Leeds 2- 1 Brighton

Leeds United 2 – 1 Brighton & Hove Albion

Opening day of the season, probably my favorite day of the year and it certainly didn’t disappoint this season. Arriving at Elland Road felt different, the atmosphere around the ground was positive and for the first time in a long time it felt like the Leeds United that I grew up supporting, everyone was there for the football and not to protest and the whole crowd were pulling together and there to simply support the team.

Taking my seat inside the ground it was refreshing to see the place so full and the atmosphere building up to kick off was electric, the weather was nice and it felt good to be back. That first Marching On Together of the season is something you think about for weeks but yesterday was the best I’ve heard for years and once again the song had meaning.

With the game kicking off it was quite easy to see that we had completely changed our approach to the game, it will probably take some getting used too because every time the ball went back to Tom Lees or Jason Pearce I was expecting a long punt up the ground, instead they were taking a touch and knocking it out to the full backs. I think it will take a while for the team to get completely used to this style of play and be completely fluid with it, at times it was easy to see that Brighton have adopted this system for a few years as they zipped the ball around well. Leeds went 1 down after just 13 minutes when Brighton put together a nice passing move and Leonardo Ulloa fired a shot past Paddy Kenny. Brian McDermott has since said the goal was a yard offside but having not seen it on TV, I’ll have to take it his word for it. Re starting the game the crowd were instantly behind the team again and trying to intimidate the Brighton players. Leeds reacted brilliantly, and were level on 19 minutes after a decent move was finished with a smart low finish from Ross McCormack.

A few noticeable things from last season was the work of Paul Green was becoming more obvious to everyone rather than a small section of the ground, he worked himself into the ground yesterday and battled well in the midfield. Michael Tonge was much more involved and effective in this new system and looked every bit a championship player yesterday.

The start of the second half Brighton tried to take control of the games early on but Leeds battled well and stopped their attempt for dominance and soon started carving out a few chances for themselves. Before the end of the game Paddy Kenny made an absolute top draw double save which kept Leeds alive and in the game.

Leeds missed a chance to take the lead after substitute Dom Poleon made Kuszczak make a decent save and the rebound fell out to Paul Green who took a touch and then fired over a decent chance to win the game. Paddy Kenny was again called upon to make a great save to keep Leeds in the game and all set for an opening day point, as people started making their way out of Elland Road, Leeds had one more attack which saw debutant Matt Smith knock the ball down his fellow debutant Luke Murphy take the ball into the box and steer the ball past the Brighton ‘keeper to send Elland Road absolutely wild and give us a vital opening day 3 points against a good Brighton team.

Leeds looked good yesterday, I was impressed with the way we battled and worked and players who didn’t have the best of games with the ball worked extremely hard off the ball, and that, I think, is what we all want to see, we can’t expect every player to play well in every game, but we can expect them to try their best and work hard and hopefully McDermott has installed this into every player and we see much more desire this season. Luke Murphy looked good yesterday, always looking for a pass and not afraid to have a go from distance. He reminds me a bit of Jonny Howson with his technical ability but has a much bigger presence in the midfield and will do the graft and battle to win the ball back. Ross was decent and his team play and tracking back was brilliant. Paddy Kenny for me has to be credited with getting us those 3 points, without a good goalkeeper then Brighton would have won the game at the death. Kenny looks in better shape this year and I’m hoping that he can be much more consistent this season and show us all what a top ‘keeper he can be.

Onwards and upwards now then, it was great to see a full house yesterday and great to see lots of families there and bringing the next generation through, see you all at the Sheffield Wednesday game then.

League predictions

Here are the writers predictions for the 2013/14 season

Stu:

After an up and down summer, it’s setting the tone for the season ahead. After a quiet first part of the summer and a week where everything exploded and then back again, we are left a bit bewildered and wondering what will happen for the remainder of the season. For some reason, I am still fairly confident that we will have a much better season than last season, I think we will see better football and a team more up for games. I’ve never looked upon the pre season games as an indicator for anything so I’m not concerned about the form of those or how many goals we scored/conceded. As it stands I think we will probably finish about 10th, but with just over a month of the transfer window remaining anything can change. We are not a million miles away from putting a team together that could put a challenge in for the top 6.

On the pitch I’m expecting to see Ross McCormack score more, he is too good to play in a Warnock team and I think he will be much more influential this season. I think everyone agrees that with or without the armband Ross is the leader of this team and even though he’s not a Leeds supporting local boy he certainly plays like it. So, I will be going for him as player of the season this year.

