Mighty Leeds Weblog

Dougie Double: United 2 Hull 0 leedsunited.com A double from Jonathan Douglas gave Leeds their third straight win in an entertaining derby with Hull in front of the biggest crowd Elland Road his seen this season. Pre-Match United boss Kevin Blackwell made two changes to the side that beat Stoke on Wednesday night, one of the changes forced on him through injury. Left-back Dan Harding took a knock that he failed to recover from in time and he missed the chance to impress at first hand the England under-21 coach, Peter Taylor, manager of the opposition. Stephen Crainey came in for his first start since September. The other change saw David Healy, somewhat withdrawn in recent games, dropped to the bench with Liam Miller coming in on the right hand side of midfield. Hull had a surprise of their own for Leeds, dropping former United and England midfielder Nick Barmby to the bench on his first return to Elland Road. The Match A crowd of 26,387 turned up to watch the game and were not disapp

United boss Kevin Blackwell believes staying in business was the club's greatest achievement of 2005. The club was facing the imminent threat of being made insolvent when Chairman Ken Bates strode into Elland Road and completed his takeover with the minimum of fuss. At the time Blackwell was battling to improve United's fortunes on the field and he admits he, like most people, had no idea just how grave the situation was at the time. "Being here right now is our greatest achievement of 2005," said Blackwell today in his office at Thorp Arch. "Beating the winding up order on the 24th of January must be it because if we had not beaten that we would not be here today. "I think will show how much of a D-Day that was for Leeds United because at the time even I wasn't aware of the gravity of the situation to the point where on the Monday we would not have been able to train at Thorp Arch because the doors would have been locked. "2005 has been a real wat

Sully Does It Again! Stoke 0 United 1 leedsunited.com Pre-match A goal from Eddie Lewis was enough to give Leeds a well earned win at the Britannia Stadium after Neil Sullivan had earlier made a crucial penalty save for the Whites. United boss Kevin Blackwell was able to name the same side that beat Coventry City 3-1 for the game at the Britannia Stadium. It meant that despite Manchester United loan signing Liam Miller being available after suspension, another on-loan midfielder, Blackburn's Jonathan Douglas kept his place. Miller meanwhile had to be content with a place on the bench. Stoke meanwhile included former Leeds defender Michael Duberry for what was his first game against his former club. The £4.5m signing has settled well in the Potteries and the Stoke captain was certainly out to put one over his old team-mates. The game saw Stoke's largest crowd of the season at 20,408 turn out with United once again proving a big draw. The Match Leeds saw plenty of early possessio

Leeds post victory By Garry Doolan Leeds United 3 Coventry City 1 The Times MISFORTUNE COMBINED with misdemeanour to condemn Coventry City to their first defeat in four matches. The visiting team hit the woodwork four times and missed a penalty, but still could have won had woeful defending not fatally undermined them in front of the biggest crowd of the season at Elland Road. Micky Adams, the Coventry manager, rued the intervention of the goal frame at the ground where he was once a hero. “We created the chances and have been very unfortunate,” he said. “We dominated possession and certainly frustrated Leeds, but, if you hit the post and the crossbar as many times as us, there is a feeling it is not going to be your day.” Even Sam Ellis, the Leeds assistant manager, was forced to concede some measure of support for Coventry. “They certainly top the table for hitting the post and bar,” he said. “It is usually us complaining about that bad luck in front of goal, so we know exactly how

Merry Christmas after all: United 3 Coventry 1 leedsunited.com An action packed affair at Elland Road saw Leeds return to winning ways thanks to goals from Jonathan Douglas, Robbie Blake and Richard Cresswell - his first league goal for the club. Three points made for the perfect present for Kevin Blackwell's men. Pre-Match Manager Kevin Blackwell was forced to reshuffle his pack again after a rash of suspensions ruled Liam Miller and Simon Walton out. Gary Kelly did return from his one match ban though to take up his position at right-back in place of Walton, whilst Miller's absence saw another loan signing, Blackburn's Jonathan Douglas, return to the starting line up for the first time in seven games. Shaun Derry had been a pre-match doubt after going down with a virus but he was able to shake it off in time to keep his place in midfield, whilst Rob Hulse recovered sufficiently from his hip problem to take his place on the bench. The Match The biggest crowd of the season

Triumph out of tragedy - new pages uploaded at mightyleeds.co.uk I've just uploaded my review of the Fairs Cup game between Torino and Leeds United on 6 October 1965 Leeds' first foray into European competition sees them emerge triumphant, although success was achieved at the grievous expense of the loss of captain Bobby Collins Read the full story at http://www.mightyleeds.co.uk/matches/19651006.htm

Wolves 1 Leeds 0: Ganea beats clueless Leeds Sunday Times Ivo Tennant at Molineux FOR Wolverhampton Wanderers, a victory more straightforward than would be apparent from the scoreline. This was primarily because Leeds United created only one opening all afternoon and then had Simon Walton sent off late in the second half. Viorel Ganea, injury-prone for so long, scored his fifth goal of the season in front of a crowd of 26,821 that was the biggest at Molineux this season. Ganea, who missed last season because of a cruciate ligament injury, is out of contract in the summer. Nobody doubts his ability — not least England at Euro 2000 — but his age, 32, is against him. Do not bank on him being around next season, whether or not Wolves have reached the Premiership. For the time being, though, he has plenty to commend him. A series of draws before this match and an initial shortage of transfers would suggest that Wolves have been falling back on defence to too great a degree. Not so, even if

