Yorkshire Evening Post 27/2/12
Warnock bags first point
By Phil Hay
Evolution not revolution, and change in small steps.
Ken Bates predicted as much after installing Neil Warnock as Leeds United’s manager and it is what the club can expect from him after Saturday’s draw at Fratton Park.
There was a glimmer – just a glimmer – of anticipation about the overnight effect on a gridlocked club of Warnock’s popular appointment, but the loss of two points against Portsmouth supported his view that anyone demanding promotion of Leeds should look for it next season, not this.
Insolvent Portsmouth are hardly the battered punchbag they seem from afar but on the day of Warnock’s first game as manager they were a team who Leeds were required to beat; partly because of their fractured state and partly because of what comes next.
Southampton, Hull City, Middlesbrough and West Ham United – four hard, exacting Championship matches in a 15-day period that should give Warnock a clear impression of strengths and weaknesses of the squad he inherited.
Whether United’s season can survive that examination is a matter of conjecture but their goalless draw at Fratton Park was not the key to the door.
Leeds had moments of anguish in Portsmouth, not least when Ross McCormack struck the crossbar with a shot which crossed the goalline and Robert Snodgrass followed in to score in the shadow of an offside flag.
Intense
But stalemate was an appropriate outcome after 90 minutes of intense, direct and unyielding football.
Snodgrass’ disallowed header came during United’s most convincing spell of the game, a spurt of creativity around the hour mark, but Portsmouth gave Leeds no more of the contest than that.
Their own chances were more numerous and, at times, as clear-cut, forcing an extraordinary save from United goalkeeper Andy Lonergan in the second half.
Warnock nevertheless took with him the satisfaction of a clean sheet – the first against 11 players since December 3 – and the realisation that Leeds’ failure to score need not be the inevitable road to defeat it became under Simon Grayson.
Portsmouth, meanwhile, used Saturday to tell the Football League that neither the club nor their team are ready to breathe their last breath.
Already destitute and facing bankruptcy, 33 of Portsmouth’s staff were sacked by the club’s administrators last week and a wage deferral among their playing squad followed soon after.
They will not go quietly into the night, or not while capacity crowds flock into Fratton Park and keep the blood flowing. Three players – Greg Halford, Liam Lawrence and Joel Ward – sold the few remaining tickets on Friday afternoon and Portsmouth did not feel like a club with death at the door. The next six weeks are critical for them.
Their starting line-up, as Warnock expected, was still of decent Championship stock, despite the loss of striker Erik Huseklepp on loan to Birmingham City.
Warnock made only one change to his own team and included no substitute goalkeeper, as tends to be his way.
His most telling decision was naming Robert Snodgrass – in many people’s eyes the stand-out choice – as Leeds’ new captain.
The devil was in the detail of Warnock’s formation, rather than the players selected. His system was a step away from the rigid world of 4-4-2, with Snodgrass relocated into space – little though there was – between Luciano Becchio and the midfield pair of Adam Clayton and Michael Brown.
Warnock’s view of the squad left behind by Grayson was mixed: a satisfactory wealth of attacking nous devalued by deficiencies in defence.
His tactics in Hampshire, unfrilly and pragmatic throughout, redressed that balance slightly in a line-up change at late notice by Andros Townsend’s strange defection from Elland Road.
Portsmouth moved quickly to harry United’s defence, testing Lonergan’s handling with a header from Ward and a rising shot from Hayden Mullins, and Warnock found himself altering personnel after only 10 minutes when a pulled hamstring dragged Alex Bruce from the pitch. Leigh Bromby stepped up from the bench, the revival of another Leeds career which died a death under Grayson, and he joined in the resistance against Portsmouth’s energetic surges. “You’d have taken nil-nil in the first 20 minutes,” Warnock said, “but not after that.”
Mullins pulled another shot wide after Ward wriggled free from Bromby’s grasp and slipped the ball to the edge of the box, and Clayton escaped unpunished when a missed header allowed George Thorne’s corner to reach Jason Pearce. The arrival of the ball surprised Pearce and his crucial touch was wayward.
Leeds crafted the odd chance of their own in the first half but Clayton hooked his first into the stands and Becchio cracked a free header six yards wide. Snodgrass ran tirelessly but looked frustrated and Becchio struggled to do Warnock’s bidding by winning his share of dropping balls. Halford, meanwhile, plagued United’s defence with long, low throws from the right wing.
