Bradford Telegraph and Argus 8/5/10
Captain marvel Beckford seals promotion for Leeds
By John Wray »
Leeds 2, Bristol Rovers 1
Just one month after being pilloried by Leeds fans, Jermaine Beckford was their hero as his 63rd minute winner ensured automatic promotion to the Championship amid scenes of unbridled celebration.
Now the big question is whether the 31-goal marksman can be persuaded to forget his wanderlust, sign a new contract and help the club’s quest for promotion to the Premiership.
Manager Simon Grayson not only restored Beckford to the starting line-up against Bristol Rovers – he made him captain with Richard Naylor sidelined by a hamstring injury and Jonny Howson starting on the bench.
Like so many of Grayson’s decisions this season, it worked and Beckford not only summoned his goal-poaching skill, he showed responsibility in trying to persuade Max Gradel to leave the pitch after the Ivory Coast forward was shown the red card for a 33rd minute skirmish with Rovers defender Daniel Jones, who was booed for the rest of the game.
Grayson said: “Jermaine has become a hero. Whether he leaves is a question for another time.
“He is out of contract but responded in the right manner to what I asked of him. Jermaine got the goal but I thought the whole team were heroes.
“If we can offer him the right deal, I would love him to stay. If you are competing against teams from the Premier League it is a different ball game but we will do as much as we can. We offered him contracts last summer because we know what he can do.
“If he moves on, he will do so with my best wishes because he has been a fantastic player to work with since I arrived at the club. If he stays then I have one hell of a player on my hands.”
Grayson joked: “The lads have gagged him and tied him up before putting a contract in front of him. I don’t know if he will have a change of heart, but if there is a chance within our financial constraints then we will try to keep him because he is a fantastic player.
“We turned down good money in January because we wanted to win promotion. His goals have proved that was the right decision.”
Grayson explained the thinking behind handing Beckford the captaincy on the day.
He said: “My objective was to give him added responsibility and I thought he responded. I looked around and thought ‘why not Jermaine?’ He is one of the senior pros and I knew he would be back in the team. I thought that extra responsibility might give him an extra spring in his step.
“I thought it worked. I noticed as he led out the team that he was very vocal. That is not his usual manner.”
Gradel’s 33rd-minute dismissal and Darryl Duffy’s goal just two minutes after the break looked like consigning Leeds to the play-offs, but substitute Howson rifled in a 20-yard equaliser and, when Rovers keeper Mikkel Andersen threw the ball straight to Bradley Johnson, his cross was half-cleared to Beckford, who was besieged by ecstatic team-mates after firing home the rebound.
Repeated pleas for the fans to stay off the pitch at the end were ignored as they raced on in their droves to savour a defining moment in the club’s roller-coaster history.
Grayson added: “The chairman (Ken Bates) is delighted and conversations with him about money can wait for next week. He is as delighted as me we have won promotion. I think getting out of League One for Leeds United will prove to have been harder than getting out of the Championship.
“We are a big scalp in this division. I know the Championship is a difficult division and there are some really big teams in there but it doesn’t frighten me.
“I won’t say ‘we will be promoted next year’ but I am an ambitious manager and want to get this club in the Premier League.”
“We will have a good go. It is a challenge we will embrace. We will have a good couple of days and the chairman has organised a trip for the players and staff. Now it is in the press, we can hold him to that promise. We are not sure where we are going – Filey or Bridlington, probably!
“It has been a long season for everyone connected with the club. The players will disappear for seven or eight weeks and I will get a holiday at some stage, but come Monday and Tuesday, I will be planning for next year.”
Sunday Tribune 8/5/10
Elland back
League one: Leeds United 2, Bristol Rovers 1, Phil Shaw, Elland Road
THE last time there was a hung parliament in Britain, one Elland Road veteran noted before the game, Leeds won the League championship. This time the prize was more modest – escape from the third tier via the second-past-the-post system – but it was celebrated as if a crack at the Champions' League awaited Simon Grayson's side next season, especially after they contrived to do it the hardest way possible.
On an afternoon that lurched between tension and tumult, Leeds played for two-thirds of the match with 10 men after their Ivorian attacker, Max Gradel, was sent off for violent conduct. Gradel had to be escorted from the pitch by security guards after Jermaine Beckford and Michael Doyle struggled to prevent him getting to referee Graham Salisbury.
Leeds then fell behind just after half-time to a goal created by the Rovers player the capacity crowd blamed for Gradel's dismissal, the defender Daniel Jones. And with results elsewhere going against them, they looked set for the play-offs.
