Birmingham v Leeds United 12th August 2023 at St Andrews please log in to view this image We left Leeds a short time later than we should have which probably worked in our favour as we were alerted to a serious crash before Junction 39. We did a detour to pick up our fans at that junction and although we were 45 minutes late, I consider it lucky as some of our fans caught up in the queues didn’t make it to the game. After a stop at Lichfield, we got to the ground, and I had time to put my banner up at the front of the stand and catch up with other fans in plenty of time for kick off. On the way home the coaches didn’t move for ages before getting stuck in traffic just outside Birmingham where we didn’t move for over half an hour. After hearing about Gnonto refusing to play as he wants to go to another club, if that’s the case then he needs to ‘f**k’ off. That goes for anyone else too who doesn’t have pride in wearing the Leeds shirt and playing for the fans. We don’t need them! The fans at the game made their feelings known too with chants of “refuse to play, you don’t come back” being sung. Team: Meslier, Ayling, Cresswell, Struijk, James, Gelhardt, Poveda, Ampadu, Gray, Byram, Shackleton. Subs: Rutter for Gelhardt (67), Joe Rodon (90+2 making his debut after his transfer from Tottenham Hotspur). Subs not used: Klaesson, Bate, Darlow, Gyabi, Hjelde, Drameh. Leeds lost the game 1-0 with a penalty given to Birmingham (90+1) Attendance: 20,451, 2213 Leeds fans. Referee: T. Robinson. Booked: Ampadu, Byram. With only eight players named on the subs bench including two keepers, with injuries, loans out and refuseniks, we were looking very lightweight. That said during the game, we had plenty of possession but lacked clinical finishing. In the first half chances for both teams were limited as both teams cancelled each other out but there had been a lot of good movement on the pitch. Ampadu was showing great signs of his potential as he made some good challenges, and our passing has improved no end since Farke has overseen the team. It wasn’t a surprise that we went in goalless at the break. At the start of the second half there were no changes made as Leeds continued to attack but also Birmingham started to get into the game more too. Both teams had chances but there were plenty of defensive battles going on as it looked like we may grind out a point from the game. Birmingham started to look dangerous when they had a free header that went wide and Meslier had to make a save. Leeds came very close to scoring from a corner, but Byram’s chance went wide then Birmingham saw a chance go wide. With the last minutes of the game, Birmingham brought on a sub and at this point I felt we needed to make a change too to see the game out. As it was Birmingham came out winners as James and their attacker battled for the ball and as they both went down together, the referee awarded them a penalty. I don’t think we deserved to lose the game even though many fans around me had been getting frustrated with our build ups. We are playing out from the back instead of lumping the ball up forwards only to see us come under repeated attack like last season. We have a very young team so it is work in progress and it will only be at the end of August that we find out who is staying. We do need to bring some more players in to strengthen the team including a left back and a striker. To do this, we need to sell the refuseniks and get some money back in but how that affects ffp I’ve no idea. After all the harm done to the team’s fitness under Marsch, there is a difference under Farke’s leadership plus we only need players who want to play for the shirt. As we lost wearing the fruit salad kit today, maybe that’s telling us something too. On a personal level, my husband Phillip/Captain’s main tumour has shrunk slightly with the rest stable plus my daughter Danielle is starting to improve after her operation although will have a long recovery time. I was able to see my friend Mark’s son at half time to see his tribute to his dad who died recently which was lovely to see. With West Bromwich at home next Friday then we are away at Ipswich, it feels like it is going to be a long season. See you there, LUFC – Marching on Together! please log in to view this image please log in to view this image please log in to view this image please log in to view this image please log in to view this image please log in to view this image please log in to view this image please log in to view this image please log in to view this image
It's going to get very toxic on Friday if we can't put a team out. Hopefully we get some more bodies in beforehand. What a mess they've made of it.
