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... I could go on, but suffice to say only Gary Kelly of yesterday's side played in last year's opener. As Kevin Blackwell, the manager, pointed out, even the club cat is new.
Gloom has descended on this part of west Yorkshire and the chairman Gerald Krasner, did little to lift it with his programme notes. "I cannot promise you that all the unpopular decisions are behind us," he wrote ominously. "You cannot deal with £103m of debt overnight."
Given the mood, you feared for forementioned cat if Leeds had lost yesterday but, riding their luck, they not only avoided that but clung on to a win thanks to Frazer Richardson's 72nd-minute goal. Maybe, after relegation from the Premier-ship, fortune is smiling in Elland Road's direction again.
"Frazer is a passionate Leeds fan," Blackwell said of his 21-year-old scorer. "He's a Yorkshire boy from about 30 miles away and he knows what it means for people round here to play at Elland Road. He will give everything he's got and he's exactly the kind of player I need at this club.
"Sometimes out of adversity comes triumph. We saw players today like Matthew Kilgallon, Simon Walton, who is 16 and making his debut, and Richardson, who have not had a chance before. When we went down last season there was doom and gloom about the place but quietly I knew there were some good young players here."
They may help in the rebuilding of Leeds, but if you had to pick a club to demonstrate that former glory is no guarantee of on-going success then Derby would do as well as anybody. Not so long ago they were established in the top flight but last season was a fight against relegation that was won only at the end. Even so it was a surprise to see their players, and not Leeds', beginning the match like strangers.
That was due in part to Leeds' strength on the flanks. Richardson's seeming clumsiness proved deceptive on the right, and Danny Pugh, a 21-year-old left-wing makeweight in Alan Smith's controversial move to Manchester United, showed why Sir Alex Ferguson was reluctant to let him go.
Pugh was the first to expose the visitors' frailty with an 18th-minute header that almost caught Lee Camp flat-footed and he tested the Derby goalkeeper's agility with a clever free-kick after 36 minutes that was only just tipped away from under the bar. Leeds' best chance, however, had come after 17 minutes when Michael Ricketts flicked on and Julian Joachim's shot across the goal would have gone in but for it flicking Camp's heel.
That looked to be a costly miss when Michael Johnson found the back of the net on the brink of half-time, but the Derby elation dribbled away when the linesman flagged that the corner of Spanish midfielder Inigo Idiakez's had gone out of play en route.
Tommy Smith was denied by a sharp save from Neil Sullivan after 59 minutes and Junior was just wide four minutes later, yet as Derby were beginning to look the likelier winners, Leeds pounced. The visitors dithered over a clearance, Ricketts nipped in to pass to the right and Richardson, cutting in, lost Richard Jackson and then beat Camp with a left-foot that had hitherto been used only for standing on. "I don't remember much about it," the scorer admitted, "but it was a great moment with my dad in the crowd."
Those familiar with last season's travails will not be surprised that Leeds had to survive a scare or two as they hung on but no more so than in stoppage time. First Ian Taylor crashed a header against the angle and when the ball rebounded Junior lashed in a shot that Sullivan tipped away with a spectacular dive.
Elland Road heaved a sigh of relief that threatened to remove the roof of the stands and at least one supporter was spared the job of picking the stitches to change the "B" to an "R" in the message on his scarf: "Leeds United - Simply The Best". Good news for him at last.
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... I could go on, but suffice to say only Gary Kelly of yesterday's side played in last year's opener. As Kevin Blackwell, the manager, pointed out, even the club cat is new.
Gloom has descended on this part of west Yorkshire and the chairman Gerald Krasner, did little to lift it with his programme notes. "I cannot promise you that all the unpopular decisions are behind us," he wrote ominously. "You cannot deal with £103m of debt overnight."
Given the mood, you feared for forementioned cat if Leeds had lost yesterday but, riding their luck, they not only avoided that but clung on to a win thanks to Frazer Richardson's 72nd-minute goal. Maybe, after relegation from the Premier-ship, fortune is smiling in Elland Road's direction again.
"Frazer is a passionate Leeds fan," Blackwell said of his 21-year-old scorer. "He's a Yorkshire boy from about 30 miles away and he knows what it means for people round here to play at Elland Road. He will give everything he's got and he's exactly the kind of player I need at this club.
"Sometimes out of adversity comes triumph. We saw players today like Matthew Kilgallon, Simon Walton, who is 16 and making his debut, and Richardson, who have not had a chance before. When we went down last season there was doom and gloom about the place but quietly I knew there were some good young players here."
They may help in the rebuilding of Leeds, but if you had to pick a club to demonstrate that former glory is no guarantee of on-going success then Derby would do as well as anybody. Not so long ago they were established in the top flight but last season was a fight against relegation that was won only at the end. Even so it was a surprise to see their players, and not Leeds', beginning the match like strangers.
That was due in part to Leeds' strength on the flanks. Richardson's seeming clumsiness proved deceptive on the right, and Danny Pugh, a 21-year-old left-wing makeweight in Alan Smith's controversial move to Manchester United, showed why Sir Alex Ferguson was reluctant to let him go.
Pugh was the first to expose the visitors' frailty with an 18th-minute header that almost caught Lee Camp flat-footed and he tested the Derby goalkeeper's agility with a clever free-kick after 36 minutes that was only just tipped away from under the bar. Leeds' best chance, however, had come after 17 minutes when Michael Ricketts flicked on and Julian Joachim's shot across the goal would have gone in but for it flicking Camp's heel.
That looked to be a costly miss when Michael Johnson found the back of the net on the brink of half-time, but the Derby elation dribbled away when the linesman flagged that the corner of Spanish midfielder Inigo Idiakez's had gone out of play en route.
Tommy Smith was denied by a sharp save from Neil Sullivan after 59 minutes and Junior was just wide four minutes later, yet as Derby were beginning to look the likelier winners, Leeds pounced. The visitors dithered over a clearance, Ricketts nipped in to pass to the right and Richardson, cutting in, lost Richard Jackson and then beat Camp with a left-foot that had hitherto been used only for standing on. "I don't remember much about it," the scorer admitted, "but it was a great moment with my dad in the crowd."
Those familiar with last season's travails will not be surprised that Leeds had to survive a scare or two as they hung on but no more so than in stoppage time. First Ian Taylor crashed a header against the angle and when the ball rebounded Junior lashed in a shot that Sullivan tipped away with a spectacular dive.
Elland Road heaved a sigh of relief that threatened to remove the roof of the stands and at least one supporter was spared the job of picking the stitches to change the "B" to an "R" in the message on his scarf: "Leeds United - Simply The Best". Good news for him at last.