Mighty Leeds Weblog

Leedsunited.com 30/12/06 NO JOY FOR UNITED STOKE 3 (Sidibe 12, Ehiogu og 54, Fuller 77) UNITED (Moore 41) Stoke: Simonsen, Hoefkens, Duberry, Higginbotham, Hill, Lawrence, Diao, Russell, Hendrie (Berger 46), Sidibe, Fuller (Pericard 82). Subs: Brammer, Sweeney, Dickinson. United: Warner, Richardson, Ehiogu, Heath, Lewis, Douglas, Derry, Howson, Westlake (Kandol 62), Moore, Healy. Subs: Sullivan, Carole, Marques, Beckford. Referee: A D'Urso (Billericay) Ugo Ehiogu was passed fit at the 11th hour to spare United's potential defensive crisis, but boss Dennis Wise also made changes to his midfield and front-line. Jonny Howson was recalled to the midfield while Ian Moore and David Healy both returned to the starting line-up in place of Tresor Kandol and Jermaine Beckford. Kandol and Beckford both dropped to the bench and were joined by Rui Marques, who was figuring in the first team for the first time this season, Seb Carole and Neil Sullivan. For Stoke, Lee Hendrie passed a late fi

Telegraph 24/12/06 Leeds left clutching at draws By Trevor Haylett at Elland Road, Sunday Telegraph Leeds (0) 0 Hull (0) 0 They filed away silently in their thousands, dejected and in desperate need of a warm fireside and some seasonal cheer. There was none to be found inside Elland Road, a grand stage where they used to pay homage to the best team in the land but which now endures a level of mediocrity shaming the memory of all those great performers from the past. A 0-0 home draw with Hull is certainly no reason to crack open the Christmas champers. It has come to something when that minuscule return is seen as a sign that there might soon be some light beneath a skyline presently offering only grey and gloom. 'A clean sheet' claimed those for whom a glass three-quarters empty, is a glass one-quarter full. Yes, only the fourth clean sheet in 13 home games. But the lunchtime kick-off also produced a whiteout, a washout, at the other end and that is three successive games that

Leedsunited.com 23/12/06 DERBY GAME STALEMATE UNITED 0, HULL CITY 0 United: Warner, Richardson, Ehiogu, Heath, Lewis, Douglas, Derry, Howson, Westlake, Blake (Healy 71), Kandol. Subs: Sullivan, Carole, Moore, Kilgallon. Hull City: Myhill, Dawson, Coles, Turner, McPhee (Forster 29), Delaney, Bridges (Yeates 62), Ricketts, Marney, Fagan, France. Subs: Elliott, Duke, Byron. Referee: Mark Clattenburg Teenager midfielder Jonny Howson was handed his full debut against Hull City with skipper Kevin Nicholls serving the first of his three-match suspension. Robbie Blake and Ugo Ehiogu returned to the starting line-up after shaking off injury with David Healy and Hayden Foxe dropping to the bench. Tony Warner also returned to the side in place of the injured Graham Stack, making his first start since October. Neil Sullivan, recalled from a loan spell at Doncaster Rovers, was named among the substitutes. The game started at a frenetic pace, but aside from one punched clearance from Warner, neither

Leedsunited.com 23/12/06 YORKSHIRE EVENING POST United chairman Ken Bates has moved to explain the club's current relationship with the Yorkshire Evening Post. Writing his programme notes for Saturday's game against Hull City the chairman explained to fans: "You should be aware that all is not well in our relationship with the YEP. "Co-operation between the club and its local paper is vital but it cannot be one-way traffic. "Leeds United needs the YEP to get its message across, the YEP needs United's stories to help sell newspapers. "Of course the YEP should be impartial while supportive but unfortunately this no longer appears to be the position. "When Kevin Blackwell left, Phil Rostron, the YEP Sports Editor, wrote an article under his own name, making serious allegations against the club. "At Mr Rostron's request we had a meeting in an attempt to clear the air. Phil promised to justify his claims on the following Monday but didn't te

Leedsunited.com 19/12/06 CLUB FINED The club were today fined £2000, £1000 of which is suspended, for a breach of Football League regulations, following the game at Burnley last month. The club was in breach of Football League regulations after naming six loan players on the team-sheet for the match at Turf Moor on November 28. The maximum allowed is five. The players named on the team-sheet were Graham Stack, Matt Heath, Ugo Ehiogu, Tresor Kandol, Geoff Horsfield, and Tony Warner. The Football League took into account the extenuating circumstances surrounding Matthew Kilgallon's late withdrawal from the team through injury.

Yorkshire Post 19/12/06 Stone departs backing Wise to beat drop United's former England midfield man finally admits defeat in battle against injury Richard Sutcliffe STEVE STONE may not be around to help the fight any more, but the former England international is backing Leeds United to battle their way out of relegation trouble in the Championship.The 35-year-old has this week brought the curtain down on his career after failing to recover fully from an Achilles injury sustained during pre-season last year.Stone had to wait eight months for his debut and even though he went on to chalk up 14 appearances, the United midfield player has now admitted defeat with a settlement having been reached over the remaining seven months of his contract.It means a frustrating end to a career that included the highs of helping England to the semi-finals in Euro '96 and winning promotion to the top flight three times.Speaking to the Yorkshire Post from his native North East, Stone said: "