Under pressure, Leeds hung in and almost snatched a goal in the penultimate minute of the first half when Aidan White’s effort from 25 yards forced an anxious save from Stephen Henderson, Portsmouth’s nervous-looking keeper, but United survived a convincing penalty claim on the stroke of half-time when a throw struck the arm of Lees. “It’s a certain handball against us,” said Warnock later.
Referee Phil Gibbs, motionless in front of an incensed Fratton End, made his way from the pitch with boos echoing around him but Portsmouth’s players let the incident go.
Six minutes into the second half, Becchio headed the ball against the frame of his own goal while defending a Scott Allen corner as Gibbs blew for foul amid a mass of players.
Leeds were not alone in riding their luck. Two minutes later, McCormack beat Henderson with a brilliant volley from the edge of the box, smashing it off the underside of the bar.
The ball appeared to the naked eye to have crossed the line and Snodgrass finished the attack off by heading the ball into an empty net.
An offside flag appeared against him immediately and Gibbs declined to revisit McCormack’s original shot. One way and another, Portsmouth escaped with their skin.
It was exposed again within moments as Clayton found the run of Becchio with a long pass out of his own half. Becchio made Pearce lose his footing but cutting inside him but, with only Henderson to beat, he dragged his finish against the keeper’s knees.
For the first time, a spring was seen in United’s step.
Floated
Again, Bromby could have beaten Henderson when McCormack floated a cross to the far post and it took a covering block from the embattled Pearce to see Leeds off.
In bright sunshine, Portsmouth began to look stretched and fatigued and Clayton gave them respite by failing to pass to either Becchio or McCormack as Portsmouth’s defence fought growing pressure.
The impetus built up in that spell would have been decimated in the 67th minute had Lonergan – staring into the sun – not reacted to Thorne’s stinging volley with a brilliant one-hand parry at his near post, bludgeoning the ball behind.
But Portsmouth found a second wind and Allen swung a free-kick inches beyond the same post with his last act of the game, heralding the introduction of Benjani from the bench.
Portsmouth thought they had their win when Halford’s throw bounced straight through Lonergan’s area and into the far corner of his net but, understanding the rulebook, Gibbs realised that the ball had failed to touch another player and ruled the goal out.
The crowd moaned briefly but soon resumed their chant of “we’re not going to die” – the theme of the afternoon – as the remaining time petered out. The next four matches should decide whether United’s season does the same.
Warnock bags first point
By Phil Hay
Evolution not revolution, and change in small steps.
Ken Bates predicted as much after installing Neil Warnock as Leeds United’s manager and it is what the club can expect from him after Saturday’s draw at Fratton Park.
There was a glimmer – just a glimmer – of anticipation about the overnight effect on a gridlocked club of Warnock’s popular appointment, but the loss of two points against Portsmouth supported his view that anyone demanding promotion of Leeds should look for it next season, not this.
Insolvent Portsmouth are hardly the battered punchbag they seem from afar but on the day of Warnock’s first game as manager they were a team who Leeds were required to beat; partly because of their fractured state and partly because of what comes next.
Southampton, Hull City, Middlesbrough and West Ham United – four hard, exacting Championship matches in a 15-day period that should give Warnock a clear impression of strengths and weaknesses of the squad he inherited.
Whether United’s season can survive that examination is a matter of conjecture but their goalless draw at Fratton Park was not the key to the door.
Leeds had moments of anguish in Portsmouth, not least when Ross McCormack struck the crossbar with a shot which crossed the goalline and Robert Snodgrass followed in to score in the shadow of an offside flag.
Intense
But stalemate was an appropriate outcome after 90 minutes of intense, direct and unyielding football.
Snodgrass’ disallowed header came during United’s most convincing spell of the game, a spurt of creativity around the hour mark, but Portsmouth gave Leeds no more of the contest than that.
Their own chances were more numerous and, at times, as clear-cut, forcing an extraordinary save from United goalkeeper Andy Lonergan in the second half.
Warnock nevertheless took with him the satisfaction of a clean sheet – the first against 11 players since December 3 – and the realisation that Leeds’ failure to score need not be the inevitable road to defeat it became under Simon Grayson.
Portsmouth, meanwhile, used Saturday to tell the Football League that neither the club nor their team are ready to breathe their last breath.
Already destitute and facing bankruptcy, 33 of Portsmouth’s staff were sacked by the club’s administrators last week and a wage deferral among their playing squad followed soon after.
They will not go quietly into the night, or not while capacity crowds flock into Fratton Park and keep the blood flowing. Three players – Greg Halford, Liam Lawrence and Joel Ward – sold the few remaining tickets on Friday afternoon and Portsmouth did not feel like a club with death at the door. The next six weeks are critical for them.
