BFTG - Leeds

[melonhead]

Best start in 4 years?
Clowns

[genome]

Very pleased with that back five, by the way. That's 3 clean sheets on the bounce - a good reaction to a 6-0 drubbing I think.

[Jano]

Drenthe's end product wasn't great last night, but neither were the balls he was being given. Too often he made runs which either weren't spotted or the balls were so bad he had no chance.

Akpan didn't play well but then he's been out of the team for so long I didn't expect him to do much. Blackman isn't a striker, he seems much more comfortable on the wing and I'm surprised we don't give McCleary a go up top since he was supposed to do well there for Forest on occasion, but still, I thought that was one of Blackman's better games. Admittedly that isn't saying much.

My main frustration at the moment is hollywood pass Guthrie. How he's getting 8-9's from you lot amazes me. He picks the wrong pass 75% of the time, moans at everyone around him, but doesn't say a word when he fluffs his passes by either picking some sort of stupid punt that doesn't get anywhere near where he intends it to go or misses a simple through ball to a more forward player who has made a good run.

[kwik-silva]

Where was McAnuff last night? Presume injured because I can't believe NA would ve picked Blackman ahead of him on the wing.

Picked Alf ahead of him there on sunday

I'm pretty sure the club twitter said he had taken a knock? I may have made that up. Either that or they're just being kind.

You don't miss it 'til it's gone eh?

[Magic Hat]

Very pleased with that back five, by the way. That's 3 clean sheets on the bounce - a good reaction to a 6-0 drubbing I think.

None of them played in that game, but I agree they are looking more comfortable.

[MouldyRoyal]

Last min wins are the sweetest.

Thought we restricted Leeds pretty well, only the lively McCormack was any real threat. But I think he's a rather underrated forward to be fair.

Full backs were good, Kelly is definitely much more solid positionally than Gunter, got forward sensibly too. I hope he starts the next games (sorry Gunter).
Centre Backs were reasonably solid in defence but Morrison needs to work on his attacking headers ffs.
Guthrie was pulling the strings for us, always wanted the ball, always looking for a pass. He got frustrated when there weren't options available to him, however, resulting in lost balls.
Williams has a great engine and is dangerous running with the ball but seems a little easy to muscle off it.
Agree with Mags' assessment that Akpan is more of an athlete than a footballer. Hoping that performance was just a bit of rustiness due to lack of game time.
Blackman did well with everything other than the final end product. Thought he bullied defenders and held the ball up well on the right just lacked a little confidence in crossing and shooting. He's not going to be a world beater, but if we can get him playing to his strengths (aerial ability and physical strength) then he will cause opposition problems.
Drenthe was unfortunate to be doubled up on a lot. Goes down a little too easy and is a bit selfish. Occasionally showed his true talent and a top free kick.
HRK worked very hard up front, like Blackman he caused defenders trouble. Finishing wasn't on target today but we know he can do that.
McCarthy didn't have to do much but was brave in cutting out crosses etc.
McCleary and Le Fondre but looked lively coming off the bench. Alf doing what he does best, nicking goals.

All round a better performance than Brighton, livelier and more direct going forward, a touch more solid at the back.

Oh and our fans are utter pcunts. Booing the substitution of HRK would surely have appeared to the player as though he himself was getting booed. The jeering of Blackman's substitution was pathetic too, I am not his biggest fan but that is not going to help. I am hoping he did not hear it.

[MouldyRoyal]

My main frustration at the moment is hollywood pass Guthrie. How he's getting 8-9's from you lot amazes me. He picks the wrong pass 75% of the time, moans at everyone around him, but doesn't say a word when he fluffs his passes by either picking some sort of stupid punt that doesn't get anywhere near where he intends it to go or misses a simple through ball to a more forward player who has made a good run.

75% of the time? Really? Or just occasionally? Agreed he missed some chances where players (notably McCleary) were making good runs but most of the time this was because he had his back to the runner and no one has 360degree vision.

[Jano]

Yes 75% of the time. I don't understand why anyone would defend him for picking the wrong pass when he is the first person to rant and rave at the other players for not passing to him when there are other options. Only thing he did of note in the second half is the little run which resulted in nothing, and him missing several opportunities to release the ball to others around him in better positions.

[Warfield North Stand]

No mention so far of the old bloke who seemingly had a heart attack/fit in the north stand during the second half, and the absolutely sh1te response time of the st johns medics being summoned by hundreds of fans. Possibly linked with the calls for a matthew to let himself known. Get well soon.

best of luck to the ill fella, maybe the south stand started singing to cause the heart attack

A friend of mine went to the hospital with him, he had a fit of some kind and they kept him in over night for observation

He dropped like a stone on the stairs right in front my mate and his kid, and mine ( I was still drinking beer!!) He and others were screaming at the medics to help. They were busy watching the game!! Glad he's ok as my mate's 1st impression was a heart attack.

[Glory Boy]

Surely people should have learned by now not to leave early?

I left early for the second time ever in my life.

