Reading vs Leeds - Sky Bet Championship Preview

Leeds travel to McDermott's old team Reading in the next round of Championship fixtures, Leeds go into the match 6th with 11pts (W3 D2 L1) whilst Reading are in 9th with 9pts (W2 D3 L1)

It's been a while since a did a blog due to various problems but having got them out of the way, I can now concentrate on this once again. First lets look back on the Bolton game. To be honest it wasn't the most entertaining game I've been to this year, the goal coming in the 6th minute by Varney

Looking at the team news. The good news for Leeds is that McDermott can add Byram to his squad after he has now fully recovered from a hip injury and could replace Peltier who limped off against Bolton at the weekend due to a groin problem. Apart from this McDermott has a fully fit squad.Former royal Noel Hunt should be starting up front with Varney who scored the winner at the weekend.

For Reading, they will be without main striker Pavel Pogrebnyak who is suspended. Blackman is set to replace, right back Shaun Cummings and winger Gareth McLearly could both return, McLearly being the guy who seems to always be able to score against the whites and Wayne Bridge is in line to start after coming off the bench to play against his former club Brighton. Leigertwood and Roberts are close to fitness but shouldn't be playing against Leeds tomorrow.

I'm going to go with a 1-1 draw, we've had a great start to the season but Reading will be a tough opposition for us so it would be more than hard to get a win.

That's all for this blog, sorry it's a bit short but I was rushed for time, there will be a post match review up tomorrow on this website, you can keep up to date with the blog on twitter @LUFCWorld and follow me personally @AJWoodward29

Leeds United vs Sheffield Wednesday - Sky Bet Championship Preview

Leeds host Yorkshire rivals Sheffield Wednesday at Elland Road tomorrow. Leeds go into the game after a goalless draw with Leicester at the weekend, meaning they are currently 8th in the League (W1 D1 L0)  whilst Sheffield Wednesday have lost both of their games this season to QPR and Burnley, both by a score line a 2-1 which is why you can't blame them if they believe they should have got something. They are 20th in the league (W0 D0 L2) However tomorrow all league form flies out of the window due to the rivalry between the two sides.

 

Looking at the team news for tomorrow's game. For Leeds El-Hadji Diouf could play after an infected shin made him  miss the first three

games. There are no new problems for the whites but Byram is still side lined.

For Sheffield Wednesday, Johnson (tendonitis) and Buxton (shin splints) both returned to full training this week and are expected to be involved for the Owls. Midfielder Giles Coke could also return to contention after missing last week's home defeat to Burnley through illness, but defender Joe Mattock is not expected to play for another three weeks due to a knee injury. The Owls will also be without winger Jermaine Johnson, who sits out the second game of a three-match ban following his dismissal in the recent Capital One Cup defeat to Rotherham.

My Prediction for the match is a 2-1 win for Leeds, Leeds are the stronger going into the match but don't expect Wednesday to roll over.

 

That's all for this blog, you can watch the game live on Sky Sports 1 HD a post match review will be up tomorrow night. You can keep up to date with this blog @LUFCWorld or follow me personally @AJWoodward29.



Leicester vs Leeds - Sky Bet Championship Preview

 

After a win against Chesterfield in the Capital One Cup, Leeds travel to Leicester in the first of many televised games this month for the whites. Leicester were just able to overcome Wycombe in a 2-1 encounter away from home. It's still hard to judge any form but after just one game, Leeds are 4th in the league and Leicester 5th both after winning their opening games.

Looking at the team news for tomorrows game and Leicester now have a fully fit squad to pick from as Zak Whitbread and Ben Marshall are now fit to play after missing out on the Capital One Cup game against Wycombe through injury. For Leeds Rudolph Austin could return after his two match suspension ended against Brighton. No new injury concerns have come up for the whites and McDermott could call on El-Hadji Diouf after he was able to play 75 minutes of a friendly against Burnley.

Leeds have only won once in their last eight visits to Leicester, a 1-0 win in November 2011 being the only one, however the foxes have only managed a clean sheet in one of the last twelve against Leeds and since competing in the 2003-04 Premier League with each other, these two sides have been in the same league on seven occasions out of the last nine seasons including being in League 1 in 2008-09, the only seasons these sides haven't been in the same league after 2003-04 was in 2007-08 and 2009-10 when Leicester were in the Championship and Leeds were in League 1.

For Leicester, Nigel Person's men are trying to be the first side since Micky Adam's side of 2002-03 to win their first two opening games of the season. The last time they were able to do that, they won promotion to the Premier League. The last time Leeds won their first two games of the season was 2009-10 when they won promotion out of League 1. Leeds have only won away once so far in 2013, that was to Watford on the last day of the season. Ross McCormack is set to make his 100th appearance tomorrow.

That's all for this blog, this game is on Sky Sports 1 HD from 4:15pm. A post match review will be up either tomorrow or Monday (it will be announced on Twitter and Google+) you can follow us and keep up to date with this blog on Twitter @LUFCWorld or me personally @AJWoodward29.

Leeds 2-1 Chesterfield - Capital One Cup Review

Leeds hosted Chesterfield in the first round of the Capital One Cup earlier with the championship side being the obvious favourites to go through to the next round of the competition, but Brian McDermott might not be the luckiest manager when it comes to the cup as in the same competition last year his Reading side lost 7-5 to Arsenal whilst we were going on our cup run under Warnock.

It was a fast start for the whites with Leeds having a few attacks in the opening minutes, it however after the direction of play completely changed Chesterfield who took the lead with new signing Eoin Doyle proving why Chesterfield signed him in the summer, netting his first goal for the club, it was still Chesterfield who dominated after the goal but in another switch of the direction of play, Michael Brown was told to shoot by the Leeds fans and he did, scoring a screamer and getting the whites back level. Just four minutes after that and Poleon shoot went into the bottom left corner and Leeds were celebrating a second.  This didn't change the flow of play afterwards as it was still Chesterfield dominating, you can't blame any of their fans if they feel like they had a good chance of causing a cup upset tonight. Into the second half and Leeds seem to finally be taking control of the match with a few good chances. Chesterfield still had their chances though in the second half but Leeds were able to make them earlier four minutes of the game matter the most as they went on to win 2-1.

Brown celebrates his 25 yard screamer

So who do we want in the next round of the cup. For me it would be nice to have a fixture against one of the big clubs. Liverpool and Newcastle spring to mind as big clubs who we haven't faced recently in the cup. Last facing Liverpool four years ago in the Carling Cup (now the Capital One Cup) and Newcastle in a friendly 3 years ago)

The draw for the next round of the Capital One Cup is on tomorrow at 12:30 on Sky Sports News. Details for the draw will be announced on this blogs Twitter page @LUFCWorld were you can also keep up with what's happening on this blog. You can also follow me personally @AJWoodward29.

Leeds vs Chesterfield - Capital One Cup Preview

The Capital One Cup is back tomorrow night as Leeds take on league 2 side Chesterfield with hopes of progressing as far as they did last year and hoping to take on some of the big teams once again. Last year we were able to face teams like Everton, Southampton and Chelsea. It all starts tomorrow at Elland Road with like last year lower league opposition.

 

Both teams come into tomorrow's match after opening day victories in their respective leagues. Leeds got a late winner from Luke Murphy to give them a 2-1 win against Brighton, whilst Chesterfield beat relegated Bury 2-0 with goals from O'Shea and Richards. Leaving Leeds in 4th in the Championship and Chesterfield 5th in League 2, though we can't draw any conclusions as to where the sides are going to finish just yet.  

 

Looking at the team news, for the whites El-Hadji Diouf returns from suspension but Rodolph Austin still has one game left on his ban. Both players were sent off in the penultimate game of last season against Brighton. Leeds will asses Stephen Warnock after he was side lined part way through the Brighton match and Sam Byram still remains out with hip problems. For Chesterfield everyone is OK except for ex Blackpool defender Ian Evatt who lacks match fitness and is unlikely to feature.

