in box. Brownhill will be lively in midfield and watch out for big Aden Flint from set pieces. Especially now we signed David Cotterill on loan from Birmingham, might not be a world beater but has a very good set piece in his locker. Where do you think you'll finish in the league this year? After the start we made I was hoping for a top ten finish. Now I would take anywhere above the bottom 3. We had a club record 8 straight losses that totally derailed the season. I think Rotherham are gone they don’t have Warnock to save them like last season, and we got to hope we can get enough points on the board to stay up. This month will be a big factor in this having already played Derby away we also have Leeds, Newcastle and Villa all away from home with Fulham sandwiched in between. Apart from Newcastle who narrowly beat us 1-0 at the Gate we have taken points against all these teams with 3 wins against Leeds, Villa and Fulhamrespectively and a point at home to Derby, we tend to play better football against better teams. I think we are a much, much better team than ourleague position shows, in all the losses this season only Brighton have beat us by more than one goaland we have threw away a lot of points late on or from winning positions. If we can stay up and improve defensively next season in a left back and a right back and even another centre back Ithink we will see us in the top 8 next season. It’s just imperative that we avoid relegation this season. Prediction and scorers? This really could go anyway. Depends how you respond to your defeat against Cardiff, and how we respond to throwing away a 3-0 lead. Heads telling me 2-1 Leeds, Hearts telling me 2-1 City but I’m going to go with 2-2. Chris Wood doublefor you and Tammy and Flint for us … I think we will cause you a few problems and we are always good for a goal and also conceding , Hopefully Jansson isn’t fit which will be a big plus for us.Would take a point now. CTID!! We'd like to thank Mike for his time and his absolutely brilliant answers and wish him and Bristol City the best for the season. A fantastic team that plays attractive football with a brilliant young manager in charge. Who wouldn't like to see them do well? By Ryan Ingham  If the weather wasn't bad enough, the performance from Leeds definitely was. A disappointing 2-0 defeat to strugglers Cardiff saw Leeds' position in the playoffs fall even further down the pecking order. Neil Warnock returned to Elland Road with on thing in mind; frustration. He knew returning to his former club would be a battle and that's exactly what Cardiff gave Leeds. One thing was definitely apparent, Leeds just couldn't piece it together. A few mistakes at the back and the lack of a final ball was the only thing apparent from Saturdays game.  It really is a privilege to be able to cover the games from the press area at Leeds United, the views not too bad either!  Garry Monk made two changes to the side that faced Huddersfield. Cooper came in for the poorly Pontus Jansson and Alvaro Pedraza made his Elland Road debut replacing Souleymane Doukara.
Kemar Roofe stayed on the bench for another game, which I just cannot understand. The game started well with Leeds looking the strongest in possession, winning a freekick within the first four minutes and having a glorious opportunity when Stuart Dallas played the ball to Chris Wood just ten minutes later. Leeds finished the half with two Yellow Cards for Luke Ayling and Liam Bridcutt as the referee decided to get a little card happy. This made his 100th YC of the season in the 22 appearances he had made. Leeds came out for the second half with the same kind of attitude they have for most of the season, taking the game to the opposition. Liam Cooper then had Leeds' biggest opportunity of the game when a signature Pablo Hernandez corner came across the box only to be headed over. Cardiff then did something that Leeds couldn't seem to do, convert their only chance. A freekick from near the touch line was swung in by Craig Noone just inside the 6 yard box and Sean Morrison was there to head home. Misery then turned to agony as Aron Gunnarsson was allowed to burst through the Leeds defence and tee up Didier Zohore to cap off his long striker performance. Leeds then made some further substitutions as both Roofe and Doukara came on to try and add some more attacking intent to Leeds' play. This Plan B didn't work as well as planned and apart from one fluffed chance from Kemar Roofe, Leeds just couldn't add a goal to the game. |
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January 2019
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