Irish Independent 30/9/07
Leeds parking the self-pity
Leeds have reverted to the ethos of the legendary Revie era in their quest to repair damaged pride, writes Aidan O'Hara
HAD Peter Cook been alive today, he could easily have sued Leeds United for stealing his ideas.
It was Cook, in the guise of his fictional football manager character Alan Latchley who created the week-long seminar called 'Dare to Fail', targeting clubs with the emphasis on embracing failure as a noble characteristic.
"It's for people who have had some degree of success in their life to come along and see what it's like to be at the bottom of the pile," said the cliché-ridden Latchley in a television interview a couple of years before his death in 1995. "They come along and learn how to get to the bottom with their pride and dignity intact."
In the last few years though, Leeds might have struggled with the last bit.
Dignity is not something that has been plentiful at Elland Road recently as supporters continue to watch Match of the Day highlights with a grimace, while pointing at the television and telling anybody who will listen "he's ex-Leeds, so is he -- and him".
It might be a chore for who-ever is on the receiving end to find sympathy but if a Premier League 11 of Robinson, Duberry, Ferdinand, Woodgate, Bowyer, Smith, Milner, Lennon, Viduka, Keane and Kewell had played for their club in the last five years, they might understand. Short of Jim Bowen appearing, Bullseye-style, to rub their noses in it by announcing "here's what you could have won", the road of what-might-have-been could not handle much more Yorkshire traffic.
But after a season of being wary to check results on Saturday afternoon for fear of another embarrassment, there's finally some optimism around the club after seven successive victories -- their best start to a league campaign -- which yesterday's draw will hardly dent.
True, it is only League One, but, as Manchester City found during their brief stay at the same level, it feels better to win in a lower league and build a platform from there than being beaten every week and struggle to stay afloat.
When chairman Ken Bates appointed Dennis Wise -- a combination as pleasant as a stone in your shoe -- the manager spoke of going back to the 'old' Leeds of nastiness and togetherness that could save them from relegation after their poor start to last season. Instead they sank like a stone.
Latchley's football philosophy was based around the three Ms (Motivation, Motivation, Motivation) but while Wise couldn't go to Latchley's extremes of kidnapping the players' wives to spark a rage within them, his chance to build an us-against-the-world mentality, which has traditionally been part of the Leeds fabric, was handed to him when the club were forced to start this season with a 15-point deduction for breach of the League's insolvency rules.
"Not only have they taken my arms and legs off, now they've cut my balls off as well," was Wise's reaction to the deduction. Not quite "we will fight them on the beaches" in its eloquence but the manager's outlook appears to have permeated through to his players who have brought the club from odds of 5/2 to be relegated to 9/2 to win the division.
Having struggled to get the best out of what was still a talented team last season, Wise has reverted to the formula that earned him relative success at Millwall and Swindon by trusting in players with something to prove rather than those who believe they should be playing at a higher level but are not willing to put in the effort to get there.
This season's captain -- Alan Thompson -- saw his Celtic career nosedive with the arrival of Gordon Strachan while David Prutton's bad-boy image is cemented following his 10-game ban during his time at Southampton.
Striker Tresor Kandol, prior to being sent off yesterday along with Jermaine Beckford, seemed to have benefited from a summer of pre-season training, having spent the previous one in prison.
The six weeks Kandol spent in jail for a string of driving offences (he doesn't have much luck with transport having been charged with train-fare evasion during his time with Luton Town), saw him discover a hidden talent for art which he hopes to publish in the future. His sketches would be a fitting homage to a changing era at the club were they to hang in the boardroom one day rather than the exotic fish which came to symbolise the wastefulness of the Peter Ridsdale era.
Kandol's background, often comedic first touch and celebratory back-flips are turning him into a cult hero among those daring to return to Elland Road after such a fall from grace. Last week's home game against Swansea saw 29,476 show up, and increase of 5,000 on the first game of the season, while the banners screaming 'we don't deserve all this' that unfurled from the stands awash with self-pity appear to have been left at home.
With such high spirits, there might be a bit more interest in the 20-year season-ticket that was offered three years ago to supporters for £3,000 (€4,300) with the club still in the Premiership in a desperate effort to raise cash. The idea was Geoffrey Richmond's (he of Bradford City insolvency fame) who hoped to make £8.5m (€12.2m) by selling 1,750 of these tickets. In just one of many failed ventures, they managed to get rid of just 184.
