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Season Review – 1968/69 - Going for the one/Champions
Don Revie focuses his sights sharply on a first League title and United hold their nerve and their imperious form to outdistance Liverpool in the battle for the championship
Read the full story at
http://www.mightyleeds.co.uk/seasons/196869part2.htm
http://www.mightyleeds.co.uk/seasons/196869fix.htm
Yorkshire Evening Post 18/4/08
United arbitration goes into extra-time
By Phil Hay
Leeds United's arbitration hearing is set to run into a fourth day amid growing concerns that the dispute will throw the end of the League One season into chaos.
The independent review of United's 15-point deduction was originally planned to end today but the case is now expected to conclude when final submissions are presented to the three-man tribunal panel in London on Monday.
But confusion surrounds the timing of a decision on whether the Football League acted outside their jurisdiction by deducting points from Leeds, with the office of panel chairman Sir Philip Otton confirming that a verdict will be returned "within three to four weeks".
United initially hoped that a judgement would be given before tomorrow's game against Millwall and the club are still anticipating a quick ruling, but a four-week delay would have serious ramifications for the end-of-season play-offs.
A decision on the latest possible date – May 19 – would arrive fully two weeks after United's last league game of the season at home to Gillingham, and 10 days after the League One play-off semi-finals are due to begin and it would also fall six days before the play-off final at Wembley.
A three-week wait would leave the argument unresolved until May 12, creating deep uncertainty over the final League One table and the issue of promotion.
Leeds are 12 points behind Carlisle United, who hold the second automatic promotion position in League One, and the return of 15 points would give United the chance of denying Swansea City the title.
Swansea are 10 points clear of third-placed Doncaster Rovers with three games remaining, but the Football League have refused to officially confirm City's promotion to the Championship until their dispute with Leeds is settled.
The three-man tribunal panel of Otton, Peter Leaver and Peter Cadman began considering United's challenge against their 15-point deduction on Wednesday, and the case was originally set down for three days.
However, the mass of evidence involved will now force the case to spill into next week.
Leeds claim the Football League were "unfair and unjust" in punishing the club for failing to exit administration with an agreed Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) last summer.
Brighton managing director Ken Brown, meanwhile, has added his voice to the flurry of disquiet over the timing of a case which could have a major bearing on League One at a crucial point of the season. The majority of clubs have only three games remaining.
Brown said: "It's disappointing that, at this late stage of the season, there is still uncertainty about these matters.
"All clubs thought they knew at the start of the season what the rules were and it's unfair to everybody that nobody knows what is happening."
Albion are four points adrift of Leeds before tomorrow's home game against Hartlepool.
Yorkshire Evening Post 17/4/08
Leeds United appeal win would spark 'a war'
By Phil Hay
Swansea City manager Roberto Martinez has predicted a "massive war" if the independent tribunal reviewing Leeds United's 15-point penalty rules in favour of the Elland Road club.
United's arbitration hearing was entering its second day in London this morning and several clubs are apprehensively awaiting an outcome which could drastically alter the League One table.
The three-man panel which is considering United's challenge against their 15-point penalty – handed out by the Football League after the club exited administration without a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) –is due to hear final submissions tomorrow, with Leeds expected to discover their verdict early next week.
An outcome which exonerates United and returns their 15 points would lift the Elland Road club into second position in League One, reviving their chances of securing automatic promotion but also giving them the opportunity to deny Swansea the League One title.
City hold a seven-point lead over second-placed Carlisle United and expect to wrap up the championship with a win over Yeovil this weeken, but the Football League have, as yet, been unable to confirm the club's promotion to the Championship because of the arbitration proceedings.
Martinez said: "Leeds are in a play-off position and I think they should stay in a play-off position.
"If anything else happens you won't have heard the last of it because teams like Tranmere, Southend, Nottingham Forest, Doncaster, Carlisle and ourselves will all be affected."Everyone will take their own route and it would be a massive war."
