Mighty Leeds Weblog

Leedsunited.com 29/8/09 BECKS BAGS WINNER AT COLCHESTER 29 Aug 2009 United maintain 100 per cent start to season... COLCHESTER 1 (Lisbie 57 pen), UNITED 2 (Johnson 47, Beckford 65) Colchester: Williams, Maybury, Okuonghae, Baldwin, Tierney, Vincent (Perkins 75), Fox (Wordsworth 84), Izzet, Hackney, Vernon (Platt 67), Lisbie. Subs: Cousins, Thomas, Holt, Lockwood. United: Higgs, Crowe, Marques (Michalik 87), Kisnorbo, Hughes, Snodgrass (Prutton 80), Doyle, Howson, Johnson, Beckford (Showunmi 90), Becchio. Subs: Ankergren, Kilkenny, Grella, Robinson. Referee: D Phillip Booked: Maybury, Izzet, Vincent, Hackney, Tierney (Colchester), Johnson, Beckford (United) Att: 8810 Simon Grayson welcomed back Luciano Becchio to his starting line-up as United went looking for a record-equalling seventh successive victory to start the new season. Just as with last season, United's presence attracted another big crowd to the Weston Homes Community Stadium, and the crowds outside ensured there were ...

Leedsunited.com 22/8/09 BOSS - I FELT LIKE A FAN AGAIN WATCHING THAT! United manager Simon Grayson said he felt like a fan watching Saturday's 3-0 destruction of Tranmere Rovers at Elland Road. In a one-sided affair, United cruised to a 13th successive home league victory, equalling a winning sequence set by Don Revie's Leeds side back in 1969 when the club were Football League champions. Goals from Bradley Johnson, Jermaine Beckford, and Luciano Becchio sealed the points against Tranmere, but had it not been for a combination of the post, the bar, and some fine saves from visiting goalkeeper Luke Daniels, the scoreline would have been far higher. "It's not something you can say often as a manager, but I really enjoyed watching that," said the United boss. "I felt like a fan again watching some of the football we played and it was really entertaining and enjoyable. "It was an excellent performance. We started as we wanted to start. Jermaine could have ...

Yorkshire Evening Post 15/8/09 Luciano Becchio hands United win at Wycombe By Phil Hay Wycombe Wanderers 0 Leeds United 1 Luciano Becchio scored his first goal of the season to fire the club to a narrow win at Adams Park. United toiled through the first hour of the League One clash, but Becchio's blistering second-half strike gave Leeds three points. Wycombe stifled their visitors before the break, creating most of the chances and troubling United's defence with their variety in attack. Chris Zebroski should have opened the scoring when he drove Matt Phillips' cut-back straight at Shane Higgs from the edge of the box, and John Mousinho failed to apply the slightest touch that was needed to turn another Phillips' delivery into the net. United, however, came closest to scoring when Beckford, who was booked for dissent in the first half, turned and drove a shot against the post in the 16th minute, and his wayward finish wasted a good through ball from Robert Snodgrass 12 m...

Yorkshire Evening Post 11/8/09 It's job done says Leeds boss Simon Grayson Simon Grayson declared his pre-match aim accomplished after Leeds United edged into the second round of the Carling Cup with a tight victory over Darlington. A second-half goal from striker Enoch Showunmi earned Leeds a 1-0 victory at the Darlington Arena last night and Grayson was pleased to see his squad avoid the humiliation of becoming the competition's first significant scalp. United made hard work of eliminating a League Two club who were in administration until the end of last week, finally taking control of the first-round tie through Showunmi's 54th-minute strike, but Leeds' manager admitted his only priority was safely negotiating a fixture he knew his players were expected to win. Grayson said: "I'm just delighted to get through. The game was a potential banana skin for us. "There are always going to be teams in this competition who are scalps for others and everybody wan...

Leedsunited.com 8/8/09 BOSS - I'LL TAKE ANOTHER 45 OF THEM! Grayson's verdict on Exeter victory... United boss Simon Grayson was delighted to get off to a winning start against Exeter City at Elland Road on the opening day of the season. Two Jermaine Beckford goals secured victory in front of an Elland Road crowd of almost 28,000 as the season started on the right note. United had dominated the opening half-hour, but Exeter battled gamely and despite having a man sent-off following an off-the-ball incident involving Micky Doyle, the visitors made for a tense finale after equalising on 72 minutes. But Beckford bagged a winner moments before the whistle and the boss was pleased with the final outcome. "If we finish the next 45 games with the same result I'll be more than happy," said the United manager. "Everyone wanted to make a positive start and that's what we did. "We could have won the game by half-time. We created some good chances and had a goo...