It took three years to go from Champions League semi-finalists to relegation fodder but when a club borrows £60m (€85m) at eight per cent interest (€6.6m annually) to spend on the likes of Dominic Matteo, Danny Mills and Seth Johnson, it's hard to escape the feeling that they brought it on themselves.
The real losers in the Leeds saga have been the creditors who were initially offered 1p in the pound when a consortium fronted by Bates bought the club on the same day that he applied to put them into administration with £35m (€50m) debts.
The offer eventually increased to 11p in the pound meaning St John's Ambulance service had to be thankful for the £18 they would receive while West Yorkshire Ambulance Service could settle for just under £1,000 (€1,400) of the £8,997 (€13,000) they were owed. And Wise thought he was hard done by with a 15-point deduction.
If any other club had wiped out a points deduction in such a manner, it would be seen as a fairytale but with Bates playing the Fairy Godmother and Wise Prince Charming, it is difficult to let the imagination run wild.
Next Saturday they play Yeovil, a team who were scrapping for promotion from the Conference six years ago when Leeds were playing Valencia for a place at Europe's top table.
And with a burning sense of injustice born in the Revie era, around 30,000 Leeds supporters will embrace the siege mentality and chant three sentences that could be the motto of the club, the manager and the chairman. "We are Leeds. No-one likes us. We don't care."
Yorkshire Evening Post 29/9/07
No record for nine-man Leeds United
By Phil Hay
Gillingham 1 Leeds United 1
Dennis Wise knows that Leeds United is a complicated club.
It did not take a 15-point deduction to remind him of that, but yesterday's visit to Gillingham raised his understanding of the complexities of managing United to a ridiculous level.
Leeds came within 60 seconds of setting a club record with an eighth successive league victory at Priestfield, but by full-time it was difficult to reflect on the results that had gone before. Wise was too busy fuming at a display of appalling incompetence from referee Danny McDermid to worry himself with historical statistics.
McDermid has only one full year of experience as a Football League official, and his inexperience was exposed in painful fashion yesterday. The Londoner did what poor referees do best, and allowed his performance to detract from a fixture which he ruined before it had the chance to get going.
Wise does not handle match officials with care, but McDermid deserved the fierce criticism that came his way after full-time.
By the 57th minute, he had succeeded in sending off United's strikers, Tresor Kandol and Jermaine Beckford. Kandol was first to depart after twice being booked for dissent, and Beckford was shown two yellow cards in the space of three second-half minutes, treatment the forward did not deserve.
McDermid's idea of discipline left Leeds to fight out the final half-hour with nine players, and their flawless league record was finally damaged by an equaliser from Ian Cox in the 90th minute.
Gillingham were steeped in mediocrity and, for all their frantic pressure, Sebastien Carole's goal looked likely to earn Leeds a win of incomparable resilience. But the lasting effect of yesterday's result will be greater than simply their failure to earn an eighth straight win.
Beckford and Kandol, who have 11 goals between them, will miss Tuesday night's game at Oldham, the first time this season that either player has been absent from a league game.Wise is not in possession of two senior and available strikers to replace them, and Beckford's ban will run for two games after he reached five bookings with his second caution. To compound the situation, Wise was sent to the stands after criticising McDermid at half-time, and he may now incur an FA fine. Gillingham performed with a strand of confidence during the first half-hour, but their overall display was poor. Despite the late goal from Cox, the game served to strengthen the feeling that Gillingham's caretakers, Mick Docherty and Iffy Onuora, are merely temporary stewards.
The hosts enjoyed a steady flow of chances before Carole finished off a well-worked free-kick in the 29th minute, but the opening goal did for their confidence.
The strike was a near-replica of United's first at Tranmere Rovers on the opening day of the season, and hinted heavily at the dedication with which Leeds treat setpieces on the training ground.
Frazer Richardson was fouled on the corner of the box by Adam Nowland, and as Jonathan Douglas lined-up the free-kick, Matt Heath and Manuel Rui Marques slipped off the edge of Gillingham's wall and sprinted towards Simon Royce's back post.
