Leeds United AFC: Sinner…
It was vital that the game in hand away at Tranmere was taken advantage of and the boys did not disappoint. In what the White Army hoped would be a turning point in the clubs recent form, the thumping 4-1 win managed to at least settle a few nerves and placed much needed daylight between 2nd and 3rd place. It was also a confidence booster for all around and the victory acted like an aesthetic for a while as members of the White Army positively worked out all the differing permutations of the remaining fixtures. The first of which was a trip down to St Mary’s for the first time since both clubs exited controversial periods of Administration…
Even after a couple of years, its hard for many of the White Army to get their head around what went on in the summer of 2007. It’s also hard to not drift into bitter day dreams of what could have been and Southampton are a prime example. One could be forgiven for assuming that both clubs begun their post administration period on an equal footing. However, nothing could be further from the truth and whilst both clubs started the next season with points deductions, that is really where the similarities end. Leeds United AFC were cast as “Sinners†by the rest of the footballing world, coming out of Administration with no CVA and Bates still fronting the “Mysterious†owners of the club…
Southampton, on the other hand, were bought out by a reclusive Swiss Billionaire. Whilst Bates was f**king about with his pence in the pound offers to creditors, pulling what looked like every trick in the legal book to win back control and threatening the club with liquidation if he didn’t, Markus Liebherr strolled up and paid between £13-15 million for Southampton. At the same time he made sure all debts were paid, meaning no requirement for a CVA. Whilst Bates spat venom at all around, Liebehrr announced:
“I also look forward to the Club re-engaging with the fans and the local community. We cannot succeed with out their backing.â€
Whilst Bates has overseen a flood of post Administration loan signings, freebies and a couple of low cost signings, Liebherr has already spent around £3 million quid on the likes of Lambert, Hammond, Puncheon & Barnard. No wonder manager Pardew was smugly quoted as saying “I feel like the Manchester City manager of Division Oneâ€. In the respective first seasons in League One, both teams wiped out the points deduction the clubs were hampered with, but circumstances were very different. Leeds United AFC began with a -15 point handicap (a 25 point penalty in all), had a season entrenched in chaos and ultimately failed at Wembley in the Play Off final…
Southampton on the other hand began with a solid, stable and a financially sound environment to work in and only a 10 point deduction to wipe out. With a feel good factor in spades, they are Wembley bound in the JPT and whilst they could not be ruled out of a Play Off spot, their focus is no doubt on looking for promotion next season. Many tip them as favourites to do just that, but as we are acutely aware, football doesn’t work out that way. Still, many would be surprised if the Saints remained marooned in League One for as long as the Whites have thus far. There must be many supporters up and down the land, including the White Army who are looking at Southampton with envious eyes…
To most clubs, administration is not a “Get out of Jail†free card, yet that is what appears to have been handed to the Saints and it will be interesting to see if the club take full advantage of it. The Saints fans certainly seem to be and there was not a frown in sight as we arrived at the sun kissed stadium. Unlike recent visits, the ground was packed to the rafters and the home support were in good voice. The White Army, restricted to around only 2,300 tickets, were also in good voice and humour as kick off approached. Memories of that amazing fight back from 3 down to win 4-3 filled the air as an unchanged Whites line up was announced, something of a rarity this year…
So with Casper in goal, the back Four again comprised of White, Naylor, Kisnorbo and Hughes. McSheffery, Doyle, Howson and Snoddy sat in the midfield, whilst Beckford and Becchio looked to upstage their more expensive striking counterparts. It was clear from the off that the pace of the Saints wingers would be trouble and so it proved. Early chances for Lambert and Puncheon were seen as let offs as the Whites defence looked ragged. There was hope up the other end though, McSheffery with an early free kick that looked goal bound but was sadly blocked by Becchio. This was followed by Beckford’s superb strike minutes later that whistled just wide…
After Jaidi headed over, it was McSheffery who played a massive part in what became our last real attack of the half. A clever run from Beckford opened space for McSheffery to run at goal and with the choice of a shot or a simple pass to Beckford, McSheffery tried a harder pass to Becchio and the chance was gone. After that, the Saints attacks were simply too easy in the build up and young White was having a torrid time.Winger Puncheon was not in the mood to take any prisoners and sadly for young White, McSheffery was not in the mood to help the lad out.Casper saved well from Hammond, before Punchon struck a post as the Saints attackers had a field day…