Doncaster Rovers chief executive Dave Morris said the club would "consider all options" open to them once the outcome of the arbitration hearing is made public, while Carlisle boss John Ward admitted he was worried about the impact the return of United's 15 points would have.
"It shifts the goalposts that we've already played 43 games under," Ward said. "Even if it doesn't affect us it affects a lot of other people and, in terms of the game, I'm not sure that would be correct."
Leeds United receive another setback
By Rob Stewart
Huddersfield (0) 1 Leeds United (0) 0
If this was anything to go by, Leeds will be needing those penalty points back if they are to secure promotion to the Championship.
Gary McAllister's team found themselves comprehensively outplayed by exuberant neighbours who deservedly secured local bragging rights thanks to a delicious second-half goal by Andy Holdsworth.
The Huddersfield academy product struck the decisive blow late on after both sides had been reduced to 10 men by half-time with Leeds captain Jonathan Douglas and Jon Worthington dismissed after each committed two bookable offences.
Given that this game took place on the eve of a three-man arbitration panel into the 15-point penalty imposed by the Football League after Ken Bates' club entered administration, it seemed strangely apt that reductions of a different kind should threaten to overshadow a pulsating game.
Douglas was the first to be sent off by referee Paul Taylor after 39 minutes for upending Michael Collins and then Worthington.
Previously booked for fouling Jonathan Howson, Worthington saw red following an altercation with Lubomir Michalik after appearing to collide with goalkeeper Casper Ankergren.
Managerless, mid-table Huddersfield, under the tutelage of academy director Gerry Murphy, raised their game better.
Just after half-time Collins struck the crossbar from 20 yards. He was then behind the 76th-minute winner, spearheading another raid down the left before inviting substitute Joe Skarz to cross. His back-post delivery was met by wing-back Holdsworth, whose header went in off a post.
McAllister was not too downhearted, with his side still occupying the final play-off position. "It was scrappy, we lost our rhythm so it was disappointing but not disastrous," he said. "Our destiny's in our own hands."
An upbeat Murphy added: "If you work hard and are prepared to put your body on the line it's amazing what you can do."
Yorkshire Evening Post 15/4/08
United handed a reality check
Huddersfield Town 1 Leeds United 0
Back to reality, then, with the realisation that automatic promotion at Millwall was as far-fetched as it sounded.
That unlikely development rested heavily on arbitration and the murmuring of lawyers, but it was also dependent on Leeds United avoiding the result which befell them at the Galpharm Stadium last night.
The courtroom deliberations were beginning today, but the power of legal submissions should not blind Leeds from their day job. Gary McAllister has kept the subject of arbitration at arm's length, and with good reason. When United's row with the Football League is over, the assistance he has gained from it has a high chance of being minimal.
Promotion will not be forthcoming on Saturday, but the guarantee of a play-off position remains on offer.
The saving grace of last night's loss to Huddersfield Town was that it coincided with Walsall's defeat to Bristol Rovers, protecting the status quo around sixth place and conserving United's four-point lead over the club beneath them in League One.
Walsall will not anticipate a scenario where Leeds pass up their advantage, and last night's results were of more significance to Richard Money, Walsall's manager, than to McAllister.
They reiterated why points on the board count for more than games in hand, and why league position increases in importance as the season winds down. A defeat at the Galpharm Stadium could have damaged Leeds irreparably. As it is, the loss has probably delayed the inevitable. It was well for McAllister that their no-show in Huddersfield came at the end of a richly rewarding period.
He remarked last month that his team's potential might be most apparent against the clubs in their immediate vicinity in League One, and the last eight games have accentuated his view.
Victorious over Doncaster Rovers, Carlisle United and Walsall, but unable to handle Cheltenham Town, Port Vale or Huddersfield. It is not a trend that their manager can easily explain except, perhaps, to argue that his players can deliver when it counts. If that is true then the play-offs should be United's forte, but they will not reach the Championship with performances like last night's.