Heath met the free-kick with a header across goal which left Royce out of position, and Carole – the smallest player on the pitch – completed the process with a simple headed finish into an empty net. Gillingham's structure collapsed immediately, but Kandol saw to it that the balance of power was quickly shifted.
The striker had been booked for dissent by referee Danny McDermid in the 26th minute, and when he sarcastically applauded the award of a free-kick from the official four minutes before half-time, McDermid issued his second yellow card, followed by a red.
Kandol's only opportunity had come in the fifth minute when he ran on to David Prutton's chip and drew Royce into a brave block, but the clearer opportunities before Carole's goal fell to the hosts. Nowland's shot from outside the box in the 19th minute forced Casper Ankergren to cling tightly to the ball as it threatened to dip into the far corner of his net, and David Graham drove a volley wide after meeting Delroy Facey's header.
Ankergren gathered their most promising effort at the second attempt, smothering Andrew Crofts' low strike from inside the box, and Carole's goal arrived at a timely juncture, drawing the sting from Gillingham.
But the comfort provided by the Frenchman was quickly withdrawn by Kandol's sense of irony.
Poyet confronted McDermid as the referee left the field for the interval, and Wise's comments saw him banned from the dugout for the second half. In the absence of Kandol, meanwhile, Beckford was left to fish hopefully for half-chances.
His clever overhead kick shortly after the restart was parried over by Royce, but by the 57th minute Beckford was tracing Kandol's trail down the tunnel.
The striker received an unjustified booking for shooting after McDermid had blown his whistle for offside, and he was sent-off three minutes later after a lunge at Sean Clohessy. Both cautions were harsh, but McDermid's mood had passed the point of forgiveness.
The onslaught was invited and it arrived swiftly, though not with any constructive purpose. In between lacklustre attacks, Crofts headed Barry Cogan's corner over the crossbar from a good position, and Cox fired a shot over from four yards. Ankergren then intervened to parry a low shot from Graham.But as the game entered the first of five minutes of injury time, Cox rose to head Crofts' corner into the roof of the net and reel in United in cruel fashion. Leeds had no energy left, and no will with which to answer.
Their reponse at Oldham on Tuesday will now be telling.
Leedsunited.com 29/9/07
LATE LEVELLER
GILLINGHAM 1 (Cox 90), UNITED 1 (Carole 28)
Gillingham: Royce, Clohessy, Cox, Sodje, Hamilton (Dickson 71), Nowland, Lomas (Mulligan 61), Crofts, Cogan, Facey, Graham. Subs: Stillie, King, Stone.
United: Ankergren, Richardson, Heath, Marques, Clapham (Huntington 59), Prutton, Douglas, Hughes (Westlake 59), Carole (Weston 75), Kandol, Beckford. Subs: Lucas, Thompson.
Referee: D McDermid (London).
Booked: Nowland, Cox (Gillingham), Hughes, Kandol, Beckford, Douglas, Ankergren (United).
Sent-Off: Kandol, Beckford.
Dennis Wise named an unchanged team as his United side went in search of a record breaking eight successive league victory.
Wise's men had equalled the record for wins to start to the season, beating Swansea last weekend, and an eighth would see them pass that and assume the post-war record for successive league victories.
And United had almost got off to a perfect start, Gillingham keeper Simon Royce reacting well to deny Tresor Kandol inside the opening five minutes.
Gillingham's first shot on goal came in the 10th minute when Matt Heath blocked an effort from David Graham.
United had the ball in the net after 15 minutes when Jermaine Beckford showed his confidence, converting a Kandol knock-down, but the in-form striker was denied by an offside flag.
The hosts were next to try their luck and Casper Ankergren made a good double save to deny Graham. The Danish goalkeeper also saved from Adam Nowland after a quick break by Barry Cogan.
The game continued to flow at pace and Gills keeper Royce pulled off another save from Dave Prutton, who worked himsefl a good opening.
United were also getting little out of referee Danny McDermid. An apparent foul on Kandol went unpunished early on, Andrew Hughes found himself in the book before being given a stern lecture on 22 minutes, and Frazer Richardson was also given a talking-to before a Gillingham corner.
