Good Morning. It's Friday 28th July, and here are the latest headlines from Elland Road Victory at last Leeds recorded their first victory since the beginning of April last night, and kept a clean sheet against Steve Cooper's Nottingham Forest (at the Pirelli Stadium, Burton). Strangely enough, their last win, 93 days ago (not that I'm counting) was also against the tricky trees. On that day, first half goals from Jack Harrison, and Luis Sinisterra were enough to give Leeds a narrow 2-1 win. Seven of Forest's players that started in April, played little or no part last night, but still had plenty of strength in depth. Before kick-off, there was a minute's silence to acknowledge the sad passing of both Trevor Francis and Chris Bart-Williams earlier this week. Both Managers laid wreaths in the centre-circle prior, while captains Joe Worrall and Liam Cooper set down jerseys. Leeds started brightly, and could have gone ahead early on, only for Sinisterra's effort to cannon off the post, and away to safety. Although having all the traditional hallmarks of a pre-season friendly, Leeds looked a tidy outfit. They were well organised, passed the ball well, and competed on an even keel against Premier League opposition. The deadlock was broken with 25 minutes left on the clock. Gelhardt pressurised Worrell into making a suicidal back pass to his keeper, which inadvertently went straight to Bamford, with only Horvath to beat. They put the game to bed on 85 minutes after a well executed move involving Shackleton, Gray and Rutter. Poveda's effort from the edge of the area capped off an enjoyable evening for Leeds fans, and will give Daniel Farke, food for thought about whether Poveda may still have a future at Elland Road. please log in to view this image Farke thrilled with Poveda's form Speaking after the match, a delighted Daniel Farke was quick to heap praise on forgotten man Ian Poveda. The 23yo, a £1m signing from Manchester City during the 2020 January transfer window failed to establish himself as a first team regular, and the following Summer was sent out on loan to Blackburn Rovers. His tenure was cut short, when during a game against Bristol City (that following November), he sustained a lower leg fracture, and ligament damage. He recovered in time to go out on loan last season, this time with Blackpool, where he made 26 appearances, scoring three times. Farke exclaimed that whilst he was thrilled with Poveda's performance, he has to keep it going if he is to have a future at Elland Road beyond his contract, which has 18 months remaining. "It’s difficult and not just after one or two good performances. We are dancing on the table because of his performance. He has to keep going, he has to work unbelievably hard." "I’m pleased with his developments so far and that's reason why he get some game time and get the chances. But just after one or two good games I'm not willing to sing the big song of praise about him, so he has to keep going." please log in to view this image Bamford just can't help himself Leeds striker Patrick Bamford is an acquired taste. In-fact, if he were a food group, he'd be somewhere between brussels sprouts and Marmite, or a mixture of the two. His recent injury record is only surpassed by his glaring gaffs in-front of goal, so when he does do something right, it's probably best that he doesn't draw attention to himself by cupping his ears in the direction of the Leeds faithful; yet that is exactly what he did (again) last night. I'm not saying that he hasn't had more than his fair share of stick from Leeds fans, but when you're earning £250,000 a month, and not fulfilling your side of the bargain, it's a small price to pay! please log in to view this image No Drameh's There were moans and groans last night from the Elland Road faithful, after discovering that Cody Drameh and Crysencio Summerville's names were not on the team sheet. It has been rumoured in the past that both players have temperament problems, and with so many players heading for the exit door, Leeds fans can be excused for feeling a little anxious. However, it turned out there was no need to worry, as Farke's fledglings were both carrying knocks. "Summerville suffered a concussion in the weekend defeat at York, while Drameh is struggling with a myofascial issue in his hamstring. The Dutch winger took a whack against Monaco and is seeing out the end of the concussion protocol, ruling him out of Thursday’s trip." please log in to view this image
Morning all, Bamfords celebration was aimed at the forest fans who were giving him abuse all game. Because a section of Leeds fans have decided he is to blame for relegation they are getting their knickers in a twist and reading too much into stuff to justify their anger.
Morning all. Useful workout. Poveda showing what he can do but what did Bamford think that celebration would achieve.
I’ve put the England v Denmark women’s game on. Thought there might be some nice arses to look at (I know most of them are rug munchers ……….but I could cure them). I have to say I wish the England men’s team would smash the opposition like they are. Denmark haven’t had a kick.
Good morning, Poveda looks like the closest thing that we have to a No.10 at the moment. That's incredibly concerning, but also a little bit of a bonus since I most of us had written him off. We're getting to the point that any signings we make now probably won't be integrated in time to start the season.
I think there’s a few players who were not quite good enough for the Prem who may now do well. Even Bamford.
The thing with our squad last year and those players that remain is they were often good enough for 85 minutes of prem games, but were error prone under game pressure. So we lost games we should have drawn and drew games we should have won all season. Whether they'll find the slightly slower pace and less pressure cooker environment of the championship easier? We'll find out when they have competitive games, not pre-season ones where the opposition might have had a heavy training session on the morning of the game, tried a new formation etc etc. Nice we won, but pre-season is nothing like real football.
that’s always been my view too… didn’t pull up any trees at millwall. Whilst getting updates on Creswell, think most of us forgot Shaks was there.
I thought he'd gone on a permanent tbh. I think that was talked about at one point. It wasn't until quite far into his loan that I realised we'd be getting him back.