I think this season will see the emergence of Dominic Poleon, he’s certainly a player we could have used last season, I still can’t fathom why he was loaned out so much last season. I would like to see him playing out wide using his pace and see how he evolves as a footballer, he’s certainly capable of grabbing a goal. He is my tip for young player of the season.

Finishing position: 10th. (6th if we make signings and develop the squad.)

Player of the season: Ross McCormack.

Top goalscorer: Ross McCormack.

Young Player Of The Season: Dominic Poleon.

Thanks for supporting our blog and reading, I’m happy to hear your views on this or anything we put on the site, follow me on twitter @StuFoo29.

Will:

Leeds Prediction –

League Finish – 9^th

Top Scorer – McCormack
My form in pre-season predictions is consistently awful having predicted top 6 finishes for the last two seasons and a lower midtable finish for the one preceding that and due to that I’ve gone for the very safe option of 9^th. Despite only bringing in 3 additions, with one being a striker who failed to reach double figures in League One last season, I think we’re way off the relegation zone and can rule that out very safely (touch wood). And in reality, I see either top 6 or midtable a possibility. McDermott has struggled to bring in most of his targets but a couple of big signings that seem unlikely at the moment could see us make a push at the playoffs. McCormack’s been a bit hit and miss in recent seasons but used correctly can score serious goals in this division as he has proved twice and with support from Hunt he should at least break double figures. And while Leeds’ side looks poor on paper McDermott’s ability to bring the best out players will be very much necessary in the upcoming season and as comedian Jimmy Carr once said “you can’t polish a turd… but you can roll it in glitter”.

Jack:

I’m feeling pretty positive about the season ahead. The Luke Murphy signing really excites me, young, hungry and potential to become a very good midfielder.

I don’t think our squad is anywhere good enough to challenge for a top 2 place, but I think with the Championship being so unpredictable, we can get into the top 6. Sign a couple of wingers and I think we’ll finish top 4.

League prediction: 6th.

Top goalscorer: Luke Varney.

Not just because of his hat-trick against Stevenage, but I think Varney will bag at least 15 goals this season (I urge you not to put money on this!)

With decent service from wide areas Varneh will score his fair share of headers.

Player of the season: Luke Murphy.

His first season at the club. I can see Brian McDermott naming him captain, as well. He’s got all the attributes to become a very good player. He was vital for Crewe last season, bagging a few goals and getting plenty of assists as well.

Young player of the season: Sam Byram.

If he performs as he did for the large part of last season then he’ll easily win this award. Destined to play in the Premiership, but hopefully it’s not this season, and hopefully it’s with Leeds when he does reach that level.

Wardy:

League prediction: 6th

Player of the season: Luke Murphy

Young player of the season: Dom Poleon

Top goalscorer: Matt Smith

I think Leeds will surprise many. I feel we will struggle to mount a serious promotion push before the January transfer window due to the lack of funds readily available for Brian McDermott. However I hope that GFH will be able to bring investors in or get a major sponsorship deal to allow Brian to spend money in January. If Brian does have money to spend in the January transfer window I think we will do very well and will end up sneaking a play off spot, hopeful yes. But as a Leeds fan you have to keep the faith.

I think Luke Murphy will get the player of the season as I believe he is a player of real quality. His passing ability and ability to dictate the speed of the game will prove a real asset to the Leeds team. Unless he has to play a more defensive role I think he will be the best player at Leeds this season.

I think Dom Poleon will get the young player of the season as throughout pre season he has shown to be a player of real quality and has learnt a lot from last season. With the game time and right service he can be the wide man or striker that we are currently missing.

The controversial choice of top goalscorer comes from Matt Smiths aerial ability. From the few minutes he was on the pitch yesterday he won every single header that he contested. With the right service he can be a real threat and with the lack of out and out goalscorer I feel he will be the top goalscorer at Leeds this season.

Andy:

I have 100% confidence in McDermott, but I really don’t think we’re good enough to be challenging for the top 6.  We’ve brought in a great prospect in Luke Murphy, and also made good additions with Noel Hunt and Matt Smith, but we really need more quality to be contenders.

We didn’t have the best performances as a team in pre-season but Luke Murphy shone. Depending on who else comes in, I think he’ll be a serious contender for player of the season. He’s got a good eye for a pass which will hopefully get him many assists and knock a few in for himself.

Another player who I think will do well for us next season is Dominic Poleon. He looked bright at the end of last season and has looked very impressive in pre-season. He’s strong, pacy and can score goals, which gives him the right attributes to be used as a striker or a winger (which is probably where he’ll be playing if we don’t get any wingers in). He’s my vote for young player of the season.