So it was no surprise when Kandol was booked in the 26th minute for protesting after what looked like another foul by Efe Sodje was given the other way.
But United got their noses in front moments later, ironically after Adam Nowland was penalised for a foul on Prutton.
Jonathan Douglas whipped a free-kick across the goal, Matt Heath headed it back, and the unlikely figure of Seb Carole headed home for his first goal for the club.
Referee McDermid made sure he took centre stage again, though, five minutes before half-time when he showed Kandol a red card after the striker applauded a decision to give Leeds a free-kick.
That left United down to 10 men with Beckford operating as the lone front man.
Despite being a man down, United started the second half brightly and forced the home side onto the back foot by winning a couple of early corners.
The cards continued to appear as well and Beckford was booked for chipping the keeper after the whistle went for offside.
When Beckford went down moments later - Sodje was again involved - the referee simply awarded a free-kick.
But the card was out again when play re-started, and this time Beckford saw red following a challenge on Sean Clohessy as Leeds were amazingly reduced to nine men.
Wise immediately made a double substitution, introducing Paul Huntington and Ian Westlake in place of Jamie Clapham and Hughes. The latter had already been booked and, with cards being brandished like Christmas, Wise clearly didn't want to lose anyone else.
Skipper Douglas was next to see yellow - on 65 minutes - after Gillingham's Graham fouled Carole and escaped with only a free-kick.
On 68 minutes Ankergren was handed a yellow card for reasons unclear, and the game threatened to slip beyond a farce.
Unsurprisingly, Gillingham looked to make their numerical advantage count, but they struggled to get any change out of the resolute United side and even when presented a rare chance, Andrew Crofts headed wide from a corner.
Heath also did well to block an effort from Delroy Facey as United got men behind the ball and showed great spirit.
With 10 minutes remaining, Ian Cox had a great opportunity to level for Gillingham, but he fired high and wide from close range. Gills sub Chris Dickson also headed over as the clock started tick down on potentially United's best win so far this season.
In the first minute of stoppage time, Ankergren got down well to deny Graham, but the equaliser came from the resultant corner when Cox's header proved too powerful for a United defender to head off the line.
Leeds parking the self-pity
Leeds have reverted to the ethos of the legendary Revie era in their quest to repair damaged pride, writes Aidan O'Hara
HAD Peter Cook been alive today, he could easily have sued Leeds United for stealing his ideas.
It was Cook, in the guise of his fictional football manager character Alan Latchley who created the week-long seminar called 'Dare to Fail', targeting clubs with the emphasis on embracing failure as a noble characteristic.
"It's for people who have had some degree of success in their life to come along and see what it's like to be at the bottom of the pile," said the cliché-ridden Latchley in a television interview a couple of years before his death in 1995. "They come along and learn how to get to the bottom with their pride and dignity intact."
In the last few years though, Leeds might have struggled with the last bit.
Dignity is not something that has been plentiful at Elland Road recently as supporters continue to watch Match of the Day highlights with a grimace, while pointing at the television and telling anybody who will listen "he's ex-Leeds, so is he -- and him".
It might be a chore for who-ever is on the receiving end to find sympathy but if a Premier League 11 of Robinson, Duberry, Ferdinand, Woodgate, Bowyer, Smith, Milner, Lennon, Viduka, Keane and Kewell had played for their club in the last five years, they might understand. Short of Jim Bowen appearing, Bullseye-style, to rub their noses in it by announcing "here's what you could have won", the road of what-might-have-been could not handle much more Yorkshire traffic.
But after a season of being wary to check results on Saturday afternoon for fear of another embarrassment, there's finally some optimism around the club after seven successive victories -- their best start to a league campaign -- which yesterday's draw will hardly dent.
True, it is only League One, but, as Manchester City found during their brief stay at the same level, it feels better to win in a lower league and build a platform from there than being beaten every week and struggle to stay afloat.
When chairman Ken Bates appointed Dennis Wise -- a combination as pleasant as a stone in your shoe -- the manager spoke of going back to the 'old' Leeds of nastiness and togetherness that could save them from relegation after their poor start to last season. Instead they sank like a stone.
