Mighty Leeds Weblog

LEEDS MUST CUT THEIR CLOTH - BLACKWELL: Sporting Life - Football | Premiership, Championship, Scottish & European News, Scores, Results LEEDS MUST CUT THEIR CLOTH - BLACKWELL Leeds manager Kevin Blackwell has delivered a stark warning to fans frustrated at the lack of entertainment on offer at Elland Road. Blackwell's side scraped through to the second round of the Carling Cup with a 1-0 win over Yorkshire rivals Huddersfield on Tuesday night courtesy of Danny Pugh's close-range strike midway through the first half. In Blackwell's first five games in charge, Leeds have scored just four goals, and none of those has come from the club's strikers despite United fielding the likes of Michael Ricketts, Julian Joachim and Brian Deane up front. But with the club still £40million in debt, there is no money for Blackwell to splash any transfer cash, although there are rumours of fresh investment due shortly from outside sources. Any potential investors will have ...

BBC SPORT | Football | My Club | Leeds United | Blackwell glad to progress Leeds 1-0 Huddersfield Kevin Blackwell was relieved to see his side make progress after a hard-fought Carling Cup win over Huddersfield. The Leeds boss said: "I always knew it was going to be a tough game - a real tricky Cup tie. "This was all about getting through the round and sometimes you take it any way you can get it. "Sometimes it's never pretty at this stage. It was a battle, a war of attrition and the banana skin was there for us."

Leeds United Football Club - Matchreport Leeds United vs Huddersfield Town Leeds 1 Huddersfield 0 United are in the second round of the Carling Cup after coming through a passionate encounter with Huddersfield at Elland Road thanks to a second goal for the club by Danny Pugh. It was perhaps not the classic cup tie many had hoped for between these two near neighbours, but Huddersfield refused to yield and continued to fight for an equaliser right to the end. The visitors also had a number of chances that on another night they may have converted, but Kevin Blackwell's men proved they can compete with the physical side of the game and the defence recorded their third clean sheet of the season so far. It was not pretty, but Pugh's goal proved decisive. Pre-Match United boss Kevin Blackwell made just one change to the side that drew with Nottingham Forest on Saturday, bringing in Michael Ricketts for Brian Deane, who was rested. It also meant Clarke Carlisle kept his ...

Telegraph %7C Sport %7C Guppy spoils his good deed for Leeds Guppy spoils his good deed for Leeds By Chris Barnett at Elland Road (Filed: 22/08/2004) Leeds Utd (1) 1 Nottm Forest (0) 1 Steve Guppy was both hero and villain as Leeds failed to make their domination count. Guppy, who is on a pay-as-you-play contract, put Leeds ahead in the 28th minute when he lost Matthieu Louis-Jean at the far post and rose to head home Frazer Richardson's cross from the right. It was just reward and Leeds could have gone further ahead with shots missing the target by the narrowest of margins. However, Guppy then needlessly conceded a late penalty which was converted by Andy Reid to give Forest their fourth draw of the season - and one they barely deserved. The sides had cancelled each other out in a lively opening but it was Leeds who had the first opportunities to open the scoring. Forest keeper Paul Gerrard failed to keep hold of the ball in a mix-up with a team-mate but Brian Dean...

Leeds Today United boss set to step up his search by paul dews LEEDS UNITED boss Kevin Blackwell insists he will not be lowering his standards in his search for new talent. Cameroon international Serge Branco yesterday became Blackwell's 14th signing when he agreed to put pen to paper on a one-year contract. But the United boss is still working hard to add more strength in depth after injuries to Lucas Radebe and Eirik Bakke reduced the numbers further. "Losing two influential players has been a blow," said the United boss. "We've Eirik out for the season and Lucas possibly for good, but we won't be rushing into anything. "It's difficult to get the players who fit the bill. "Maybe I'm being too hard on setting the standards I'm setting, but the minute I drop them we can only go one way. Attitude "As the board have said, any players that come in to this club have to be right for Leeds United because they are not just c...

BBC SPORT %7C Football %7C My Club %7C Leeds United %7C Branco agrees Leeds switch Cameroon midfielder Serge Branco has agreed a one-year contract at Leeds United, reports BBC Radio Leeds. The 23-year-old former Eintracht Frankfurt and Vfb Stuttgart player, who is out of contract, has been on trial at Elland Road and will not cost a fee. But he has not received international clearance in time to face Nottingham Forest in the Championship on Saturday. Manager Kevin Blackwell told Leeds' website: "He brings real quality to the squad at the time when we need it." In addition to Branco's one-year deal, the Yorkshire club also have an option to keep him for a further year at Elland Road. He won a gold medal with the Cameroon side at the Sydney Olympics in 2000, and also trained with Championship rivals Queens Park Rangers this summer.