Times 8/8/09 Jermaine Beckford strikes twice to earn Leeds win Leeds United 2 Exeter City 1 Richard Rae HAVING sold their most promising player, Fabian Delph, Leeds United know they must hang on to their most potent, Jermaine Beckford, if they are to justify their pre-season status as favourites for automatic promotion. The tall striker, who struck 27 times in 27 starts last season, continued where he left off by notching both goals in an unexpectedly hard-fought victory. Beckford could have had a hat-trick before he opened the scoring in the 13th minute, the most culpable miss coming after just four minutes when he side-footed straight at Exeter goalkeeper Paul Jones from six yards. He made up for it when he took advantage of Ben Parker’s fine run and pass to beat Jones as the goalkeeper came out to narrow the angle. Exeter, without either of their first choice strikers, began to feel their way into the game, and Barry Corr should have tested United goalkeeper Shane Higgs with a volle...

Leedsunited.com 7/8/09 SNODGRASS SIGNS NEW LONG-TERM DEAL Robert Snodgrass has signed a new long-term contract with Leeds United. The Scot, who had two years of his previous deal remaining, has signed a new four-year contract with the club ahead of the start of the new campaign. The new deal secures Snoddy's Elland Road future until 2013, and last season's Regional Members Clubs Player of the Year was delighted. "I am delighted to get it done," said Robert. "I had no worries because I had two years left and was happy here, but it's great to sign a new contract. "It's been great since I came down here last summer and I really love the club. From the fans to the back-room staff and the other players, it's a great place to be and hopefully I can repay the faith that's been shown in me." Promotion is naturally the aim for Snoddy and his team-mates when the new season gets underway against Exeter City at Elland Road on Saturday. "We'...

Yorkshire Evening Post 6/8/09 Robins eye Tres deal By Phil Hay Charlton Athletic hope to take Tresor Kandol off Leeds United's hands before the transfer window closes by finalising a permanent deal to sign the striker. The London club are aiming to take Kandol back to The Valley after recruiting him on loan from Elland Road for the second half of last season. Kandol scored twice in 13 appearances for Charlton, who finished bottom of the Championship and were relegated in May, and United are willing to listen to approaches for a player who played little part in their pre-season campaign. The Congolese international started Leeds' friendly at Wealdstone on July 21, scoring in a 2-1 defeat, but the outing was his only appearance of the summer and he was left out of the club's two-match tour of Ireland. His lack of activity suggests he remains on the very fringes of manager Simon Grayson's plans, and he is not expected to figure in the squad named against Exeter City on Sat...

Leedsunited.com 4/8/09 CHAIRMAN ON DELPH DEAL Leeds United chairman Ken Bates has revealed that the club rejected an approach from Manchester City for Fabian Delph before finalising a deal with Aston Villa. The club announced on Monday afternoon that a deal had been agreed with the Premiership club for the 19-year-old midfielder. "It's a good deal from the point of view that Fabian had made it clear he wanted to play Premiership football," the chairman told Yorkshire Radio. "He was keen to go and we felt it was right to let him go providing we got the right figure. When we got the matter agreed we moved quickly. "We had accepted an offer from Manchester City on Saturday which they had to go back with to the owner in the Gulf. Then apparently they needed a week to think about it which surprised us, considering the size of the deal. "The problem was, that with a week, they might have come back and said 'no' and that wouldn't have been fair to Del...

IT'S TWO EASY FOR LEEDS AT BURNLEY 31 Jul 2009 United end pre-season with Premiership scalp... BURNLEY 1 (Edgar 76), UNITED 2 (Grella 37, Robinson 70) Burnley: Jensen, Mears (Eckersley 46), Carlisle (Edgar 71), Caldwell, Kalvenes (Jordan 55), Alexander (McDonald 71), Elliott, McCann (Gudjonsson 71), Eagles, Fletcher (Rodriguez 71), Blake (Thompson 55). Subs: Penny, Easton. United: Ankergren, Crowe (Snodgrass 63), Marques (Michalik 46), Kisnorbo (Huntington 63), Parker (White 75), Hughes, Howson, Prutton, Johnson (Robinson 63), Showunmi (Sheehan 80), Grella. Sub (not used): Higgs. Referee: G Laws Att: 7,899 Simon Grayson re-shuffled his starting line-up for the final pre-season game of the summer against Premiership newcomers Burnley. Luciano Becchio and Fabian Delph both missed out after picking up knocks in training on Friday, Mike Grella and David Prutton coming in, Casper Ankergren came in for Shane Higgs in goal, and Andrew Hughes was handed an opportunity on the right sid...