Mighty Leeds Weblog

FLYING Written by: Moxcowhite • Daniel Chapman The high-speed handbrake turn from Leeds United against Aston Villa to Leeds United against Norwich City was already remarkable before the squealing doughnuts of stoppage time. Out beyond listless on Thursday night, into useless, Leeds had turned it round from the start against Norwich, and they had to. Jesse Marsch’s aggressive pressing explains his focus on high morale, clear thinking, reducing stress: it’s almost impossible to play his way, running twenty yards full speed to tackle a centre-back, in a bad mood. There will be downsides to this. Marsch emphasises that football is “a business for men”, which it is not. And because his style of play is entwined with demanding a particular kind of positive mental masculinity, it positions stress and depression as part of a kind of anti-masculinity, which is one of those ideas that leads to silent mental health agonies among young men when they’re told depression is weakness and to ‘man...

Kick start: United head coach hoping work on training ground during international break will start to pay dividends. Leon Wobschall reports. CONSISTENCY, THAT oh-so-precious footballing quality governing the fortunes of a host of Championship sides, with Leeds United no different. For a side still evolving after being almost thrown together in the close-season when United made a spate of signings in the build-up to the start of the campaign at Millwall on August 9, it is something that has proved elusive to the club, onto their third permanent head coach already in 2014-15 with the season not yet three-and-a-half months old. The Whites nation are hoping, some probably praying, that some continuity and coherence, both on the pitch and in the dug-out following the arrival of Neil Redfearn, will provide some order in United’s season in the coming weeks to stabilise matters. In a line-up which contains a number of continental players still acclimatising to Championship life and young ...

Cash from Ross McCormack sale provided bulk of cash Club wants to secure purchase before November James Riach Massimo Cellino, the Leeds United owner, has said that an offer to repurchase Elland Road has been made using money raised from the sale of Ross McCormack and other funds. Leeds sold their stadium in 2004 for £8m during the club’s financial crisis and the Italian entrepreneur vowed in February, before his takeover had been confirmed, to buy it back immediately. The former Cagliari owner has not yet fulfilled that promise and has since claimed that he wants to secure a deal by November. The ground is owned by the businessman Jacob Adler but the club have the option to buy back Elland Road for a set fee by 2029, when their 25-year lease ends. McCormack was signed by Leeds’s fellow Championship club Fulham for £11m in July, providing a large chunk of the £16m fee Cellino believes is required to repurchase the stadium. “The money from McCormack cannot be wasted,” Cellino sai...

by Phil Hay Brian McDermott’s daughter thinks suits are for politics, which explains why he has been wearing one on the touchline all season. His appearance in casual attire on Saturday could be taken as a sign that in his mind the scheming and game-playing at Elland Road is over. His daughter told him to ditch his collar-and-tie for Leeds United’s game against Blackpool so McDermott did. Dressed in a tracksuit, the change of outfit coincided with a bounce in the club’s football and a break in their horrible cycle of defeats. Vittoria, as Massimo Cellino would say. Leeds were in danger of forgetting the feeling. Cellino is a superstitious man and the idea of a lucky tracksuit will amuse him. But there were differences everywhere: a new owner and president tucked away in one corner of the East Stand and a scoreboard which highlighted a crisis among United’s opponents, rather than trouble closer to home. From day one in his job, McDermott has been glued to the front of his technic...

Star turn: Leeds United may have had an indifferent campaign, but Ross McCormack’s goals have helped keep them afloat. Leon Wobschall reports. Leeds United players may have been conspicuous by their absence from the PFA’s Championship Team of the Year line-up for the past three seasons, but fans are entitled to call for a stewards’ enquiry if that doesn’t change this year. United’s campaign on the pitch may pretty much be encapsulated under the term ‘average’, but there has been nothing ordinary whatsoever about the contribution of comfortably their one shining light in Ross McCormack. A total of 25 goals in all competitions in a moderate side who have been the embodiment of inconsistency pretty much speaks for itself. While the Scot may have been pipped by Burnley striker Danny Ings for the prestigious Sky Bet Championship Player of the Year trophy at the Football League Awards night on Sunday evening, it would be a major surprise if he wasn’t honoured by his peers at the PFA awar...

United boss confirms West Ham made a bid for Leeds’ skipper but says they won’t be returning with another bid. Leon Wobschall reports. PRIZE ASSET Ross McCormack will still be wearing the white of Leeds United by the weekend – and leading them out for the big West Yorkshire home derby with Huddersfield Town. That’s the view of manager Brian McDermott, who is confident that the striker will be staying put this month – avoiding an unwanted hat-trick for Leeds, who saw key men Jonny Howson and Luciano Becchio both sold in the New Year windows of 2011-12 and 2012-13 – with fans left to rue both decisions. West Ham saw a £3.5m bid for McCormack rejected on Friday and despite speculation that they will up their offer in a bid to break United’s resolve before the January transfer window deadline at 11pm on Friday evening, comments from Hammers manager Sam Allardyce suggest the contrary. Speaking at a morning press conference ahead of the East London outfit’s derby clash at Chelsea tomorro...

by Leon Wobschall NEVER let it be said that new Leeds United signing Scott Wootton is scared of making big decisions. The central defender may only be 21, but he has crossed bitter divides in football not once but twice in his embryonic career. His move along the M62 from the red side of Manchester to Leeds on Wednesday ensured he became just the eighth player to switch from Old Trafford to Elland Road – following in the illustrious footsteps of the likes of Johnny Giles and Gordon Strachan. The last player to switch between the two arch rivals was Liam Miller in 2005. It is fair to say the main rancour has been reserved for players heading from West Yorkshire to Greater Manchester, something to which messrs Smith, Cantona, Ferdinand, McQueen and Jordan will testify. While moves between Leeds and Manchester United can be classed as infrequent, a transfer between players at Anfield and Old Trafford is pretty much unheard of, the last one being Phil Chisnall, who headed across the ...