 

 

Looking at the teams stats in the Capital One Cup, Leeds reach the last eight of the competition for the first time since reaching that level in 1996, that year they went on to the final but lost to Aston Villa. It is the seventh consecutive home tie for the whites in the competition. A sequence started in 2011 against Manchester United. Leeds have not been knocked out of the Capital One Cup by a team outside the top two tiers since 1994 when Mansfield, then of the 4th tier knocked the whites out over two legs.

 

Chesterfield have been knocked out in the first round for the last six times on the bounce and have not kept a clean sheet in the last ten.

 

My prediction is going to have to be a 3-0 win for the whites, because of Leeds and Chesterfield's performances in this cup in recent years, this should be a easy victory for the whites.

 

That's it for this blog, a post match review will be up on Thursday, you can keep up to date with this blog on twitter @LUFCWorld and follow me @AJWoodward29

Diaries of a Leeds Fan - Leeds 2-1 Brighton

When I got into Leeds this morning, you could feel the optimism for the new season. It had been falling recently but since Bates left, the atmosphere has slowly risen once again. The people who were driving the club down (e.g. Bates and Harvey) have gone and now the club is looking up, hopefully up into the Premier League.

A bumper crowd went to Elland Road to watch the first match of the post Bates era and it was against the last team to visit Elland Road in the Bates era as we took on Brighton, under new management with the ex Barca youth coach Oscar Garcia. 

If you remember the last game when the two clubs came together, cheating and controversy was high, diving, a poor ref, and red cards left Brighton winning the most players on the pitch battle at 9-10 and the game 2-1. 

Nothing much seemed to change apart from the atmosphere inside Elland Road, everyone in a good mood since the Bates departure. But Brighton's and the refs characteristics remain the same, diving, cheating and trying to get our players sent off all seemed to feature in this match. The first major piece of action came after 13 minutes when Ulloa scored. I've always been very critical of Ulloa because he has never impressed me. This stunned all the Leeds crowd who were expecting a great start to the new campaign. It wasn't long until we were celebrating though when McCormack scored from a Tonge cross. The final goal of the game came in the final minutes of added time when Luke Murphy completed a dream debut by giving the whites their second opening day victory since returning to the championship. This reminds me of the opening day of the 2009/10 League One season where when it looked like we would draw a last minute goal by Jermaine Beckford meant we won and got our season off to a flying start. That year we won promotion, lets hope this season pans out like that one. 

Now I feel like I need to moan about another poor performance by the ref. There were instances where there was clear diving by the Brighton lads and yet the ref either fell for it all received a back hander. Leeds kept getting players carded. It was even to the point where the diving got unbelievable. If you get the chance to see the Bruno dive on the touch line you will be stunned that he thought he could get away with it. He dived approximately 7-10 seconds after any contact with anything but air. 

This game leaves Leeds 4th in the league and Brighton down in 16th. 

That's all for this blog, the next blog will be up on Tuesday when Leeds face League Two opposition Chesterfield in the Capital One Cup first round. You can keep up to date with this blog on twitter @LUFCWorld and follow my personal account @AJWoodward29

Leeds United vs Brighton - Sky Bet Championship Preview

It's finally here, tomorrow marks the start of the 2013/14 Sky Bet Championship and we start off with Oscar Garcia's Brighton. After ex Leeds United assistant Gus Poyet got sacked live on tv. The ex Barcelona youth coach became their new manager. At this point I would talk about league positions but this is pointless because both teams have no points and no goal difference as well as the other 22 teams in the league. I like many other Leeds fans have been eagerly waiting for the new season to get underway amist new hopes that we would finally gain promotion back to the Premier League where ultimately the club belong.

So what are the expectations for the new campaign. Leeds still look like they need one player to complete the squad, a squad which would then be capable of fighting for promotion. After finishing 4th last season, Brighton will be hoping to improve and gain promotion to the Premier League. Looking at the odds Brighton are 16/1 to win the league with Leeds at 22/1, promotion wise Brighton are 9/2 with Leeds at 7/1. For top six Brighton are 6/4 and Leeds at 11/4.

It hasn't been that long since the sides last met. A nine man Leeds gave Brighton a good fight and only just lost 2-1 on the penultimate day of last season. Nine men due to two unfair sendings off to Austin and Diouf. Lets hope it's not the same ref again.

As for the team news, there is not much to comment on really. Sam Byram will not be playing due to an hip injury whilst Rudy Austin and El-Hadji Diouf are suspended after being sent off against the gulls on the penultimate game of the season. 

The only injury news for Brighton is that Craig Mackail-Smith could be out until September with an ankle injury.

My prediction is a 2-1 win for Leeds, out squad may not be complete but Brighton's is unsettled with a new manager so Leeds should be able to pull through. A post match review will be up on Sunday, you can keep up to date with this blog @LUFCWorld and follow me on twitter @AJWoodward29

Slovenia, Wabara and Bates

This blog will look at a number of things that have happened in the world of the whites recently. 

First of all there's no better place to start than today and the Leeds players are currently in Slovenia getting ready to play their second pre season friendly tomorrow. The whites will be playing against a Slovenian Xl kick off at 5pm GMT. Most of the players have made it over including the new signings in Hunt, Murphy and Smith, also Byram will make it after injury, however this time last year no one was aware of him and he only came because we had no choice but we don't look back. Sadly I can't be in Slovenia for the tour due to school but I will try my hardest to bring as much insight into what happened on my upcoming blogs which will be confirmed on Twitter @LUFCWorld. 

Looking at transfer news there seems to be one person who seems to keep getting rumoured to be joining the whites. If you we're to believe other news sources  then the Tommy Rowe deal has gone but I should be talking about this at a later date. The one major one however that keeps popping up (If you haven't guessed by the title) is Manchester City's Reece Wabara. Even tweeting out earlier in the week that it was time to make some movements which is making fans (including me) believe that he is on his way to join Leeds. I'll talk about him more in a later blog but this I just wanted to get out now. 

Last but not least is that it's now been 9 days since Ken Bates was last chairman of Leeds United, the day after he left we signed our first £1 million player since 2005 in Luke Murphy, but what impact did Bates himself have on the club. Lets go back to the beginning in 2005 when he brought out debt stricken club. New times of optimism where expected, I was excited for a new dawn and a hopeful return to the Premier League and it looked like he would deliver when we reached the play off final, but Watford spoilt our party and took the place on the Premier League. This brought more debt problems and the year after brought the opposite of the year before and we were relegated to League 1 for the first time in the club's history. We rebuilt over the League 1 years with some close shaves in the play offs and in 2010 regained our Championship status. At this point I think we had our strongest squad in the Bates regime with players like Beckford, Becchio, Johnson, Howson, Snodgrass, Naylor etc. We were a force and we looked unstoppable at stages. But we started to sell them and bring in players like Brown and O'Brian. The last signing of the regime was a good one in Matt Smith. So to sum it up, the relationship was rocky, spending more on corporate and less on the team and the Premier League dream didn't help and even lead to protests. But to round it up for them Bates haters, if Ken Bates didn't buy Leeds in 2005 (even though he says heh didn't and it was a group from Switzerland) then the chances are that there would be no Leeds United. As much as there would have been a new would we have wanted that over our old Leeds United?

That ends this blog, the next confirmed one is on the 2nd August (but could be as soon as the 31st July) and is Leeds vs Brighton preview. Any more blogs will be confirmed on twitter @LUFCWorld and on Google+ at Alex Woodward. You can also follow me on twitter @AJWoodward29

2013/14

So the new season is upon us and I'm back at my desk wondering what to write about that's vaguely interesting. If you follow me on twitter @LUFCWorld you would have seen that I was delaying this blog as it was meant to come out on the 1st July but now with me being impatient and there being so much more to write about, I came to the conclusion that this would be a good time to start. 