Latchley's football philosophy was based around the three Ms (Motivation, Motivation, Motivation) but while Wise couldn't go to Latchley's extremes of kidnapping the players' wives to spark a rage within them, his chance to build an us-against-the-world mentality, which has traditionally been part of the Leeds fabric, was handed to him when the club were forced to start this season with a 15-point deduction for breach of the League's insolvency rules.
"Not only have they taken my arms and legs off, now they've cut my balls off as well," was Wise's reaction to the deduction. Not quite "we will fight them on the beaches" in its eloquence but the manager's outlook appears to have permeated through to his players who have brought the club from odds of 5/2 to be relegated to 9/2 to win the division.
Having struggled to get the best out of what was still a talented team last season, Wise has reverted to the formula that earned him relative success at Millwall and Swindon by trusting in players with something to prove rather than those who believe they should be playing at a higher level but are not willing to put in the effort to get there.
This season's captain -- Alan Thompson -- saw his Celtic career nosedive with the arrival of Gordon Strachan while David Prutton's bad-boy image is cemented following his 10-game ban during his time at Southampton.
Striker Tresor Kandol, prior to being sent off yesterday along with Jermaine Beckford, seemed to have benefited from a summer of pre-season training, having spent the previous one in prison.
The six weeks Kandol spent in jail for a string of driving offences (he doesn't have much luck with transport having been charged with train-fare evasion during his time with Luton Town), saw him discover a hidden talent for art which he hopes to publish in the future. His sketches would be a fitting homage to a changing era at the club were they to hang in the boardroom one day rather than the exotic fish which came to symbolise the wastefulness of the Peter Ridsdale era.
Kandol's background, often comedic first touch and celebratory back-flips are turning him into a cult hero among those daring to return to Elland Road after such a fall from grace. Last week's home game against Swansea saw 29,476 show up, and increase of 5,000 on the first game of the season, while the banners screaming 'we don't deserve all this' that unfurled from the stands awash with self-pity appear to have been left at home.
With such high spirits, there might be a bit more interest in the 20-year season-ticket that was offered three years ago to supporters for £3,000 (€4,300) with the club still in the Premiership in a desperate effort to raise cash. The idea was Geoffrey Richmond's (he of Bradford City insolvency fame) who hoped to make £8.5m (€12.2m) by selling 1,750 of these tickets. In just one of many failed ventures, they managed to get rid of just 184.
It took three years to go from Champions League semi-finalists to relegation fodder but when a club borrows £60m (€85m) at eight per cent interest (€6.6m annually) to spend on the likes of Dominic Matteo, Danny Mills and Seth Johnson, it's hard to escape the feeling that they brought it on themselves.
The real losers in the Leeds saga have been the creditors who were initially offered 1p in the pound when a consortium fronted by Bates bought the club on the same day that he applied to put them into administration with £35m (€50m) debts.
The offer eventually increased to 11p in the pound meaning St John's Ambulance service had to be thankful for the £18 they would receive while West Yorkshire Ambulance Service could settle for just under £1,000 (€1,400) of the £8,997 (€13,000) they were owed. And Wise thought he was hard done by with a 15-point deduction.
If any other club had wiped out a points deduction in such a manner, it would be seen as a fairytale but with Bates playing the Fairy Godmother and Wise Prince Charming, it is difficult to let the imagination run wild.
Next Saturday they play Yeovil, a team who were scrapping for promotion from the Conference six years ago when Leeds were playing Valencia for a place at Europe's top table.
And with a burning sense of injustice born in the Revie era, around 30,000 Leeds supporters will embrace the siege mentality and chant three sentences that could be the motto of the club, the manager and the chairman. "We are Leeds. No-one likes us. We don't care."
Yorkshire Evening Post 29/9/07
No record for nine-man Leeds United
By Phil Hay
Gillingham 1 Leeds United 1
Dennis Wise knows that Leeds United is a complicated club.
It did not take a 15-point deduction to remind him of that, but yesterday's visit to Gillingham raised his understanding of the complexities of managing United to a ridiculous level.
Leeds came within 60 seconds of setting a club record with an eighth successive league victory at Priestfield, but by full-time it was difficult to reflect on the results that had gone before. Wise was too busy fuming at a display of appalling incompetence from referee Danny McDermid to worry himself with historical statistics.