Top goalscorer is a tricky one as I think the goals will be spread around equally. McCormack, Hunt, Poleon and Smith will all get their fair share but I think Varney will surprise a few. He got a lot of stick last season when used as a winger by Warnock (me being one of his harshest critic), but it’s quite apparent that winger isn’t his favoured position. I reckon he’ll be top goalscorer if he’s used as a striker.

League prediction: 9^th (without further investment)

Player of the season: Luke Murphy

Young player of the season: Dominic Poleon

Top goalscorer: Luke Varney

James Frudd:

As the season draws ever closer and with only days before our first game,at home to Brighton,now seems an appropriate time to give my Prediction for how Leeds will fare in the 2013/2014 SkyBet Championship season.

League Prediction:10th(current squad) 4th(If we can sign the type of player brian wants)

Our current squad to date,for me isn’t good enough to challenge at the top end of the league.With Paddy Kenny in-goal we have a solid and reliable championship performer.We are very good in the full back areas with Sam Byram and Stephen Warnock occupying those roles and for me in this league it doesn’t get much better than them 2 for those positions. At centre back I think we are vulnerable,Tom Lees is still learning and is a good Championship player but with Jason Pearce and Lee Peltier as the other options I think if we don’t sign a partner for Tom we could be in trouble.Our centre midfield is very strong, assuming we play the 4-1-2-1-2(narrow) formation with Green sitting, Austin and Murphy patrolling the midfield and Ross McCormack at the top of the diamond,I think there we have a very good balance of discipline and creativity in there but the lack of width is very worrying and could make our game very predictible. Up front im afraid we don’t have enough,Matt Smith isn’t prolific, enough he’ll hold it up and chip in with a few goals but if we are playing without width, goals are going to be hard to come by this season for Matt,whilst Luke Varney and Noel Hunt are not known for being prolific and Dom Poleon still developing, personally I think we’ll really struggle for goals unless brian can sign another striker or sign wingers to help supply our current crop.I think this season if we keep the same squad we have at the moment then it will very much be a season of Brian building the foundations and trying to get everything into place for a big promotion push for the 2014/15 season and I think a position of 10th place would be a fair reflection of where our squad is at the minute.However if Brian can sign some wingers and a partner for Tom Lees then this season could prove to be the one we’ve all been wishing for over the last 2 years and with the right players signed I back Brian to lead us to 4th place and secure us a playoff position.

Top Goalscorer:

Ross McCormack-I can’t see past Ross for this one, he’s our best player and our most talented attacking player. I predict 15-20 goals this season for Ross.

Player of the Season:

Rudy Austin-After 12 months at Leeds and seeing only glimpses of his ability so far, I believe he will really push on this season. He can break up play,he’s got a good eye for a pass and has also got a goal or 2 in him. He could prove to the difference between another season of mid table Mediocrity or a push towards the Premier League.

Young Player of the season:

Dom Poleon- It could prove to be a big season for Dom with Brian giving every indication that he has a part to play this season.He could easily score 10 goals this season if he gets the service and I really hope he can prove to be this season’s Byram.

Rainy:

As much as I’d like to say that we’re going up as champions, at this rate, it’s not going to happen. I have a lot of faith in McDermott but with the squad at this moment in time mid table beckons. I think that around January we may be just below mid table but hopefully by then GFH will have sorted out a sponsorship or found some funds from somewhere and we will make a late charge, similar to Reading.

My player of the year is Rodolph Austin, I think after last year when he underperformed and looked average he will have a great year this season. When he arrived last summer he had already been playing in the Norwegian league for SK Brann and along with picking up a bad injury last season he wasn’t ever fully fit, not helped by being rushed back by Warnock. I think he will dominate the midfield with his tough tackling and surging runs forward, listening to McDermott it sounds like he’s a big part of his plans.

Top goalscorer is a tricky one, seen as though we have no out and out goal scorers. I’m going to go with Poleon as I think he will shine this season and surprise people. He has pace and power and we missed this badly last season. This of course goes out of the window if we sign a 30 goal a season man tomorrow. I also think he will be the young player of the season. I think it will be close between Poleon and Varney for top scorer in the end, Varney will surprise people this season and be much better than last.

League prediction: 7th

Player of the season: Rodolph Austin

Young player of the season: Dom Poleon

Top goalscorer: Dom Poleon

We would like to hear your opinions as always, comment below with you’re predictions.

What is our best starting 11?

