Leeds 2-4 Reading: Royals maintain play-off charge after second-half hot streak
Mail 11/3/14When ironic cheers greet a rare effort on goal and fans ask what is going on, a club tends to be teetering on the brink of chaos.
Leeds, their takeover a sordid, messy affair, seem to be attempting a mirror image on the pitch.
Fans questioned the players’ fitness to wear the shirt as the goals rained past Jack Butland for the second time in four days.
Elland Road the fortress has become the help-yourself ground — and indictments do not come much sadder than that.
The kick-off was delayed half an hour because of traffic congestion and a scoreline that read 4-0 before the hour was given an air of respectability by two goals in a minute for Leeds, the first a scruffy one by substitute Matt Smith with virtually his first touch and the second a 35-yard wonder strike from Rodolph Austin.
Boos became cheers, jeers softened into chants and a certain amount of pride was salvaged. Under-pressure Leeds boss Brian McDermott even suggested his side might have won 5-4 and did not appear to be joking.
McDermott also appealed for a speedy resolution to the takeover, not to mention a stay of execution should the new owners be tempted to start swinging an axe in his direction.
‘We are definitely in a difficult place,’ he conceded. ‘There is apprehension about the place, everyone is talking about the ownership. It needs to be sorted.
'We would love to have stability. I understand it’s a results business but I think it’s different here.
‘In the last 10 or 11 years how many managers have Leeds had? It’s a cycle of events and we have to try to break the cycle.’
While it is understandable that McDermott focused on a second-half mini-comeback, Reading could have been more than four goals ahead by then.
Garath McCleary took advantage in the first half after Butland and Jason Pearce dithered over a loose ball.
On-loan Butland conceded five against Bolton and there must have been a sense of deja vu with three goals in eight minutes after half-time.
Royston Drenthe curled a free-kick over the wall, Nick Blackman got on the end of Danny Guthrie’s free-kick and Hal Robson-Kanu fired a low shot from the edge of the area.
‘We had three minutes of madness to give them a lifeline but I thought we were excellent,’ said manager Nigel Adkins, who smiled and stayed silent at the suggestion Leeds could have won.