McDermid has only one full year of experience as a Football League official, and his inexperience was exposed in painful fashion yesterday. The Londoner did what poor referees do best, and allowed his performance to detract from a fixture which he ruined before it had the chance to get going.
Wise does not handle match officials with care, but McDermid deserved the fierce criticism that came his way after full-time.
By the 57th minute, he had succeeded in sending off United's strikers, Tresor Kandol and Jermaine Beckford. Kandol was first to depart after twice being booked for dissent, and Beckford was shown two yellow cards in the space of three second-half minutes, treatment the forward did not deserve.
McDermid's idea of discipline left Leeds to fight out the final half-hour with nine players, and their flawless league record was finally damaged by an equaliser from Ian Cox in the 90th minute.
Gillingham were steeped in mediocrity and, for all their frantic pressure, Sebastien Carole's goal looked likely to earn Leeds a win of incomparable resilience. But the lasting effect of yesterday's result will be greater than simply their failure to earn an eighth straight win.
Beckford and Kandol, who have 11 goals between them, will miss Tuesday night's game at Oldham, the first time this season that either player has been absent from a league game.Wise is not in possession of two senior and available strikers to replace them, and Beckford's ban will run for two games after he reached five bookings with his second caution. To compound the situation, Wise was sent to the stands after criticising McDermid at half-time, and he may now incur an FA fine. Gillingham performed with a strand of confidence during the first half-hour, but their overall display was poor. Despite the late goal from Cox, the game served to strengthen the feeling that Gillingham's caretakers, Mick Docherty and Iffy Onuora, are merely temporary stewards.
The hosts enjoyed a steady flow of chances before Carole finished off a well-worked free-kick in the 29th minute, but the opening goal did for their confidence.
The strike was a near-replica of United's first at Tranmere Rovers on the opening day of the season, and hinted heavily at the dedication with which Leeds treat setpieces on the training ground.
Frazer Richardson was fouled on the corner of the box by Adam Nowland, and as Jonathan Douglas lined-up the free-kick, Matt Heath and Manuel Rui Marques slipped off the edge of Gillingham's wall and sprinted towards Simon Royce's back post.
Heath met the free-kick with a header across goal which left Royce out of position, and Carole – the smallest player on the pitch – completed the process with a simple headed finish into an empty net. Gillingham's structure collapsed immediately, but Kandol saw to it that the balance of power was quickly shifted.
The striker had been booked for dissent by referee Danny McDermid in the 26th minute, and when he sarcastically applauded the award of a free-kick from the official four minutes before half-time, McDermid issued his second yellow card, followed by a red.
Kandol's only opportunity had come in the fifth minute when he ran on to David Prutton's chip and drew Royce into a brave block, but the clearer opportunities before Carole's goal fell to the hosts. Nowland's shot from outside the box in the 19th minute forced Casper Ankergren to cling tightly to the ball as it threatened to dip into the far corner of his net, and David Graham drove a volley wide after meeting Delroy Facey's header.
Ankergren gathered their most promising effort at the second attempt, smothering Andrew Crofts' low strike from inside the box, and Carole's goal arrived at a timely juncture, drawing the sting from Gillingham.
But the comfort provided by the Frenchman was quickly withdrawn by Kandol's sense of irony.
Poyet confronted McDermid as the referee left the field for the interval, and Wise's comments saw him banned from the dugout for the second half. In the absence of Kandol, meanwhile, Beckford was left to fish hopefully for half-chances.
His clever overhead kick shortly after the restart was parried over by Royce, but by the 57th minute Beckford was tracing Kandol's trail down the tunnel.
The striker received an unjustified booking for shooting after McDermid had blown his whistle for offside, and he was sent-off three minutes later after a lunge at Sean Clohessy. Both cautions were harsh, but McDermid's mood had passed the point of forgiveness.
The onslaught was invited and it arrived swiftly, though not with any constructive purpose. In between lacklustre attacks, Crofts headed Barry Cogan's corner over the crossbar from a good position, and Cox fired a shot over from four yards. Ankergren then intervened to parry a low shot from Graham.But as the game entered the first of five minutes of injury time, Cox rose to head Crofts' corner into the roof of the net and reel in United in cruel fashion. Leeds had no energy left, and no will with which to answer.
