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If Robert Louis Stevenson wrote Dr Jekjll and Mr Hyde then Leeds’s last two home games would have been a modern day comparison to his 1886 novel. Where the Plymouth game was Cinderella at the Town Hall today’s game against Reading was more Phantom of the Opera on Broadway.
Eirik Bakke and Matthew Kilgallon came back into the side which also saw David Healy partner Rob Hulse in attack,
Leeds started the brightest against the champions and the team really looked up for it with Bakke and Derry running the show in midfield. Healy had a good chance on 11 minutes but his shot from the left hand corner of the box went well wide. Later on Healy again had a shot but the outcome was the same as his previous shot.
Marcus Hahnemann was the busiest of the two keepers, Neil Sullivan hardly had a save to make as Leeds took the game to Reading and for most of the game it looked like Leeds United were the champions and not our hosts from Berkshire.
Eirik Bakke had a good chance to put Leeds ahead with a clever lob from just outside of the area on 25 minutes but still the ball would not go in.
All the Leeds players were having a great game, a far cry from 7 days ago when they were booed off the pitch, the fans inside Elland Road must have been pleased with the performance and the effort that the men in white were putting in.
A lot of our play came from the right hand side, Gary Kelly saw a lot of the ball and he put in several telling crosses in the first half, but Rob Hulse had a “trying” game but he got no change out of the Reading No:5 Ibrahima Sonko who at times was quite physical with some of his challenges and referee Mark Halsey gave nothing our way. Throughout the 90 minutes he did not book any players, if any team were to pick up a booking then it was more likely to be Reading players who too like Sonko were sometimes over physical.
Two minutes after the break Leeds got the breakthrough that there hard work deserved. On the edge of the area Healy headed to Millar who fed Derry out on the right edge of the box he ran towards the by-line and hit a superb low cross were he found the onrushing Hulse who flicked it in at the near post.
From that moment on Rob Hulse was a changed man as he ran around with more confidance and looked more like the striker that we all know. Having ran his heart out he was substituted on 76, to a standing ovation and was replaced by Danny Graham who was making his Elland Road debut.
After midweek reports of Kevin Blackwell receiving death threats it was great to here both the Kop and south stand singing his praises.
The game changed in the final 20 minutes, Reading who had not had a good spell all afternoon finally got the rub of the green and began to run the show especially after Bakke was substituted on 83 minutes to be replaced by Ian Moore. Reading looked fitter and hungrier as Leeds huffed and puffed to keep them out but their purple patch proved too much and finally Leeds caved in. Leeds appealed for offside but their protests were waved away as Gunnarsson sent over a cross from the Leeds right into the area, Hunt went up with Butler and from our vantage point in the south it looked like Butler had unluckily bundled the ball over for an own goal with Reading substitute Stephen Hunt claiming that he had got the final touch on the ball. The goal was credited to Hunt.
Overall Leeds deserved to have won this game as they bossed this match for most of the game, Reading towards the end looked fitter than us as we started to run out of ideas. You could sense that an equaliser was coming but it was a cruel blow to Leeds with it coming in the last 5 minutes.
All the Leeds players ran their socks off and on today’s display deserved their wages this week unlike last week. Not one player let the side down but the MAMF of the match this week goes to a player who in my eyes produced one of the BEST displays seen in a Leeds shirt this season. He was all over the field and ran his heart out, this weeks MOTM goes to Shaun Derry.
If today’s evidence is anything to go by then Leeds will fair very well in the play offs. The signs were very encouraging and for most of the 24,535 crowd they will go into the play offs full of confidance.
The only downer on todays game was in the fact that having drawn today’s game, we can not now finish in second place and have now handed that place to Yorkshire rivals Sheffield United.
18th February 2006 Leicester 1 Leeds 1
(This report was written by Ron Devie from Leeds United chat.)
Against the foxes today we were pretty feckin useless - they scored early (from where I was Crainey should not have let them get a clear shot on goal) and that got a response with Leeds showing more urgency - Hulse got the best of a long ball and was pulled back by there captain (i think) definitely a penalty maybe a bit harsh that he was sent off - from then on we should've strolled it -but it was Leicester who showed the more threat.
