Diary of a Leeds Fan (11/3-14/3/16)

Friday 11/3

A very interesting article on the website 'Leeds All Over' from 'Dubes' aka Michael Duberry and his memories of his time at Leeds United, mentioning how he got his nickname, his best XI, David Batty and a few more gems.

http://leedsallover.com/an-interview-with-michael-duberry/

Kalvin Phillip's progress has been limited due to the arrival of Liam Bridcutt and Diagouraga says Evans. However, he expects the twenty year old midfielder to get some game time if he continues to work hard in training and impress in under21 games.

Phillips is currently contracted at Leeds United until summer 2017.

Saturday 12/3

Blackburn Rovers v Leeds

Match Day:

Chris Wood made the eighteen for the first time since January, Luke Murphy was surprisingly dropped after a decent shift at Cardiff City, Diagarada coming into the midfield. Eric Grimes the forth choice goalkeeper in the squad came onto the bench for Peacock-Farrell who was out due to illness. A attacking looking bench gave Evans some good options.

The Match...

Both teams had their moments in a first half blighted by a poor pitch, Watt and Graham saw the whites of Silvestri's eyes but in both occasions the keeper kept them out.

At the other end, Mowatt's free kick brought a stunning save from Steele. Leeds though weren't denied long, Mowatt's corner was blasted into the roof of the Blackburn goal by Sol Bamba, it's now three games in a row that Leeds have taken the lead, 1-0 at the break.

Antenucci nearly doubled the lead with a lovely move involving Doukara but he wasn't denied for long. As on Tuesday, he was set free this time by Mowatt and after a great run he finished it superbly to double Leeds' lead.

Chris Wood got his first minutes since January as a late substitute for Doukara before Jackson pulled one back for Rovers as normal time ran out. Leeds had to withstand eight minutes of injury time to claim the three points and their third win in seven days.

Men of the Match: A choice between Alex Mowatt and 'Ant', both solid 8/10.

Superb dogged performance on a quagmire of a pitch. Well done Steve, spot on with the tactics and personnel. Am I turning into a
fan of him?

Post game quotes:

Evans; "When you see Antenucci go through in that fashion, I only think he’s going to score. I’ve said many times what a wonderful finisher."

The Scot also singled out Bridcutt's performance (he was excellent). Also thought Bamba and Bellusci turned in big displays. When asked on whether Leeds could have achieved more this season; "In a moment of reflection you may sit and think that."

The man is more than happy after a great week of results and so are the fans. Onwards and hopefully upwards.

After the game. Lambert said; “I couldn’t fault the effort and the commitment, the way they played. It was just a game too far for us with the games we’ve had.”

Sunday 13/3

Steve Evans is never one to shy away from something that goes right on a match day. This time after Bamba's goal had been practiced in training beforehand; "Since we've come in the door, we've worked on it desperately hard. We chuckled that one has gone in to the trees during training, it (the goal) was great to see."

Bamba's effort was the first goal from a corner in a long while. Set pieces, especially corners, haven't been our best this season.

Great to see Ivorian international and ex-Leeds player Max Gradel back amongst the goal scorers this weekend after a time out through injury. His goal in a superb game at Bournemouth helped the 'Cherries' record an important 3-2 win over Swansea.

Of the players we've lost over the years I probably miss the enigmatic winger the most, he was something different and a character.

Vital Leeds contributor King Billy gave the match report on his impressive site, he gave Bamba, Bridcutt and Antenucci 8/10 for their efforts yesterday and said; "I cannot believe we are in the top half. It goes to show what a silly league the championship is. If only we could get those one or two players in key areas we have needed in recent times. It may sound daft but it is the difference in this league between a relegation battle and a promotion chase, this league is so tight."

He added; "Evans will have some difficult decisions to make. Wood is fit and Cooper must be close. It is a great headache to have. I just hope we can make it four in a row against Huddersfield next weekend.

"That will be 50 points and the first job for Steve Evans done. Well done to those that travelled yesterday. It was a much better atmosphere than the two previous seasons when we took double the amount of fans."
Cheers King Billy and Vital Leeds.

Charlton joined the 'coffin' bandwagon today with a demonstration before their game with Middlesborough. They though went further by causing a delay in the game, fans of the club have had enough of another owner that seems intent of taking the club THEIR way whatever their fans say. Sound familiar?

After the 'sideshow' Charlton won the game 2-0, another dent in Middlesborough's bid to be promoted this season.

Sol Bamba gave some impassioned reasons behind the upturn in form during the past week, he said; "We had a meeting between us to say that can’t happen, that we need to change. It was a good meeting because everything came out and obviously we’ve now performed very well. We need to look at ourselves when we don’t perform and that was needed, definitely.”

SuperSol taking off


Monday 14/3

Lots of different blog sites and media are saying Liam Bridcutt is Steve Evans 'top priority' signing in the summer.

The Head Coach was quoted saying; “I think Liam's very aware of what I think of him. He's very aware of what this football club thinks of him. And the one thing I'm very aware of is that Liam loves playing for Leeds United. He never hides that.”

The midfielder was again in fantastic form in this weekends win and earned many plaudits for his display. He certainly alongside Diagouraga, has been integral in the three game winning run the club are currently enjoying.

With 'Dave' in the side he now has more freedom in his midfield role and for me he is a option as captain next season, maybe in the number four shirt too!

One word of caution, he won't be cheap and will also test Cellino's insistence on lowering the wage bill at Leeds.

The Scottish Sun claims Steve Evans attended the Scottish League Cup Final to watch a player appearing in it.

Ross County won their first major title in their history by beating Hibernian 2-1. The newspaper claimed the purpose of the trip to Scotland was to get a lowdown on Jason Cummings, who’s been having an impressive season with Hibernian.

Cummings is having a prolific season with Hibernian and has already scored 19 goals in 28 games during this campaign. His performances have brought him to the attention of other clubs keen to sign the 20-year old in the summer.

With the added uncertainty over the future of Mirco Antenucci at Leeds United, Cummings could be seen as an ideal replacement. Time to look at YouTube again?

Latest accounts for Eleonora Sport Ltd (14/15 year) are out. Indicate that at end of June 2015, LUFC + connected firms were valued at £30.7m. Accounts say Eleonora Sport "made payments of £13.1m to or on behalf of LUFC" in the 2014/15 financial year.

£11.5m of that was converted into LUFC shares. Accounts say ESL's parent company (Eleonora Immobiliare SpA) made 'capital contribution' of £35.8m to ESL in 2014/15 year.

Eleonora Sport Ltd made loss of £1.4m in 14/15, with the LUFC group made loss of £1.7m.

In short, ESL's parent company served up £35m+ in the 2014/15 year for the purposes of running/restructuring LUFC.

As you can read, much positivity around the club at the moment and so different from just two weeks ago.

M O T

By Keith Ingham