Yorkshire Evening Post 14/3/11
Leeds United v Ipswich Town: Whites prove a point to prizes
On the evidence of the past fortnight, a goalless draw in the Championship is not the worst of results.
Leeds United’s game against Ipswich Town befitted that scoreline perfectly.
Elland Road will stage more raucous football in the weeks to come than it hosted on Saturday.
How much value Simon Grayson should place on the point accrued – against a distinguished but unauthoritative Ipswich team – is, as ever, a matter of opinion.
In a league where Nottingham Forest are without a win in six matches and Swansea City have flown unwittingly into turbulence, other managers in Grayson’s position might be wary of sniffing at an orderly draw.
Paul Jewell, for one, was largely content. “We were all over Leeds for the first 10 seconds,” the Ipswich manager joked. “But nil-nil is never a bad result away from home.”
That outcome loomed from an early stage of Saturday’s game. Aside from isolated shots on target asking more than average agility of either goalkeeper, the urgency of United’s season passed the fixture by.
Ipswich had nothing to play for, the club’s reputation excepted, but a goal stood between Leeds and a tie for second place in the Championship. Their creative streak ran dry, unusually, and Grayson’s players rarely reached the point where their finishing was in question.
Jewell blamed the pitch and Grayson a “lack of finesse” in the area of the pitch where it mattered most.
A coach with weaker self-control than him would have pointed an accusing finger at Darren Deadman, the match referee. Deadman’s perceived list of failings was long and damning, his performance described by Grayson with some restraint as “frustrating”. Jewell begged to differ.
“I thought he was good,” Jewell said. “I won’t say the crowd here can influence referees but they can certainly twist their arms.”
Deadman had a hand in United’s laboured performance but Grayson accepted that Leeds were responsible for tying their own hands inside and outside Ipswich’s box.
A small number of half-chances for Billy Paynter, their solitary striker, was symptomatic of an organised Town defence who held their nerve whenever pressure came to bear. Many before them have cracked under the glare of an expectant stadium.
If Paynter’s appearance at Preston last week represented a nod of emotional support from Grayson, the approval shown by his re-selection against Ipswich was greater still. At face value, it was a decision made on form and not predominantly on the grounds of resting Luciano Becchio.
United’s natural flow with a home gathering around them disappeared with the Argentinian, and the crowd were calling for him by the 64th minute.
Grayson was not surprised to see Jimmy Bullard’s name on Ipswich’s team-sheet after implying on Thursday that scepticism over the midfielder’s fitness was reverse psychology on Jewell’s part. Bullard’s tight hamstring duly healed.
To his right was the recognisable face of Kieron Dyer, a player signed on loan from West Ham United on Friday morning and remembered in Leeds for wreaking havoc at Elland Road on Newcastle United’s behalf in 2001.
Jewell used him behind striker Tamas Priskin, mimicking Leeds’ formation and the role occupied most often and most effectively by Jonathan Howson.
Dyer’s influence proved to be modest and Bullard operated under the thumb of Bradley Johnson. Whatever Jewell’s intention, the immediate result was a 20-minute stalemate of which his players had nominally the better.
Twice Priskin slipped the attention of United’s defence, the first occasion after only 12 seconds, but lacked the poise to bring a save from Kasper Schmeichel, and a bouncing header from Gareth McAuley cleared the crossbar with the help of the Dane’s fingertips.
Marton Fulop, Ipswich’s keeper, used the same extremities to turn Max Gradel’s shot around a post, an effort fashioned after McAuley backed away from the winger 20 yards from goal, but United’s disconnected mood was in contrast to their furious treatment of Doncaster Rovers a week earlier.
Gradel marauded as best he could but found himself in the territory of a right-back in Carlos Edwards who had the pace and positional sense to constrain him.
Paynter, meanwhile, missed two chances, hooking a shot wide and glancing a header across Fulop’s goal, but neither attack was as worrying as the break from Lee Martin which took him in behind a stumbling George McCartney. Schmeichel met Martin’s strike with both hands and an anxious dive.
In amongst the congestion, there was time enough for Deadman to sap the crowd’s energy.