When the inevitable goal came, it was via a defensive blunder. Kisnorbo sliced a clearance and though Hughes reacted well, he sliced his clearance into touch. Back came the ball and without a player in Yellow touching it, it found its way into the right side of the box. Lambert turned, played a neat ball to Puncheon who squared for Ex Leeds man Harding to tap in and proceed to celebrate like a mad man in front of us. It’s not the first time Harding has scored against us and the lad remains a perfect example of a player who could not live with the weight of Elland Road expectation on his shoulders. Slick free flowing attacks followed, leaving the Whites rattled and the White Army screaming in anger…
The biggest problem was ball retention, or lack of. Clearance’s from the defence would find Howson or Doyle and their hooked punts upfield were bouncing off the front two rather than sticking, so the ball was coming back at us very swiftly indeed. Barnard was denied a certain goal by the head of Kisnorbo and the hosts could consider themselves very unfortunate indeed to have Jaidi’s “goal†from the resultant corner disallowed. Moments later, Barnard and Scheniderlin were somehow denied by Casper and Hughes in a school yardesq goal line scramble as the Whites limped to halftime, remarkably just a goal down and clearly with problems…
Grayson acted swiftly, Bromby was thrown at right back as Hughes went to Left back. Hughes set about letting Puncheon know he was no soft touch and the winger was to barely get a look in for the rest of the half other than send an early free kick over the bar. Whilst the defence had been shored up, there was barely a flicker of attacking nous about the team as a whole. Hoofs upfield were met by routine defending and neither midfield nor strikers were offering any attacking threat. Howson and Doyle looked lost and out of their depth and whilst Snoddy at least tried to offer something, McSheffery went back to playing invisible man, only to be seen again upon getting taken off after a clash of heads…
Kilkenny replaced him and his calming impact was immediate, though with Doyle now on the left wing, Kilkenny had no outlet for his raking passes. The home team were happy to keep us at arms length and only sporadically did they bother attacking for the rest of the half. A couple of corners caused Casper to flap but fortunately no harm came of it and the boys in Yellow clung on, yet still made no impact on the Saints defence. That was until Gradel came on with around 15 minutes to go for Becchio and his impact was immediate. Harding the victim as Mad Max threw him to the ground in an off the ball incident and was lucky to only see a Yellow card, even if the angry lad was again seeing Red…
Still the tactics of the boys in Yellow were frustratingly predictable and poor. Casper’s hoofs to Max or Beckford were wasted and when we tried something different, Casper’s throws to Bromby were hoofed up field and once again, wasted. The Saints were in cruise control and not really out of 2nd gear, however the boys in Yellow finally had a spell of something like pressure near the end. Long throws from Bromby and punts into the box were having some effect and we even won our first corner of the game. Howson took it and summed up his and the teams performance by sending the ball behind for a goal kick. As 5 minutes was added, the White Army roared the lads on for a final push…
Snoddy delivered what was our only real goal bound effort of the second half with a superb strike that flew just wide. It was the last bit of action and frankly would have been more than daylight robbery had it gained us a point. So we enter the last 10 games of the season knowing that it remains ours to throw away and it’s the results that matter rather than performances. Fortunately for us, its results elsewhere too that will make the difference of where we end up. The only positive from the game today was none of the chasing pack could take advantage and in a bizarre twist, we are actually better off from when the game started in terms of goal difference and matches left to play…
It is amazing how the anaesthetic of victory can wear off so rapidly. With just 10 games to go, panic has begun to again set in once again, leaving the White Army looking over it’s shoulders. Next up it’s in-form Millwall to visit Elland Road and it’s to be hoped that the boys in White can put today’s horror show behind them and look to calm the nerves. At the same time, the boys need to find some kind of consistency in results as you can bet that results from elsewhere will not be so kind in the future…
Leeds United AFC…“Sinners never Saintsâ€â€¦ Keep Fighting…
