Leeds United Football Club - Hello Again!
Hello Again!
Barely three weeks since they last met at Elland Road, United face Preston at Deepdale tomorrow with Kevin Blackwell looking for a marked improvement on Wednesday night's fiasco.
The fixture computer threw up an oddity when it paired the Whites and the Lilywhites together twice in less than a month, but it's not memories of the 1-0 win over Lancashire side that Leeds take with them across the Pennines, but nightmares of their midweek capitulation at the hands of Burnley.
Blackwell was furious with his team's performance and made it clear they had let him and the fans down. The fans in turn let the players know their feelings as a section booed them off at the end of the game.
"We will find out on Saturday how they reacted to my words," said Blackwell, who had ripped into his team in the dressing room after the Burnley game.
"From day one they have been an honest bunch of players and that has endeared them to most of the fans, and equally when the fans voiced their opinions on Wednesday night they knew the fans meant it and it hurt them as well.
"I need players to try and pull all the other players together and it's a difficult job and no-one ever said it wasn't.
The Whites have only scored once in the league in the last three games and new arrival David Healy is still looking for his first goal for the club. It would be sweet if he could find the net against his former club on his early return to Deepdale, but Blackwell is keen to ensure the responsibility for scoring goals is shared.
"I want anybody to score, everyone know we haven't been scoring many and I don't want David to come here and think he has to carry the whole mantle on his shoulders because it puts too much pressure on the player.
"After taking just 12 seconds to score the other night I felt we could have gone on to score a few more, but it turned ugly.
"The way we played against Stoke is how I want us to play; my reputation as a coach is to play fast attacking football with balls on the floor and getting people into scoring positions."
Blackwell has added Sunderland midfielder John Oster to the squad and the Welsh international is in line to start the game after showing good fitness levels in training on Friday afternoon. The boss hopes the 25-year-old can provide some creativity.
"John is well known for being able to unlock defences, he had a particularly good season last season in taking Sunderland to the FA Cup semi-final and the play-off semi-finals.
"He has a good track record and I have been after a wide man since the start of the season and hopefully he can give us a bit of creativity."
Oster could play on the right wing, a position Blackwell has highlighted as a problem since he took over at the helm in the summer.
"I have known from day one that I had no wide players, and the two lads there Pugh and Richardson have done a manful job but they haven't got the knowledge of how to unlock defences and receive the ball in the correct manner.
"I have brought John in and he will be expected to perform straight away which is hard on any player, but that's the position were are now in. We are having to try lots of people and it's very much trial and error at the moment.
"I know to build the club again is going to take some time. Funds will always make you move a little bit quicker, but when you haven't got funds and you haven't got any players here and you have to do everything for nothing, it is very difficult to go and get the players in.
"I have got to try and find the players that are right for Leeds for nothing and that's very hard."
Preston at home are likely to be a very different proposition to the Preston that came to Elland Road three weeks ago. At Deepdale they have won six out of eight game and it's a place Blackwell admits he's never enjoyed going to.
"Deepdale is a very hard place to go to and I have been there many times before and not enjoyed a great deal of success.
"They are not a small side, they have five men over six foot, so they are a big side and one that has been together for quite a while. They have seven or eight players that have been together for three or four years now and they do know each other's style of play whereas we are still learning about each other.
"But the expectations on our players to perform are huge and they will be expected, by me and the fans, to go out there and perform at their best. If they do that we'll win."
Hello Again!
Barely three weeks since they last met at Elland Road, United face Preston at Deepdale tomorrow with Kevin Blackwell looking for a marked improvement on Wednesday night's fiasco.
The fixture computer threw up an oddity when it paired the Whites and the Lilywhites together twice in less than a month, but it's not memories of the 1-0 win over Lancashire side that Leeds take with them across the Pennines, but nightmares of their midweek capitulation at the hands of Burnley.
Blackwell was furious with his team's performance and made it clear they had let him and the fans down. The fans in turn let the players know their feelings as a section booed them off at the end of the game.
"We will find out on Saturday how they reacted to my words," said Blackwell, who had ripped into his team in the dressing room after the Burnley game.
"From day one they have been an honest bunch of players and that has endeared them to most of the fans, and equally when the fans voiced their opinions on Wednesday night they knew the fans meant it and it hurt them as well.
"I need players to try and pull all the other players together and it's a difficult job and no-one ever said it wasn't.
The Whites have only scored once in the league in the last three games and new arrival David Healy is still looking for his first goal for the club. It would be sweet if he could find the net against his former club on his early return to Deepdale, but Blackwell is keen to ensure the responsibility for scoring goals is shared.
"I want anybody to score, everyone know we haven't been scoring many and I don't want David to come here and think he has to carry the whole mantle on his shoulders because it puts too much pressure on the player.
"After taking just 12 seconds to score the other night I felt we could have gone on to score a few more, but it turned ugly.
"The way we played against Stoke is how I want us to play; my reputation as a coach is to play fast attacking football with balls on the floor and getting people into scoring positions."
Blackwell has added Sunderland midfielder John Oster to the squad and the Welsh international is in line to start the game after showing good fitness levels in training on Friday afternoon. The boss hopes the 25-year-old can provide some creativity.
"John is well known for being able to unlock defences, he had a particularly good season last season in taking Sunderland to the FA Cup semi-final and the play-off semi-finals.
"He has a good track record and I have been after a wide man since the start of the season and hopefully he can give us a bit of creativity."
Oster could play on the right wing, a position Blackwell has highlighted as a problem since he took over at the helm in the summer.
"I have known from day one that I had no wide players, and the two lads there Pugh and Richardson have done a manful job but they haven't got the knowledge of how to unlock defences and receive the ball in the correct manner.
"I have brought John in and he will be expected to perform straight away which is hard on any player, but that's the position were are now in. We are having to try lots of people and it's very much trial and error at the moment.
"I know to build the club again is going to take some time. Funds will always make you move a little bit quicker, but when you haven't got funds and you haven't got any players here and you have to do everything for nothing, it is very difficult to go and get the players in.
"I have got to try and find the players that are right for Leeds for nothing and that's very hard."
Preston at home are likely to be a very different proposition to the Preston that came to Elland Road three weeks ago. At Deepdale they have won six out of eight game and it's a place Blackwell admits he's never enjoyed going to.
"Deepdale is a very hard place to go to and I have been there many times before and not enjoyed a great deal of success.
"They are not a small side, they have five men over six foot, so they are a big side and one that has been together for quite a while. They have seven or eight players that have been together for three or four years now and they do know each other's style of play whereas we are still learning about each other.
"But the expectations on our players to perform are huge and they will be expected, by me and the fans, to go out there and perform at their best. If they do that we'll win."