His booking of Andy O’Brien for a dubious trip on Priskin was as contentious as his ignorance of the back-pass rule and his decision to wave Ipswich on in response to an offside flag against them. “All we want is a decent ref,” came the response from the masses, a stand-up row between Grayson and Deadman ensued.
The Football League’s appointments for games involving Leeds this season have swung between Select Group candidates and National List representatives, to no acceptable avail.
The anger of a normally-placid Grayson was an indictment of another questionable performance. But, if nothing else, Deadman’s ineptitude stirred the fixture into life.
Gradel swung a shot inches away from Fulop’s left-hand post after Edwards contrived to lose him on the edge of his area and Paynter’s attempt to sweep home a low cross met resistance from an outstretched leg.
Deadman found himself surrounded again after O’Brien’s volley appeared to hit an arm inside Fulop’s box but the official drew the line at a corner.
The players who walked past him at the end of the first half took a moment to remonstrate, though none so intently as Jewell who pursued him towards the entrance of the tunnel.
The animation of Ipswich’s manager could have related in part to an early incident in which Paynter struck McAuley with an elbow and drew blood from the defender’s ear. The collision earned Paynter the first yellow card of the game and McAuley took retribution in the second half by clattering the striker off the ball. A caution inevitably followed.
Deadman’s handling of the game not withstanding, Grayson had other matters to ponder.
A reserved first half had limited the impact of Gradel and Paynter and badly stifled Robert Snodgrass and Howson. The reticence of the latter pair did not extend far into the second half, blank though it ultimately was.
Howson’s sliced volley underneath Snodgrass’ cross was the start of a period in which Leeds found their voice. Snodgrass pulled a shot beyond Fulop’s far post and the keeper dropped down to deny Paynter a goal during United’s next attack.
Despite the improvement, Grayson called on the cavalry in the 76th minute. Howson made way for Barry Bannan and Becchio replaced Paynter, given a quarter-of-an-hour to do what he had done 17 times before this season.
The flat atmosphere inside Elland Road told him not to raise his hopes, but Grayson was still bullish afterwards.
“It rounds off a good week,” he said, aware that seven points from nine is promotion form by the present standards of United’s league.
Leeds United v Ipswich Town: Whites prove a point to prizes
On the evidence of the past fortnight, a goalless draw in the Championship is not the worst of results.
Leeds United’s game against Ipswich Town befitted that scoreline perfectly.
Elland Road will stage more raucous football in the weeks to come than it hosted on Saturday.
How much value Simon Grayson should place on the point accrued – against a distinguished but unauthoritative Ipswich team – is, as ever, a matter of opinion.
In a league where Nottingham Forest are without a win in six matches and Swansea City have flown unwittingly into turbulence, other managers in Grayson’s position might be wary of sniffing at an orderly draw.
Paul Jewell, for one, was largely content. “We were all over Leeds for the first 10 seconds,” the Ipswich manager joked. “But nil-nil is never a bad result away from home.”
That outcome loomed from an early stage of Saturday’s game. Aside from isolated shots on target asking more than average agility of either goalkeeper, the urgency of United’s season passed the fixture by.
Ipswich had nothing to play for, the club’s reputation excepted, but a goal stood between Leeds and a tie for second place in the Championship. Their creative streak ran dry, unusually, and Grayson’s players rarely reached the point where their finishing was in question.
Jewell blamed the pitch and Grayson a “lack of finesse” in the area of the pitch where it mattered most.
A coach with weaker self-control than him would have pointed an accusing finger at Darren Deadman, the match referee. Deadman’s perceived list of failings was long and damning, his performance described by Grayson with some restraint as “frustrating”. Jewell begged to differ.
“I thought he was good,” Jewell said. “I won’t say the crowd here can influence referees but they can certainly twist their arms.”
Deadman had a hand in United’s laboured performance but Grayson accepted that Leeds were responsible for tying their own hands inside and outside Ipswich’s box.
A small number of half-chances for Billy Paynter, their solitary striker, was symptomatic of an organised Town defence who held their nerve whenever pressure came to bear. Many before them have cracked under the glare of an expectant stadium.
