Agree with a lot of it - 2nd half we were terrible. As well as all the faults Rich has outlined we also have a big problem defensively when anyone runs at us and that led to both their goals and a couple of other chances for them However, had Westlake done better when set up by Kandol or had the lino not disallowed the goal by Heath (not sure why - we thought perhaps ball had gone out and come back in from the corner ?) then we may even have won ! As for Crainey as captain I think it was just that Douglas had been handed the arm band by Derry and passed it on - a bit like the friendly when the press went into hysterics when England had 6 captains in the second half- you can't read anything into it. In the old days when the captain was taken off \ sent off no-one knew who was captain, now there is an armband, it means nothing. I can recall Walton wearing it and if I remember rightly Jason Blunt !! I think Wise was wrong in playing Douglas at right back if Frazer was anything like fit, but other than that I thought he did Ok - he has the sense \ bottle to sub a hugely under performing Derry and we have not had (m)any managers recently who would have done that ! I agree a lot of our players are not good enough and it is a case of seeing what January will bring, but it was not a good day today !!! Dave PS have 2 other home debutants (both loanees) ever scored ?
Richard Walker <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: First time for a while that Ive been pissed off walking away from ER Honeymoon period is definitely over for Wise because Id put our second half performance today on a par with any of the shite that Blackwells teams served up. Quite simply, we were atrocious. It really is beyond belief how professional footballers can display an inability to pass a ball 5 yards to another white shirt and the inability to be able to trap and control a ball immediately. Heres a list of players in our team who displayed this trait this afternoon Heath, Derry, Douglas, Kandol, Moore, Westlake and Lewis. Others find it difficult to do the basics they are paid to do Crainey. In a second half in which there was only going to be one winner and it wasnt us we showed what a team of misfits we are. No team cohesion, no ability, no control , no bottle (Derry) an absolute shower of shite for the full 45 minutes. The midfield was non-existent and when Derry went off after his worse performance for Leeds since he came here we actually got worse. We just kept giving the ball away and in the end we just resorted to Wimbledon tactics with long punts and long throws into the area. It didnt work. Barnsley are a shite team but they continued to play football in the second half and continued to cause us problems especially down our left. Crainey doesnt mark his man. He gives him space and time to receive the ball allowing them to run at him. Crainey is terrible at going backwards and just gets skinned everytime. Its the second time against Barnsley where we have played ok in the first half and then come out second half and been totally ineffective. I believe with a bit more belief in themselves away from home Barnsley would have easily won this game. It also helped that Nardiello, the man of the match by a mile, got a knock. Nardiello is the sort of player we should be looking at. With a decent bid wed surely get him. He came on second half at Oakwell and murdered us and today he was head and shoulders above everyone else on the pitch. Hes a poor mans Wayne Rooney hes strong, got good feet and good skill and he knows where the net is. His first goal was excellent. He got in and away from our makeshift right back Douglas then completely nutmegged Derry in the box before jinking right and powering an unstoppable shot into the far right hand corner. Brilliant ! We fought back though in the first half and we looked dangerous and created chances. I thought at this stage this is a game where we going to concede a few but whatever we concede we will score one more and win. I still believed that at half time but maybe Wise has continued where Blackwell left off with regards to half-time team talks by handing out meat pies and champagne. Something must have happened cos it was a different team second half. Maybe its just a fitness thing. Back to the first half and our equaliser. I gather we must have won the toss and decided to kick towards the kop because of the sun. If so it worked cos a high ball goes up and their keeper comes a long way and loses it in the sun handing Kandol the easiest of nod ins for his first goal for Leeds. He looked lively throughout without being spectacular, although I think when youre assessing Leeds strikers you have to allow them a little bit of slack due the complete lack of creativity from our hapless midfield. To his and Moores credit they battled hard, won headers, made runs and created chances they both had a decent first half. Both though are not in the same league as Nardiello they both lack composure and in Moores case he lacks any real quality and spends an extraordinary amount of time on his arse. Is