Took my 7yo grandson to his first match tonight. He even made a banner out of a pillow case & 2 big twigs (which he insisted I hold up - in front of my face!). Scribbled on one side of a big Leeds badge was 'Leeds - go go go' or something like that, and on the other side, 'Good luck to both teams'. Bless. Like his grampa, he's still got a lot to learn. I was freezing in my bobble hat & fleece - he just had his goalie 3rd strip on, & not bothered at all by the weather. Here endeth the positives. LOL. We were shocking. Beaten 5-2, & lucky to keep it down to that. Men v boys. TBF, one of their goals looked like a mile offside, but if they'd taken their chances, they'd have gone into double figures, easy. Can't really fault the goalie with that Swiss cheese defence in front of him. I've not seen the u21s for a while, so didn't recognise a lot of names. I remember that Jenkins used to be a good DM, but tonight, he was an awful box-to-box man. Monteiro really disappointed me. Could easily have prevented one of the goals, but has obviously been watching Firpo & prefers to meander back. Defence was all over the place & if this is their standard, they will NOT be able to step up this season. One guy that caught my eye was Crew. Never heard of him before & actually thought Archie had had a haircut! Similar style, & a bit behind Archie, but one to keep an eye on, I think. Similarly, the defence seemed to show more understanding when Debayo replaced Mullen. Well, a bit more. Coleman replaced Carole & Spencer replaced Jenkins & the 2 subs livened things up a little. Again, had never heard of Spencer, but he caught the eye in central midfield. 2 wingers scored - Douglas & Coleman. Last but not least, McGurk. Played #10 in first half, right wing 2nd half. Definitely not ready for the first team on this showing. More often than not, it was 1 touch too many in the first half, but was more impressive on the wing secong half, with more space. Most industrious player on the park, but little joy. Didn't help that the Wet Sham side all seemed taller & sturdier than our players - especially their defence. Huge guys. Crowd of 3040.
Nice one WJ seem to be back in the doldrums due to Perkins going to Oxford and Joseph out injured. Also some of the kids filling the first team bench to make up numbers. Hopefully things will sort themselves out by next weekend
most clubs like the 21s to mirror the first team. Seems like our lads have got the whole copycat thing off to a t
This was written before the end of last season: Who is Sean McGurk? His potential inclusion within the senior squad is made all the more likely given the expected exit of Luis Sinisterra, who The Athletic suggest could seek to move, with a reported release clause encouraging this. With the possibility of relegation now a reality, the Colombian will be a fine signing for someone out there should he find fitness. After all, his tally of seven goals in all competitions, whilst slightly underwhelming, was largely marred by a lack of fitnessthroughout the term. His failure to adapt to the physicality of the English game cost him, especially after the 23-year-old joined having hit 23 goals and 14 assists the season prior in Holland. Although having posted numbers nowhere near this level, McGurk has remained one of Michael Skubala's most consistent performers from that left flank, with his six goal contributions in 17 games a solid return. He has been a mainstay in the side that recently earned promotion into the Premier League 1 Division 1. Seeking to cut in from his wing onto that favoured right foot, the 20-year-old boasts similarly blistering pace and sought to outlinehis other outstanding attributes after joining the club in 2021: "People describe me as a player who is quite exciting, I like to create goals and score goals and I think that is the strongest part of my game." Whilst that is yet to shine through in the U21s, perhaps a promotion into the senior squad could see him realise this potential at the Championship level. After all, it only takes the new manager to hand him a few starts to figure out whether he can terrorise the division. With his frightening speed, quick feet and youthful energy, that is sure to be a given though.
I have been a big fan of his but he lacked something, maybe maturity. He came more or less as part of the Joffy deal as both were at the same club but McGurk a year younger. He has a great personality and he and Lewis Bate hit it off at Leeds and share a flat which turned out to have some comedy gold moments which were posted in line. Like the time McGurk went into Bates bedroom in the earlier house and made Bate scream in fear as he thought a ghost was attacking him. This season McGurk is the experienced player in the 21s and has scored in each of our games so far and believe its now 4 in 3. Be interesting to see how he pushes on this term
McGurk scored his 4th of the season last night and Lewis Bate also got on the score sheet in a 3-2 win against Colchester Utd in the Premier League Cup first round
McGurk came on as a sub. I thought at first he was being held back for the Bermondsey bench. Guess it wasn't to be. Some day ...
