Yorkshire Evening Post 2/11/09
Elland Road faithful wowed by the Max factor
By Phil Hay
Different season, same old story for Yeovil Town.
"I'm getting sick of this walk," said Terry Skiverton as he entered the press room at Elland Road. He is not the only one. These days, opposition managers are there for no other reason than to carry out post mortems.
In February, Leeds United took hold of a fragile Yeovil squad and beat them senseless. The fight was more even on Saturday but the result identical, a 4-0 scoreline in United's favour for the second season running. "I've come a cropper again," said Skiverton quietly.
That is the way of things at Elland Road, even when Leeds are as inanimate as they were for an hour on Saturday. If Skiverton saw a ruthless streak in the club eight months ago, he could only marvel at the skill with which they dragged a conclusive victory from a fluctuating performance.
Leeds fell some way below the standard of perfection, a fact which should depress the rest of League One, assuming that United's seven-point lead at the top of the division has not done that already.
For 41 minutes, there was nothing discernible between the teams. With an hour gone, the only difference was a deflected cross from Bradley Johnson that navigated its way into Yeovil's net, no doubt to the bemusement of Phil Parkinson. Charlton Athletic's manager has taken the view that League One's leaders are knee-deep in luck; a fair portrayal of Johnson's goal, maybe, but an inadequate way to describe the final half-hour in which Skiverton's team were set upon.
The consolation for Yeovil's manager was found in the fact that his players were better than the scoreline. Considerably better than last season also. But try as they might, the majority of League One's clubs are losing touch with Leeds, bowing to a team who are comfortably clear of the field and worlds apart in terms of resources and potential.In spite of the one-goal lead given to them unintentionally by Johnson, United were beginning to lose their way again with 59 minutes played. Simon Grayson sensed as much and called upon two substitutes, one signed recently from the Championship and another who played in the Premier League three years ago. The effect was profound.
For as long as they have been a League One club, Leeds have possessed one of the largest and most expensive squads in the division. Grayson's ability to make the most of his resources – applying the theory of horses for courses – has been a positive feature of his tenure as manager, and his proactive nature influenced Saturday's result.
His midfield was toiling with an hour gone so Neil Kilkenny was sent on to exert control in that area of the pitch. He did so immediately. Max Gradel – United's loan signing from Leicester City – had the job of expanding a line-up deprived of width, and the winger scored 10 minutes after appearing from the bench. In that brief passage of play, the game was settled and Leeds were free to indulge in champagne football.
Jermaine Beckford scored a third goal in the 79th minute, tucked beyond Yeovil goalkeeper Alex McCarthy with nonchalant class, and Tresor Kandol beat McCarthy again four minutes after replacing Beckford. It was an uncharitable experience for Skiverton, whose players did not mask their annoyance. When the full-time whistle arrived, a brief and unnecessary scuffle broke out in the centre circle.
For Leeds, the good news continued to come. Charlton had lost away to Carlisle United, and Millwall were hanging on for a victory over Colchester United. By the time Grayson's squad resume their league season in two weeks' time, they will do so with a promising lead and every reason to think that their feeling of comfort will increase this month.
Successive
"The only time I'll be happy being seven points clear is when we've got two games to go," said Grayson, unwilling to tempt fate. It is the line he must stick to, but successive 4-0 victories in the space of five days are stamps of approval on an exceptional season to date. By the time Kandol scored the fourth goal on Saturday, it was churlish to claim that the win as a whole had been fortuitous.
Nevertheless, Johnson's goal arrived at a time when Leeds seemed strangely incapable of threatening McCarthy through conventional means.
Yeovil's keeper had not had a save to make until the 38th minute, when he moved to gather a Johnson free-kick, but he was put in peril by a cross from the midfielder which struck Shaun MacDonald as it flew towards the box.
The deflection diverted the ball into the path of Beckford who stuck out a foot, failed to make any contact but distracted McCarthy enough to allow it to bounce past both players and into the far corner of the net. When Andy Welsh incurred the game's first yellow card a minute later by thrashing the ball downfield following the award of a free-kick, his anger revealed how badly stung Yeovil had been by Johnson's goal.
Welsh and Ryan Mason, a teenager of precocious talent recruited on loan from Tottenham Hotspur, had otherwise done all they could to keep Leeds busy, creating the only other chances of note before half-time.
Mason's chipped pass worked Jon Obika in behind Grayson's defence, but Casper Ankergren faced the striker down and pushed his volley away with both hands.