I'm a total idiot for it as no matter how bad a match is I generally stay till all players off pitch. Feel like sh*t but it's my own fault. I won't be doing it again and I'm glad for othes who didn't stupidly leave!

You were in good company . It looked like at least 6-7000 had gone by the time the goal was scored. Seemed a bit surreal with the remaining lot celebrating wildly in a half empty stadium.

[Sanguine]

Yes 75% of the time. I don't understand why anyone would defend him for picking the wrong pass when he is the first person to rant and rave at the other players for not passing to him when there are other options. Only thing he did of note in the second half is the little run which resulted in nothing, and him missing several opportunities to release the ball to others around him in better positions.

Given, as you say, he is getting gr8 r8ings from most on here, you need to think iif your reading of the game is accurate.

[Brum Royal]

Massive improvement on Brighton and Yeovil. The game was played at a higher tempo which seemed to suit us better. It also seems that the players are learning that just because Adkins wants to play a short passing game, it does not mean that every pass is restricted to a maximum distance of 10 yards. Guthrie was stroking the ball around from wing to wing with ease at times, and looks like the player we all hoped he was going to be when we bought him, definitely the most improved player from the McD to Adkins era. Surprised at the negativity about the game both last night on BBCRB and on here, it was an improvement, it showed the side is evolving, and we looked a lot more threatening and worked Kenny more than we did Kuszcak (spelling?).

McCarthy - largely untroubled
Pearce/Morro - looked a lot more solid tonight, McCormack was a/Leeds only threat certainly, Hunty was well marshalled by the two of them. Morro should have had a hattrick.
Bridge/Kelly - both looked good going forward and put some good crosses in, looks a similarly matched duo to Murty/Shorey
Drenthe - one or two fantastic bits of skill. Still needs to learn to toughen up, and not go down so easily, but is improving
Williams - I'll admit I was critical of him after Brighton, but last night he began to look a lot better and show the type of player he is. Like Drenthe, needs to toughen up a bit and not get knocked off the ball so easily, but that'll come with time
Jem - Poor lad. Looked nasty.
Guthrie - MotM. Everything went through him, switched play, controlled the game. Superb.
HRK - looked ok through the middle I thought, looked like he could do the "big man" centre forward role, and linked play well at times. A little too selfish at the moment perhaps, but otherwise thought it was harsh to be taken off first
Blackman - best game for us so far. Over harshly criticised last night, when he was much better second half, worked quite well in partnership with HRK. Some good wing play and a few tricks.

Akpan - very frustrating, looks good in patches, but doesn't seem to have either the grit or the flair to be a consistant centre mid at this level (yet). He's young I guess so plenty of time to improve
ALF - works hard, but is not the man to play the lone striker role (needs must), especially when up against big forwards. Once again, his goal showed where he is most effective - inside the box, feeding off scraps.
McCleary - decent when he came on, caused the left back problems.

We looked much better with two up front than when we changed to ALF up top on his own. At least with HRK and Blackman up there, the ball was sticking a bit to give the midfield chance to get up in support rather than coming straight back at us when it was just ALF on his own. The only period when Leeds really caused us problems was the last twenty mins or so as we struggled to keep the ball up the field.

It was nice to look threatening from set pieces again, too often this season and last, we've not put good quality balls into the box. The fact Morro should have had a hattrick showed the improvement there.

Booing the HRK substitution and cheering Blackman going off = moronic and embarrassing.

[Jano]

Nothing wrong with my reading of the game. Don't get me wrong, he is by far our best centre mid, but he is also extremely frustrating.

[Westwood52]

Our goal should not gloss over what was still a pretty average performance-we were still however a better team than a rather limited Leeds side. That said if Adkins ever manages to put into practice what he preaches we might get somewhere-the potential in the team is there buried deep !

McCarthy 6: Not much to do but some awful goal kicks and one pretty bad throw out.
Kelly 6: OK defensively but offers little going forward couple of poor crosses (like everyone else-bar Drenthe's winner).
Bridge 7: Again a fair amount of flair going forward.
Morrison 6 : Still an accident waiting to happen.
Pierce 7 : His best game.
Akpan 6 : Not as bad as some people make out-but after nearly a year at this level-the staff have still been unable to sort him out.Is it his failure or theirs ?
Guthrie 8: Easily our best player but being asked to do to much.
Williams 6 : One good rasping shot-but kept on losing the ball he is finding this level tough.Not sure what his value is.
Blackman 6: His best game I have seen- some nice touches-but he is just so weak, mentally and physically.
Kanu 7: CF looks his best position-holds the ball up well-best I have seen since Roberts got injured.
Drenthe 6: Oh dear-tried hard but kept on giving the ball away-like Williams finding it tough.

Mc Cleary 7: Looked a threat
Alfie 7: Usual-nothing but the goal.

Ref 3: Let a lot of tackles go which was fair enough-but just wasn't consistent.

Leeds fans and McD excellent but a pretty limited team whose fans deserve better.

