Good Morning. It's Wednesday 28th August, and here are the Leeds Utd headlines Leeds Penalty heart break Leeds crashed out of the Carabao Cup last night after a dramatic penalty shoot out. Jack Harrison was the guilty man. His spot kick crashed against the post giving the Potters a passage into the third round of the league Cup, and their Manager Nathan Jones some breathing space. Bielsa made eight changes to his starting line up including fit again Barry Douglas. The youngsters more than held their own, but found themselves 2-0 down at half time thanks to clinical finishes from Batth and Vokes who took their chances well. Bielsa responded by making three half-time changes. Forshaw, Harrison and White replaced Clarke, McCalmont and Shackleton. Leeds came out a completely different outfit in the second half laying siege at England goalkeeper Jack Butland's goal at will. Nketiah broke the second half deadlock pressurising Butland into making a poor clearance which rebounded off a Stoke defender into his path. The 19yo doesn't miss those! With 9 minutes remaining, Leeds were level. Costa found himself free at the back post and heading the ball into the roof of the net following a great cross from the left. Post Match reaction Leeds United manager Marcelo Bielsa: "The team played better in the second half than we did in the first, but overall, we didn't play with enough clarity. "We played much better in the second half. We had a physical difference in the team after the break." Stoke City manager Nathan Jones: "We played really well and had energy. We weathered the storm tonight and showed great character. When Leeds pen you in, it can be difficult to get out. "The shank kick by Jack (Butland) gave them a chance and after that we showed real character. I think their subs at the break made a difference but we defended very well. "I'm proud of the boys because they showed desire and bottle. They are a brave group." What now for Jack Clarke? Now that Leeds have been knocked out of the League Cup, will Bielsa be able to find game time for the fringe players. One player who stands out is Jack Clarke. The 19yo has not even managed to find a place on the bench in recent times, plus he was substituted at half time. Who would mind if Clarke was recalled, and snapped up on loan by one of Leeds rivals? please log in to view this image
Morning all No heartbreak at all last night, woke up feeling like we won and really enjoyed hearing the fans chanting Harrison's name after the match. Less for us to worry about now and less games to get injured in so I take positives out of it, and as for Jack Clarke I wish him luck but maybe he should go back to Spuds. The disappointing thing last night was the way Berardi and Phillips were done for pace by Campbell and that vanished when White came on, but a warning all the same
Big news today is that Bury have been kicked out of the EFL and no longer exist. Anyone imagine if you woke up today and Leeds Utd was gone? Refusing to watch Leeds in protest at Bates and going to watch Taddy, Guisley, Osset or Farsley Celtic is one thing, but to to find another club support because yours vanished?? Could you carry on watching football. Easy to say that Man Utd and Man City should have clubbed together and paid off some or all the debts (£5m) but how do you do that without rewarding the shyte owner. Is it possible to ensure a rescue package as long as the owner walks away? EFL allowed a bloke to buy the club even though he had bankrupted 43 companies he was involved in?
Good Morning to Matt Doc and co from a dull Bardsey I was very sorry to see that Bury FC no longer exists and I blame the EFL letting these 10 bob millionaires buy these clubs which as we have seen leads to disaster.Bolton too are on the edge of a cliff.Ahderson and his son should be made to return 600k they charged as consultancy fees This situation will not improve anytime soon and FPP only helps the rich clubs money needs to filter down from the top table to the poor clubs oterwise we will have more sad stories in future Jacxk Clarke I think now it was good business for us selling him and now we are out of the cup I think to be fair we should cancel his loan Finally talking about Bury reminds me some years ago we played them twice over the Easter Holidays and we were staring at relegation.Revie was in charge and he trried to bribe the Bury players by offering them £25 each to lose.Stokoe the manager found out about it and from then on hated Revie with a vengeance .No wonder he was so delighted when Karma came his was at Wembley when Sunderland beat us
Morning Mike, forgot to tell you Glory sent me a PM on twitter, saying he's really pleased to hear your good news regarding getting over your illness.
Morning all, Stuck here in the lav with my laptop. I'm in a hotel in Warwick & Mrs WJ wants to go to breakfast. I want to catch up here first, hence the locking myself away to get peace. Small but important point. Was doing a fair bit of driving over the last couple of days & getting repeated updates on Bury & Bolton, ad nauseam. One thing was made perfectly clear about Bury. They have been expelled from the FL, but they do continue to exist. Might be a case of days, might not. They could continue as amateurs, or start again in non-league. The supporters could still have their team if the right action is taken, albeit a poor shadow of its former self. As I made clear elsewhere, I'm a great believer in karma. Who knows what might have happened if only they hadn't put the knife in us? I missed most of the game last night & hoping someone who was there can give me a run down on formation, tactics, who played in what position, how well they did, etc. Were the 3 who got hooked in any way responsible for our downfall, or did they do a reasonable job, given the circumstances? Itching to find out, particularly to find out if McCalmont played CDM & if so, how well he did. Also interested in the contribution from Bogusz. Looked good pre-season, but didn't convince me he was ready in the only u23 match I've been able to watch so far, against Millwall (yes, I know he scored!). Right, screaming's getting louder. Better go for now. TTFN.