Welsh's free-kick on 24 minutes dropped on to the head of Craig Alcock, who struggled to control his finish and watched the ball bounce wide.
Johnson's cross did what neither Obika or Alcock had been able to do and produced a goal which was not exactly on the cards. Skiverton argued that an earlier tackle by Andrew Hughes on Obika should have resulted in a penalty, but few of his players appealed for it. As the second half gathered speed, Grayson began to wonder where a second goal would come from and quickly deduced that a fresh approach was needed.
Kilkenny replaced Michael Doyle and Gradel exchanged a handshake with Andrew Hughes, ready to torment Yeovil as he had Norwich City a fortnight earlier.
He had already examined Skiverton's defence with one searching run when Leigh Bromby broke down the right wing and cut the ball back to Gradel, inviting the winger to slip his marker and drive a left-footed shot past McCarthy.
A second goal was bound to open the floodgates, and it did.
Beckford curled a delightful finish around McCarthy after anticipating Robert Snodgrass' flicked header and leaving Terrell Forbes in a heap, and Kandol arrived with perfect timing to bury a Snodgrass cross on 84 minutes.
"They're the best team we've played," Skiverton admitted, the latest in a line of managers who have said the same.
Yorkshire Post 31/10/09
Leeds United 4 Yeovil Town 0 - Gradel puts the fizz into sparkling Leeds
By Robert Gledhill at Elland Road
AUSTRALIAN Patrick Kisnorbo claimed the bubbly but it was young Max Gradel who put the fizz into Leeds United.
Even then, though, central defender Kisnorbo can take some of the credit for it was partly on his recommendation that the Ivory Coast winger was brought to Elland Road in the middle of the month.
Clutching the sponsors' man-of-the-match champagne award, Kisnorbo revealed: "I knew Max from my Leicester days and I knew that he was available so I put his name forward to the coaching staff.
Luckily for us, they went to get him and he's been fantastic. He's made such an impact and changed the game every time he has come on. Today he's also scored a goal which is great for him and, hopefully, we can keep him here."
"Sign him on, sign him on, sign him on," sang the Kop after the 21-year-old's introduction alongside Neil Kilkenny in the 58th minute finally put Leeds on the front foot.
"They were asking to sign him up after three minutes of his debut against Norwich," said Leeds chief of Gradel, who worked under United coach Ian Miller at the Walkers Stadium.
"But he's not our player, he's Leicester's and we are grateful for them loaning him out to us. When his loan spell ends we will speak to Leicester about the situation and if they want him back we will see where that takes us but he is obviously making an impact every time he comes on," said Grayson.
"But that is what I expect of all players when they come on – they have to make an impact. Tres (Kandol) has done it today as has Killer (Kilkenny). We now have got good squad players who can keep pushing each other.
"But Max gives us a little bit extra dimension to our game, something that we have not had before. He has that extra sort of zip about him.
"That zip was certainly missing in the first half as Yeovil, bolstered by two young players to watch in Spurs loan duo Jon Obika and Ryan Mason, showed why they had enjoyed a six-match unbeaten run.
Though they played two men in front of the back four and just Sam Williams up front, they were far from defensive and manager Terry Skiverton ruefully reflected: "The last time we came here, we came to defend and lost 4-0. This time we came to attack and lost 4-0!"
He had no complaints about the result, however, as Leeds went through the gears after the break, Grayson stating: "You can look at different reasons behind out first-half performance but ultimately it's how you finish the game that counts."
The fact that Kisnorbo caught the sponsors' eyes underlines just how much a threat Yeovil had posed in that first half but Casper Ankergren had just one save to make, beating away a drive from Obika before captain Craig Alcock misdirected a free header.
Kisnorbo admitted: "We go out looking to play 100 per cent in every game but I think in the first half we were a bit flat. They built some momentum and used the ball and a few times they got in behind us looking to score. But it just shows that if someone does make a mistake then there is always someone there to help them and that has been our mentality all season. We defend from the front and we have always said that. It's not just the back four, it's the whole team defending as one big unit.
"We stepped it up in the second half and we are now seven points clear which is good. But we want to be seven points clear at the end of the season not just now and so we are going to keep going right to the last game of the season – that's the mentality in the camp."
Leeds got the lift they needed just before the break when Bradley Johnson's cross deflected off Shaun McDonald and bounced past goalkeeper Alex McCarthy, who was distracted at the near post by the presence of Jermaine Beckford.
Grayson's double substitution in the 58th minute pepped up Leeds and Gradel cut inside his marker to fire home the second in the 69th.