Still not sure about Adkins or the Owner-fans quiet as usual.

[TBM]

Someone upload the goal please or at least find a link

[M Brook]

Last min wins are the sweetest.

Thought we restricted Leeds pretty well, only the lively McCormack was any real threat. But I think he's a rather underrated forward to be fair.

Full backs were good, Kelly is definitely much more solid positionally than Gunter, got forward sensibly too. I hope he starts the next games (sorry Gunter).
Centre Backs were reasonably solid in defence but Morrison needs to work on his attacking headers ffs.
Guthrie was pulling the strings for us, always wanted the ball, always looking for a pass. He got frustrated when there weren't options available to him, however, resulting in lost balls.
Williams has a great engine and is dangerous running with the ball but seems a little easy to muscle off it.
Agree with Mags' assessment that Akpan is more of an athlete than a footballer. Hoping that performance was just a bit of rustiness due to lack of game time.
Blackman did well with everything other than the final end product. Thought he bullied defenders and held the ball up well on the right just lacked a little confidence in crossing and shooting. He's not going to be a world beater, but if we can get him playing to his strengths (aerial ability and physical strength) then he will cause opposition problems.
Drenthe was unfortunate to be doubled up on a lot. Goes down a little too easy and is a bit selfish. Occasionally showed his true talent and a top free kick.
HRK worked very hard up front, like Blackman he caused defenders trouble. Finishing wasn't on target today but we know he can do that.
McCarthy didn't have to do much but was brave in cutting out crosses etc.
McCleary and Le Fondre but looked lively coming off the bench. Alf doing what he does best, nicking goals.

All round a better performance than Brighton, livelier and more direct going forward, a touch more solid at the back.

Oh and our fans are utter pcunts. Booing the substitution of HRK would surely have appeared to the player as though he himself was getting booed. The jeering of Blackman's substitution was pathetic too, I am not his biggest fan but that is not going to help. I am hoping he did not hear it.

That's the fairest assessment I've read so far. The criticism of HRK and Blackman is totally over the top. I thought that Akpan made some good tackles but agree he is too easily muscled off the ball. Worryingly, that is true of too many of our midfielders. The performance was frustrating but better than Brighton and Yeovil and, yes, we are 7th, but the performances so far this season have been disappointing (1st half Watford excepted). A continual improvement is needed over the next few months if we are to consider ourselves as promotion material. NA said after the game that he may have to look at the U21s and that may be no bad thing.

Leeds look a below average side and may well struggle to make a challenge this year.

[AirRaidSiren]

Last min wins are the sweetest.

Thought we restricted Leeds pretty well, only the lively McCormack was any real threat. But I think he's a rather underrated forward to be fair.

Full backs were good, Kelly is definitely much more solid positionally than Gunter, got forward sensibly too. I hope he starts the next games (sorry Gunter).
Centre Backs were reasonably solid in defence but Morrison needs to work on his attacking headers ffs.
Guthrie was pulling the strings for us, always wanted the ball, always looking for a pass. He got frustrated when there weren't options available to him, however, resulting in lost balls.
Williams has a great engine and is dangerous running with the ball but seems a little easy to muscle off it.
Agree with Mags' assessment that Akpan is more of an athlete than a footballer. Hoping that performance was just a bit of rustiness due to lack of game time.
Blackman did well with everything other than the final end product. Thought he bullied defenders and held the ball up well on the right just lacked a little confidence in crossing and shooting. He's not going to be a world beater, but if we can get him playing to his strengths (aerial ability and physical strength) then he will cause opposition problems.
Drenthe was unfortunate to be doubled up on a lot. Goes down a little too easy and is a bit selfish. Occasionally showed his true talent and a top free kick.
HRK worked very hard up front, like Blackman he caused defenders trouble. Finishing wasn't on target today but we know he can do that.
McCarthy didn't have to do much but was brave in cutting out crosses etc.
McCleary and Le Fondre but looked lively coming off the bench. Alf doing what he does best, nicking goals.

All round a better performance than Brighton, livelier and more direct going forward, a touch more solid at the back.

Oh and our fans are utter pcunts. Booing the substitution of HRK would surely have appeared to the player as though he himself was getting booed. The jeering of Blackman's substitution was pathetic too, I am not his biggest fan but that is not going to help. I am hoping he did not hear it.

Perfect.

[ZacNaloen]

Comments that it was a better performance might be wide of the mark, Brighton are a very difficult to break down and do not play an open game. We may have created fewer chances Saturday but that could have been down to the opposition rather than us.

[Magic Hat]

Getting in the car briefly heard Dellor saying that Le Fondre was screaming "I should have started" in the dressing room. He's clearly not happy playing as a sub, should the club consider selling him in January and getting someone better suited to the system in?

[Maguire]

Getting in the car briefly heard Dellor saying that Le Fondre was screaming "I should have started" in the dressing room. He's clearly not happy playing as a sub, should the club consider selling him in January and getting someone better suited to the system in?

Someone should point out to him that he's always gashbag when he plays from the start.