Yorkshire Evening Post 27/1/09
Whites start to make their move
Leeds United 2 Southend United 0
Simon Grayson's first priority at Elland Road was to treat and eliminate the rot that had taken hold of Leeds United's season. Six games into his job as manager, his squad look ready to start turning the screw.
Grayson could not promise an overnight solution on his arrival from Blackpool late last month, but in footballing terms the improvement seen under the 39-year-old's management has come close to instantaneous.Leeds registered a third straight victory at Elland Road last night, something their squad last achieved at the end of September.
Their victory over a depleted and mis-matched Southend United team was set up inside ten minutes and completed with the ease expected of Leeds before their campaign struck a pocket of turbulence.
And with Walsall and Leyton Orient next on the agenda, this period is a prime opportunity for United to attack the prize they set out to claim 27 league matches ago.
Leicester's stride towards the League One title is already in full flow and Nigel Pearson's team will deserve that prize after rampaging through their fixture list, but the one remaining automatic promotion place is no longer unattainable for Leeds or any other club in the group below.
Courtesy of MK Dons' defeat at home to Leyton Orient last night, Leeds are as close to second place as they could have hoped to be a month after Grayson's appointment and a defeat for Oldham Athletic against Scunthorpe United did no harm to the table either.
Grayson's effect on Leeds has been three-fold – it has resolved the atmosphere of a nervous dressing room, restructured a defence which needed work and encouraged pragmatism among footballers whose previous penchant for style did not always pay – and the product of those changes is a team that has revised the art of winning matches.Saturday's victory over Peterborough United was a fine result at the end of a finely-balanced match, but Southend were walking wounded last night and lacked the personnel to hope for much from a game at Elland Road.
The confidence with which Leeds brushed them aside should be immensely pleasing for a coach who was fighting fires six games previously, even if he castigated his squad mildly for failing to conduct a full-blooded rout.
Given Southend's problems and acute lack of experienced players, Jermaine Beckford's re-introduction to Leeds' starting team last night was a wonderful luxury for Grayson and the selection was easy to fathom after the striker's single-handed mastering of Peterborough.
Grayson's justification for restricting him to the role of a substitute last Saturday was a sense of loyalty to the players primarily responsible for beating Brighton, but he was not tempted to look his gift horse in the mouth.
Beckford's inclusion offered Luciano Becchio the rest which the Argentinian striker has seemed in need of since the turn of the year and Grayson must have seen in Southend an opportunity for Beckford to open the floodgates further after bringing up his 21st goal of the season against Peterborough.
Last night's visitors were badly ravaged by the loss of seven players to a variety of fitness complaints and suspensions, so much so that their manager, Steve Tilson, was able to name only four players on his bench. His squad was a shadow of that which carried Southend into last season's play-offs and they reached Elland Road without anything like a full array of weaponry.
If they looked liable to crack easily then Grayson was not disappointed. Leeds applied only the merest of pressure before a crashing header from Rui Marques in the sixth minute began what would come to be a thankless night for Tilson's team.
Simon Francis did not help Southend by conceding a corner with a lax clearance on the edge of his own box and Bradley Johnson's deep set-piece was met by the head of Marques, who drilled the ball through a static defence and inside Steve Mildenhall's left-hand post.
Beset by their own internal issues and the worst start imaginable, Southend caved in like a house of cards, leaking a second goal four minutes later.
Their durability was questioned by a flurry of chances inside their box, the last of which yielded another corner. Johnson's short pass gave Andy Robinson the responsibility for producing a cross which Richard Naylor headed home unattended. Both goals exposed a defence whose League One record away from home is almost unrivalled in its generosity.
Grayson's own defence, in contrast, had gelled impressively during their previous matches against Brighton and Peterborough, improved immeasurably by the signings of Naylor and Carl Dickinson and last night's match became an opportunity for the back four to familiarise themselves with each other under a minimal amount of pressure.
Southend's quality in attack was as limited as their out-numbered squad suggested it would be – their only sight of Casper Ankergren in the first half which Franck Moussa wasted was presented to him by a stray pass from Marques – and United's patient midfield picked at Southend persistently, depriving Tilson's team of any useful possession.
The few sniffs that Southend received were generally of United's making.
Beckford was unusually wasteful when Lee Trundle's flick and Robinson's header played him into enough space to do more than scoop the ball over Mildenhall's crossbar in the 22nd minutes, but even at that early juncture, it did not seem likely that Leeds would require the comfort of a third goal.
Tilson could hardly credit the job on his hands when a hamstring injury to James Walker saw one of his reduced number of substitutes, Damian Scannell, sent on three minutes before half-time.
Mildenhall kept the scoreline under control with two good saves from Beckford at the start of the second half, a positive sign that Southend had not surrendered to the inevitable and their position was very nearly improved by a rare chance in the 64th minute.
Robinson lost possession after being pushed off the ball inside his own half and Theo Robinson, Southend's striker, attacked Ankergren with a fierce shot which evaded the keeper's dive and struck the outside of the right-hand post.
Southend's fightback started and finished there, though not for a want of effort from their young line-up in the second half and Damian Scannell was denied by reactive goalkeeping from Ankergren four minutes from the end.
Tilson will have seen fairer fights in his time but he knew better than to look for sympathy from a club who have been shown none themselves this season.
