Yorkshire Evening Post 15/2/12
Coventry City v Leeds United: McSheffrey breaks Whites hearts
By Phil Hay
The purpose of sacking Simon Grayson, or so Leeds United said, was to breathe life into their pursuit of promotion.
Two weeks on and wounded by a shocking defeat to Coventry City, that target looks more remote than ever.
Leeds took the view that dispensing with their former manager was an essential factor in making play-off qualification possible but so too were victories over teams as embattled as last
night’s opponents. United’s chance seemed slender before kick-off at the Ricoh Arena and worse by full-time.
Saturday’s loss to Brighton, one of the Championship’s credible play-off contenders, muddied the club’s plan to install caretaker Neil Redfearn, Grayson’s temporary replacement, as manager until the end of the season but defeat to a Coventry team lodged at the foot of the league was more damning by half.
It was a match which United’s chairman, Ken Bates, termed “winnable” and a fixture that Leeds could not afford to waste while a gap of four points lay between them and sixth position.
Their campaign is not yet dead but it might be soon if more go begging before a difficult run-in begins at home to Southampton at the start of next month.
Leeds’ decision to risk a vital stage of the season on caretaker management seemed deeply misguided as the dust settled on a turgid contest in Coventry.
Ross McCormack’s first-half goal almost rescued a point for Leeds but it was not Redfearn’s intention to be rescuing anything against a club with so much to worry about.
From the moment Gary McSheffrey – a player who takes the unpopularity of loan signings among United’s support to a unique level – converted a penalty in the 20th minute, Leeds’ performance took on an anxious feel and a second penalty from in injury-time put his former club to the sword.
Redfearn uttered the tried-and-tested cliché of “no easy games” before last night’s match but Coventry were at the softer end of the spectrum: sitting ducks with no form, minimal hope and fewer fit players than they required.
Their spine was badly weakened by injuries to Sammy Clingan and Richard Wood, two reliable campaigners.
Leeds, as expected, were unchanged with nothing more notable than the inclusion of Andy O’Brien among Redfearn’s substitutes.
It marked the completion of his re-integration at Elland Road and his first appearance in the club’s squad since their 1-0 win at Leicester City on early November.
That visit to the Midlands seemed an eternity ago.
Redfearn’s players did not take long to discover the thickness of Coventry’s hide.
McCormack was allowed to shoot unhindered after receiving Danny Pugh’s throw-in in the second minute, and basic interplay between McCormack and Luciano Becchio two minutes later saw Aidan White flash the ball over Joe Murphy’s goal. Coventry had the manner of a team waiting to be stretched.
News of their problems has not been exaggerated.
The Ricoh Arena was half-empty last night and a virtual ghost town in some parts.
What further damage relegation would do to the club is anyone’s guess.
Thorn’s players were willing but hampered by brittle confidence until McSheffrey’s goal gave the night an unexpected complexion.
From there, they were the better side and their win was utterly deserved.
It was Coventry, too, who saw more of the ball in a quiet first half which deserved the eerie atmosphere created by a vacuous ground.
The game cried out for a goal from the outset and it came in the 20th minute after Danny Pugh clipped Alex Nimely’s heel inside the box.
Referee Pat Miller had no option but to point to the spot but confusion surrounded a flag waved by one of his assistants as Nimely broke into United’s area.
Miller ignored it despite Lonergan’s attempts to direct him to the touchline and McSheffrey stroked home a composed penalty. His celebration in front of the away crowd was as well received as his stint of service at Elland Road in 2010.
It was not the scenario Redfearn envisaged and the composure of his players threatened to fail them. Adam Clayton overran the ball and was dispossessed by a sliding tackle as McCormack stood unmarked, waiting for a pass 10 yards from goal but an equaliser materialised quickly enough, scored by the Scottish striker in the 32nd minute.
The build-up to it was scrappy and unintentional with Clayton forcing a pass to Luciano Becchio and the ball deflecting kindly to the feet of McCormack.
Amid a suspicion of offside, he picked his head up and found only Joe Murphy in front of him, and his delicate finish found the corner of the goalkeeper’s net.
The reassurance that gave Redfearn was almost shattered when Becchio met Clive Platt’s goalbound header and flicked it over Lonergan’s crossbar, and United’s keeper handled McSheffrey’s shot safely after scrambled defending in front of him in the closing minutes of the half.
Pugh was also called on to hook the ball clear from under his own bar after Adam Smith conceded possession and left his side exposed on the right wing and vulnerable to another header Platt.
United’s contribution to the first 45 minutes barely passed as satisfactory and nor did the scoreline.
Redfearn attempted to elicit an increase in United’s urgency at the interval but the early stages of the second half did not bode well.
Tom Lees blocked a vicious volley from McSheffrey, and a deft through-ball from the winger gave Carl Baker a chance which he lobbed wastefully over Lonergan and the bar.
Injury
Redfearn’s response – enforced by an injury to Fabian Delph – was to send Michael Brown into the trenches with half an hour left.
Within moments, a glorious opportunity fell to Aidan White who reached the edge of the box and drove a shot against Murphy’s foot but Coventry came just as close when Oliver Norwood’s free-kick whipped through a crowded box and bounced beyond the far post.
It was anyone’s game by then and horribly tense.
McCormack saw the whites of Murphy’s eyes again as the clock ticked on but snatched at his shot, and the substitution of McCormack on 83 minutes drew howls of protest against Redfearn and Bates from the mass of 3,214 away fans.
It also prompted chants in support of Grayson, and McSheffrey finished United off after Nimely was brought down eight yards from goal. Suffice to say, this is not what was intended.