So lets start almost a month ago. With there being as per usual lots of players expected to sign for the club, we got out first new signing under the McDermott regime which was 24 year old Matt Smith from Oldham who famously scored for them in the FA Cup against Oldham and Liverpool. I was interested in signing after seeing his performances in the FA Cup and since when it comes to scouting new talent McDermott seems to know what he's doing. We would have to wait some time for our next signing but it was an significant signing for the whites as it was out first £1million as Luke Murphy signed from Crewe. He looks like a good player and is very promising. The signing number three came when the worst kept secret in football was released and Noel Hunt signed for Leeds. I've always liked Hunt and bag wanted him at Leeds for a long time.

So it came to yesterday and Leeds were finally back and starting pre season at Farsley. I had been waiting for the match all week and as per usual it was a landslide for the whites winning 5-0 with Poleon and White getting 2 of them, Noel Hunt getting his first and Matt Smith getting 2 in his first match. I seems to be one of many congratulating the two on scoring on their debuts, my favourite image from the match was Noel Hunt trying to get the main part of Kung Fu Footy Player

We also last month had the fixtures for the new season released with us starting against Brighton, we have three games on sky all in August with our away game at Leicester on the 11th and our home matches against Sheffield Wednesday and QPR on the 17th and the 31st all on Sky Sports.

The next confirmed blog will be up on the 2nd of August for the Leeds vs Brighton preview and any more will be confirmed on twitter @LUFCWorld you can also follow me @AJWoodward29

Play Offs Review

So it was Crystal Palace, Yeovil and Bradford who all secured places in the higher leagues of football. With Bradford going up to League 1, Yeovil going up into the Championship and Crystal Palace claiming the £120 million prize and earning a place in the Premier League.

League 2 Play Offs Semi Final, First Leg
So lets go back to the beginning to the Football League play offs. First of all came the League 2 first leg matches. First Bradford hosted Burton in what was expected. However two goals in six minutes from Zola meant that Burton had a dominant 2-0 lead, a Wells penalty got Bradford back into it. Another goal by Weir meant it already looked very hard for Bradford to even have a chance of claiming a place at Wembley. A goal by Thompson got Bradford back into the match but it meant that going into the second leg Bradford would need two to go through. Bradford 2-3 Burton.

In the other match that took place that night Northampton faced Cheltenham at Sixfields. It was a close but boring match with the goal by O'Donnovan being the only one as the match ended 1-0 to Northampton.

League 1 Play Offs Semi Final, First Leg
On the 3rd May, the League 1 play off finals began, it was another boring affair, but Sheffield United looked like they were on their way to the final after a McFadzean goal in the 46th minute mean it was Sheffield Utd 1-0 Yeovil. They day after and Brentford who had just missed out on promotion travelled to Swindon. It looked like Swindon would hold an advantage after a Luongo goal in the 70th minute, but an O'Connor penalty in the 90th minute mad it 1-1.

League 2 Play Offs Semi Final, Second Leg
Both games took place on the same day. First a Guttridge goal confirmed that Northampton would go to Wembley 2-0 on aggregate. In the Bradford game, they would need a 2-0 win to go to Wembley for the second time this season. It was all going well as Wells gave them a lead in the 20th minute, it looked confirmed in the 50th minute as Hanson gave them a 2-0 lead to take them to Wembley, or so they thought, a Burton penalty converted by Maghoma meant it was going to extra time, but two minutes later Wells scored again to make it 3-1 and take the Bantams to Wembley.

League 1 Play Offs Semi Final, Second Leg
It started with Yeovil at home to Sheffield United, Dawson got the ball rolling for Yeovil after 6 minutes, and the comeback was complete with 5 minutes to go when Dawson converted to take Yeovil to Wembley.
In the other match and Brentford faced Swindon, it all started with a Rooney own goal to give Brentford the lead, after 40 minutes it then looked like Brentford were going to the final as Donaldson scored to make it 2-0. Rooney however got one back with one minute of the first half to go. Donaldson made it 3-1 just after the kick off. Devera scored after 57 minutes and they got level in the 90th minute through Flint, it went to extra time and penalties where Brentford won 5-4.

Championship Play Offs Semi Finals, First Leg
The chase for £120,000,000 began with Leicester at the King Power Stadium against Watford who just missed out on promotion because of a 2-1 defeat to Leeds (a review of which you can see on this website) A Nugent goal in the 82nd minute meant that Leicester would hold a lead going to Vicarage Road. In the Palace v Brighton match, the game didn't live up to its expectation with a 0-0 draw.

Championship Play Offs Semi Finals, Second Leg
Watford needed to win by two or more to get a place at Wembley, and after 15 minutes it looked like they could do it after Vydra scored, they were brought back down to earth 4 minutes later with a Nugent goal, Vydra then scored in the 65th minute, but it looked too late as in the 90th minute Knockaert dived looking for a penalty and he got it, but he missed it and just like in the Brentford vs Doncaster match which we said would never happen again, Watford went up the other end and 30 seconds or less after the penalty, Deeney fired into an open goal to make it 3-1 (3-2 Watford on aggregate) In the other match, at the Amex 2 goals from Zaha in the 69th and 88th minute meant it would be a Palace vs Watford final.

League 2 Play Offs, Final
So it was to Wembley as Bradford were there for the second time against Northampton, all goals came in 13 minutes from Hanson (15 mins) McArdle (19 mins) and Wells (28 mins) to give Bradford a 3-0 win and took them to League 1 in what was classed a highly successful season for the Bantams.
League 1 Play Offs, Final
On the next day, Brentford faced Yeovil, it was a good start for Yeovil as top scorer Madden scored after 6 minutes, Burn made it 2 just before half time. Brentford scored after the kick off through Dean, though it wasn't enough, Yeovil will be in the Championship.
















Championship Play Offs, Final
So Palace faced Watford in the final for £120 million. Nothing much actually happened in the 90 minutes but towards the end Palace were dominating, so at 0-0 the match went into extra time, this is where it started to get interesting. Watford started off the better, getting chances in, but then when Zaha went down in the box due to a challenge, Palace got a penalty and Phillips converted, it was then all Watford for the second half of extra time, but having not been able to get it into the net, Palace claimed the £120 million and went up to the Premier League.

That's it for this blog and the 2012/13 season, all that remains is England matches and transfer news. England matches include;
England vs Republic of Ireland - International Friendly Preview
England vs Republic of Ireland - International Friendly Review
Brazil vs England - International Friendly Preview
Brazil vs England - International Friendly Review
As for the 2013/14 season there are;

19th June 5pm: Leeds Fixture Preview

2nd August 5pm: Leeds vs ? - Npower Championship Preview

More will be confirmed, you can follow me on twitter @AJWoodward29 and keep up to date with this blog @LUFCWorld

Leeds United Season Review

The Leeds season has had its ups and downs as usual, in this blog, I will review every single game of the competitive and miserable season.

August
After a good pre-season, Leeds started the season with the Capital One Cup against Shrewsbury where the controversial signing of El-Hadji Diouf. I hated him coming to the club and wanted him out as soon as possible. It seemed I wasn't the only one. As he came on to a chorus of boos. Leeds won the match against the League 2 champions 4-0. We then went into the Championship with a televised game against Wolves, who had just been relegated from the Premier League, their Premier League class however couldn't stop a Luciano Becchio goal and a 1-0 win to get the season up and running, we all thought that this was the season that we would regain Premier League status. Though in our next game, a poor performance would result in a 2-1 against Blackpool. We then went to Peterborough knowing that this was a place where we would need to get 3 points in order to have a chance of going up. We got that, a 2-1 win helping us climb back up the table. Then the last game of the month saw us come up against Oxford in the Capital One Cup, Leeds won comfortably 3-0, but a great goal by an unheard of Sam Byram was the pick, this would make him a regular in the future.  At the end of August we were 7th in the table and into the third round of the Capital One Cup.