Whites Bitten: Wolves 1 United 0 leedsunited.com United went down to a single goal at Molineux but Kevin Blackwell's patched up side still put up a good fight against the Wolves. Pre-Match United boss Kevin Blackwell made three changes for the trip to Molineux from the side that lost at home to Cardiff, two of them were forced on him. Striker Rob Hulse received a painkilling injection at the start of the week to help soften the impact of a hip injury he has been playing with, but even that was not enough to ease the pain and Leeds decided enough pressure had been put on the forward. He was forced to miss the game and the indications now are that he will undergo an operation next week to find a final solution to the injury. His place was taken by fit-again striker Richard Cresswell, just back from spending the past two and a half months out after rupturing a tendon in his knee. His only competitive action before this game since returning to fitness was 45 minutes for the reserves i

Leeds 0 Cardiff 1: Ridsdale has last laugh Richard Rae at Elland Road Sunday Times PETER RIDSDALE can be accused of many things, but the man whose financial profligacy was responsible, most Leeds United fans believe, for almost driving their club out of existence, does not lack nerve. Now deputy chairman at Cardiff City, he turned up at his old stamping ground smiling, waving and ignoring the chants that suggested he might be less than welcome. The variety and venom of those chants can only have made the satisfaction of seeing his new club prevail all the greater. It was unfortunate for Ridsdale, although only in one respect, that the first half was one in which the Leeds supporters needed no encouragement to turn their attention from the pitch to the directors’ box, because for a team coming into the game with the confidence that stemmed from having won their previous four matches, they were appalling. Dave Jones’s decision to start with what was essentially a five-man midfield, albei

Licence to thrill pays dividends Yorkshire Post Money well spent as Bates gets ideal birthday present Richard Sutcliffe at Elland Road Leeds United 2Leicester City 1 AS Ken Bates tucked into his birthday lunch surrounded by family and friends at Elland Road yesterday, he will have been able to reflect contentedly on the progress being made by Leeds United. A fourth consecutive league win, the first time Leeds have enjoyed such a rewarding run of results since the closing weeks of the 2000-01 season, was enough to nudge United up to the highest position of Kevin Blackwell's reign. There is a genuine air of optimism surrounding the club with the manner of the victory over an attack-minded Leicester side offering further proof that the growing confidence of supporters and players alike is not misplaced. Blackwell's policy of recruting proven goal-scoring talent – he has spent more than £3.5m on his four frontline strikers – meant against the Foxes the United manager was able to ad

Leeds setting their sights higher than the play-offs By Richard Holdsworth Leeds United (1) 2 Leicester City (0) 1 Telegraph.co.uk Slowly but surely, the dark clouds that have encircled Elland Road for some time now, are beginning to part. This victory over Leicester City - their fourth consecutive in the Championship - moves Leeds into third place and many supporters believe their latest ensemble have the ability to catch the distant top two. "We know what the supporters expect and we're not content with reaching the play-offs,'' John Carver, the Leeds head coach, said. ''If we continue to show the character we did today, there's no reason why we can't push the leaders." Before David Healy opened the scoring with a well-worked free-kick late in the first half, an Eddie Lewis shot that just went over was all Leeds had to show for their attacking efforts. In fact only the woodwork had prevented Paul Butler from heading past his own goalkeeper and gi

Four In A Row: United 2 Leicester 1 leedsunited.com An enthralling game saw Leeds stretch their winning run to four games thanks to goals from David Healy and Matthew Kilgallon, whilst the Foxes were awarded a dubious penalty.United though are definitely on a roll. Pre-Match United manager Kevin Blackwell was left with a bit of a midfield crisis for this game following a hamstring injury to Shaun Derry in last week's win at Millwall. The same game saw two of his likely replacements, Sean Gregan and Jonathan Douglas, pick up their fifth bookings of the season - ruling them out of this game through suspension. That left Simon Walton as the only fit player with any tangible central midfield experience and it was no surprise to see him named in the starting XI, making his first appearance of the season. That, and the return of skipper Paul Butler after suspension, were the only changes for Leeds, not that Blackwell had much scope to make changes anyway with just 17 senior players avail

Blackwell set for new deal By Lewis Rutledge - Created on 3 Dec 2005 Sky Sports Leeds boss Kevin Blackwell is set to enter into negotiations with the club's board in an attempt to extend his current contract. The Yorkshire outfit are going well in The Championship and are strongly fancied to secure promotion to the top flight. Blackwell has been winning plaudits for his management, and chairman Ken Bates is keen for him to agree a new deal. "My contract is up at the end of the season, but I would love to stay here beyond that. I'd like to lay my roots here," hoped Blackwell.