Coventry City v Leeds United: McSheffrey breaks Whites hearts
By Phil Hay
The purpose of sacking Simon Grayson, or so Leeds United said, was to breathe life into their pursuit of promotion.
Two weeks on and wounded by a shocking defeat to Coventry City, that target looks more remote than ever.
Leeds took the view that dispensing with their former manager was an essential factor in making play-off qualification possible but so too were victories over teams as embattled as last
night’s opponents. United’s chance seemed slender before kick-off at the Ricoh Arena and worse by full-time.Saturday’s loss to Brighton, one of the Championship’s credible play-off contenders, muddied the club’s plan to install caretaker Neil Redfearn, Grayson’s temporary replacement, as manager until the end of the season but defeat to a Coventry team lodged at the foot of the league was more damning by half.
It was a match which United’s chairman, Ken Bates, termed “winnable” and a fixture that Leeds could not afford to waste while a gap of four points lay between them and sixth position.
Their campaign is not yet dead but it might be soon if more go begging before a difficult run-in begins at home to Southampton at the start of next month.
Leeds’ decision to risk a vital stage of the season on caretaker management seemed deeply misguided as the dust settled on a turgid contest in Coventry.
Ross McCormack’s first-half goal almost rescued a point for Leeds but it was not Redfearn’s intention to be rescuing anything against a club with so much to worry about.
From the moment Gary McSheffrey – a player who takes the unpopularity of loan signings among United’s support to a unique level – converted a penalty in the 20th minute, Leeds’ performance took on an anxious feel and a second penalty from in injury-time put his former club to the sword.
Redfearn uttered the tried-and-tested cliché of “no easy games” before last night’s match but Coventry were at the softer end of the spectrum: sitting ducks with no form, minimal hope and fewer fit players than they required.
Their spine was badly weakened by injuries to Sammy Clingan and Richard Wood, two reliable campaigners.
Leeds, as expected, were unchanged with nothing more notable than the inclusion of Andy O’Brien among Redfearn’s substitutes.
It marked the completion of his re-integration at Elland Road and his first appearance in the club’s squad since their 1-0 win at Leicester City on early November.
That visit to the Midlands seemed an eternity ago.
Redfearn’s players did not take long to discover the thickness of Coventry’s hide.
McCormack was allowed to shoot unhindered after receiving Danny Pugh’s throw-in in the second minute, and basic interplay between McCormack and Luciano Becchio two minutes later saw Aidan White flash the ball over Joe Murphy’s goal. Coventry had the manner of a team waiting to be stretched.
News of their problems has not been exaggerated.
The Ricoh Arena was half-empty last night and a virtual ghost town in some parts.
What further damage relegation would do to the club is anyone’s guess.
Thorn’s players were willing but hampered by brittle confidence until McSheffrey’s goal gave the night an unexpected complexion.
From there, they were the better side and their win was utterly deserved.
It was Coventry, too, who saw more of the ball in a quiet first half which deserved the eerie atmosphere created by a vacuous ground.
The game cried out for a goal from the outset and it came in the 20th minute after Danny Pugh clipped Alex Nimely’s heel inside the box.
Referee Pat Miller had no option but to point to the spot but confusion surrounded a flag waved by one of his assistants as Nimely broke into United’s area.
Miller ignored it despite Lonergan’s attempts to direct him to the touchline and McSheffrey stroked home a composed penalty. His celebration in front of the away crowd was as well received as his stint of service at Elland Road in 2010.
It was not the scenario Redfearn envisaged and the composure of his players threatened to fail them. Adam Clayton overran the ball and was dispossessed by a sliding tackle as McCormack stood unmarked, waiting for a pass 10 yards from goal but an equaliser materialised quickly enough, scored by the Scottish striker in the 32nd minute.
The build-up to it was scrappy and unintentional with Clayton forcing a pass to Luciano Becchio and the ball deflecting kindly to the feet of McCormack.
Amid a suspicion of offside, he picked his head up and found only Joe Murphy in front of him, and his delicate finish found the corner of the goalkeeper’s net.
The reassurance that gave Redfearn was almost shattered when Becchio met Clive Platt’s goalbound header and flicked it over Lonergan’s crossbar, and United’s keeper handled McSheffrey’s shot safely after scrambled defending in front of him in the closing minutes of the half.
Pugh was also called on to hook the ball clear from under his own bar after Adam Smith conceded possession and left his side exposed on the right wing and vulnerable to another header Platt.
United’s contribution to the first 45 minutes barely passed as satisfactory and nor did the scoreline.
Redfearn attempted to elicit an increase in United’s urgency at the interval but the early stages of the second half did not bode well.
Tom Lees blocked a vicious volley from McSheffrey, and a deft through-ball from the winger gave Carl Baker a chance which he lobbed wastefully over Lonergan and the bar.
Injury
Redfearn’s response – enforced by an injury to Fabian Delph – was to send Michael Brown into the trenches with half an hour left.
Within moments, a glorious opportunity fell to Aidan White who reached the edge of the box and drove a shot against Murphy’s foot but Coventry came just as close when Oliver Norwood’s free-kick whipped through a crowded box and bounced beyond the far post.
It was anyone’s game by then and horribly tense.
McCormack saw the whites of Murphy’s eyes again as the clock ticked on but snatched at his shot, and the substitution of McCormack on 83 minutes drew howls of protest against Redfearn and Bates from the mass of 3,214 away fans.
It also prompted chants in support of Grayson, and McSheffrey finished United off after Nimely was brought down eight yards from goal. Suffice to say, this is not what was intended.