September
Leeds hosted Blackburn on the first day of the month with Jordan Rhodes making his debut for Rovers. Leeds drew 3-3 in one of the most entertaining matches of the season. This was the game where it seemed that most fans were starting to change their views on El-Hadji Diouf, and so was I. He was playing good football and he scored his first goal here. In the next match, Leeds went to Wales and Cardiff City. A 2-1 defeat didn't seem good enough as Leeds were all over the place. Are Tuesday night home match nightmare continued, a 3-2 defeat to Hull City, I remember thinking this was not good enough. We were able to return to winning form with a 2-1 win against Nott'm Forest, it doesn't matter how close it was, we just wanted to keep winning and hopefully gain a play off spot. It was good to get back into winning form with what had to be one of the biggest games of the year coming up. Everton came to Elland Road on a Tuesday night (so already at a disadvantage) Leeds were 11th in the Championship at the time and Everton were rocking the Premier League in 3rd. But an early Aidy White goal and Austin goal after a free kick meant that Leeds were able to walk out with a 2-1 victory. This helped us also drive towards a 3-2 victory away at Bristol City, Diouf scoring 2 and Tonge scoring 1. At the end of the month, Leeds were now 9th with 13 points and now into the fourth round of the Capital One Cup.

October
We went into October with high hopes for the rest of the season. Three wins on the bounce in September including the cup shock against Everton meant that Bolton looked even better. This is where the chant of the season took place. Bolton took the lead so sung "We're winning at home, We're winning at home, how sh*t must you be? We're winning at home" so when Leeds took the lead we reversed it on them "We're winning away, We're winning away, how sh*t must you be? We're winning away" But a late Bolton goal meant Leeds drew 2-2. But Leeds could have walked away with all 3 points if Diouf had got his last minute shot 1 inch lower. Whacking against the crossbar. This all meant that we looked strong going into the match against Barnsley (who for whatever reason thinks that we class them as huge rivals) It was a weak performance by the whites as we were lucky to escape with the 1-0 victory. Then came Sheffield Wednesday, it was a tough match with a great goal by Micheal Tonge, sadly the derby was overshadowed by an attack on Sheffield Wednesday goalkeeper Chris Kirkland, now all Leeds fans are branded like him, we are as appalled as the rest of the footballing world, and Leeds took action, banning him from purchasing a membership (which means he won't be able to go to away games) Leeds went into the Capital One Cup fourth round match with Southampton on a bad run having drawn with Charlton 1-1 and then lost to Birmingham   1-0. It seemed like Leeds would lose this match but we all knew that the Saints would prefer to have three points in the league than another match in the Capital One Cup. This proved as Leeds dominated with a huge 3-0 win. We were all hoping for another big tie for the next round. Our prayers were answered with Chelsea. Whilst we were looking forward to that, our league postion was still going backwards, we were now 11th in the league table with 19 points.

November
We started November with a draw to Brighton at the Amex with a fair 2-2 draw. But the way the coaching staff of Brighton came out after the match (more to the point of Soccer AM) was unacceptable, they were going on the lines of it's OK for us but not for Leeds. This is shocking that professional coaches could even dare come out with this sort of comment. Since then I lost all respect for Charlie Oatway and started to lose some for Gus Poyet, showing no respect whatsoever for his former employers. We would then lose 1-0 at Turf Moore, this was a surprise as in the previous years we had done well there and we expected that we could get back to winning ways in the Championship. Every season we have a shocking game at home where we lose and get dominated. November 10th was the day this season as we completely fell over at the hands of Watford. A 6-1 defeat was unacceptable (a word you will hear a lot more of during this blog) our defence and midfield collapsed meaning that the attackers were barley aloud to have any chances. We also lost the next game at The Den 1-0 due to the controversial sending off of Luke Varney and racist chants were aimed at Diouf from the Millwall fans. This meant we hadn't won in seven Championship games. Our fortunes were to turn though winning 2-1 against league leaders Crystal Palace. This continued with a hard earned 1-0 win at home to Leicester. This meant that we were dropping down the league even more, 15th at the end of the month with 26 points.

December
The month started with a match against Huddersfield at the John Smith's Stadium. Leeds were far the better team in this match and it showed with a 4-2 win giving us 9 points from our last 3 games. A poor performance at Derby though meant we couldn't make it 12 out of 4. Leeds never woke up in a game where radio commentator and ex player hated by all Leeds fan Robbie Savage said he might have to go in front of the Leeds fans so there would be something happening. I was at this, my only away match of the season, it explains why I didn't travel with Leeds for the rest of the season. We were dull, Derby were dull, it was just pure DULL. We were able to pick up in our next game with a 2-0 win at home to Ispwich. This was vital, a good record of 4 win from 5 games meant we looked strong going into our Capital One Cup tie with Chelsea. It looked good as Becchio gave us the lead. But 5 goals from an in form Chelsea meant we had no chance of a West Yorkshire derby in the final. Back to the league and the result against Chelsea hadn't seemed to affect us at first with a 2-0 win at home to Middlesbrough. But the month ended bad with two defeats against Forest and Hull. The 4-2 win for Forest wasn't enough (somehow) for ex Doncaster Rovers manager Sean O'Driscoll as he got the sack. This meant going into 2013, we were back in a shout of a play off place, going back up to 9th in the table.

January
On the traditional new years day game, Leeds got a win against Bolton. It was close but it was good enough for the whites. Then in the FA Cup, Leeds got Birmingham at home, it was a match that Leeds wanted to win. But a 1-1 draw meant that we would have to go to St. Andrews later in the month. We then found out that we would be getting Tottenham Hotspur if we were to win at Birmingham. We then went for the seasonal unlucky game at Barnsley. This showed with a shocking performance and a 2-0 defeat. Then back to the FA Cup and a win at Birmingham meant that we were through to the fourth round and Tottenham (AKA Bale FC) Bristol City came calling next at Elland Road, we were just able to push through again with a tight 1-0 win. Then for the last game of the month and Tottenham Hotspur. Leeds were able to push into a shock 2-0 lead before a Dempsey goal put us back under pressure. But we were able to stick out to the end of the match to cause one of the shocks of the round and a game against Manchester City. At the end of the month, we were into the fifth round of the FA Cup for the first time since 1996 and we were 11th in the league with 41 points.



 

February

Leeds were back in Championship action against Cardiff at Elland Road. This was another match that I saw this year (among many that I have left out) and Cardiff were awful, they kept passing it out of play, giving it back to Leeds and playing like an awful side, but Leeds just couldn't score and a lucky goal from Fraizer Campbell meant Cardiff won 1-0. After that we went to a Wolves side who were even still struggling to find themselves in the league and were looking more and more like relegation candidates by the day. It started badly with a Peltier own goal, but after going 2-1 up we looked like we were going to win until a late equaliser meant we drew 2-2. Then came the big game, Leeds  travelled to the Etihad to face Manchester City, they proved that they were champions with a convincing 4-0 win. But we definitely generated the atmosphere in the stadium. Then Blackpool came to Elland Road with Paul Ince as the new manager. A comfortable performance meant that Leeds won the match 2-0. The final game of the month was a boring draw with Blackburn with no goals, hardly like the game at Elland Road in September. This meant that at the end of the month, Leeds had gone back up to ninth with 46 points.