Leedsunited.com 15/12/06 STONE DEPARTS Leeds United thave cancelled the contract of midfielder Steve Stone by mutual consent. The 35-year-old former England midfield player has been plagued by injury since he joined the Elland Road club for the start of last season and had no real alternative but the bring down the curtain on his playing career. When he joined Leeds from Portsmouth, hopes were that Stone would bring his wealth of experience and knowledge to the side but he had the misfortune to suffer an Achilles tendon injury during his first training session with United. He went through a season-long battle when, following an operation, the wound became infected. "The injury and the infection has taken its toll on me and there were times when I even struggled to get up out of bed in a morning because of the injury," he said. "Things didn't really work out for me right from the start and it has been a big disappointment for me but that is the way things go sometimes

Yorkshire Evening Post 13/12/06 Wise: Just 10 more wins by Phil Hay Dennis Wise today swept aside concerns over Leeds United's Championship position, insisting the club were well on the way to the magical 50-point mark. The Elland Road boss has set his sights on 10 victories from United's remaining 24 league games after claiming 30 more points will allow his players to repel the threat of relegation.Leeds are third from bottom in the Championship and have taken 20 points from their first 22 matches, and Wise's side will begin the second half of the season inside the relegation zone unless a convincing victory over Ipswich Town this weekend is coupled with a heavy defeat for Barnsley at Leicester.A total of 50 points is considered by most managers to be enough to preserve Championship status, and a tally of just 43 was sufficient to avoid a place in the bottom three last season.Gillingham, however, were relegated with 50 points to their name two years ago, and Walsall amasse

Yorkshire Evening Post 9/12/06 More bitter home truths LEEDS UNITED 0 DERBY COUNTY 1 On the next occasion Leeds United and Derby County meet, the curtain will come down on the Championship season.How much will be at stake for either club at Pride Park on May 6 remains to be seen, but there was little in United's performance yesterday to suggest their situation will be any less bleak in six months' time than it is this morning.Dennis Wise's early efforts at Elland Road have offered encouragement to United's following but, after nine games at the helm, the job of rescuing Leeds from the Championship's relegation zone is refusing to get easier.County will outclass better sides than Wise's this season, and Billy Davies players arrived in Yorkshire on the back of six wins from seven games.But the first-half performance delivered by United will stand among their most shambolic this season, and their improvement during the second half failed to force a result.Leeds wer

Leedsunited.com 9/12/06 STATEMENT Leeds United can confirm that the club breached Football League regulations at Burnley on November 28 by naming six loan players on our team-sheet for the game. The maximum number of loan players any club can name on a team-sheet for a game is five. We will co-operate fully with the Football League on this matter and explain the extenuating circumstances.

We're on the mend by Phil Hay MATT HEATH today warned Derby County to expect a mentally-toughened version of Leeds United when they turn out in Yorkshire this weekend. Billy Davies' side will descend on Elland Road tomorrow fresh from six wins in seven matches, but Heath believes the timing of United's meeting with Derby will suit his team-mates.The on-loan Coventry City defender has witnessed a vast improvement in United's character since his second game for Leeds ended in a sorry 3-0 defeat to Southampton last month, and Heath is hoping Leeds will be equal to the challenge of one of the Championship's in-form teams tomorrow.United are still trapped inside the division's relegation zone, 18 places below County, but Heath said: "I definitely think we're beginning to stabilise."The fighting spirit is better, and the game at Burnley was the best example of that. We lost 2-1 but we battled hard and we had them hanging on at the end."The Southampt

Sporting Life 2/12/06 LINESMAN COST US WIN - WISE By Mark Walker, PA Sport Leeds manager Dennis Wise claimed linesman Karl Evans had cost his side all three points after the Yorkshire derby with Barnsley ended 2-2 at Elland Road. On-loan central defender Matt Heath appeared to have given Leeds a 3-2 lead midway through the second half when he headed home Ian Westlake's corner at the near post. Referee Kevin Wright saw nothing wrong with Heath's effort, but his assistant Evans drew his attention to an infringement and the effort was ruled out. "It was the linesman this time wasn't it?" Wise said after goals on their home debuts from both Tresor Kandol and Ugo Ehiogu cancelled out two fine individual efforts from Barnsley striker Daniel Nardiello. "I don't know what he's seen. I've just shown him it and he doesn't know what he's seen, but he's still making out he's seen something, some kind of foul. "I don't know what the fo

Leedsunited.com 2/12/06 FIGHT BACK UNITED 2 (Kandol 8, Ehiogu 45) BARNSLEY 2 (Nardiello 3, 36) UNITED: Stack, Douglas, Ehiogu, Heath, Crainey, Blake (Healy 80), Westlake, Derry (Richardson 64), Lewis, Moore (Carole 88), Kandol. Subs: Warner, Healy, Carole, Beckford. BARNSLEY: Colgan, Hassell, Heckingbottom, Reid, Togwell, Hayes, Knight, Howard, Austin, Nardiello (Richards 79), McCann. Subs: Letheren, Tonge, Williams, Richards, Devaney. Referee: K Wright United boss Dennis Wise made one enforced change from the side which lost 2-1 to Burnley in midweek with Hayden Foxe missing through suspension. Tresor Kandol was the man to come in - making his full debut - with Wise re-shuffling his pack to move Robbie Blake behind the forwards, on the right, and Jonathan Douglas dropped to right-back. But United got off to the worst start possible after Barnsley opened the scoring in the third minute. Danny Nardiello, who tormented United as a second half substitute at Oakwell in November, ran into t