Yorkshire Post 18/10/06
History sounds ominous note for troubled Leeds
Richard Sutcliffeat Elland Road
Leeds United 1Leicester City 2
CHAMPIONSHIP
THE MISERY surrounding Leeds United deepened last night with the latest in what is fast becoming an alarming series of defeats.Goals from Danny Tiatto and Iain Hume were enough to condemn United to their eighth reverse in just 12 Championship games and make this the club's joint worst start to a season of all time. Only three times in United's long history have they lost two-thirds of their opening dozen games and on each occasion it proved very difficult to turn their season round. Twice, in 1946-47 and 2003-04, the club were relegated, while in the 1936-37 campaign Leeds finished just one place above the drop zone in the old First Division.Whether such a fate awaits the current crop remains to be seen but the manner of the two most recent defeats has certainly set the alarm bells ringing at Elland Road.True, Leicester's one-goal triumph last night was nowhere near as bad as the humiliating rout suffered against a distinctly ordinary Stoke City outfit four days earlier with John Carver's side showing much more character and passion.The 10-man home side, Matthew Kilgallon being sent off just after the break for a professional foul, could even have rescued a point with Robbie Blake's 78th-minute header having crossed the line before being cleared by Richard Stearman, the linesman somehow adjudging the ball to have stayed out despite being in a perfect position.The sense of injustice was only deepened when Hume doubled the visitors' advantage just two minutes later with a cool finish, making Paul Butler's brave headed goal five minutes from time merely a consolation despite a late rally.Despite that welcome display of character, however, there was little doubt over the 90 minutes that the Foxes were full value for the victory with only a trio of outstanding saves by Neil Sullivan, Shaun Derry's clearance off the line and two efforts also hitting the woodwork preventing the winning margin being even more emphatic.The message from the United fans certainly rang out clear during the second half with chairman Ken Bates being told by a sizeable section of the 16,477 crowd to "sort it out, or clear off home".Action is clearly needed because Leeds are showing all the hallmarks of a club in limbo at the moment and it will take strong leadership both on and off the field to turn the tide on the current malaise.The opening goal of the night had come courtesy of a fortunate deflection when Gary Kelly's attempted clearance smashed into the face of Josh Low and across the United penalty area. There was no doubt about the quality of the finish, however, with Tiatto thrashing an unstoppable shot into the roof of the net from 15 yards. It was just what United did not need and within 60 seconds it had almost got a lot worse when a static home defence was badly exposed by a deft pass from Elvis Hammond that allowed Low to scamper through unchallenged.As Sullivan raced from his line, the midfielder seemed certain to score only to chip his shot over the advancing goalkeeper and wide of a post.It was a let-off for Leeds who were then grateful to see the Foxes waste two more golden chances either side of the break. The first came when unmarked Gareth McAuley planted a header against the crossbar, and the second two minutes after the break saw Derry hack a goalbound effort from Patrick Kisnorbo off the line after Sullivan had fumbled a cross.Leicester continued to dominate after Kilgallon was sent off when referee Colin Webster, who also booked five United players, adjudged the England Under-21 defender to have hauled the ever-dangerous Hammond to the floor after the pacy striker had been played through by Low.Bizarrely, this merely served to fire up the home side, who at least showed in the final quarter the battling qualities that will be needed to fight their way out of the bottom three.
History sounds ominous note for troubled Leeds
Richard Sutcliffeat Elland Road
Leeds United 1Leicester City 2
CHAMPIONSHIP
THE MISERY surrounding Leeds United deepened last night with the latest in what is fast becoming an alarming series of defeats.Goals from Danny Tiatto and Iain Hume were enough to condemn United to their eighth reverse in just 12 Championship games and make this the club's joint worst start to a season of all time. Only three times in United's long history have they lost two-thirds of their opening dozen games and on each occasion it proved very difficult to turn their season round. Twice, in 1946-47 and 2003-04, the club were relegated, while in the 1936-37 campaign Leeds finished just one place above the drop zone in the old First Division.Whether such a fate awaits the current crop remains to be seen but the manner of the two most recent defeats has certainly set the alarm bells ringing at Elland Road.True, Leicester's one-goal triumph last night was nowhere near as bad as the humiliating rout suffered against a distinctly ordinary Stoke City outfit four days earlier with John Carver's side showing much more character and passion.The 10-man home side, Matthew Kilgallon being sent off just after the break for a professional foul, could even have rescued a point with Robbie Blake's 78th-minute header having crossed the line before being cleared by Richard Stearman, the linesman somehow adjudging the ball to have stayed out despite being in a perfect position.The sense of injustice was only deepened when Hume doubled the visitors' advantage just two minutes later with a cool finish, making Paul Butler's brave headed goal five minutes from time merely a consolation despite a late rally.Despite that welcome display of character, however, there was little doubt over the 90 minutes that the Foxes were full value for the victory with only a trio of outstanding saves by Neil Sullivan, Shaun Derry's clearance off the line and two efforts also hitting the woodwork preventing the winning margin being even more emphatic.The message from the United fans certainly rang out clear during the second half with chairman Ken Bates being told by a sizeable section of the 16,477 crowd to "sort it out, or clear off home".Action is clearly needed because Leeds are showing all the hallmarks of a club in limbo at the moment and it will take strong leadership both on and off the field to turn the tide on the current malaise.The opening goal of the night had come courtesy of a fortunate deflection when Gary Kelly's attempted clearance smashed into the face of Josh Low and across the United penalty area. There was no doubt about the quality of the finish, however, with Tiatto thrashing an unstoppable shot into the roof of the net from 15 yards. It was just what United did not need and within 60 seconds it had almost got a lot worse when a static home defence was badly exposed by a deft pass from Elvis Hammond that allowed Low to scamper through unchallenged.As Sullivan raced from his line, the midfielder seemed certain to score only to chip his shot over the advancing goalkeeper and wide of a post.It was a let-off for Leeds who were then grateful to see the Foxes waste two more golden chances either side of the break. The first came when unmarked Gareth McAuley planted a header against the crossbar, and the second two minutes after the break saw Derry hack a goalbound effort from Patrick Kisnorbo off the line after Sullivan had fumbled a cross.Leicester continued to dominate after Kilgallon was sent off when referee Colin Webster, who also booked five United players, adjudged the England Under-21 defender to have hauled the ever-dangerous Hammond to the floor after the pacy striker had been played through by Low.Bizarrely, this merely served to fire up the home side, who at least showed in the final quarter the battling qualities that will be needed to fight their way out of the bottom three.