 

March

Leeds started the month with a game at home to Millwall, the only difference between the two sides was a Steven Warnock penalty that gave Leeds a lucky three points. We then went to the King Power Stadium and Leicester where another 90th minute goal meant Leeds lost points as the game was a 1-1 draw. The two games that were to follow were also draws, at Palace in a 2-2 draw where Varney committed one of the worst dives I have ever seen (including Bale and Ronaldo) and a disappointing draw at home to Peterborough. Two defeats in a row ended the poor month. A defeat against Huddersfield which is always annoying as the Huddersfield fans get in your face about it even if you don't. Adam Clayton had lost all respect for his former team just like In have for him and Beckford came back to a chorus of praise from the Leeds fans, and at Ipswich where a player always gets sent off for Leeds, unfair as always. This meant going into April we were back in 11th with 52 points.

 

April

The first game of the month came on the first day. A bank holiday and Leeds had the rams at home, it looked good when Ross McCormack scored, but 2 late goals meant Derby won. The Leeds fans were singing for Warnock to go and they got what they wanted, he resigned later that night, though some think he was sacked. Neil Redfern had one game in charge as caretaker manager and it came with a    2-1 defeat to Charlton through yet another late goal. For the next match we found out that ex Reading manager Brian McDermott came and he started well. A 2-1 win over our rivals Sheffield Wednesday. We looked like a side who should be fighting for the Play Offs and we did once again in the next game. Though it was only Rodolph Austin who gave us the 1-0 win against Burnley. We then travelled away to Birmingham, the disappointing defeat was overshadowed by the fact that we were safe. In our last home game of the season Leeds had Brighton, due to another shocking referee at Leeds, we lost the match 2-1. This meant that going into the final day, we were 16th with 58 points.

 

May

For the last game of the season we travelled to Watford, due to injuries there were 16 minutes of first half added time. A tap in by Poleon meant that Leeds took the lead, Abdi made it 1-1 with a fantastic strike, then in the 89th minute, a counter attack meant McCormack was through and gave Leeds a 2-1 win, meaning Watford had to go in the Play Offs and Leeds finished in 13th with 61 points

That's all for this blog, there is one blog left of the 2012/13 season which is a play off review on the 27th May at 6pm, for 2013/14 there will be blogs at toellandbackblog.blogspot.com when a player signs for Leeds and the first blogs for the 2013/14 season are;

19th June 5pm: Leeds Fixture Preview

2nd August 5pm: Leeds vs ? - Npower Championship Preview

 

We also have England Blogs which include;

England vs Republic of Ireland - International Friendly Preview

England vs Republic of Ireland - International Friendly Review
Brazil vs England - International Friendly Preview
Brazil vs England - International Friendly Review
England vs Scotland - International Friendly Preview
England vs Scotland - International Friendly Review
England vs Moldova - World Cup Qualifier Preview
England vs Moldova - World Cup Qualifier Review

 

You can follow me on Twitter @AJWoodward29, and keep up to date with this blog @LUFCWorld

 





Transfer Targets

Who would Leeds need to buy if they wanted to gain promotion back into the Premier League. Some people would say no body, some would say we need a whole new team. This blog is my views on who Leeds need to buy to achieve promotion.

The team underneath is the first team from last season. If they are green then for me they are good enough to stay and fight for promtion, if they are orange then they should be considered and red means they should just leave.

Paddy Kenny
Sam Byram
Lee Peltier
Tom Lees
Steven Warnock
El-Hadji Diouf
Rodolph Austin
Micheal Tonge
Luke Varney
Ross McCormack
Steve Morison

So who could come in for the whites;

A young keeper with a bright future
He was on loan at Leeds in 2012

The first potential signing is a goalkeeper, and with Brian McDermott's connection to Reading. I've gone for a suitable signing to be Reading's Alex McCarthy. When he came on loan to Leeds last year, he was simply incredible with wonderful saves left, right and centre. He has got even better this season with Reading, if he didn't have to deal with 20 shots a game, he would have been able to help Reading stay up. Paddy Kenny however has made some wonderful saves this year, but 66 goals conceded is not good enough for promotion. That's why it has to be considered, will Paddy pick up his game so were only conceding around the 45 mark like this years champions Cardiff? Or will it be better to go for a younger approach. I'll leave it up to you.

How much - I think £3 million should get Reading to sell him, especially with Federici and Taylor both wanting to get games.



Maguire in England colours with as much emotion as Tom Lees

A good centre back would be young Harry Magurie from Sheffield United. He has made such an impact since getting into the first team at Brammel Lane, with game winning tackles and goal scoring headers, he seems to have the lot, but as inconsistent as Lee Peltier has been, would you get rid of him for someone who has never been in the Championship, again I'll leave it up to you.

How Much - £1.5 to £2 million should be enough.

I said we might need a centre midfielder, then Graham Dorrans might be avaliable, Steve Clark (West Brom's manager) has said
that he might sell him, and Dorrans himself has said he will go if he is not being played enough. This would be a great signing for Leeds, he is a great player who can pass the ball and get us out of this division as he did with West Brom. We will be in a battle though with Premier League sides so this will be tough. If not Dorrans then a good choice would be Henri Lansbury from Nott'm Forest. He will be cheaper and is more experienced for the Championship.

How Much - Dorrans will be around £5 million and Lansbury would be around £2.5 million (a big difference)

We also might need a fast winger, to get some pace into the side, that's why a signing in this area would be someone like Nathan Redmond from Birmingham City, he's young, technical and has huge potential for the future. We would also have Premier League competition to sign him, but it is possible we could get him to Elland Road.

How Much- He would cost in the £3 million region.

A final player would be a striker, and once again with connections to Reading a potential signing is Adam Le Fondre, he is a proven scorer in the Championship and the Premier League. He would be clinical and would really help Leeds towards promotion

How Much - £2 million to £5 million would be my guess

That's all for this blog, blogs coming up are;
Friday 5pm: Leeds Season review and awards
Saturday 10am: News of the Week - Sir Alex retires (I'll try to get it in tomorrow or later tonight)
27th May 9pm: Play Off Review

You can follow me on Twitter @AJWoodward29 and keep up to date with this blog @LUFCWorld.

Npower Championship Awards 2012-13

First of all I have to apologise for this being late. It was meant to go up yesterday at 5pm but I wasn't told that I would be out all day and wouldn't be able to do this. Anyway lets get on with the awards.

So first of all well done to Cardiff City on winning the Championship and Hull for going up on the last day. If you want to see a review of the last day of the Championship, it's at toellandbackblog.blogspot.com

There will be a third, second and first place in every award.

To start with the main award, Player of the Year. In third, his goals helped steered his team into the play offs. The top scorer in the Championship with 30 goals. Glenn Murray. In second, his goals have turned his side away from relegation to League 1. 28 goals means his £8 million price tag was a good decision. Jordan Rhodes just misses out on the award. In first, he also helped Palace get into the play offs, he was also voted joint best Football League player, Wilfred Zaha had deserved his move to Manchester United.

For young player of the year, in third, his goals and assists helped Blackpool to also fight of any threat of relegation. The award goes to Thomas Ince. In second he introduced himself after a goal against Oxford. It is super Leeds' very own Sam Byram. In first, it once again goes to Wilfred Zaha.

For best underrated player of the year. In third, his saves helped Cardiff to the league. He has never been seen however no one sees him as a good keeper. Third goes to David Marshall. In second, he was a player who helped Peterborough almost complete the impossible escape. He has been a great player for them and filled the boots of George Boyd. Second is Dwight Gayle. In first, after Blackpool decided they didn't want him. His goals for Palace has proven he still has talent. In first is Kevin Phillips.

The final award is manager of the year. In third, after leaving Palace, he revived Bolton's season and almost got them into the play offs. Bolton's Dougie Freedman. In second, since returning to Forest, he helped them go from the bottom half of the table to a play off battle. Billy Davies. In first, Hull were a mid tabled side last year, their manager has changed their fortunes and they will be playing in the Premier League, this award goes to Steve Bruce.