If Paynter’s appearance at Preston last week represented a nod of emotional support from Grayson, the approval shown by his re-selection against Ipswich was greater still. At face value, it was a decision made on form and not predominantly on the grounds of resting Luciano Becchio.
United’s natural flow with a home gathering around them disappeared with the Argentinian, and the crowd were calling for him by the 64th minute.
Grayson was not surprised to see Jimmy Bullard’s name on Ipswich’s team-sheet after implying on Thursday that scepticism over the midfielder’s fitness was reverse psychology on Jewell’s part. Bullard’s tight hamstring duly healed.
To his right was the recognisable face of Kieron Dyer, a player signed on loan from West Ham United on Friday morning and remembered in Leeds for wreaking havoc at Elland Road on Newcastle United’s behalf in 2001.
Jewell used him behind striker Tamas Priskin, mimicking Leeds’ formation and the role occupied most often and most effectively by Jonathan Howson.
Dyer’s influence proved to be modest and Bullard operated under the thumb of Bradley Johnson. Whatever Jewell’s intention, the immediate result was a 20-minute stalemate of which his players had nominally the better.
Twice Priskin slipped the attention of United’s defence, the first occasion after only 12 seconds, but lacked the poise to bring a save from Kasper Schmeichel, and a bouncing header from Gareth McAuley cleared the crossbar with the help of the Dane’s fingertips.
Marton Fulop, Ipswich’s keeper, used the same extremities to turn Max Gradel’s shot around a post, an effort fashioned after McAuley backed away from the winger 20 yards from goal, but United’s disconnected mood was in contrast to their furious treatment of Doncaster Rovers a week earlier.
Gradel marauded as best he could but found himself in the territory of a right-back in Carlos Edwards who had the pace and positional sense to constrain him.
Paynter, meanwhile, missed two chances, hooking a shot wide and glancing a header across Fulop’s goal, but neither attack was as worrying as the break from Lee Martin which took him in behind a stumbling George McCartney. Schmeichel met Martin’s strike with both hands and an anxious dive.
In amongst the congestion, there was time enough for Deadman to sap the crowd’s energy.
His booking of Andy O’Brien for a dubious trip on Priskin was as contentious as his ignorance of the back-pass rule and his decision to wave Ipswich on in response to an offside flag against them. “All we want is a decent ref,” came the response from the masses, a stand-up row between Grayson and Deadman ensued.
The Football League’s appointments for games involving Leeds this season have swung between Select Group candidates and National List representatives, to no acceptable avail.
The anger of a normally-placid Grayson was an indictment of another questionable performance. But, if nothing else, Deadman’s ineptitude stirred the fixture into life.
Gradel swung a shot inches away from Fulop’s left-hand post after Edwards contrived to lose him on the edge of his area and Paynter’s attempt to sweep home a low cross met resistance from an outstretched leg.
Deadman found himself surrounded again after O’Brien’s volley appeared to hit an arm inside Fulop’s box but the official drew the line at a corner.
The players who walked past him at the end of the first half took a moment to remonstrate, though none so intently as Jewell who pursued him towards the entrance of the tunnel.
The animation of Ipswich’s manager could have related in part to an early incident in which Paynter struck McAuley with an elbow and drew blood from the defender’s ear. The collision earned Paynter the first yellow card of the game and McAuley took retribution in the second half by clattering the striker off the ball. A caution inevitably followed.
Deadman’s handling of the game not withstanding, Grayson had other matters to ponder.
A reserved first half had limited the impact of Gradel and Paynter and badly stifled Robert Snodgrass and Howson. The reticence of the latter pair did not extend far into the second half, blank though it ultimately was.
Howson’s sliced volley underneath Snodgrass’ cross was the start of a period in which Leeds found their voice. Snodgrass pulled a shot beyond Fulop’s far post and the keeper dropped down to deny Paynter a goal during United’s next attack.
Despite the improvement, Grayson called on the cavalry in the 76th minute. Howson made way for Barry Bannan and Becchio replaced Paynter, given a quarter-of-an-hour to do what he had done 17 times before this season.
The flat atmosphere inside Elland Road told him not to raise his hopes, but Grayson was still bullish afterwards.
“It rounds off a good week,” he said, aware that seven points from nine is promotion form by the present standards of United’s league.