Their reponse at Oldham on Tuesday will now be telling.
Leedsunited.com 29/9/07
LATE LEVELLER
GILLINGHAM 1 (Cox 90), UNITED 1 (Carole 28)
Gillingham: Royce, Clohessy, Cox, Sodje, Hamilton (Dickson 71), Nowland, Lomas (Mulligan 61), Crofts, Cogan, Facey, Graham. Subs: Stillie, King, Stone.
United: Ankergren, Richardson, Heath, Marques, Clapham (Huntington 59), Prutton, Douglas, Hughes (Westlake 59), Carole (Weston 75), Kandol, Beckford. Subs: Lucas, Thompson.
Referee: D McDermid (London).
Booked: Nowland, Cox (Gillingham), Hughes, Kandol, Beckford, Douglas, Ankergren (United).
Sent-Off: Kandol, Beckford.
Dennis Wise named an unchanged team as his United side went in search of a record breaking eight successive league victory.
Wise's men had equalled the record for wins to start to the season, beating Swansea last weekend, and an eighth would see them pass that and assume the post-war record for successive league victories.
And United had almost got off to a perfect start, Gillingham keeper Simon Royce reacting well to deny Tresor Kandol inside the opening five minutes.
Gillingham's first shot on goal came in the 10th minute when Matt Heath blocked an effort from David Graham.
United had the ball in the net after 15 minutes when Jermaine Beckford showed his confidence, converting a Kandol knock-down, but the in-form striker was denied by an offside flag.
The hosts were next to try their luck and Casper Ankergren made a good double save to deny Graham. The Danish goalkeeper also saved from Adam Nowland after a quick break by Barry Cogan.
The game continued to flow at pace and Gills keeper Royce pulled off another save from Dave Prutton, who worked himsefl a good opening.
United were also getting little out of referee Danny McDermid. An apparent foul on Kandol went unpunished early on, Andrew Hughes found himself in the book before being given a stern lecture on 22 minutes, and Frazer Richardson was also given a talking-to before a Gillingham corner.
So it was no surprise when Kandol was booked in the 26th minute for protesting after what looked like another foul by Efe Sodje was given the other way.
But United got their noses in front moments later, ironically after Adam Nowland was penalised for a foul on Prutton.
Jonathan Douglas whipped a free-kick across the goal, Matt Heath headed it back, and the unlikely figure of Seb Carole headed home for his first goal for the club.
Referee McDermid made sure he took centre stage again, though, five minutes before half-time when he showed Kandol a red card after the striker applauded a decision to give Leeds a free-kick.
That left United down to 10 men with Beckford operating as the lone front man.
Despite being a man down, United started the second half brightly and forced the home side onto the back foot by winning a couple of early corners.
The cards continued to appear as well and Beckford was booked for chipping the keeper after the whistle went for offside.
When Beckford went down moments later - Sodje was again involved - the referee simply awarded a free-kick.
But the card was out again when play re-started, and this time Beckford saw red following a challenge on Sean Clohessy as Leeds were amazingly reduced to nine men.
Wise immediately made a double substitution, introducing Paul Huntington and Ian Westlake in place of Jamie Clapham and Hughes. The latter had already been booked and, with cards being brandished like Christmas, Wise clearly didn't want to lose anyone else.
Skipper Douglas was next to see yellow - on 65 minutes - after Gillingham's Graham fouled Carole and escaped with only a free-kick.
On 68 minutes Ankergren was handed a yellow card for reasons unclear, and the game threatened to slip beyond a farce.
Unsurprisingly, Gillingham looked to make their numerical advantage count, but they struggled to get any change out of the resolute United side and even when presented a rare chance, Andrew Crofts headed wide from a corner.
Heath also did well to block an effort from Delroy Facey as United got men behind the ball and showed great spirit.
With 10 minutes remaining, Ian Cox had a great opportunity to level for Gillingham, but he fired high and wide from close range. Gills sub Chris Dickson also headed over as the clock started tick down on potentially United's best win so far this season.
In the first minute of stoppage time, Ankergren got down well to deny Graham, but the equaliser came from the resultant corner when Cox's header proved too powerful for a United defender to head off the line.