Morning Everyone, Just over 3000 fans turned up at the Perrilli Stadium last night to witness a solid, not notr exactly exciting 1-0 win to the Mighty Whites, courtesy of a 3 yard tap in from Varney. We were well organised and solid at the back, Kenny did not have to collect the ball until the 35th minute. So we ended our pre-season undefeated!!! Should we have been preparing against better opposition??? Warnock has apparantly been told he need to ship players out (Paynter, Connolly, Nunez, Rachubka) before bringing anyone in. Maybe this is why Cranie has not signed up yet? Must admit, we have a pretty hefty squad if you imagine Kissa, Norris, Pugh, Ashdown, Drury, Bromby (when back), Brown, Nunez, Rogers, Gray and Somma are all not automatic choice and will bew starting mostly from the bench; thats before mentioning the kids coming through the ranks like Monty, Byram, Thompson Twins, Poleon. Has Colin overcooked it a bit? Has your prediction changed about our finishing position by the end of the season? Over to you....
Morning Elland. Should we have been preparing against better opposition? Perhaps and we have done in the past but I'm not sure its completely necessary, its not really the point of pre-season in my eyes. Byram looks like a really exciting prospect from everything I have been reading anyway, seemed like he came on a sounded good after the game before sounding good and scoring a goal. And on that note, are we set to loan anyone out this season? I'm being very reserved on my prediction for this season. I think we need to be pressing the play-offs at least but in all honesty struggle to see it happening, theres not really any signings (Pearce excepted) that have got me excited. Theres been plenty of solid signings but its not the same.
We should send Bates out on a 5 year loan to Millwall. He'll be quite safe there. Sod it, lets deliver him to the New Den, wonder how long he'd last?
Morning all. Last night sounded dire on the radio. Even the LUTV commentators sounded bored. Saturday being a cup match at home against a side we really should be looking to turn over comfortably will give us an indication of where we're heading. 1-0 with a goal late in the 2nd half will suggest problems ahead. 2 to 3-0 with lots of chances suggests a top 6 finish is looking a good possibility. 4-0 + even at this stage & against weaker opposition than we'll face during the season suggests a fair shot at top 2. Last night suggested that we'll be difficult to beat. But whether we'll have the flair & be able to score a lot is a different story. But in Warnock we trust. MOT
Morning Josh, and Good Morning Boggers I think Saturday Colin will put out the fringe playersa. I can see Byram, Poleon, Drury, Ashdown all starting. Does anyone care about going on a cup run this season???
I'd like another big tie (Chelsea/Man City/scum) in the FA Cup, but really not bothered about the League Cup. Floreat Salopia FC can have their day of glory and I won't be too gutted. Love to see us win the thing obviously (even more than promotion << stick that in your debate of the day and smoke it) but that doesn't mean we have to play full-strength teams and get all excited about it.
Morning all. Warnock said he would be putting out his best team for the Shrews game, so he can start to get organised ready for Wolves. Can't wait to see what he's thinking, and hope Greene isn't our new winger. WBA have just signed a new striker which surely puts Cox back in the shop window. Cox is great at this level and could be an option if Colin's still looking for that 'marquee' signing, although I expect many of ours fans won't want him.
I think we will see our strongest line up start, but with fringe players on the bench. We currently have a very big squad, probably too big. A run in this nothing competition would be useful to ensure fringe players & some first teamers stay fully fit. This will then allow Warnock to play our strongest team in league matches knowing that plenty of other players will be knocking on the door. As an example, he will want to keep Kisnorbo fully fit in order to push Pearce & Lees. Doubt Kisnorbo will start any games. But by the sound of it, he's going to be pushing hard for a place, at least as CB cover on the bench. As someone said on the radio last night, the spine of the team this season looks so much stronger. For those of us struggling to keep up with all the incomings, can you make a list of who you think will start on Saturday with in brackets who would cover if they suddely fractured an eyelash before the game & had to step in as cover.
Im wondering is this Warnocks usual type of pre season warm up. Basically playing poor opposition. Maybe he prefers it that way but have to say its difficult to see what he could have learned from those games. Youd imagine eleven a sides in training would nearly tell him as much. Still in Warnock we trust, isnt that it?
Morning all, the problem as I see it is we may have a big squad but no strength in depth on the bench who do we bring on as a match winner when its tight, we need a little more creativity in midfield, although we look to have a strong team with the first 11 we have to account for Injuries and suspensions, maybe a couple of loan players at this stage would not be a bad thing, Jerel seriously league cup over promotion is not even worth debating pal, plus I dont have a pipe...
There are so many new faces that it will take time to gel such a team together. Better to play sides we are expected to beat & create some confidence but will still give us a decent game than top sides who turn us over badly & destroy confidence before the season has even begun. Saturday is effectively our final pre-season game before the real stuff starts the following week. With most of the signings now in place & players getting ever fitter, Warnock will look to develop the playing style & see which players shine & which don't. Exciting times.
As a further thought & to help their development, how many of our up & coming academy players - Byram, Gimpel, Turner twins, Poleon etc will go out on loan to L2 L1 teams? Or will they play in the development team? If the latter, how many of these new 1st teamers will then be really needed. We have a potential 1st team squad of nearly 40!!! Time to move a lot around, either out on loan for development purposes, out on loan to get them off the wage bill & put them in the shop window, or cancel contracts by mutual consent.
Morning all Honestly not a dig Josh just my own thoughts, you say it isn't necessary but then say But you are judging that on performances against non league lower opposition team. I fail to understand why we play so many pre-seasons against awful opposition, how is that a judgement on how we are going to start the season or how well prepared we are. I just hope and pray we don't have a massive shock against wolves and go down by 2-3 goals after everyone building hopes up of how good our defence now is forgetting what opposition we are actually playing. My prediction is mid table, I expect a few to call me depressing, doom and gloom and worse but I am saying it as I see it. Yes we have a more solid looking defence but if anyone watched the youtube extended highlights of the Preston game we were outclassed and outplayed despite the scoreline. I truly hope I am WRONG and that those who believe we will be challenging are right. I am actually quite pissed off about it all this morning. I can't see the T/O happening now, I fear Bates has had a change of heart. NW told to sell before he can buy, add together the fee's received and the fee's paid including the Howson money and including funds recovered from the successful police bill estimated to be £1M. Then the wages he saved releasing players early, Parker, Bruce, O'dea, Mikka, Forrsell - It isn't great. http://www.leedsunited.com/page/PlayerProfileIndex/0,,10273,00.html 23 players, 4 of those are keepers, we have zero depth and average quality throughout. Can we REALLY include academy players????
“If it was in midweek then I’d play a weakened team because I don’t want anything going wrong during the last week before the (league) season. “I wouldn’t dream of taking a risk or playing a first team. But we’ll play our strongest team. “To be honest, we haven’t got much more than the team we played last night. “We’ve got a decent XI but the squad’s a bit thin and we’re going to need a bit of luck with injuries. That's NW's reasoning... we haven't got much more than the team we played last night apparently. Really?
With Drury & an other at LB, I would imagine White will provide the width on the left & Rodgers/an other on the right. A 20 goal forward is what we need. This would allow Ross to play on the left & do whatever he wants in a flexible role with Becchio or Grey as the other striker.
potential squad of 40 !!! I count 23 and thats with rachubka, somma, nunez cairns , bromby and connolly, so where you are getting 40 from I dont have a scooby, with those players going or injured it takes us to 17 !!!!!!