That's all for this blog. Future blogs include;
Tuesday 5pm: Play off preview
Thursday 5pm: Transfer Targets
Friday 5pm: Leeds Season review and awards
27th May 9pm: Play Off Review

You can follow me on Twitter @AJWoodward29, and keep up to date with this blog @LUFCWorld.

Play Off Preview

West Ham celebrate a return to the Premier League and £90 million

After a hectic last day of the season last Saturday, the Play Offs are about to take place. We already know that Bradford will face Northampton in the League 2 play off final, and that Brentford and Yeovil will play each other in the League 1 final, I'll be previewing these matches later.

 

But now to what they call Football's Richest Prize, the Championship Play Offs, whoever wins gets £90 million pounds and a return, or in Brighton's case, a first trip to the Premier League.

 

The two semi finals are;

Leicester vs Watford

Thursday 9th May with return leg on Sunday 12th May

Crystal Palace vs Brighton

Friday 10th May with return leg on Monday 13th May

 

First Leicester vs Watford, Leicester crept in to the Play Offs on the last day with a late goal to beat play off contenders Nott'm Forest. Watford missed out on promotion also to a late goal by Leeds and Ross McCormack. They will be hoping to make a return to the top flight after their last run was brief.

My prediction for the first game is Leicester 1-0 Watford, Leicester will be strong and have high motivations for the play offs whilst Watford will be down after just missing out on promotion. In the second game Watford will fight back, but it won't be enough, I say a 1-1 draw at Vicarge Road to take Leicester to the final.

 

In the second game, Crystal Palace face Brighton in a huge derby for both teams. Palace will be hoping to make a return after being relegated in season 2004-05. Brighton have never been in the Premier League but have been in Division 1, this would be their first return to the top flight for 30 years. The first game I see a 1-1 draw and in the second game I think Brighton win 1-0. This will mean Brighton will go through 2-1 on aggregate.

 

So for the final I say that Brighton will be in the Premier League for the first time. They look the best side going into the play offs and they will win in the final 2-0.

 

In League 1, I see Yeovil going through, after the end to Brentford's season, they will be down and Yeovil will be more confident. I say Yeovil 2-1 Brentford.

 

In League 2, I see Bradford going up. With the way they have been playing recently, they look the better side (sorry Northampton) and are more experienced for what they will see at Wembley after their exploits in the Capital One Cup, but this is the closest call I have had to make whilst writing this. I say Bradford 1-0 Northampton.

 

That is all for this blog, blogs I will be uploading for the 2012/13 season include;

Thursday 5pm: Transfer Targets
Friday 5pm: Leeds Season review and awards
27th May 9pm: Play Off Review

You can follow me on Twitter @AJWoodward29, and keep up to date with this blog @LUFCWorld



The Final Day - As It Happened

There were lots of twists and turns in the Championship yesterday, these are all the goals from the games which had an affect on Promotion, The Play Offs and Relegation.

3 Minutes
We start in the play off battle and at Nottingham Forest vs Leicester City at the City Ground. After a mix up in the box. Simon Cox converts to give Forest a 1-0 lead. This puts Forest into the Play Offs and kicks out Bolton.

9 Minutes
At the other end Wolves are almost certainly down. LuaLua scores for Brighton who have already confirmed their place in the play offs. This just confirms what was coming.

Wednesday, who are fighting to survive against a out of form Middlesbrough score through veteran Steve Howard. This secures Wednesday's survival as it stands.

14 Minutes
Chris O'Grady scores for Barnsley and as it stands Peterborough are relegated.

21 Minutes
Matt Phillips gives Blackpool the lead at Bolton. This leaves them in 7th, 2 points off the play offs.

24 Minutes
James gets one back for Leicester, it's now 1-1. Forest are still in the play offs, but a goal for Bolton or Leicester would change that.

28 Minutes
In a play off and relegation battle. Tomlin scores for Peterborugh with a wonderful strike from outside the box. This puts Peterborough out of relegation, and Huddersfield in by goal difference, in the play offs, Palace are holding on, a goal for Bolton would change that.

31 Minutes
Middlesbrough are down and out as Lita scores for Wednesday and pushes them away from any danger of relegation

35 Minutes
The goal at the Reebok Stadium gives a sigh of relief for Forest and Palace as Sylvestre scores for Blackpool. It leaves Bolton needing 2 for any chance, and 3 for a certain place.

39 Minutes
It's game over for Wolves. LuaLua with his second means Wolves need a miracle to stay up

42 Minutes
The promotion race finally wakes up. Bad defending by Watford leaves Dom Poleon to fire into an empty net. As is stands Hull are up.

43 Minutes
Leicester complete the comeback. King scores and puts Leicester into the Play Offs with Crystal Palace.

45 Minutes
Due to injuries, 16 minutes of added time will be played at Vicarage Road. Still Watford 0-1 Leeds

Eagles gets one back for Bolton as play off ambitions are reignited.

Glenn Murray breaks his bad form and scores for Palace. This means Palace are safer, and Posh are occupying the final relegation place.

Just 1 minute and 58 seconds have past and Bolton get another through Craig Davis. This means Bolton are one goal off the play offs with 45 minutes to play.

Half Time
Most games are at half time but Leeds and Watford are still playing.

45+5 Minutes
A great goal by Abdi means Watford are level and one goal away from the Premier League.

49 Minutes
Fraizer Campbell comes back to haunt his former club as he gives Cardiff the lead. Due to goal difference. Watford are going up.

50 Minutes
Ward scores for Forest. This pushes Bolton back up into 6th, with Palace in 5th, Forest in 7th on Goal difference to the play offs and Leicester now 2 points off in 8th

53 Minutes
Back to the relegation battle and Beckford scores for the Terriers. This means Huddersfield are safe and Barnsley are now in the relegation places.

58 Minutes
Hull fight back as Proschwitz converts from inside the box to give Hull promotion once again. But a goal for Watford would kick them back out.

63 Minutes
Hull just minutes after equalising score through long serving player Paul McShane. His third goal for Hull ever puts their fate back in their own hands.

74 Minutes
Scotland scores to give Barnsley a 2-1 lead at Huddersfield. This means the Terriers are back in 22nd and Barnsley are safe.

81 Minutes
Vaughan bites back for the Terriers as Barnsley are once again occupying 22nd.

83 Minutes
Kevin Phillips scores to put Peterbrough back in danger, but not down, Barnsley still occupy 22nd.

85 Minutes
Connor Sammon finally breaks down Millwall's defence to give the rams a 1-0 lead. This puts Millwall on 56 and in danger of relegation if Peterborough and Barnsley can score.

89 Minutes
A controversial free kick decision means Palace can score through Jedinak, this leaves the Posh in 22nd. Though 1 goal would keep them safe. Palace are almost certain of a play off place.

90 Minutes
Seconds into added time and Leicester get the winner through Antony Knockaert. This moves Leicester into the play offs on goal difference and pushes Bolton out.

90+3 Minutes
Hull City miss a penalty through Proschwitz.

90+4 Minutes
Just after Hull miss a penalty, Cardiff score one via Nicky Maynard. This leaves the door open for Watford to go up.

Full Time
Peterborough are down, Leicester are in the Play Offs and Hull are waiting on the Watford vs Leeds game to see if they're up. 79 minutes have been played and Watford need 1.

89 Minutes (10 Minutes after full time in other matches)
A counter attack leave Ross McCormack in the clear and he chips the keeper to give Leeds a 2-1 lead. Hull are minutes away from the Premier League.

Full Time (Vicarage Road)
Leeds have beaten Watford 2-1. Hull are promoted to the Premier League and Watford are in the play offs.