The game at the Galpharm Stadium was a typical derby insofar as much of the match was ordinary in the extreme. Local rivalries are notorious for promising more than they can deliver, and the 64th meeting between Leeds and Huddersfield was not a classic.
Disjointed and unimaginative, it required the appearance of Paul Taylor's red card twice before half-time to bring a crackle to a fire which was on the verge of disappearing in a wisp of smoke after half-an-hour.
Jonathan Douglas was first to depart in the 39th minute on the back of two cautions, the first issued for a cynical trip on Michael Collins and the second shown for a more innocuous foul on Jon Worthington.
The Huddersfield midfielder ran across Douglas as he sprinted to collect a pass on the right wing, and their legs became tangled in a way which seemed to be Worthington's fault as much as Douglas'.
Taylor sent United's captain from the field nonetheless but took only six minutes to bring parity to the numbers by ordering Worthington to trace Douglas' footsteps.
The 24-year-old had already been booked for dissent when he clattered into Casper Ankergren at the end of a swift Huddersfield attack in the 45th minute.
Lubomir Michalik confronted Worthington inside Ankergren's box, and a clash of heads saw the latter punished with a red card. If Taylor's first dismissal was harsh then his second was also. The assessor's report about a referee who appeared unsuited to a demanding atmosphere will not make pleasant reading.
Taylor should carry a portion of the blame for United's defeat, largely because Douglas' questionable dismissal robbed Leeds of a player who had protected their defence without breaking sweat in the first half, but the referee's involvement was not solely responsible for the way in which both teams trundled aimlessly through the first half.
An early chance for Chris Brandon aside, which the striker pulled beyond Ankergren's right-hand post, the opening 45 minutes revolved entirely around Taylor's red card, and though Gerry Murphy, Huddersfield's caretaker, argued that the dismissals had ruined the game, it seemed more accurate to say that the loss of Douglas and Worthington provided the space in midfield which had been non-existent before half-time.
The speed with which the game opened up was displayed in the 51st minute by the flowing counter-attack which ended with the outstanding Michael Collins shaking Ankergren's crossbar from the edge of the box.
he midfielder's chance was generated by a goalline clearance from Nathan Clarke, who protected Huddersfield's goal by flicking Frazer Richardson's cross towards the corner flag, and the swift flow of possession across 80 yards of the field presented Collins with a chance which the frame of the goal kept out.
With Douglas estranged from the contest, McAllister relied on a three-man midfield, and United's lack of width was a permanent problem. Of more effect, however, was the absence of telling pace up front during an open half which was tailor-made for Jermaine Beckford.Unable to recover from an ankle injury, Beckford made way for Tresor Kandol last night, and the temporary suspension of his partnership with Dougie Freedman had a profound effect.
United's clearest opportunity did not arrive until the third minute of injury-time, when Matt Glennon's low block knocked away Freedman's shot, but of greater consequence was their attack on 63 minutes which came to nothing but ought to have finished with Kandol tapping the ball into Huddersfield's net.
Freedman played Bradley Johnson in behind Huddersfield's defence with a short pass, and as the midfielder tore towards one side of the box, Kandol broke away into space at the other. A measured cross would have given Kandol the chance to slip a header past Glennon, but Johnson's heavy delivery cleared the striker by several yards and left Huddersfield goalkeeper untroubled.
Thirteen minutes later, a point that McAllister might have settled for – and which his surprising substitution of Jonathan Howson seemed designed to secure – faded away.Collins broke from midfield and drew Frazer Richardson out of position, giving substitute Joe Skarz space to cross. The ball arced over United's defenders and found the lurking Andy Holdsworth, whose header across Ankergren struck the inside of the post and rebounded over the line.
Glennon took it upon himself to defend Huddersfield's lead by parrying a shot from Andrew Hughes and anticipating Freedman's goalbound shot at the very end of the game, preventing a goal which would have disguised the undeniable disparity between the teams.