this really good enough for us ? Barnsleys second goal came down the other side. Crainey went missing and was so far up the pitch he was never going to get back leaving loads of space for Nardiello to expose. It was a good finish but yet again our defending let us down. I am assuming that Crainey is only in the team as there are no the options ? (Wises opinion anyway not mine cos Id play Gus Poyet at left back before I put Craineys name on that teamsheet) but maybe that is wrong cos when Derry was subbed guess who the captains armband went to ? Yep, Stephen Crainey. Fcking hell I couldnt believe it. It immediately broke an LUFC record worse ever Leeds Utd captain. This record was previously held by Paul Butler. For fcks sake, heres a guy who has all on trying to do his own job never mind having to consider what others are doing. It was a shocking decision and a complete piss take as far as the Leeds fans near me were concerned. Crainey is simply not good enough to play for Leeds, never mind be our fcking captain. How many goals will it take to make Wise realise this ? Our equaliser was a decent move with Westlakes only decent contribution to the match , a decent deep cross to Derry at the back post who strangely decided to head back into the middle rather than towards goal. It turned out to be a good choice as Ehiogu connected and powered a great header home. Ehiogu won everything in the air today. It was a perfect goal at a perfect time but we just didnt capitalise second half. Very , very disappointing and I think with that team relegation is definitely on the cards. You can only hope that January brings a new left back and some musch needed creativity in midfield and Nardiello up front. That would be my wish list. Stack 5. Ok, Ive had a good look at this fella now and I reckon he is a good shot stopper but not much else. He dithers around his area and shows no control or confidence to his defenders. Hes a flapper. Douglas 3. This bloke cant play in his designated position so why do we expect him to play at right back. Fcking ridiculous decision. Douglas is shite. Crainey 2. No positional sense at all. Cant defend, continues to cost us goals. It makes you sick. Captain fantastic still cant believe that one. Ehiogu 7. I thought he did well today. Hes got the experience and hes also got ability. My one concern as always is pace he looked a little slow at times today but Im hoping that is down to lack of matches. Heath 4. Young version of Butler. He doesnt add much doesnt get exposed as often as Butler but for me hes rubbish but what can you expect from a Coventry City reserve. Derry 1. This was his worse performance for Leeds. He actually bottled about 4 tackles was he injured ? Is this why he went off ? or was it cos of his yellow card. Either way it doesnt matter this just wasnt good enough performance. Westlake 3. Loads of effort but no quality. Hes got lead in his boots. Always a yard behind play. Apparently hes a fit lad doesnt show it on the park. Lewis 4. One or two decent moments and unlucky with one attempt that came off the post but hes a lightweight who fades in and out of matches. Blake 6. Our best player but didnt get the ball enough and didnt have the support from Derry and Westlake to be really effective. Hes really cracking the freekicks in although it has to be something special to fly in from the distances he was trying today. When he went off second half that was the end of our chances. Kandol 7. Did well. Moore 5. Loads of effort , little quality. Subs :- Richardson 5. Rusty. Long throws were his main contribution to the game. One decent run finished off with a poor shot. Healy he didnt touch the ball did he ? Carole not on long. Wise 3. Disappointing. Still picks Crainey, gives him the captaincy ! , Douglas at right back is a non no. Play players in their position. If Richardson was on the bench surely that means he was fit enough play or how about Derry playing right back ? Crowd shite atmosphere. 2 Barnsley fans were allowed to sit at the top of the NE despite jumping up to celebrate the first goal. That is a first. Just shows the apathy of the Leeds fans to this team at the moment. Not fit to wear the shirt. ___________________________________________________________ All new Yahoo! Mail "The new Interface is stunning in its simplicity and ease of use." - PC Magazine http://uk.docs.yahoo.com/nowyoucan.html _______________________________________________ the Leeds List is an unmoderated mailing list and the list administrators accept no liability for the personal views and opinions of contributors. Leedslist mailing list [email protected] http://list.zetnet.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/leedslist 'I am in shock,' said Ferguson. _______________________________________________ the Leeds List is an unmoderated mailing list and the list administrators accept no liability for the personal views and opinions of contributors. Leedslist mailing list [email protected] http://list.zetnet.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/leedslist 'I am in shock,' said Ferguson.