Beckford had already netted twice from offside positions before he harried Terrel Forbes into a mistake which allowed him to curl home his 11th goal of the season in the 79th minute and his replacement, Tresor Kandol, nodded home the fourth from Robert Snodgrass's cross six minutes from time as Leeds extended their lead at the top of League One to seven points.
Beckford had scored his first senior hat-trick against Yeovil but they had foolishly claimed the striker did not scare them in a national newspaper article on Saturday morning.
"We saw the headline but I don't think he did," said Grayson. "People can say whatever they want but we will concentrate on our game. Jermaine doesn't need much motivation to try and score goals, that's for sure."
Leeds United: Ankergren, Bromby, Naylor, Kisnorbo, Hughes (Gradel 58); Snodgrass, Doyle (Kilkenny 58), Howson, Johnson; Vokes, Beckford (Kandol 81). Unused substitutes: Martin, Prutton, Grella, Michalik.
Yeovil Town: McCarthy, Alcock, Forbes, Caulker, Jones; McDonald, Kalala; Obika, Mason (Lindegaard 88), Welsh (Murtagh 73); Williams. Unused substitutes: Stam, Martin, Hutchins, Smith, Clowes.
Referee: A Haines (Tyne and Wear).
MATCH FACTS
Hero: Max Gradel
Has a style reminiscent of England's Shaun Wright-Phillips and tormented Yeovil down the right as Robert Snodgrass switched flanks, forming an equally productive threat with Bradley Johnson, who moved to left-back.
Villain: Sam Williams
Yeovil's target man finally became exasperated by the tough but fair treatment handed out by Patrick Kisnorbo and Richard Naylor, and had a bust-up with Tresor Kandol on the final whistle.
Key moment
58th-minute: Simon Grayson turns the course of the match with his double substitution.
Ref watch
Andy Haines: Had a relatively quiet match and booked just two Yeovil players, Welsh and Kalala.
Verdict
This was a tougher test than the scoreline suggests but Leeds certainly have the squad strength to make decisive changes.
Next game
Oldham Athletic v Leeds United, FA Cup, 1st round, Saturday, 5.15pm.
Quote of the day
Max gives us a little bit extra dimension to our game, something that we have not had before. He has that extra sort of zip about him.– Simon Grayson on loan winger Max Gradel.
Elland Road faithful wowed by the Max factor
By Phil Hay
Different season, same old story for Yeovil Town.
"I'm getting sick of this walk," said Terry Skiverton as he entered the press room at Elland Road. He is not the only one. These days, opposition managers are there for no other reason than to carry out post mortems.
In February, Leeds United took hold of a fragile Yeovil squad and beat them senseless. The fight was more even on Saturday but the result identical, a 4-0 scoreline in United's favour for the second season running. "I've come a cropper again," said Skiverton quietly.
That is the way of things at Elland Road, even when Leeds are as inanimate as they were for an hour on Saturday. If Skiverton saw a ruthless streak in the club eight months ago, he could only marvel at the skill with which they dragged a conclusive victory from a fluctuating performance.
Leeds fell some way below the standard of perfection, a fact which should depress the rest of League One, assuming that United's seven-point lead at the top of the division has not done that already.
For 41 minutes, there was nothing discernible between the teams. With an hour gone, the only difference was a deflected cross from Bradley Johnson that navigated its way into Yeovil's net, no doubt to the bemusement of Phil Parkinson. Charlton Athletic's manager has taken the view that League One's leaders are knee-deep in luck; a fair portrayal of Johnson's goal, maybe, but an inadequate way to describe the final half-hour in which Skiverton's team were set upon.
The consolation for Yeovil's manager was found in the fact that his players were better than the scoreline. Considerably better than last season also. But try as they might, the majority of League One's clubs are losing touch with Leeds, bowing to a team who are comfortably clear of the field and worlds apart in terms of resources and potential.In spite of the one-goal lead given to them unintentionally by Johnson, United were beginning to lose their way again with 59 minutes played. Simon Grayson sensed as much and called upon two substitutes, one signed recently from the Championship and another who played in the Premier League three years ago. The effect was profound.
For as long as they have been a League One club, Leeds have possessed one of the largest and most expensive squads in the division. Grayson's ability to make the most of his resources – applying the theory of horses for courses – has been a positive feature of his tenure as manager, and his proactive nature influenced Saturday's result.