That's all for this blog. A blog about Leeds players leaving will be up at 6pm. The rest of the 2012/13 season blogs look like this (Time is in GMT);
Monday 5pm: Championship Awards
Tuesday 5pm: Play off preview
Wednesday 5pm: End of season review and awards
Thursday 5pm: Transfer Targets
27th May 9pm: Play Off Review
You can follow me on Twitter @AJWoodward29 and keep up to date with this blog @LUFCWorld

Players Leaving Leeds

It has been confirmed that 10 players will not have their contracts renewed by Leeds United. These include;
Leigh Bromby
Paul Connolly
Davide Somma
Paddy Kisnorbo
Paul Rachubka
Habib Habibou
Monty Gimpel
Sanchez Payne
Patrick Antelmi
Jordan Snodin

There are a few on the list who don't surprise me. The likes of Bromby, Kisnorbo, Connolly, Somma, Rachubka and Habibou have not been good enough since joining Leeds, I always thought Habibou was a good player after seeing him in the Belgium Pro League and various clips on Youtube. But he hasn't cut it at Elland Road, Connolly never plays as well as the rest of them. Don't be surprised if Bromby takes up a role with the juniors as he had done well with them up to now.

I can't comment on Payne, Antelmi and Snodin as I have not seen them play.

I haven't seen Gimpel play either but having heard about what a talent he his. He declined Man City to come to Leeds. He was ranked as an up and coming talent. He was also a straight A student. He was coached by some of the best and came out as one of the best for the future. And we still let him go, ok he is not first team material now, but give him some first team experience on loan and he will be a star.

That's it for this blog. The upcoming blogs include;
Monday 5pm: Championship Awards
Tuesday 5pm: Play off preview
Wednesday 5pm: End of season review and awards
Thursday 5pm: Transfer Targets
27th May 9pm: Play Off Review
You can follow me on twitter @AJWoodward29, and keep up to date with this blog @LUFCWorld

Diaries of a Leeds fan - Watford 1-2 Leeds United

I was unable to see the first half and beginning of the second half today as my mum dragged me into town whilst the match was on. But I do know about the major events that took place. The first five to ten minutes were mostly Watford, who would blame them, the Premier League is on the line. Morison got injured early on. Young Dom Poleon came on for him. Then, young keeper (and a player who I would have wanted at Leeds) Jonathan Bond, got injured, this is the same as had happened to ex Arsenal keeper Almunia. Then Dom Poleon scored with a simple tap in. Due to the injuries to Bond and Morison delaying the game, a huge 16 minutes of added time were given. In the 50th minute (or 45+5) Abdi scored with a great goal. This meant it was 1-1 going into half time.

Ross and the boys celebrate

The game went quite fast for me but I have to express my disgust in the Watford players. They kept pushing the Leeds players, tackling or obstructing at any given opportunity. This was not acceptable and was no surprise that Troy Deeney got sent off. Though going into the last few minutes though you couldn't tell that it was 10 v 11 as Watford were far the better side. Until a ball got cleared and Leeds were able to go on the counter via Ross McCormack, who chipped the keeper and gave Leeds a 2-1 win, giving Hull promotion alongside Cardiff. This means we now have to look forward to next season. I'm still wondering what I will do until July or August. I can watch the rugby and that's what I will be doing with most of my time. I will be hoping to tour with the whites in July.

That is all for tonight. The upcoming blogs include;
Sunday 5pm: Players Leaving
Sunday 6pm: Last day of the season review
Monday 5pm: Championship Awards
Tuesday 5pm: Play off preview
Wednesday 5pm: End of season review and awards
Thursday 5pm: Transfer Targets
27th May 9pm: Play Off Review

You can follow me on Twitter @AJWoodward29 and keep up to date with this blog @LUFCWorld

Final Day Predictions

My predictions for the last day of the season in the Npower Championship,

End of season table
Agree or Disagree?

Wolves will go down as a 2-1 win at Brighton will not be enough for goal difference. Brighton will not be bothered about the match but Wolves won't be able to get the margin needed to even stand safety. Barnsley and Huddersfield will draw which will keep Huddersfield up but will leave Barnsley in trouble depending on Peterborough who will win at Crystal Palace which in turn opens the door for teams fighting for the play offs. Barnsley will go down as Peterborough win and Sheffield Wednesday don't lose by the amount Barnsley needed. A Wednesday defeat of 3-1 to Middlesbrough will be enough for survival. Forest will beat Leicester 2-0 and a Bolton draw means Palace will keep their place alongside Nott'm Forest. Watford will win 2-1 against Leeds (a preview for the match is already up) as they will gain promotion as Hull get a 2-2 draw with Cardiff.

The other games include;
Birmingham 2-0 Blackburn
Burnley 1-1 Ipswich
Charlton 2-0 Bristol City
Derby 1-0 Millwall

You can follow me on Twitter @AJWoodward29 and this blog @LUFCWorld

Watford vs Leeds United - Npower Championship Preview

For the last game of the Championship season, Leeds travel away to Watford, hoping to end the season on a high, but don't expect a friendly match from Watford, a win could give them a chance of promotion, depending on Hull losing at home to champions Cardiff.

I'm sure that everyone remembers the nightmares of when Watford last came calling. A humiliating and embarrassing 6-1 defeat left Leeds wanting to put their head in a hole. But since then new players and a new manager has come in which means Leeds are in better position to challenge Watford.

 

 

Looking at team news, Watford has no new injuries or suspensions to deal with going into the match against the whites. Midfielder John Eustace and ex QPR defender Fitz Hall are both back in training after both picking up hamstring injuries. Both will be fighting for a place on the bench. Nyron Nosworthy and Tommie Hoban are both still sidelined. Leeds are missing three first team players who have proven to be vital. El-Hadji Diouf and Rodolph Austin are out due to both being sent off in a disappointing Brighton game with another bad ref. The Austin appeal was declined. Sam Byram is out due to injury.

My prediction is a 2-1 win for Watford, for Leeds this match isn't important but is huge for Watford. Will Leeds grant Watford their second promotion to the Premier League after giving them their first? Find out on Sky Sports HD1 via the red button.

There will be a blog up at 9pm tonight with my predictions for the last game of the season. The blogs coming up until the end of the season include;

Saturday (8pm) Diaries of a Leeds fan - Leeds vs Watford
Sunday (5pm) Players Leaving
Sunday (6pm) Last day of the season review
Monday (5pm) Championship Awards
Tuesday (5pm) Play off Preview
Wednesday (5pm) End of season review and awards
Thursday (5pm) Transfer Targets
27th May (8pm) Play off Review

You can follow me on Twitter @AJWoodward29, and keep up to date with this blog @LUFCWorld

Has the Premier League lost the plot?

The Premier League has just got too predictable

A few years ago, I would watch the Premier League, if it was because Leeds were in the league or just because it was the best thing to watch on a Saturday or Sunday if I wasn't going to Leeds, however I don't watch the Premier League anymore, this is for a few reasons.

First of all, it's just too predictable, OK you get the odd surprising and interesting result, we got 2 at the weekend in this league with Wigan 2-2 Tottenham and Newcastle 0-6 Liverpool. However compare this league to the Championship where you can beat the top team 3-0 one week and lose to the bottom team 5-0 the next, that's why I'm more of a fan of the Football League.

Another reason is because the players when I was watching the Premier League week in, week out were passionate about the club they were playing for. These included the likes of Alan Sheerer and Roy Keane (even if he didn't show it some times) When I was only frequently watching it, there were considerably less of these types of players, but some still existed. These included the likes of Mellberg and Hypia. Now though there are even less, I struggle to name 1 at every club. You still have the likes of Steven Gerrard and Brad Guzan. You have some who would claim that they would stick by the club, but have proven if they don't get what they want, they're out, these include the likes of Wayne Rooney. The lower down the leagues you get the more passionate the players are towards their clubs.