Hey Mike you just reminded me of why I started following Leeds Utd. I was in junior school and saw a headline in the YEP: Leeds Bury'em. I read it and found out we had smashed Bury 6-0 with players like Bobby Collins, so thats how long ago it was. But Leeds was my team after that and I think we were in the 2nd division back then?
Morning all.. If we have a fully fit squad it is always going to be the French keeper or Clarke left out with the 5 loan rule. Clarke won’t get too many chances unless injuries hit us so the less he plays the better I think.
Morning all. The Caraboa cup and indeed FA cup should have been scrapped a decade ago. Once it became acceptable or the norm to field reserve teams, the competitions became worthless. Saw a few saying they'd have liked to get through and get a pl team. For what purpose? What difference would it make if we were playing Southampton, Liverpool or Crystal Palaces reserves? Doubt any fans of any of the beaten teams lost even an hours sleep last night. Time to wind them up completely. Having said that, maybe our fringe players are not as good as some would like to believe given the dramatic improvement when Bielsa brought on the three "established" players. As for Clarke, hope Im wrong but can see him ending up as another Sam Byram, always on the move
Morning all Couldn't give a crap bout the league club its The Championship that gets us into the Premier League The Bury situation is pure hypocrisy they let this twat buy the club then run it in to the ground. Then they booted them out of the league. It reminds me when Portsmouth went bust and all they got was points reduction and that's it. If Bury was a main stay in the Premiership then this wouldn't have happened they would have been deducted points and that was it. Double standards
EFL are partly to blame and should be answerable BUT who would take them to task, they are a bunch of under achievers that should not be allowed near the game. When we were in turmoil and being mangled by Bates and the EFL, who came to our aid..... nobody, so **** happens.... life goes on.
Evening All, I think we deserved to win in normal time but it was not to be. Really glad Harrison was supported by the fans. I think, if he stays fit he, will be key to our season. When we were on the brink there weren't that many shedding a tear but... the supporters of Bury and Bolton are the ones that are being hurt. The guys who own these teams will have to pay 1p in the £1, if that, and then will be able to do it all again. As for Jack Clarke, I think Eire is trying to be positive, having heard about the beneficial effects of a positive attitude, "As for Clarke, hope Im wrong but can see him ending up as another Sam Byram, always on the move" He isn't our player anymore if he isn't good enough send him back, just like a purchase from Amazon.
Spot on! Double standards because football is controlled by the EFL for the vast majority of clubs in England, but then a link between the EFL and top 3 from the Championship and bottom 3 from the Premier League happens yearly. 3 clubs get rewarded lavishly and 3 clubs carry on being rewarded for failure plus 3 from the previous year and 3 from the year before that. The PL have a stranglehold on football and the much bigger partner is the much weaker partner which is a joke, but simply because the PL have all the cash. Sky ruined football and the EFL allowed it to happen
Parachute payments don't bother me that much Doc. They're there to prevent relegated clubs going through the mess we've gone through. Pity they weren't around in Risdales day. Also don't often result in teams going back up. Norwich or Blunts didn't have them last season whereas WBA and Stoke did as did Bolton Wigan Sunderland etc all have before them.
Disagree mate because ever since Ipswich football contracts have been changing. They are called escalator contracts which simply mean if we get promoted the players will automatically receive an % uplift is salary. Same for relegated teams they go down and so does the wages to bring them in line with other Championship clubs. So why give relegated clubs an extra £20m which is really bunce and way more than the clubs receive in normal business of gate receipts, bar, catering......
Morning all. Prior to the formation of the Premiership the Football League was the best competition in world football. Since then money has taken over, the richest can buy the best and competition is now restricted to half a dozen clubs. Bolton and Bury are the tip of the iceberg and more clubs will surely follow.
Sorry, got to disagree with regards to the premier league. It is superb and some of the football brilliant to watch which is why I’m desperate for promotion. As for Bury, I feel for the fans but like it or not football is a business and bury was a badly run one at that. Arguably, cheated by spending way beyond its means to get promoted. Why would other clubs or premier league assist? When Woolworths went bust, Waitrose, Tesco etc weren’t expected to bail them out. Might make owners even more reckless if they knew there was a pot of money to save them.
Got to agree with your disagreeing,it's now the strongest league in the world hence european finals usually now consist of at least one, if not two English sides as in the recent champions league finale Spurs v Liverpool. Also agree their is now a regular Elite top six,of which the likes of Burnley,Watford,Brighton etc will possibly never be a part of,the fan base & global appeal is just not their, however with Leeds we have all this,promotion and a couple of seasons with a top investor will see a new elite Top seven, this is my vision anyway, just got to get this bloody promotion to start the ball rolling. And a Good afternoon all.
If the Prem is good why dont you want Prem2? Prem is already 3 leagues so not a fair league is it, its a joke league like the SPL. Top 6 then 7 to 14 then 15 to 20 relegation fight. How is that a great league. Yes the top 6 are great teams playing great football but only because of money. At least in the Championship we're at a stage where any team can beat an any team. No this is all a out making Prem football exclusive and getting an exclusive price for it. The Rolex of sporting events, where promotion brings the richest sporting prize on the planet. Shove it up your arses I dont think it can go for much longer, then the bubble will burst. Remember what happened to the SPL and small EFL clubs when ITV Sport collapsed.