The match was pretty dull - Leeds looked quite dangerous on the odd occasion they actually put anything together upfront - the supply was woeful and very sparse.
In the centre of the park we were non existent - no kidding we had no players there at all - who does play there Miller? Douglas?? - they were all out wide with Gregan I think moving up from the back!!?!?
Leicester pretty much won it all in the centre of the park and were a threat coming forward - luckily our defence managed with this threat most of the time apart from the odd shot.
We had a lot more possession for the last 20 minutes or so but to me we showed very little quality or threat.
Don't think we had a man of the match Gregan had a presence without doing anything clever, Hulse was a threat but needs to be in the game for more than 10 minutes out of 90 (Not a go at him but at our style of play, Miller was OK, Douglas was everywhere and often out of position).
All in all very frustrating, on this showing there is no point in going up but we should hang on to a play off place -maybe we'll win all our home matches and draw the away games which would be good going.
By the way the referee was a total dick head -lost it from the off to the point where he didn't dare make a decision - waste of space.
25th March 2006 Leeds 2 Luton 1
A crowd of 23,644 witnessed a patchy match that was probably better for the neutral supporter rather than fans of both teams today as Leeds clawed there way to victory over a Luton side that played some tidy football in the freezing cold conditions of Elland road.
Luton kicked off the first half playing to the kop. David Healy was back in the starting line up on the right hand side in a 4-4-2 formation. Gary Kelly at right back was playing his 500th game for us and newcomer Joel Griffiths was on the bench but did not get on to make his debut.
It was a scrappy game with Luton playing the better football, for the first ten minutes Leeds were cr*p and looking totally disjointed. It was hard to see where a goal was going to come from. Both teams had half chances but nothing really threatening.
Our best chance came on 36 minutes when after some superb passing build up play involving several Leeds players, Kelly’s cross into the box was miss hit by Robbie Blake while attempting an overhead scissor kick, the ball fell to Rob Hulse who from around 8 yards out miss kicked the ball straight at Luton keeper Marlon Beresford. It was more like a deft pass back to him rather than a full blown shot.
The teams went in at half time 0-0 and by the way the game poorly flowed I would have bet money on the game finishing as a stalemate.
If it was a boxing match then Luton would have won the first half on points but for all there better football than us they rarely threatened us, apart from a few chances early on. It was frustrating to watch Leeds as passes went astray and free flowing classy football was not in evidence, it is a must for us to inject pace and creativity into the side because the way we play with this “Get out of jail free” football it is doing my head in and several of the supporters near us were becoming frustrated with the style of play that is on offer.
The game turned in our favour in the second half in a ten-minute spell. Firstly Leeds went close when Jonathan Douglas met a cross from the right but his penalty spot header flew just wide of the left post. Luton went up field towards the south stand and a cross into the box “WAS” handled by Sean Gregan but the ref waved away the Luton protests.
Leeds went 1-0 up on 48 minutes when Jonathan Douglas after a fine run hit a shot to the keeper’s left to put us in the lead. Leeds started to play better football which is typical of Leeds in the second half of matches. Liam Miller upped his game and played the ball round better than in the first half, it was a joy to watch some of his trickery on the ball which at times was premiership class. Shortly after going 1-0 up we got our second goal, Rob Hulse hit a ball into the box and Eddie Lewis who in my opinion was having a cr*p game managed to bundle the ball into the net from close range.
That was about it for Leeds in the second half as the game from our perspective became poor and inept again.
Luton threw on Enoch Showunmi on 63 minutes to change the game and his presence helped them pile on more pressure on us, the lanky player was quite a handful and Luton got a deserved goal on 82 minutes when a ball from the Luton left into the box found Steven Howard who had more or less a free header just on the edge of the 6 yard box as Douglas’ challenge was powder puff and he might as well not have been there. His header beat Neil Sullivan and this raised the spirits of both Luton supporters and players alike.