Whites start to make their move
Leeds United 2 Southend United 0
Simon Grayson's first priority at Elland Road was to treat and eliminate the rot that had taken hold of Leeds United's season. Six games into his job as manager, his squad look ready to start turning the screw.
Grayson could not promise an overnight solution on his arrival from Blackpool late last month, but in footballing terms the improvement seen under the 39-year-old's management has come close to instantaneous.Leeds registered a third straight victory at Elland Road last night, something their squad last achieved at the end of September.
Their victory over a depleted and mis-matched Southend United team was set up inside ten minutes and completed with the ease expected of Leeds before their campaign struck a pocket of turbulence.
And with Walsall and Leyton Orient next on the agenda, this period is a prime opportunity for United to attack the prize they set out to claim 27 league matches ago.
Leicester's stride towards the League One title is already in full flow and Nigel Pearson's team will deserve that prize after rampaging through their fixture list, but the one remaining automatic promotion place is no longer unattainable for Leeds or any other club in the group below.
Courtesy of MK Dons' defeat at home to Leyton Orient last night, Leeds are as close to second place as they could have hoped to be a month after Grayson's appointment and a defeat for Oldham Athletic against Scunthorpe United did no harm to the table either.
Grayson's effect on Leeds has been three-fold – it has resolved the atmosphere of a nervous dressing room, restructured a defence which needed work and encouraged pragmatism among footballers whose previous penchant for style did not always pay – and the product of those changes is a team that has revised the art of winning matches.Saturday's victory over Peterborough United was a fine result at the end of a finely-balanced match, but Southend were walking wounded last night and lacked the personnel to hope for much from a game at Elland Road.
The confidence with which Leeds brushed them aside should be immensely pleasing for a coach who was fighting fires six games previously, even if he castigated his squad mildly for failing to conduct a full-blooded rout.
Given Southend's problems and acute lack of experienced players, Jermaine Beckford's re-introduction to Leeds' starting team last night was a wonderful luxury for Grayson and the selection was easy to fathom after the striker's single-handed mastering of Peterborough.
Grayson's justification for restricting him to the role of a substitute last Saturday was a sense of loyalty to the players primarily responsible for beating Brighton, but he was not tempted to look his gift horse in the mouth.
Beckford's inclusion offered Luciano Becchio the rest which the Argentinian striker has seemed in need of since the turn of the year and Grayson must have seen in Southend an opportunity for Beckford to open the floodgates further after bringing up his 21st goal of the season against Peterborough.
Last night's visitors were badly ravaged by the loss of seven players to a variety of fitness complaints and suspensions, so much so that their manager, Steve Tilson, was able to name only four players on his bench. His squad was a shadow of that which carried Southend into last season's play-offs and they reached Elland Road without anything like a full array of weaponry.
If they looked liable to crack easily then Grayson was not disappointed. Leeds applied only the merest of pressure before a crashing header from Rui Marques in the sixth minute began what would come to be a thankless night for Tilson's team.
Simon Francis did not help Southend by conceding a corner with a lax clearance on the edge of his own box and Bradley Johnson's deep set-piece was met by the head of Marques, who drilled the ball through a static defence and inside Steve Mildenhall's left-hand post.
Beset by their own internal issues and the worst start imaginable, Southend caved in like a house of cards, leaking a second goal four minutes later.
Their durability was questioned by a flurry of chances inside their box, the last of which yielded another corner. Johnson's short pass gave Andy Robinson the responsibility for producing a cross which Richard Naylor headed home unattended. Both goals exposed a defence whose League One record away from home is almost unrivalled in its generosity.
Grayson's own defence, in contrast, had gelled impressively during their previous matches against Brighton and Peterborough, improved immeasurably by the signings of Naylor and Carl Dickinson and last night's match became an opportunity for the back four to familiarise themselves with each other under a minimal amount of pressure.
Southend's quality in attack was as limited as their out-numbered squad suggested it would be – their only sight of Casper Ankergren in the first half which Franck Moussa wasted was presented to him by a stray pass from Marques – and United's patient midfield picked at Southend persistently, depriving Tilson's team of any useful possession.
The few sniffs that Southend received were generally of United's making.
Beckford was unusually wasteful when Lee Trundle's flick and Robinson's header played him into enough space to do more than scoop the ball over Mildenhall's crossbar in the 22nd minutes, but even at that early juncture, it did not seem likely that Leeds would require the comfort of a third goal.
Tilson could hardly credit the job on his hands when a hamstring injury to James Walker saw one of his reduced number of substitutes, Damian Scannell, sent on three minutes before half-time.
Mildenhall kept the scoreline under control with two good saves from Beckford at the start of the second half, a positive sign that Southend had not surrendered to the inevitable and their position was very nearly improved by a rare chance in the 64th minute.
Robinson lost possession after being pushed off the ball inside his own half and Theo Robinson, Southend's striker, attacked Ankergren with a fierce shot which evaded the keeper's dive and struck the outside of the right-hand post.
Southend's fightback started and finished there, though not for a want of effort from their young line-up in the second half and Damian Scannell was denied by reactive goalkeeping from Ankergren four minutes from the end.
Tilson will have seen fairer fights in his time but he knew better than to look for sympathy from a club who have been shown none themselves this season.