Are Huddersfield a more accomplished team than Leeds? McAllister would say not and the league table would also, displaying as it does a difference of 10 points between the clubs.
But at the Galpharm Stadium, Huddersfield were undoubtedly superior. Any given punch on any given night, as a professional boxer would say. That, as United know well, is why the play-offs are such a dangerous prospect.
Yorkshire Evening Post 14/4/08
United not for sale
By Phil Hay
Ken Bates has reiterated his intention to remain in charge of Leeds United this summer by announcing once again that the club is not for sale.
United's chairman gave an unequivocal response to claims that he would be willing to relinquish control of Elland Road at the end of the season, describing the suggestion as "irresponsible" and with "no foundation".
Bates addressed the issue in his matchday programme column ahead of Saturday's game between Leeds and Carlisle United, and his comments appear to have ruled out the possibility of the League One club changing hands in the immediate future. Bates said: "For the avoidance of doubt, Leeds United is not for sale and any tentative enquiries on that front have been rebuffed. It is no secret that we will welcome a serious substantial partner. Note the word is 'welcome' – not 'need'.
"We are progressing very well on the road to recovery but we recognise that an injection of capital would accelerate the process."
Questions over Bates' long-term plans for United have existed ever since he bought back Leeds from administrators KPMG after the club were declared insolvent last summer.
The 76-year-old is presently constrained by the 'anti-embarassment' clause which was included in the deal which finalised his takeover in July, and which would see a large portion of any funds raised by the sale of United – 50 per cent of anything over £5m – paid directly to the unsecured creditors who were owed money by Leeds last summer.
The clause, however, will expire at end of June, leaving Bates free to ponder any takeover bids without financial restraint.
Former Newcastle United chairman Freddy Shepherd is understood to have considered investing in Leeds, but Bates' stance on Saturday reflected previous comments from Leeds insisting they would seriously consider offers of investment but would not contemplate selling a majority shareholding.
The ownership of United is of less concern to Bates at present than his argument with the Football League, which may finally reach a conclusion this week.Leeds have taken their fight to overturn their 15-point deduction to independent arbitration and a three-man panel will begin hearing evidence on Wednesday.
United claimed a 3-2 victory over Carlisle on Saturday and are 12 points short of second position with a game in hand over the majority of other clubs.
Gary McAllister will look for another win at Huddersfield Town tomorrow night to further improve the club's standing, but United's manager admitted the end of arbitration would come as a relief.
"What I've started thinking about is how other clubs are seeing it now and how they're feeling," he said.
"But I think that as much as the players have been fully focused, if they pick up a paper and see that it's been dealt with, that will be a relief."
Two goals from Dougie Freedman earned Leeds their victory over Carlisle, completing a rampant second-half fightback after Scott Dobie's goal gave the visitors a 1-0 lead at the break.
McAllister said: "We deserved the three points, but what we don't need now is for us to give it the big sigh of relief and think we've achieved something. We've got four games left and we've got to try and win all of them."
Sky 14/4/08
Da Costa exits Whites
Winger departs after unsuccessful spell
By James Pearson
Portuguese winger Filipe Da Costa has left Leeds United after the remainder of his contract was cancelled by mutual consent.
Da Costa only made just one start during his stay with The Whites and even then that showing resulted in a red card against Bury in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy.
It actually took some time for Leeds to land the winger after claims by Greek club Ionikos that Da Costa was still under contract with them when he signed.
After he eventually signed he was used as a late substitute by former manager Dennis Wise, who ended up branding him a luxury player.
Wise hinted Da Costa may be loaned out as he was struggling to get to grips with the style of football in England, but a move never materialised due to injury.
He underwent a trial at Falkirk earlier this year, but with little prospect of featuring under new manager Gary McAllister the club have now cancelled the remainder of his deal.