Leeds United sink to new depths !

It is hard work being a Leeds United supporter. It is not many years ago since Leeds were playing in the Champions League semi final, but now we are faced with taking trips to places like non-league Histon. I must admit that I had never heard of Histon and I had to "Google" it to find out where it was. It turns out that Histon is in Cambridgeshire and is a village with a population of about 4,000 people.

Despite being a village football team Histon managed to beat Leeds United one nil. The weather conditions were terrible and the pitch was virtually unplayable. When the conditions are like that it is a great leveler and it wasn't a suprise that Leeds lost. Leeds play good football and their normal passing game just got stuck in the mud ! The whole circumstances made it very likely that there would be a suprise result and that's how it turned out to be.

When your team loses most football supporters feel down in the dumps but when you lose to a team like Histon I can tell you that the feelings of depression are not good.

Leeds have picked up a few injuries lately and they need to pull themselves up quickly if they are to bounce back - hopefully against Tranmere Rovers this Saturday.

Derby V Leeds in the Carling Cup

Losing when you don't play well is not good but at least you can say you deserved it. But losing when you play well and dominate the opposition for 65 minutes of a game is bad. Last night Leeds went 2 nil down to Derby within 15 minutes but then got a goal back and dominated the game. It was good of Paul Jewel, the Derby manager, to say that Leeds were the better team. He went on to say that Leeds will get promoted and that Fabian Delph will go far !

At the end of the day though football is about scoring goals and Derby scored 2 and Leeds only scored one, even though Leeds hit the post and had loads of possession. Jermaine Beckford came on as sub but he still can't find the net. Come on Jermaine, you can score goals...show us you haven't lost that wonderful touch !

Fabian Delph on the move ?

If you are to believe press reports it is a done deal that Leeds up and coming star Fabian Delph has agreed a £5M move to Manchester United. It appears that several Premier League teams have been following his progress since he broke into the Leeds first team this season. Delph signed a 4 year contract recently and Leeds chairman Ken Bates has said several times that Delph is not moving anywhere and the only way he will play in the premiership is when Leeds get promoted.

Only time will tell, however, whether Bates is telling the truth. £5M plus for Delph is good business for Leeds in the short term but in the long term Leeds need players like Delph to get them out of dismal League 1. Lets hope the press reports are just speculation. Delph can go if he wants but let him help Leeds get promotion this season first.

Cheltenham V Leeds United

At last ! It's an away win for Leeds United. Ok, it was only a 0-1 victory, but it ended the away games losing streak. Again we scraped a win when we should have scored more goals and been easy winners. As often happens, escpecially to Leeds ! the team were under the cosh for most of the second half but Leeds managed to hold on and claim all 3 points. The win took Leeds to second in League One. I suppose I should be grateful for a victory and on a day that wasn't good for other teams any sort of victory is welcome.

Jermaine Beckford is going through a barren period in terms of goal scoring. However, I don't think he has anything to worry about as he is creating chances and getting into scoring positions so he needs to be patient and the goals will come again.

Leeds V Walsall - A great result !

Thats seven straight home wins for Leeds now after a 3 nil win over mid table Walsall. Leeds now move up to second in League One and into one of the automatic promotion spots. Sounds good and it is good but lets not get carried away. There is a long way to go ! I still think Leeds can improve especially in defence and in attack Jermain Beckford needs to get back on track soon with some more goals as he is going through a lean spell.

Leeds have a tough looking away game on Tuesday against Southend and then another away game against struggling Cheltenham on Saturday. A draw and a win I would be happy with. It still depresses me when I look at all the league tables and I see Leeds in what is effectively Division 3. Come on Leeds we should be aiming to win every game and lets get out of this awaful division start on the road to back where we belong !

Leeds are back on track

At last Leeds United have got a win after the awful loss against Milwall and a poor run of results. I listened to the game on Yorkshire Radio and it did not sound like a convincing victory. The leeds defence needs to improve and we need to be more clinical in front of goal. More goals are needed and the whole team needs to improve. Having said all that Leeds are still 4th in League One after 12 games played. It is still early days as there are another 34 games still to play. Being only 3 points off the pace is a good position to be in at this stage of the season and I think Leeds will become stronger further into the season. All Leeds need to do is stay in contention, but I would still like to be runaway league leaders. Another home game against Walsall on saturday and 3 points is vital.

Don't sell Fabian Delph !

Leeds United have a rising star by the name of Fabian Delph. He broke into the first team only a few games ago and already there are rimours that Sunderland and West Brom want to buy him. Apparantly, Leeds value him at £4M ... Now ok, I realise football clubs need to be run as a business but Leeds need to get out of League One and to do that they need good players. So I cannot see the logic of selling one of the teams best players even if they can get £4M for him. If Leeds get promoted they will earn more than that anyway.

So...come on Leeds, lets keep the players that will get us out of this division and do not sell Fabian Delph or any of the other good players like Beckford !

A sad note

The wife of former Leeds player Lucas Radebe, Feziwe has died of cancer aged 34. Life can be cruel ....

Leeds V Brighton

Well....thank goodness Leeds had a victory on Saturday. After two consecutive losses they bounced back and had a deserved victory against a Brighton team with Robbie Savage in it, their new signing.

The Elland Road crowd were getting a bit restless when with the first half nearly over Becchio hit the back of the net at the second attempt. A minute later Beckford scored with a great glancing header and then finally Beckford added another when he rounded the Brighton goalkeeper. Brighton scored after a mistake in the Leeds defence so the score ended up 3-1 to Leeds.

