Yorkshire Evening Post 12/3/12
Middlebrough v Leeds United: The season is not over yet!
By Phil Hay
The end of Leeds United’s season has been nigh for some time, but the club are not going quietly into the night. Not while Neil Warnock has any say in how long or hard they fight.
Defeat at The Riverside might have done for
Leeds and their pretensions of contesting the Championship play-offs, but an immaculate win over Middlesbrough will make the division wonder. Unlikely yes but not impossible. What is impossible when Warnock’s nous takes hold in this league?
The worry for him before yesterday’s game was that Leeds under his management had regained their defensive aptitude while forgetting how to score. A win of near embarrassing ease against a club nine points better off displayed no such problems or lack of balance, sealed by Robert Snodgrass, Luciano Becchio and another clean sheet.
Ninety minutes on Teesside delivered some of the most complete football played by Leeds since their restoration to the Championship almost two years ago, and Snodgrass and Becchio savaged Middlesbrough in the first half-hour. The home crowd soon began to bite with the same ferocity, upset by the mis-match in front of them, and a late red card shown to Barry Robson was an apt coup de grace.
As Southampton did after their lucky win at Elland Road nine days ago, Boro and their manager, Tony Mowbray, will ask how they can reach such depths of mediocrity while holding fourth position in the Championship this late in the season. They were poor yesterday and made to look poor.
Warnock sought much from The Riverside but he did not expect to oversee a cakewalk. Boro, or so he claimed beforehand, possess a “great chance” of winning promotion. Theirs is better than United’s even after yesterday’s result, but Leeds are threatening to make their run-in interesting at a time when their players seemed free to begin planning summer holidays.
The game of sudden-death rolls on to this Saturday when West Ham United visit Elland Road. They will find Leeds as bubbly as they were when the clubs squared off at Upton Park in August.
The conditions on Teesside were as perfect as conditions can be in early March – warm, still and helped by a pitch far removed from the battered surface Leeds endured at Hull City last Tuesday. The day offered Boro no mitigating factors beyond their ineptitude and the conviction of the team sharing their stadium.
Sombre appreciation was offered beforehand during a minute’s applause for Jack Watson, a Middlesbrough scout who died this week at the age of 90, and the six soldiers of the Yorkshire Regiment killed in Afghanistan. Perspective given and well received, the game’s context remained unchanged.
Leeds in particular, and in the opinion of Mowbray, required a victory at The Riverside to save their season from a meaningless end, and the urgency of Warnock’s players embraced that pressure. They did not delay in cutting to the chase.
Holes in Boro’s defence gaped wide from the outset and their midfield went missing just as quickly. Leeds attacked them willingly and Ross McCormack sliced the ball wide after Becchio’s flicked header dropped kindly to him. During United’s next attack, an over-hit pass from Snodgrass pushed McCormack out wide with the striker free in the box and calling for another invitation to shoot.
Boro’s tentative attitude was at odds with a team whose previous five matches produced four wins and whose strength was maintained by the recovery of every one of Mowbray’s fitness doubts. Before long, Robson was arguing with a member of Boro’s coaching staff on the touchline and the inevitable happened in the 18th minute.
Joe Bennett, Mowbray’s left-back, misjudged a high ball and headed it to Aidan White, recalled by Warnock in place of Danny Webber. The 20-year-old lifted his head and waited for Snodgrass to arrive and slot his pass under the body of goalkeeper Jason Steele. Leeds had been threatening that and Boro had it coming.
The goal was United’s first with Warnock as manager, 288 competitive minutes after he officially took charge, and it suited his strategy perfectly, allowing Leeds to depend on their rapidly improving defence. Under their previous boss, a single goal at The Riverside would have guaranteed nothing. Yesterday, Snodgrass’ strike was United’s ticket to an essential win.
Repeatedly, their energy pushed Boro over the edge. Paul Robinson, on his debut, turned back Lukas Jutkiewicz with an uncompromising challenge inside United’s box and Adam Clayton ran Nicky Bailey into touch to the sound of appreciative applause from Warnock. Soon after, with 28 minutes played, Leeds struck again.
The goal was as generous as Snodgrass’, gifted to them when Justin Hoyte failed to put his foot through a delicate pass from Becchio. McCormack seized possession and squared the ball into an empty six-yard box where Becchio was waiting to do the rest. Hoyte lay full length on the turf, desperate for it to swallow him.
Marvin Emnes looked as sheepish when Robinson flattened him unceremoniously on the left wing, and the full-back appeared on his goalline to prevent the resulting corner from curling inside the near post. It was Boro’s misfortune to be reduced to recording such speculative chances.
Leeds in contrast could have scored for a third time when Becchio drilled Michael Brown’s chipped pass into the ground and over the crossbar, again without a defender near him, and White’s rash volley wasted an even better opportunity to score.
Mowbray spent as much time staring at the ground as he did the pitch, bewildered by his team’s no-show before half-time.
Early in the second half, Snodgrass stretched the side-netting after Andy Lonergan’s long clearance bounced easily through to McCormack, giving the impression that Boro’s concentration was at home in bed.
Rhys Williams nodded a Robson free-kick wide but Warnock barely flinched at the sight of a first Boro chance after 53 minutes. There were few others to come.
The rest of the second half was a treat in the spring air for the away crowd of 2,914, and Steele’s parry denied McCormack a deserved goal five minutes from the end.
Robson, meanwhile, compounded a hopeless afternoon for his club by kicking Clayton and earning a straight red card, and Boro’s deflated following left The Riverside with nothing more pleasing than a pre-Easter tan.
It is far from clear where either club will lie in the table when that religious festival arrives.