Their starting line-up, as Warnock expected, was still of decent Championship stock, despite the loss of striker Erik Huseklepp on loan to Birmingham City.
Warnock made only one change to his own team and included no substitute goalkeeper, as tends to be his way.
His most telling decision was naming Robert Snodgrass – in many people’s eyes the stand-out choice – as Leeds’ new captain.
The devil was in the detail of Warnock’s formation, rather than the players selected. His system was a step away from the rigid world of 4-4-2, with Snodgrass relocated into space – little though there was – between Luciano Becchio and the midfield pair of Adam Clayton and Michael Brown.
Warnock’s view of the squad left behind by Grayson was mixed: a satisfactory wealth of attacking nous devalued by deficiencies in defence.
His tactics in Hampshire, unfrilly and pragmatic throughout, redressed that balance slightly in a line-up change at late notice by Andros Townsend’s strange defection from Elland Road.
Portsmouth moved quickly to harry United’s defence, testing Lonergan’s handling with a header from Ward and a rising shot from Hayden Mullins, and Warnock found himself altering personnel after only 10 minutes when a pulled hamstring dragged Alex Bruce from the pitch. Leigh Bromby stepped up from the bench, the revival of another Leeds career which died a death under Grayson, and he joined in the resistance against Portsmouth’s energetic surges. “You’d have taken nil-nil in the first 20 minutes,” Warnock said, “but not after that.”
Mullins pulled another shot wide after Ward wriggled free from Bromby’s grasp and slipped the ball to the edge of the box, and Clayton escaped unpunished when a missed header allowed George Thorne’s corner to reach Jason Pearce. The arrival of the ball surprised Pearce and his crucial touch was wayward.
Leeds crafted the odd chance of their own in the first half but Clayton hooked his first into the stands and Becchio cracked a free header six yards wide. Snodgrass ran tirelessly but looked frustrated and Becchio struggled to do Warnock’s bidding by winning his share of dropping balls. Halford, meanwhile, plagued United’s defence with long, low throws from the right wing.
Under pressure, Leeds hung in and almost snatched a goal in the penultimate minute of the first half when Aidan White’s effort from 25 yards forced an anxious save from Stephen Henderson, Portsmouth’s nervous-looking keeper, but United survived a convincing penalty claim on the stroke of half-time when a throw struck the arm of Lees. “It’s a certain handball against us,” said Warnock later.
Referee Phil Gibbs, motionless in front of an incensed Fratton End, made his way from the pitch with boos echoing around him but Portsmouth’s players let the incident go.
Six minutes into the second half, Becchio headed the ball against the frame of his own goal while defending a Scott Allen corner as Gibbs blew for foul amid a mass of players.
Leeds were not alone in riding their luck. Two minutes later, McCormack beat Henderson with a brilliant volley from the edge of the box, smashing it off the underside of the bar.
The ball appeared to the naked eye to have crossed the line and Snodgrass finished the attack off by heading the ball into an empty net.
An offside flag appeared against him immediately and Gibbs declined to revisit McCormack’s original shot. One way and another, Portsmouth escaped with their skin.
It was exposed again within moments as Clayton found the run of Becchio with a long pass out of his own half. Becchio made Pearce lose his footing but cutting inside him but, with only Henderson to beat, he dragged his finish against the keeper’s knees.
For the first time, a spring was seen in United’s step.
Floated
Again, Bromby could have beaten Henderson when McCormack floated a cross to the far post and it took a covering block from the embattled Pearce to see Leeds off.
In bright sunshine, Portsmouth began to look stretched and fatigued and Clayton gave them respite by failing to pass to either Becchio or McCormack as Portsmouth’s defence fought growing pressure.
The impetus built up in that spell would have been decimated in the 67th minute had Lonergan – staring into the sun – not reacted to Thorne’s stinging volley with a brilliant one-hand parry at his near post, bludgeoning the ball behind.
But Portsmouth found a second wind and Allen swung a free-kick inches beyond the same post with his last act of the game, heralding the introduction of Benjani from the bench.
Portsmouth thought they had their win when Halford’s throw bounced straight through Lonergan’s area and into the far corner of his net but, understanding the rulebook, Gibbs realised that the ball had failed to touch another player and ruled the goal out.
The crowd moaned briefly but soon resumed their chant of “we’re not going to die” – the theme of the afternoon – as the remaining time petered out. The next four matches should decide whether United’s season does the same.