Two goals in four minutes either side of the hour mark transformed the contest and pushed Leeds over the line. The equaliser came from a substitute, the locally born Jonathan Howson, and the winner, with a certain inevitability, was fired in by Beckford, who was captain for the day on what was almost certainly his final appearance for the club.
Grayson, the boyhood Leeds supporter who took Blackpool up from League One in 2007, said: "There have been a few bottles of champagne consumed, and rightly so. We never do things easy at our football club, but we showed fantastic desire and determination."
The Leeds manager added that he was "disappointed" with Gradel's reaction but was "still uncertain" exactly why he had been ordered off. "We still had a genuine belief we could get back into it after they scored, and full credit to our fans for keeping us going."
Leeds knew victory would confirm promotion behind Norwich but made a jittery start. Gradel, ironically, appeared the most likely source of a breakthrough, only to rush his crosses. When a firm but fair challenge by Jones, a burly defender on loan from Wolves, left him writhing on the floor, Gradel went in search of retribution.
The pair squared up to one another, Gradel putting his head into Jones' face, upon which his opponent fell to the ground clutching it. When Salisbury produced the red card, the Leeds player reacted furiously and had to be forcibly restrained from confronting the referee. Eventually Gradel was marched away, but Jones' every touch was booed – with Grayson and his coach Ian Miller also making their feelings plain to him as he came off at half-time.
"This game's too big for you," sang the Leeds Kop to the referee with every decision that went against them, though the criticism appeared more suited to their own players. The situation went from bad to worse on 48 minutes when Jones crossed from the right and Jo Kuffour cut the ball for Darryl Duffy to turn Leigh Bromby and score from six yards.
Briefly, the Leeds crowd were cast into silence and Rovers' anthem 'Goodnight Irene' filled the void. Just when it seemed it might be Goodnight Leeds, however, Neil Kilkenny's cross was laid off by Luciano Becchio for Howson to curl a 20-yard shot past Mikkel Andersen.
If the Dane was blameless then, the same was not true of the deciding goal. His throw hit Beckford and fell to Bradley Johnson, who cut in from the left for a shot which Byron Anthony cleared only as far as Beckford. The striker, restored to the starting 11 after a four-game exile on the bench, crashed home his 31st goal of the season and Leeds, to the cacophonous relief of their fans, sweated out the final 27 minutes.
Captain marvel Beckford seals promotion for Leeds
By John Wray »
Leeds 2, Bristol Rovers 1
Just one month after being pilloried by Leeds fans, Jermaine Beckford was their hero as his 63rd minute winner ensured automatic promotion to the Championship amid scenes of unbridled celebration.
Now the big question is whether the 31-goal marksman can be persuaded to forget his wanderlust, sign a new contract and help the club’s quest for promotion to the Premiership.
Manager Simon Grayson not only restored Beckford to the starting line-up against Bristol Rovers – he made him captain with Richard Naylor sidelined by a hamstring injury and Jonny Howson starting on the bench.
Like so many of Grayson’s decisions this season, it worked and Beckford not only summoned his goal-poaching skill, he showed responsibility in trying to persuade Max Gradel to leave the pitch after the Ivory Coast forward was shown the red card for a 33rd minute skirmish with Rovers defender Daniel Jones, who was booed for the rest of the game.
Grayson said: “Jermaine has become a hero. Whether he leaves is a question for another time.
“He is out of contract but responded in the right manner to what I asked of him. Jermaine got the goal but I thought the whole team were heroes.
“If we can offer him the right deal, I would love him to stay. If you are competing against teams from the Premier League it is a different ball game but we will do as much as we can. We offered him contracts last summer because we know what he can do.
“If he moves on, he will do so with my best wishes because he has been a fantastic player to work with since I arrived at the club. If he stays then I have one hell of a player on my hands.”
Grayson joked: “The lads have gagged him and tied him up before putting a contract in front of him. I don’t know if he will have a change of heart, but if there is a chance within our financial constraints then we will try to keep him because he is a fantastic player.
“We turned down good money in January because we wanted to win promotion. His goals have proved that was the right decision.”
Grayson explained the thinking behind handing Beckford the captaincy on the day.
He said: “My objective was to give him added responsibility and I thought he responded. I looked around and thought ‘why not Jermaine?’ He is one of the senior pros and I knew he would be back in the team. I thought that extra responsibility might give him an extra spring in his step.
“I thought it worked. I noticed as he led out the team that he was very vocal. That is not his usual manner.”