Times Online - Newspaper Edition Wolves 0 Leeds 0: Radebe career under threat Patrick Maxwell at Molineux LUCAS RADEBE was in hospital last night, his Achilles tendon thought to be ruptured and his playing career considered over. Radebe was injured after 15 minutes, falling to the turf with no other player in the immediate vicinity. After receiving treatment, the former Leeds captain was taken off on a stretcher. His distress was obvious. Kevin Blackwell, the Leeds manager, said: “It looks like Lucas has ruptured his Achilles and it’s more than likely going to be his last game for Leeds as this is his final season with us anyway. He went to move forward to play the ball and it felt like he was kicked. But it was actually the snap of his Achilles, and that’s why we fear the worst.” If 35-year-old Radebe is forced to retire, it will be a sad end to an illustrious career. He has been with Leeds for just three weeks short of 10 years, during which time the South African has e...

Sport Sullivan keeps out Wolves assault Wolverhampton Wanderers 0 - Leeds United 0 By Nick Callow 15 August 2004 Kevin Blackwell promised this match would be a Premier League encounter in all but name. The Leeds manager is new to the game and so maybe he can be forgiven for getting carried away, but there was nothing Premiership about this clash apart from the fact it was between two teams relegated from the top flight last season. The two clubs have enough fans to feel they can support playing at a higher level than this, but only Wolves have anything like enough on the pitch to feel like big fish in a small pond. And how Wolves did not win their first match of the season remains a mystery. They dominated from start to finish and Kenny Miller had an 85th-minute penalty saved by Neil Sullivan after he had been tripped in the area by Michael Duberry. The red card shown to the Leeds defender by the referee Graham Laws was the only justice seen to be done yesterday. Wolv...

Leeds United Football Club - Horror Injury For Lucas United legend Lucas Radebe is set to miss the next six months after suffering a horrific injury in the 0-0 draw with Wolverhampton Wanderers. The ex-skipper was given a starting place in midfield but pulled up in the Wolves game after 15 minutes and needed to be stretchered off. It was later confirmed to the South African that he has ruptured his Achilles tendon and will miss most of the season, if not all. The news is a massive blow to The Chief, who is in his testimonial season at Elland Road, and to United boss Kevin Blackwell who has lost an important member of his squad. "It's a travesty for Lucas and Leeds United Football Club," said Blackwell. "Unfortunately that could end his career as a player and it is not the way he would have wanted to go, and then of course it's another bad injury we cannot afford at this moment." Radebe's career at Leeds has been hit by a series of bad inju...

Yorkshire Post Blackwell looks for rain to wash away pretenders Ian Appleyard THE MONSOON summer is proving an asset in Leeds United manager Kevin Blackwell's search for foreign imports. Blackwell switched his sights to the continental market this week after buying British during pre-season. Feeling that his options at home were currently exhausted and with limited funds at his disposal, Blackwell broadened his horizons in the hope of landing further value-for-money signings. Cameroon international midfield player Serge Branco, 23, is currently training at Thorp Arch and players from Germany and Holland are also being lined-up. But Blackwell will not allow any repeat of last season's disastrous forays into the foreign market which resulted in Leeds signing a string of flops who were either uncommitted or unsuited to the job. "The lesson from last year is 'do not take foreign players in haste'," he said. "You do that and you will repent at...

Sport Blackwell cautions Leeds fans to be patient By Ian Parkes 12 August 2004 Kevin Blackwell, the Leeds manager, has warned the club's fans to prepare for further frustration as he patiently builds his squad. The euphoria of Saturday's 1-0 win over Derby County in the Championship curtain-raiser was swiftly negated by Tuesday's 2-1 defeat at relegation-favourites Gillingham. Any supporters believing Blackwell's hastily-assembled squad would storm unopposed back to the Premiership have now taken a reality check. Blackwell admits he still needs at least three players to strengthen a squad, which is unlikely to click straight away given the number of new faces. "Despite the defeat, I think we have the ability to cope with life in this division," maintained a positive Blackwell. "That was only our second game together, so I'm not concerned. If we had been battered then I would have been. "We had plenty of possession, 63 per cent...