My penultimate reason is its lost all of its personality, when I was younger, there were great fights and players in the Premier League, you had great fights such as Keane and Viera, personalities such as "Psycho" Pearce and such hilarious blunders such as the Viera and Henry penalty against Man City. In recent years you have had events such as Phil Brown giving the team talk on the pitch and Jimmy Bullard's celebration the year afterwards. But in recent years, we haven't seen anything that is even on a par with these characters or events. Mario Balotelli being an exception.

Finally, the Premier League (and all top flights) are dominated by money, sure you could pick out Real Madrid or Bayern Munich, but the best example of this is Manchester City. A few years ago, Man City were a mediocre mid tabled side, but in 3 or 4 years, their fortunes were turned with their new owners and they were Premier League champions, we need to go back to a time where clubs were on a financial par. This is why I personally welcome financial fair play, we also however need to bring back salary caps for fans and clubs sakes. The consequences of not bringing Fair Play in is devastating, as once the Man City owners get bored, they will sell, they don't spend their own money on the club, they borrow most of it from banks. This would leave City in a pile of debt and cause them to potentially drop out of the Premier League and maybe even go and revisit League 1 and League 2.

I bring this up because the Premier League is over its head thinking it's the best league in the world. UEFA are even thinking of docking it a Champions League spot meaning only 3 teams will be able to qualify from England. I will be writing another blog in the near future on what the Premier League and the rest of football in England can do to solve this problem.

That should be coming up in the next week. A preview for the Leeds vs Watford game will be up on Friday, you can follow me on twitter @AJWoodward29 and keep up to date with this blog @LUFCWorld

The Diaries of A Leeds Fan - Leeds 1-2 Brighton

Today all started when I woke up at 7am, I was struggling to get to sleep the night before, my dad told me that he was working and therefore I could take his season ticket and go to the match instead of him. This would actually be the first game I would see with Brian McDermott as the manager and of course the first time seeing the new kit in real instead of just in pictures. When I got on the train to go to Leeds, it was odd, I would normally be with my dad talking about the match, but I was just on my own, so I started to play FIFA. I got to Leeds and went off to Elland  Road straight away. I have to admit, since first seeing the home kit and like I said on this blog calling it a "monstrosity" It has grown on me, and the chances are that I will be buying one once I can.



Super Diouf converts to make it 1-1
Click on the image to watch the penalty

Now the match, I got in with plenty of time to spare (unlike most times I visit Elland Road) and it was an even start to the match. I was starting to think about the football we were playing was much better than the football we were playing under Warnock. Just after that thought had crossed my mind. Bad defending meant Buckley broke through and gave Brighton a one goal lead. Then to make matters worse when Austin was running for the ball, it seemed from my view that Barnes just fell towards to ground holding his face with no assistance, however when looking at it again, it was clear that there was contact, the referee gave him a straight red, this was a yellow card offence as it wasn't on purpose but still could have hurt the player. It seemed like Barnes was going down  constantly to get a Leeds player sent off. If so then he shouldn't be playing football as this is just pure cheating. However Brighton weren't as engaged for this match as they were for the Blackpool one, Leeds didn't look like they had had a man sent off. So at half time it was 1-0, this however was due to some major refereeing mistakes by Graham Scott, in the second half a few more bad refereeing decisions were to take place before after a corner, El-Hadji Diouf was blatantly pulled to the ground for a Leeds penalty. It was a deserved straight red card for Calderon who had only just come on. Diouf converted, I recorded it whilst looking away. Whilst I was making sure that the clip had actually caught the penalty, I heard a huge chorus of boos from the Leeds fans around me, I looked up to see Diouf walking off the pitch, according to BBC it was something he did towards the fans, according to Sky, it was something he said to the linesman, you make your own mind up over what actually took place.

Afterwards, I was only sickened even more after correctly predicting that Leeds would be returning to heart break hotel after Ulloa scored in the 88th minute. This thing seems to happen to us all the time. It is starting to get a bit annoying. Hopefully we'll be seeing less of this next season after McDermott has been given the time and money he needs to turn this clubs fortunes around.

After the match, I decided it would be nice to clap the players whilst taking their lap of "honour"

I waited then after it was over looking in the club store at the new kit which I should soon be buying and other various items.                                             

 

That is it, there will be a blog up on Tuesday about has the Premier League lost the plot. There will be a preview for the Leeds vs Watford game on Friday and the review on Sunday, and the Leeds United season review up on Tuesday 7th May. That is all the blogs I know that I will be doing up to now until the new season preview which will start on Wednesday 19th June when the fixtures for the new season come out. You can follow me on Twitter @AJWoodward29 and keep up to date with this blog @LUFCWorld

Leeds United vs Brighton and Hove Albion - Npower Championship Preview

Leeds United host Brighton in the penultimate game in the Npower Championship with Gus Poyet making his return to Elland Road after once being assistant manager to Dennis Wise. Leeds go into the game having lost all play off hopes after a 1-0 defeat to Birmingham, they are currently positioned 13th (W16 D10 L18) compared to Brighton who only need a win to secure a play off place are in 4th (W17 D18 L9) However for a while automatic promotion places have been now out of reach. Looking at the two teams in their last 6 games, Leeds have picked up 6 points (W2 D0 L4) compared to Brighton who have picked up 10 points in their last 6 (W2 D4 L0) and undefeated in their last 7. No prizes for guessing who the favourite is. The last game in particular as Leeds had a tough 1-0 defeat to Birmingham, a side who have been down on their luck all season, compared to Brighton beating Blackpool, a side who were expected to be up there at the start of the season and have the joint best player in the Football League (according to FourFourTwo) by 6-1.

Looking at the team news, for Leeds Brian McDermott have injury concerns over Rudy Austin and Adam Drury ahead of the game, Austin has a slight knee problem and Drury is struggling with his back. However but players are expected to be fit and ready for the final game of an abismal season at Elland Road, Lee Peltier came back from injury after coming on as a substitute and could be back in the starting line up on Saturday. McDermott has two options of either keeping the same two of Tom Lees and Jason Pearce in central defence, or recall the skipper to play alongside one of the two. Steve Morison is also pushing for a recall. David Norris is sidelined after surgery on his knee and forward Davide Somma has suffered another blow in his career last week as he now requires an operation to resolve a cartilage problem.

Gus Poyet can play the same squad as the one who batterd Blackpool last weekend, Craig Mackail-Smith and Will Hoskins remain the only players out of the squad after four players made successful returns last week. Including Ashley Barnes who returned from a 7 game suspension after remarkably attempting to trip up the referee against Bolton at the Reebok Stadium. Wingers LuaLua, Buckley and right back Bruno all made returnes in the Blackpool game as well as Barnes. Keeper Tomasz Kuszczak had a clash of heads in the second half and will be expected to play aginst the club who attempted to loan him whilst he was at Manchester United, as much as he wanted to come to the club, Sir Alex wouldn't let him go with the clubs being rivals, however if Kuszczak dosen't play, then ex Leeds goalkeeper Casper Ankegren could be in the mix (I would like to see him back at Elland Road)

My predicted line ups are

Leeds United: Formation (4-4-2)
1. Kenny
25. Byram
4. Lees
5. Pearce
15. Warnock
7. Green
8. Austin
18. Tonge
21. Diouf
44. McCormack
11. Varney

Brighton:
1. Ankergren
3. Greer
14. Calderon
20. Upson
2. Bruno
4. Hammond
11. Orlandi
21. David Lopez
26. Bridcutt
30. Buckley
9. Barnes

My prediction is a 1-1 draw for the game. Leeds will be wanting to bounce back after the Birmingham defeat but Brighton will still be strong and not let Leeds through easily. A post match review will be up on Sunday. You can follow me on Twitter @AJWoodward29, and keep up to date with everything on this blog and everything Leeds by following @LUFCWorld