His midfield was toiling with an hour gone so Neil Kilkenny was sent on to exert control in that area of the pitch. He did so immediately. Max Gradel – United's loan signing from Leicester City – had the job of expanding a line-up deprived of width, and the winger scored 10 minutes after appearing from the bench. In that brief passage of play, the game was settled and Leeds were free to indulge in champagne football.
Jermaine Beckford scored a third goal in the 79th minute, tucked beyond Yeovil goalkeeper Alex McCarthy with nonchalant class, and Tresor Kandol beat McCarthy again four minutes after replacing Beckford. It was an uncharitable experience for Skiverton, whose players did not mask their annoyance. When the full-time whistle arrived, a brief and unnecessary scuffle broke out in the centre circle.
For Leeds, the good news continued to come. Charlton had lost away to Carlisle United, and Millwall were hanging on for a victory over Colchester United. By the time Grayson's squad resume their league season in two weeks' time, they will do so with a promising lead and every reason to think that their feeling of comfort will increase this month.
Successive
"The only time I'll be happy being seven points clear is when we've got two games to go," said Grayson, unwilling to tempt fate. It is the line he must stick to, but successive 4-0 victories in the space of five days are stamps of approval on an exceptional season to date. By the time Kandol scored the fourth goal on Saturday, it was churlish to claim that the win as a whole had been fortuitous.
Nevertheless, Johnson's goal arrived at a time when Leeds seemed strangely incapable of threatening McCarthy through conventional means.
Yeovil's keeper had not had a save to make until the 38th minute, when he moved to gather a Johnson free-kick, but he was put in peril by a cross from the midfielder which struck Shaun MacDonald as it flew towards the box.
The deflection diverted the ball into the path of Beckford who stuck out a foot, failed to make any contact but distracted McCarthy enough to allow it to bounce past both players and into the far corner of the net. When Andy Welsh incurred the game's first yellow card a minute later by thrashing the ball downfield following the award of a free-kick, his anger revealed how badly stung Yeovil had been by Johnson's goal.
Welsh and Ryan Mason, a teenager of precocious talent recruited on loan from Tottenham Hotspur, had otherwise done all they could to keep Leeds busy, creating the only other chances of note before half-time.
Mason's chipped pass worked Jon Obika in behind Grayson's defence, but Casper Ankergren faced the striker down and pushed his volley away with both hands.
Welsh's free-kick on 24 minutes dropped on to the head of Craig Alcock, who struggled to control his finish and watched the ball bounce wide.
Johnson's cross did what neither Obika or Alcock had been able to do and produced a goal which was not exactly on the cards. Skiverton argued that an earlier tackle by Andrew Hughes on Obika should have resulted in a penalty, but few of his players appealed for it. As the second half gathered speed, Grayson began to wonder where a second goal would come from and quickly deduced that a fresh approach was needed.
Kilkenny replaced Michael Doyle and Gradel exchanged a handshake with Andrew Hughes, ready to torment Yeovil as he had Norwich City a fortnight earlier.
He had already examined Skiverton's defence with one searching run when Leigh Bromby broke down the right wing and cut the ball back to Gradel, inviting the winger to slip his marker and drive a left-footed shot past McCarthy.
A second goal was bound to open the floodgates, and it did.
Beckford curled a delightful finish around McCarthy after anticipating Robert Snodgrass' flicked header and leaving Terrell Forbes in a heap, and Kandol arrived with perfect timing to bury a Snodgrass cross on 84 minutes.
"They're the best team we've played," Skiverton admitted, the latest in a line of managers who have said the same.
Yorkshire Post 31/10/09
Leeds United 4 Yeovil Town 0 - Gradel puts the fizz into sparkling Leeds
By Robert Gledhill at Elland Road
AUSTRALIAN Patrick Kisnorbo claimed the bubbly but it was young Max Gradel who put the fizz into Leeds United.
Even then, though, central defender Kisnorbo can take some of the credit for it was partly on his recommendation that the Ivory Coast winger was brought to Elland Road in the middle of the month.
Clutching the sponsors' man-of-the-match champagne award, Kisnorbo revealed: "I knew Max from my Leicester days and I knew that he was available so I put his name forward to the coaching staff.
Luckily for us, they went to get him and he's been fantastic. He's made such an impact and changed the game every time he has come on. Today he's also scored a goal which is great for him and, hopefully, we can keep him here."
"Sign him on, sign him on, sign him on," sang the Kop after the 21-year-old's introduction alongside Neil Kilkenny in the 58th minute finally put Leeds on the front foot.
"They were asking to sign him up after three minutes of his debut against Norwich," said Leeds chief of Gradel, who worked under United coach Ian Miller at the Walkers Stadium.