Gary Mac. says that Leeds will improve..well my feeling is that they need to or we will be facing a play-off place at best. There are 4 or 5 teams who look like they are a cut above the rest so it looks like its going to be a good scrap for the top 2 places. Having said that there are still 36 games left and its still early days. The test will come when the teams with smaller playing squads start having injuries and suspensions. Leeds with probaly the strongest playing squad in League One should be ok but improvements are needed especially in defence.

The next game is against Milwall.

Is it crunch time for the Premier League ?

The severe economic crisis gripping the UK at the moment could have severe financial implications for the Premier League. Luckily for Leeds United they don't have any debts and hopefully the club seems to be running on a sound footing.

Howver, the same cannot be said for some clubs in the Premier League. Latest reports show that clubs owe over £3 billion ! . West Ham United could be in for their own economic crisis. The club are owned by an Icelandic banker who has recently been sacked as his bank has become insolvent. At best it will mean that West Ham won't have much cash to spend on players to support their new manager Zola. At worst it could mean the club not being able to service its debts. The situation has not been helped by XL going bust who were the shirt sponsors for West Ham.

Other clubs that could possibly have problems are Manchester United. Owned by the American Glazier family they apparantly have to repay millions of dollars in loans by 2010. With the current credit crisis that may well be difficult. If they can't repay the debts the club may well be owned by a US Hedge fund who may not be around themselves by then according to the BBC news website.

Interesting but worrying times to say the least !

Johnstone Paint Trophy

Gone are the days when Leeds were playing in the semi-finals of the Champions League. Those were good days. Now though we have to be content to try for a Wembley place via that well known competition The Johnstone Paint Trophy ! Wow .... and we get to visit, for the first time I think, the Don Valley Stadium to play Rotherham United.

Rotherham have been having a good run of late and are unbeaten at the Don Valley Stadium ... if my facts are right, so the game promises to be interesting. Who knows, we could be at Wembley twice... if we get to the final of the Carling Cup and the Johnstone Paint Trophy final too !

What a fall from grace for Leeds United. Only a few years ago Leeds were playing AC Milan and Barcelona... how gutting is that ?!

The most memorable goal scored by Leeds

There have been some fantastic players who have been priveldged to wear the Leeds United shirt and to grace the Elland Road pitch. My favourite player as a child was Albert Johansen. I liked him because he was an exiting player to watch. I was too young to remember whether he scored any great memorable goals though. But I do remember goals scored by the great Peter Lorimer and the legendary Eddie Gray.

As far as Eddie Gray is concerned I will always remember the goals he scored at Elland Road against Burnley in I think the year was 1970. Eddie scored two goals that day. His first one was a wonder goal where he collected the ball on the left hand side on the Burnley penaly area and he then dribbled the ball past and beat about 6 players using the most amazing balls skills you will ever see. He then lashed the ball into the far corner of the net.

However Eddie's second goal that day was equally impressive but is not shown as much as his first one that day. For his second goal he collected the ball just inside the Burnley half of the field and moved a few paces forward before realising that the Burnley goalkeeper was off his line. He then hit an amazing shot that went over the goalkeeper and into the net. He must have been 40 yards from goal !

Other players have also scored some memorable goals. More recenly Tony Yeboah scored a fantastic volley for Leeds against Liverpool. He was outside the penalty area and he hit an unstoppable shot that went in off the underside of the crossbar.

There are lots more memorable Leeds goals. I will add to the list as I think of them but if anybody can recommend a great Leeds goal feel free to mention it.

Leeds Rhinos

Although I am Leeds United fan, the city of Leeds also have a fantastic rugby league club. The Leeds Rhinos last night played St Helens in the Grand Final at Old Trafford. St Helens were the clear favourites, especially as they thrashed Leeds only two weeks before, but the Rhinos were not going to give up the same trophy that they won last year so easily. Leeds came out worthy winners 24 points to 16. See Leeds is not just a football city, we also have a great rugby club as well. It is also good to see Leeds Carnegie top of the English national league one after 6 consecutive victories. Well done to Leeds Rhinos, although United lost, the Rhinos made up for it in a big way !

Peterborough V Leeds United

Its Saturday 4th October and Leeds are playing Peterbrough away. Leeds are taking a fantastic 4,200 supporters to this game and I doubt whether Peterborough will have seen anything like this before.

If Leeds win today they will go top of League One, at least for a few hours and the Leeds game kicks off at 12.00 noon today....thats in 15 minutes in fact ! I can't wait for the game. I will be listening on LUTV. Lets hope we get 3 points today. The sooner we get out of League One the better. Whatever anybody says Leeds are a BIG club and they should be in the premier league.

Match Update

It was goalless at half time but on 47 minutes Peterborough scored and then with a minute left Peterborough scored on the break to make it 2 nil. Leeds didn't really have any clear cut goal chances and it was a poor performance from Leeds today. Leeds should be winning games like this. I hate it when Leeds lose. I guess all football fans feel the same way when their team loses ...you get depressed, but when your team wins it makes your weekend and you feel good about life.

Leeds United and me

I am a lifelong Leeds United fan. I started supporting Leeds in about 1965 when I was only 10 !. That means that I have been a Leeds fan for over 40 years. I am Leeds and I am proud ! My dad was a Leeds fan and my grandad was a Leeds fan. Leeds United runs in my blood and I could never support any other team. I have witnessed the ups and downs of being a football club supporter. Most teams have good times and not so good times. As a Leeds fan I have witnessed a hell of a lot of good times and some bad times too.

The first Leeds team I can remember had Bobby Collins in, but it wasnt long before he retired. This was the start of the great Leeds days of the late 1960's and 70's.

I was at Elland Road in 1967 for the Leeds V Sunderland FA cup replay and I was in the Elland Road cop when the barrier collapsed.