Good Morning. It's Thursday 13th February, and here are the latest headlines from Elland Road Wilder predicts Leeds title as mind games begin As the Championship season heats up, mind games are already in play, courtesy of Sheffield United Manager Chris Wilder. In his post match Interview, Wilder took to the airwaves to predict that Leeds United will clinch the Championship title, even though his Blades side are just two points shy! Last night's performance saw them overcome a contentious penalty decision to reclaim control in the second half, with goals from Ben Brereton Diaz and Anel Ahmedhodzic sealing the win. Wilder emphasized the importance of focus, urging his squad to maintain their momentum: “People look at tables and when somebody drops a couple of points and someone wins a game or whatever,” “We have just got to keep our heads down and keep doing what we are doing and if we do that, we are going to be in the mix. “If we don’t, we will find ourselves out of it. We want to be involved in it right the way through to the end and if we keep producing those types of performances, then we are going to give ourselves a good chance. “Leeds are the talked-about team and rightly so. They’re a fabulous group of players and are well-coached, smashing everybody here, there and everywhere. They’re everybody’s tip to win it. From my point of view, I’d say the same. But we want to make it interesting and hopefully we will do in terms of collecting the points and producing those performances.” please log in to view this image Chasing pack all win / Round-up Sheffield Utd closed the gap at the top of the Championship to just two point, comprehensively beating Michael Carrick's Middlesbrough 3-1 last night, with forty-two points still to play for! Burnley (at home to Hull) and Sunderland (who hosted Luton Town) both recorded two-nil wins to stay in the hunt for a top two finish. At the other end of the table, Plymouth Argyle's recent revival continues. They thumped Millwall 5-1 at Home Park, lifting themselves from the pit of the Championship, now occupied by Luton Town. The Pilgrims are now just two points from safety. Outside of the top six, eleven teams remain in contention for a play-off place. please log in to view this image
Think Wilder is being honest there and don’t see it as mind games. If he said we’ve a history of blowing up in playoffs etc then I’d agree it was mind games. I’m expecting a big performance Monday and then it’ll be a case of there were three
Morning all I agree with Eire, he is just agreeing with what every other coach in this division is saying, we have the best team, he'd be stupid saying we are not, it doesn't mean we can't be beaten though and we do still have off days. I was thinking this morning, yes we have two very hard games coming up but the chance to open a breathing space is now in our own hands, we need not rely on another team to do us a favour. Two big performances and we could be virtually home but not dry, treat Sheffield like a home tie in a play off and Sunderland like a final, win both and there will be a good distance between us. Burnley need to play Sheffield United towards the very end of the season, there is also a local Sheffield derby, lets aim for two good wins
The famous.motto one game at a time if we keep winning I don't even look at the chasing pack it's all in our hands and our business to do.
A win on Monday and wed need 7 wins from 13 games. Simply put if were not capable of that then were not a great side and don't deserve promotion
For me two draws wouldn't be that bad it at least means two less games and our main rivals haven't gained any ground, it's obviously two from four and instead of us doing our usual leedsy thing how about someone else taking the mantle for a change! .... we're a far more settled and dare I say dangerous side this time round, are we up for it ...I think so
Sheff Utd have lost their last 9 playoffs, he'll probably save that motivator until they're confirmed participants.
Morning all. Definite mind games for me, you’re the best, yours to lose blah, blah, blah. Just trying to heap the pressure on DF and the team.
2 games ago I said 33 points should do it, 10 wins three draws, we’ve won the next two so for me 8 wins to go. Huge two games coming up, Burnley will be the ones who possibly want us to win both
Are you trying to take aski's job !!! Stats, meh and if they don't win those games they've gained nowt
I think the points total we need will be as many as we can get. 5th place in this division is now 14 points off 4th so there is a gulf in quality between us and the rest. Very strangely I'm pleased we're playing two of our rivals, especially when we're on such good form. It is very possible that the top 4 will only drop points to each other from now on so we have two chances to put a bit of daylight between us and them. It won't be easy but both should come at us which is what we want. I hope to keep the run going, fingers firmly crossed.
I guess the pressure is likely to swing, Sheffield United have practically a gimme against Luton this weekend so we’ll most probably be in second by the time we play Sunderland. This squad of players seems to have the cahooners to handle it so far (I hope).
I think Wilders mind games are aimed more at his own team, cant see them affecting us. But it’s good to think you are underdogs, with a chance. ‘Nothing to lose, so no pressure on us, but willing to give it a go’ is a good frame of mind to go into a top game with.
Reckon it'll be harder than you think at Luton and if you are right at least we have that same "gimme" to come. win-win
Win on Monday, then match Burnley’s remaining results and we more than likely go up. Obviously this suggestion falls apart if Burnley do. However it somehow gives me more confidence . However I want to win the championship by at least 3 points to stop Wilder claiming they were the comps best side.