"But he's not our player, he's Leicester's and we are grateful for them loaning him out to us. When his loan spell ends we will speak to Leicester about the situation and if they want him back we will see where that takes us but he is obviously making an impact every time he comes on," said Grayson.
"But that is what I expect of all players when they come on – they have to make an impact. Tres (Kandol) has done it today as has Killer (Kilkenny). We now have got good squad players who can keep pushing each other.
"But Max gives us a little bit extra dimension to our game, something that we have not had before. He has that extra sort of zip about him.
"That zip was certainly missing in the first half as Yeovil, bolstered by two young players to watch in Spurs loan duo Jon Obika and Ryan Mason, showed why they had enjoyed a six-match unbeaten run.
Though they played two men in front of the back four and just Sam Williams up front, they were far from defensive and manager Terry Skiverton ruefully reflected: "The last time we came here, we came to defend and lost 4-0. This time we came to attack and lost 4-0!"
He had no complaints about the result, however, as Leeds went through the gears after the break, Grayson stating: "You can look at different reasons behind out first-half performance but ultimately it's how you finish the game that counts."
The fact that Kisnorbo caught the sponsors' eyes underlines just how much a threat Yeovil had posed in that first half but Casper Ankergren had just one save to make, beating away a drive from Obika before captain Craig Alcock misdirected a free header.
Kisnorbo admitted: "We go out looking to play 100 per cent in every game but I think in the first half we were a bit flat. They built some momentum and used the ball and a few times they got in behind us looking to score. But it just shows that if someone does make a mistake then there is always someone there to help them and that has been our mentality all season. We defend from the front and we have always said that. It's not just the back four, it's the whole team defending as one big unit.
"We stepped it up in the second half and we are now seven points clear which is good. But we want to be seven points clear at the end of the season not just now and so we are going to keep going right to the last game of the season – that's the mentality in the camp."
Leeds got the lift they needed just before the break when Bradley Johnson's cross deflected off Shaun McDonald and bounced past goalkeeper Alex McCarthy, who was distracted at the near post by the presence of Jermaine Beckford.
Grayson's double substitution in the 58th minute pepped up Leeds and Gradel cut inside his marker to fire home the second in the 69th.
Beckford had already netted twice from offside positions before he harried Terrel Forbes into a mistake which allowed him to curl home his 11th goal of the season in the 79th minute and his replacement, Tresor Kandol, nodded home the fourth from Robert Snodgrass's cross six minutes from time as Leeds extended their lead at the top of League One to seven points.
Beckford had scored his first senior hat-trick against Yeovil but they had foolishly claimed the striker did not scare them in a national newspaper article on Saturday morning.
"We saw the headline but I don't think he did," said Grayson. "People can say whatever they want but we will concentrate on our game. Jermaine doesn't need much motivation to try and score goals, that's for sure."
Leeds United: Ankergren, Bromby, Naylor, Kisnorbo, Hughes (Gradel 58); Snodgrass, Doyle (Kilkenny 58), Howson, Johnson; Vokes, Beckford (Kandol 81). Unused substitutes: Martin, Prutton, Grella, Michalik.
Yeovil Town: McCarthy, Alcock, Forbes, Caulker, Jones; McDonald, Kalala; Obika, Mason (Lindegaard 88), Welsh (Murtagh 73); Williams. Unused substitutes: Stam, Martin, Hutchins, Smith, Clowes.
Referee: A Haines (Tyne and Wear).
MATCH FACTS
Hero: Max Gradel
Has a style reminiscent of England's Shaun Wright-Phillips and tormented Yeovil down the right as Robert Snodgrass switched flanks, forming an equally productive threat with Bradley Johnson, who moved to left-back.
Villain: Sam Williams
Yeovil's target man finally became exasperated by the tough but fair treatment handed out by Patrick Kisnorbo and Richard Naylor, and had a bust-up with Tresor Kandol on the final whistle.
Key moment
58th-minute: Simon Grayson turns the course of the match with his double substitution.
Ref watch
Andy Haines: Had a relatively quiet match and booked just two Yeovil players, Welsh and Kalala.
Verdict
This was a tougher test than the scoreline suggests but Leeds certainly have the squad strength to make decisive changes.
Next game
Oldham Athletic v Leeds United, FA Cup, 1st round, Saturday, 5.15pm.
Quote of the day
Max gives us a little bit extra dimension to our game, something that we have not had before. He has that extra sort of zip about him.– Simon Grayson on loan winger Max Gradel.