Gradel’s 33rd-minute dismissal and Darryl Duffy’s goal just two minutes after the break looked like consigning Leeds to the play-offs, but substitute Howson rifled in a 20-yard equaliser and, when Rovers keeper Mikkel Andersen threw the ball straight to Bradley Johnson, his cross was half-cleared to Beckford, who was besieged by ecstatic team-mates after firing home the rebound.
Repeated pleas for the fans to stay off the pitch at the end were ignored as they raced on in their droves to savour a defining moment in the club’s roller-coaster history.
Grayson added: “The chairman (Ken Bates) is delighted and conversations with him about money can wait for next week. He is as delighted as me we have won promotion. I think getting out of League One for Leeds United will prove to have been harder than getting out of the Championship.
“We are a big scalp in this division. I know the Championship is a difficult division and there are some really big teams in there but it doesn’t frighten me.
“I won’t say ‘we will be promoted next year’ but I am an ambitious manager and want to get this club in the Premier League.”
“We will have a good go. It is a challenge we will embrace. We will have a good couple of days and the chairman has organised a trip for the players and staff. Now it is in the press, we can hold him to that promise. We are not sure where we are going – Filey or Bridlington, probably!
“It has been a long season for everyone connected with the club. The players will disappear for seven or eight weeks and I will get a holiday at some stage, but come Monday and Tuesday, I will be planning for next year.”
Sunday Tribune 8/5/10
Elland back
League one: Leeds United 2, Bristol Rovers 1, Phil Shaw, Elland Road
THE last time there was a hung parliament in Britain, one Elland Road veteran noted before the game, Leeds won the League championship. This time the prize was more modest – escape from the third tier via the second-past-the-post system – but it was celebrated as if a crack at the Champions' League awaited Simon Grayson's side next season, especially after they contrived to do it the hardest way possible.
On an afternoon that lurched between tension and tumult, Leeds played for two-thirds of the match with 10 men after their Ivorian attacker, Max Gradel, was sent off for violent conduct. Gradel had to be escorted from the pitch by security guards after Jermaine Beckford and Michael Doyle struggled to prevent him getting to referee Graham Salisbury.
Leeds then fell behind just after half-time to a goal created by the Rovers player the capacity crowd blamed for Gradel's dismissal, the defender Daniel Jones. And with results elsewhere going against them, they looked set for the play-offs.
Two goals in four minutes either side of the hour mark transformed the contest and pushed Leeds over the line. The equaliser came from a substitute, the locally born Jonathan Howson, and the winner, with a certain inevitability, was fired in by Beckford, who was captain for the day on what was almost certainly his final appearance for the club.
Grayson, the boyhood Leeds supporter who took Blackpool up from League One in 2007, said: "There have been a few bottles of champagne consumed, and rightly so. We never do things easy at our football club, but we showed fantastic desire and determination."
The Leeds manager added that he was "disappointed" with Gradel's reaction but was "still uncertain" exactly why he had been ordered off. "We still had a genuine belief we could get back into it after they scored, and full credit to our fans for keeping us going."
Leeds knew victory would confirm promotion behind Norwich but made a jittery start. Gradel, ironically, appeared the most likely source of a breakthrough, only to rush his crosses. When a firm but fair challenge by Jones, a burly defender on loan from Wolves, left him writhing on the floor, Gradel went in search of retribution.
The pair squared up to one another, Gradel putting his head into Jones' face, upon which his opponent fell to the ground clutching it. When Salisbury produced the red card, the Leeds player reacted furiously and had to be forcibly restrained from confronting the referee. Eventually Gradel was marched away, but Jones' every touch was booed – with Grayson and his coach Ian Miller also making their feelings plain to him as he came off at half-time.
"This game's too big for you," sang the Leeds Kop to the referee with every decision that went against them, though the criticism appeared more suited to their own players. The situation went from bad to worse on 48 minutes when Jones crossed from the right and Jo Kuffour cut the ball for Darryl Duffy to turn Leigh Bromby and score from six yards.
Briefly, the Leeds crowd were cast into silence and Rovers' anthem 'Goodnight Irene' filled the void. Just when it seemed it might be Goodnight Leeds, however, Neil Kilkenny's cross was laid off by Luciano Becchio for Howson to curl a 20-yard shot past Mikkel Andersen.
If the Dane was blameless then, the same was not true of the deciding goal. His throw hit Beckford and fell to Bradley Johnson, who cut in from the left for a shot which Byron Anthony cleared only as far as Beckford. The striker, restored to the starting 11 after a four-game exile on the bench, crashed home his 31st goal of the season and Leeds, to the cacophonous relief of their fans, sweated out the final 27 minutes.