Leeds managed to grind out a win and as the ref announced three minutes of extra time were to be played, defender Sol Davis was booked for a second time and subsequently sent off.
MAMF of the match is difficult as nobody stood out. Miller had a better second half, Gregan put in a solid display but MAMF of the match goes to the linesman on the west stand touchline for not giving Luton a penalty when it most deffinately was.
11th March 2006 Leeds 2 Norwich 2
This was a game of two halves as Leeds came from behind to draw 2-2 thanks to a last minute leveller from Eddie Lewis. We did not get our highest attendance of the season as first thought; maybe the freezing cold weather put some fans off.
The line up was the same as the one that started at Crystal Palace last Saturday, Healy was again unsurprisingly on the bench as Blackwell kept faith with Blake and Hulse. Also back in the squad after injury was Matthew Killgalon.
Leeds kicked off and played to the South stand in the first half , they played some great football against a Norwich side who looked nothing special. It was great to watch, it was some of the best football seen at Elland Road all season. In my opinion I thought that today was going to be the day where we would score a hatful of goals.
At one stage the back four were stroking the ball around magnificently which was appreciated by a small section of the crowd as chants of ole’ began to ring out.
Former Leeds striker Darren Huckerby had a good game and his pace caused us a few problems, some sections of the crowd booed him when he was on the ball. He was up against Gary Kelly with right back being the winner
Leeds took the lead after twenty minutes, Robbie Blake on the right low crossed to Eddie Lewis on the left hand side of the box, his poor shot bounced off Doherty and it fell kindly to Rob Hulse who looked suspiciously offside and he had the easy task of prodding the ball home from six yards. Me and some fans closeby in the South stand did not celebrate as we were sure that the linesman would have his flag up for off side, luckily for us he didn’t and we were off and running 1-0.
On forty minutes it could have been 2-0 to us as Eddie Lewis on the left swung in a great cross into the box where he found Rob Hulse, he headed the ball down sweetly to Robert Green’s left but England’s No: 6 was quick to dive down to his left and brilliantly save the ball.
The first half was mainly Leeds with Sulli not even having a save to make, Liam Millar who had a great game at Palace was having a good game and in my opinion was the pick of the midfielders.
In the second half I thought that we would stuff the canaries as we generally are a better team in the second but surprisingly it was Norwich who were more up for it.
Our midfield went to pieces and were second best in that department, Rob Hulse infuriates me as he can not jump for the ball and scarcely wins a ball in the air. Robbie Blake in my opinion had a poor game and as for Eddie Lewis he is crap as he is pace less and rarely takes a player on and beats him for either skill or pace. Douglas had a poor game, he started off brightly but went off the ball in the second. Crainey was sh*te and definitely at fault for one if not both of the Norwich goals as they both came from down the balls down the Leeds left and where shot home with Crainey nowhere to be seen. I would have to watch the goals again more closely if I wanted to portion the blame on anyone as he was in the centre half position with the centre halves on the right hand side of the area, was he covering for someone or was he out of position?.
For the first Norwich goal on 57 minutes, a ball was played out to Paul Hughes on the Norwich right, he was in acres of space and he did not waste his chance as his powerful shot went under Sullivan.
Norwich took the lead on 76 minutes when Paul McVeigh hit his shot into the net after a pass from Huckerby.
This brought the Leeds crowd into life and they became really frustrated on a few occasions at some of the stupid decisions by the referee C. Foy from Merseyside. He booked Sean Gregan on 66 minutes for a nothing challenge. This was his tenth booking of the season and will now miss 2 matches. What was stupid was that Norwich substitute Janathen Johansson barged into a Leeds player and did not receive a booking????.
On 90 minutes Leeds got a free kick 20 yards outside of the area, Eddie Lewis hit a superb curling free kick into the top corner, very similar to the free kick he took and scored against Burnley. We all went ecstatic and with four minutes of added time to play we sensed a winning goal for Leeds but sadly for most of the 24,993 crowd it never came.