by Richard Sutcliffe
at Elland Road RESULTS on the opening weekend have not proved too reliable a gauge as to how a season will pan out for Leeds United down the years. Twelve months ago, for instance, what had appeared a hugely encouraging 1-0 win over a newly-relegated Wolverhampton Wanderers still featuring £8m winger Matt Jarvis served merely as a prelude to a miserable campaign, with the club seemingly sleepwalking into trouble at the wrong end of the Championship until the late arrival of Brian McDermott. Likewise, the relegation season of 2006-07, when Norwich City were beaten at Elland Road on the opening weekend, was hardly a clue as to things to come. Delving even further back in time, the promotion season of 1989-90 started with a 5-2 thrashing for Howard Wilkinson’s side at Newcastle United. However, even allowing for those wholly misleading opening day results, it was difficult to leave LS11 in the wake of Luke Murphy’s dramatic “94th-minute” winner without feeling a l...

THE party to celebrate Ken Bates’ exit is in full swing at Leeds – and debutant Luke Murphy sent it into overdrive. By: Mike Whalley The £1million summer signing from Crewe marked his debut with a controversial winner four minutes into stoppage time to give new Brighton boss Oscar Garcia a harsh first lesson in English football. Brighton believed Murphy handled the ball as he raced through to score right at the finish – but their appeals went unheard. Garcia said he had not seen the incident but Leeds boss Brian McDermott admitted: “I think it connected with his hand. Whether it was handball or not, I don’t know. I just think we deserved a break and maybe we got one.” A day that had promised so much for Brighton, when Leonardo Ulloa scored early, ended with nothing thanks to Ross McCormack’s equaliser and midfielder Murphy’s dramatic late contribution. It was the perfect end to an eventful week at Elland Road as Leeds enter a new era without the man their fans loved to hate. Ba...

Leeds' first million-pound player in eight years made an immediate impression on his new club as Luke Murphy scored a 94th-minute winner to see off Brighton at a sold-out Elland Road. The 23-year-old midfielder joined United from Crewe last month and his eight-figure fee - the first time the club have paid such an amount for a player since they signed Richard Cresswell in 2005 - has installed him as a beacon of hope to Leeds' fans. On a day which saw them celebrate the start of an advertised new era following the summer ousting of controversial former chairman Ken Bates, it was perhaps fitting for them that Murphy should make a late run into the box and down last season's play-off semi-finalists. Prior to Murphy's intervention a draw was on the cards, with Ross McCormack having cancelled out Leonardo Ulloa's opener for a Brighton side coming to terms with changes of their own, with manager Oscar Garcia having replaced Gus Poyet over the summer. But the crowd of...

By Leon Wobschall ROSS McCormack has urged Leeds United supporters not to lay the blame for the club’s indifferent recent results at the door of Neil Warnock – and says the players are culpable. United got their act together in highly-impressive fashion in Wednesday’s 2-0 home win over Blackpool which ended a four-match winless streak and kept their play-off hopes alive. While it was a key win in the context of United’s season, it was also for their under-fire manager, berated by fans in the recent defeats to Manchester City and Middlesbrough – which striker McCormack feels was unfair. He said: “We wanted to win for the supporters and for the gaffer too. “The stick he has been getting has not been nice and (the blame) it is really down to the players. The gaffer puts us on the pitch to go and deliver a performance. “Unfortunately, managers always get the blame. But it is really the players.” The much-needed home triumph moved United up four places to ninth and within six points ...

Leeds United went down to a 2-1 defeat at Cardiff City, as it was an all-round bad day with striker Ross McCormack stretchered off inside five minutes. McCormack was carried off after a going down under a strong tackle following a surging run. The Scottish international striker quickly pointed at the Leeds bench and after trying to walk off the pitch, he was eventually stretchered from the field. Luke Varney replaced McCormack and he had the best chance in the first half for Leeds but his effort was blocked. In a dour first half, Heidar Helguson had the home side`s best chance but his header cleared the crossbar. Referee Paul Tierney was struggling to control the game and quite how Jordan Mutch got away without a caution for a high challenge on Lee Peltier was a mystery. Tommy Smith could also count himself lucky to only receive a yellow card for a two-footed lunge on Sam Byram. Cardiff started the second half much better. Nicky Maynard had a shot saved by Paddy Kenny and Smit...

By Phil Hay Simon Grayson was once a manager with problems but at present he will find only those he invents. A first away win of the league season carried Leeds United into the Championship’s play-off positions last night, far removed from the corner they once occupied. Grayson sounded words of encouragement amid signs of an impending crisis at the back end of August and United’s appearance in the Championship’s top six underlined the strength and conviction of his side’s response. The club were liable to lose fifth place today as the division’s other fixtures played out but Leeds will feel that their point has been made regardless. Danny Pugh instigated their victory at Doncaster Rovers, converting Robert Snodgrass’ first-half free-kick, and doubt was erased by a sublime overhead kick from Ross McCormack, his 10th goal of the season scored early in the second half. From there, a fourth league win in five games was wrapped up with a swagger, sealed by a Tom Lees header. McCormack’s fi...