Sport Richardson is spark for Leeds' jump start Blackwell's fresh faces lift gloom over west Yorkshire as Elland Road ushers in new era with win Leeds United 1 Derby County 0 Guy Hodgson at Elland Road 08 August 2004 First the good news for Leeds United. They began last year hoping to win the championship and this season they hope to do the same. The bad? Well, where do you begin? Like the contrivance that has turned the First Division into the Coca-Cola Championship, Leeds were back at Elland Road yesterday in name but not substance. "Who?" the Derby County supporters mocked as the players were read out, and, to be perfectly frank, the home fans were asking much the same. With seven players making their debuts, the familiar "we are Leeds" ringing from the stands could have been a reminder. This time last year Leeds were scrapping out a 2-2 draw against Newcastle United with a team that included Alan Smith, Mark Viduka, Paul Robinson... ...

Leeds United Football Club - Kevin's Delight At Hard Fought Win Leeds 1 Derby 0 On a sweltering day at Elland Road, with temperatures in the 90s at pitch level, Kevin Blackwell’s new-look Leeds side delighted their loyal fans with a hard-fought 1-0 win. A superb Frazer Richardson goal after 72 minutes gave them victory, but a superb last-minute save by Neil Sullivan ensured the three points. There were seven debutants in the starting eleven, with 16-year-old Simon Walton lining up in midfield alongside Jermaine Wright. Up front Michael Ricketts was playing with Julian Joachim. Gary Kelly took an accidental blow to the face in the game’s first minute after tangling with Bisgaard, but thankfully he was unscathed and carried on. Walton got a chance to impress after five minutes, when a Ricketts knock down found him in space on the edge of the area, but his left foot shot was hooked over. Leeds looked much more comfortable on the ball in the opening 20 minutes, and their fi...

Times Online - Sport Blackwell goes for experience A SIGNIFICANT OVERHAUL HAS TAKEN place at Elland Road in the wake of one of the most disappointing seasons in Leeds United’s history. Almost an entire squad has been sold to help reduce the club’s crippling wage bill, which once stood at a staggering £53 million, while Kevin Blackwell, who was appointed permanent manager during the summer, has been given minimal funds in return to somehow rebuild a side capable of challenging for an immediate return to the Premiership. Blackwell has plundered the transfer market to sign a host of seasoned campaigners on free transfers, pinning his faith in experience instead of youthful promise and potential. The manager has delivered players with points to prove after disappointing spells at previous clubs. Michael Ricketts, the forward who cost Middlesbrough £3.5 million in January last year, is hoping to regain the form that once earned him an England call-up while Julian Joachim and Danny Ca...

Sport Blackwell's manageable dream Debt halved, wage bill slashed, 21 departures, 11 'free' arrivals - welcome to Leeds 2004 Jason Burt 01 August 2004 Kevin Blackwell is surely joking when he says the reason why he agreed to last week's friendly match between Leeds United and Valencia was because he wanted his team to know where the home dressing-room was. "Three or four of them turned the wrong way," he adds. The Leeds manager is serious. Indeed, just two of his players - Gary Kelly and Michael Duberry - had even played together before. "I didn't want it to be an issue on that first home [League] game against Derby," he says. "Otherwise it would have been an away match for us as well." The Valencia game was pivotal. Twenty thousand fans turned up. It was an act of faith. "No matters what happens, we might be skint but we're still a big club," Blackwell says. It was also an act of hope. A draw was achieved w...

Leeds United Football Club - Hibs 1 United 3: Frazer Turns It Around A superb second half performance from Leeds saw them win the inaugural Whyte and Mackay Cup by three goals to one, largely thanks to the impetus of substitute Frazer Richardson, who had a hand in all three goals for United. There were no real clues from Blackwell as to whether he had decided to play what will be his starting XI against Derby next week, with 16-year-old Simon Walton playing in midfield as Matthew Spring was rested due to injury. Neil Sullivan made his United debut fresh from completing his move to Elland Road on a two-year deal. Upfront, Brian Deane and Michael Ricketts were again paired together, whilst a third striker, Julian Joachim, was employed on the right wing. The game turned out to be one which saw two different sides of Leeds United, in the first half they looked apprehensive and played as if they had just met each other, but in the second they got themselves together and dominated ...