This was 3 points for the taking, at stages of the first half we played brilliantly as Norwich were not in the game. At times it was like taking candy of a baby as we played some neat passing and none hoofing football. In the second it all changed as Norwich were more up for it than us, with Crainey being the only one to hoof it upfield most of the time. Millar went off for Baake and Blake was substituted for Healy who had one chance at the kop end and shot wide.
In the first half Liam Millar was in the running for MAMF of the match, Gary Kelly had another great game and his superb 2nd half tackle on Huckerby when he was put through was sublime, but today’s award goes to Sean Gregan who had played well at the heart of the defence and will feel quiet aggrieved to pick up what was a very harsh booking.
25th March 2006 Leeds 0 Stoke 0
Summer is just around the corner and as winter goes does our automatic promotion chances??? After an entertaining 0-0 draw with Stoke City, Leeds failed to win at Elland road again having now only taken 2 points from the last three home games.
Stoke City with nothing to play for had ex Leeds defender Michael Dubious as captain and Leeds welcomed back Sean Gregan to the heart of the defence with Mattthew Kilgallon dropping to the bench. David Healy also started upfront with Rob Hulse in a 4-4-2 formation. Also on the bench were debutant Joel Griffiths and new signing from Wealdstone Jermaine Beckford.
Leeds started brightly, with the first quarter of an hour reminiscent of a 1987 Billy Bremner side playing great flowing up and at them football. Liam Millar and Gary Kelly found many gaps on the Stoke left and it looked like that we were going to take this Stoke team to pieces but unfortunately it never occurred. This fifteen minute period was the highlight of the game.
Leeds had most of the possession but could not make anything count, Stoke were the only side to have a shot on target. Our only effort came from Stephen Crainey who let fly with a half volley from 30 yards out but his shot just went wide. Whatever we dealt at the Stoke rearguard of Dubious and Clint Hill was easy meat for them, I would not go as far as saying that they had Hulse and Healy in the pockets but they had will have had more testing afternoons.
Stoke with nothing left to play for played some nice football with midfielder (17) Darel Russel pulling the strings and having a fine game, they certainly did not come to Elland road and play for the point.
Two minutes after the break Sean Gregan went into the book for a lewd tackle on substitute Hannes Sigurdssson who had come on for fellow striker Sambegou Bangoura. Sigurdsson looked a good striker, he had good feet and movement it was just his finishing that let him down, when through in the area his shot was straight at Neil Sullivan.
Leeds first meaningful shot on goal came around the hour mark with the quick feet of David Healy found some space 25 yards out but his shot was well saved by the Stoke keeper.
One of the best moments of the game where when Neil Sullivan diving to his left, one handedly pushed the ball round the post from an exquisite shot by Darel Russell. That save was probably worth the admission price alone.
Leeds huffed and puffed and even brought on Beckford for Healy and Griffiths for ineffective Lewis, but still they could not blow the Stoke house down. As the clock struck 90 minutes Joel Griffiths went on a good run but his shot was deflected wide for a corner.
Stoke were well worth their point as for the disjointed whites they will have to play much better than this if they are to finish in the top six. I firmly believe that we will do, we are a too good’er side not to finish in the top echelons of the division. We have plenty of possession but nothing in the way of goals to show for it. Our strikers will feel hard done by as they WERE fed peanuts by the full backs and midfield.
Sullivan had a good game, he was up for anything that Stoke could through at them and he even had time to shout at the bench for poorly organising the defensive walls. Crainey was ok, typical Crainey to be honest. Kelly played well putting himself about. Gregan and Butler sweated blood in the midfield and dealt with most balls into the box without a problem. Derry gave possession away a few times with Millar in my opinion being the pick of the midfield, he ran well with the ball and was always looking for the ball. Lewis still flatters to deceive and as I have already mentioned Hulse and Healy were given very few chances to shine. Beckford played ok in his cameo role.
Dubes had a good game for Stoke where as the referee K P Stroud was at times petty, whistle happy and gave one or two iffy decisions to the visitors.
As in September 2004 when Stoke City were last at Elland road the game finished goalless, a scoreline that very few would have predicted at 3:00.