Middlebrough v Leeds United: The season is not over yet!
By Phil Hay
The end of Leeds United’s season has been nigh for some time, but the club are not going quietly into the night. Not while Neil Warnock has any say in how long or hard they fight.
Defeat at The Riverside might have done for
Leeds and their pretensions of contesting the Championship play-offs, but an immaculate win over Middlesbrough will make the division wonder. Unlikely yes but not impossible. What is impossible when Warnock’s nous takes hold in this league?The worry for him before yesterday’s game was that Leeds under his management had regained their defensive aptitude while forgetting how to score. A win of near embarrassing ease against a club nine points better off displayed no such problems or lack of balance, sealed by Robert Snodgrass, Luciano Becchio and another clean sheet.
Ninety minutes on Teesside delivered some of the most complete football played by Leeds since their restoration to the Championship almost two years ago, and Snodgrass and Becchio savaged Middlesbrough in the first half-hour. The home crowd soon began to bite with the same ferocity, upset by the mis-match in front of them, and a late red card shown to Barry Robson was an apt coup de grace.
As Southampton did after their lucky win at Elland Road nine days ago, Boro and their manager, Tony Mowbray, will ask how they can reach such depths of mediocrity while holding fourth position in the Championship this late in the season. They were poor yesterday and made to look poor.
Warnock sought much from The Riverside but he did not expect to oversee a cakewalk. Boro, or so he claimed beforehand, possess a “great chance” of winning promotion. Theirs is better than United’s even after yesterday’s result, but Leeds are threatening to make their run-in interesting at a time when their players seemed free to begin planning summer holidays.
The game of sudden-death rolls on to this Saturday when West Ham United visit Elland Road. They will find Leeds as bubbly as they were when the clubs squared off at Upton Park in August.
The conditions on Teesside were as perfect as conditions can be in early March – warm, still and helped by a pitch far removed from the battered surface Leeds endured at Hull City last Tuesday. The day offered Boro no mitigating factors beyond their ineptitude and the conviction of the team sharing their stadium.
Sombre appreciation was offered beforehand during a minute’s applause for Jack Watson, a Middlesbrough scout who died this week at the age of 90, and the six soldiers of the Yorkshire Regiment killed in Afghanistan. Perspective given and well received, the game’s context remained unchanged.
Leeds in particular, and in the opinion of Mowbray, required a victory at The Riverside to save their season from a meaningless end, and the urgency of Warnock’s players embraced that pressure. They did not delay in cutting to the chase.
Holes in Boro’s defence gaped wide from the outset and their midfield went missing just as quickly. Leeds attacked them willingly and Ross McCormack sliced the ball wide after Becchio’s flicked header dropped kindly to him. During United’s next attack, an over-hit pass from Snodgrass pushed McCormack out wide with the striker free in the box and calling for another invitation to shoot.
Boro’s tentative attitude was at odds with a team whose previous five matches produced four wins and whose strength was maintained by the recovery of every one of Mowbray’s fitness doubts. Before long, Robson was arguing with a member of Boro’s coaching staff on the touchline and the inevitable happened in the 18th minute.
Joe Bennett, Mowbray’s left-back, misjudged a high ball and headed it to Aidan White, recalled by Warnock in place of Danny Webber. The 20-year-old lifted his head and waited for Snodgrass to arrive and slot his pass under the body of goalkeeper Jason Steele. Leeds had been threatening that and Boro had it coming.
The goal was United’s first with Warnock as manager, 288 competitive minutes after he officially took charge, and it suited his strategy perfectly, allowing Leeds to depend on their rapidly improving defence. Under their previous boss, a single goal at The Riverside would have guaranteed nothing. Yesterday, Snodgrass’ strike was United’s ticket to an essential win.
Repeatedly, their energy pushed Boro over the edge. Paul Robinson, on his debut, turned back Lukas Jutkiewicz with an uncompromising challenge inside United’s box and Adam Clayton ran Nicky Bailey into touch to the sound of appreciative applause from Warnock. Soon after, with 28 minutes played, Leeds struck again.
The goal was as generous as Snodgrass’, gifted to them when Justin Hoyte failed to put his foot through a delicate pass from Becchio. McCormack seized possession and squared the ball into an empty six-yard box where Becchio was waiting to do the rest. Hoyte lay full length on the turf, desperate for it to swallow him.
Marvin Emnes looked as sheepish when Robinson flattened him unceremoniously on the left wing, and the full-back appeared on his goalline to prevent the resulting corner from curling inside the near post. It was Boro’s misfortune to be reduced to recording such speculative chances.
Leeds in contrast could have scored for a third time when Becchio drilled Michael Brown’s chipped pass into the ground and over the crossbar, again without a defender near him, and White’s rash volley wasted an even better opportunity to score.
Mowbray spent as much time staring at the ground as he did the pitch, bewildered by his team’s no-show before half-time.
Early in the second half, Snodgrass stretched the side-netting after Andy Lonergan’s long clearance bounced easily through to McCormack, giving the impression that Boro’s concentration was at home in bed.
Rhys Williams nodded a Robson free-kick wide but Warnock barely flinched at the sight of a first Boro chance after 53 minutes. There were few others to come.
The rest of the second half was a treat in the spring air for the away crowd of 2,914, and Steele’s parry denied McCormack a deserved goal five minutes from the end.
Robson, meanwhile, compounded a hopeless afternoon for his club by kicking Clayton and earning a straight red card, and Boro’s deflated following left The Riverside with nothing more pleasing than a pre-Easter tan.
It is far from clear where either club will lie in the table when that religious festival arrives.