MAMF of the match was probably Sean Gregan who wins it with Millar as a close runner up.
8th April 2006 Leeds 0 Plymouth 0
This report is going to be very painful and I will not pull any punches as Leeds again drew a blank and struggled against mid table Plymouth. It has been five games since we last scored a goal in open play and the fourth on the bounce that we have gone without scoring.
Kevin Blackwell dropped a tired Eddie Lewis to give him a rest and replaced him on the left with…….David “right footed” Healy (What the f**k is wrong with Danny Pugh?) and Frazer Richardson coming in on the right flank with Douglas moving into the middle, Liam Miller was dropped to the bench.
Plymouth won the toss and elected to play to the south stand. Leeds nearly took the lead as early as the second minute, Gary Kelly fired in a shot that flew over the bar and into the kop. That was about it from both sides as this game took on a banal side to it. Plymouth had a couple of chances but they were limited to long range shots that did not trouble Neil Sullivan.
Leeds at this point had three strikers on the pitch and struggled to break down this resistant Plymouth side, who played some decent stuff at times. Our passing lacked fluency and with no cutting edge football on display the game got more and more frustrating as it went on. Even as early as the first half hour, the game had 0-0 written all over it.
The weather was sunny but windy which did not help play on the pitch and our next best effort came from David Healy who cut in from the left and curled a shot that struck the post, neither keeper had a save to really make in the first half. Gary Kelly went off after 36 minutes, due to lack of energy as he had picked up an illness that had swept the club I midweek. He was replaced by Jermaine Beckford so now Leeds had four strikers on the pitch.
The second half was even poorer than the first and this Leeds team were playing like a set of debutants, Hulse was cr*p, worse than ever. I don’t know if he is still carrying an injury but why does Kevin Blackwell persist with him when he can not even buy a goal, his confidence must be shot at the moment and his ALL round play reflects this.
Healy fared not much better along with Blake but at least Healy had the excuse of being stuck out on the wing. To coin a phrase but the strikers WERE fed “Peanuts” as out play was getting worse as the game wore on.
Plymouth could and should have taken the lead on 65 minutes when Leon Clarke in acres of space was fed the ball and from near the penalty shot hit a low shot to Sulli’s left, but Sulli dived superbly to parry the shot away, it was a superb save to keep the whites in the game.
Leeds best effort of the second half was when Jermaine Beckford was given the ball on the left and he delightfully flicked the ball into the path of Rob Hulse, he was clean through into the box, flanked by a couple of defenders the ball bobbled near the penalty spot and the danger was cleared, any centre forward with any confidence would have buried it.
Watched by a low crowd of 20,650 the Leeds fans began to get more and more frustrated. The visiting fans had earlier sung “Premiership your having a laugh” and the kop bellowed out a similar song but it was inaudible from where we were in the south, was it Premiership or Championship your having a laugh?.
Towards the end as Plymouth were taking a free kick at the kop end, the kop also singing sarcastically at the Leeds players “Are you proud to wear the shirt?”, it is the first time I have heard the kop slag the players off and boy did they deserve it on this performance.
The officials were poor and David Healy got booked as early as the 6th minute…..for what I believe was for taking a free kick too early, but when Plymouth went in with their feet high the ref did bugger all about it.
Late on Beckford had a shot saved by Larrieu and again the Argyle keeper would have to thank his lucky stars for saving a Blake free kick with his feet.
In summing up Leeds were sh*t and could hardly get their passing game going, what do they all do at Thorp Arch through the week?. It was complete cr*p on display which is not just my opinion, you just had to listen to the masses on the kop to work out what they thought of it.
As for man of the match, Sean Gregan again had a good game, I thought that Stephen Crainey had a better (Passing)game in the first half only, Healy was frustrated out on the left and Blake tried but with the team playing sh*t failed to get anything going. Frazer who deputized for Kelly had a poor game but for all out effort and at least trying to win the ball and do something with it, I will give this weeks MAMF of the match to Jermaine Beckford.