If we had to start the 2013/2014 season with our current squad, do you think it would be good enough for a top-six finish? It’s quite obvious – as we’ve said in many previous posts – we need wingers but imagine the transfer window closes tomorrow and we have to make do with the team as it is. What would be our best line-up and best formation? We’ve seen Brian McDermott utilise the 4-1-2-1-2 narrow diamond since being appointed manager at Elland Road, and in the two pre-season matches, although we’ve played a different XI in each half, we have continued to play in that formation.

He said last season he would base the formation on the ‘type of players’ we have and something that would ‘suit the players’. I guess at the moment there’s one or two formations that would suit our team. How can we use one that requires wingers when our only real ‘pacy’ wide-man is Ryan Hall. We know Aidy White, Sam Byram and Luke Varney could all play out on the wing if required but they’re not exactly what we want – maybe Byram excluded as he was very good when employed there, but I’d rather have him at right-back.

So just what other formations could we use, and what is our best starting XI in each?

Firstly I’ll talk about our strongest team.

Paddy Kenny is going to be our number 1, I don’t think there’s any doubt about that – unless another keeper is brought in. I’d like to see Jamie Ashdown given more opportunities but it’ll be hard to push Kenny out if his performances are as good as they can be.

Defence

We need a back four where our full-backs are capable of bombing forward, allowing us to get the ball out wide, whilst still being solid at the back. Sam Byram was excellent last season, and we all know Stephen Warnock is experienced enough and good enough to provide width on the other side. Our best central defensive partnership last season was Lee Peltier and Tom Lees, and if no other centre-half is brought in this Summer, I would expect that to continue. A lot was expected of Jason Pearce when he signed from Portsmouth, I think if given a chance he would be a solid defender, but can he cope with our new ‘passing’ style of play? Endless times last season we saw him hoof the ball when under no pressure. Maybe that was just because of Neil Warnock, so I’ll give Pearce the benefit of the doubt at the moment.

Midfield

The key to any formation where a passing style of play is implemented is the midfield. At the moment we have eight central midfielders, ten if you include McCormack and Diouf playing in the ‘hole’. It’s fairly obvious this will be cut down before the season starts. In my opinion Ross McCormack is our best player and is a class above the rest of our team. I would definitely have him playing behind the strikers, as long as he isn’t sold. Paul Green looked solid as our defensive midfielder last season. This role is going to be very important as the player is going to have to pick the ball off the defence and instigate our attacks. Luke Murphy could easily play here, as a deep-lying playmaker. Rodolph Austin was better as a box-to-box midfielder as opposed to a defensive, holding player and I think that’s where he’ll continue to play. Michael Brown, David Norris, Zac Thompson, Michael Tonge and Chris Dawson are our other current central midfielders. Brown shouldn’t be anywhere near the first team. Norris and Tonge are very similar players, and both are 30+. That leaves Thompson and Dawson, both young players with good potential to be first-team players in the future. I was hoping both would maybe get out on loan to gain some first-team football, but I think with some players being sold (needs to happen to free up wages), both will be somewhere near our own first-team.

So for me our best midfield would be Green as the holding midfielder with Austin and Murphy as our central pairing, and McCormack playing just off the strikers. That is a pretty strong midfield in my opinion.

Attack

New signings Matt Smith and Noel Hunt have both figured predominantly in pre-season, and both have been among the goals. Dom Poleon fresh from scoring in our final game of last season has two in two. Smith looks to be a very good player in the air, as well as when bringing other players into the attack. Playing Smith up top may encourage more long-ball but it hasn’t seemed that way in our first couple of games. Hunt has a fantastic leap, a decent amount of pace and very good energy. He will chase lost causes at every opportunity and I believe he will get at least ten this season. Poleon on the other hand has plenty of pace and power, but he is young, and his decision making needs plenty of work, he needs to learn when to shoot and when to pass. Ross McCormack and El-Hadji Diouf are capable of playing up front, McCormack especially, proving that in the 2010/2011 season. Diouf was a very good signing for us and provided plenty of experience and calmness when we needed it. Somehow this season I just can’t see him getting into the team as much. As I’ve put McCormack as a midfielder I think at the moment our best front pairing would be Hunt and Smith.

Now I’ve spoken about our best starting XI, how would they fit into each formation?

4-1-2-1-2

The formation we’ve been using during pre-season, and the one I’ve based my best 11 on. As I said width is key so the full backs have to be capable of getting forward to enable us to get the ball out wide. With Matt Smith’s height it would be quite easy to lump it up to him and hope he wins every knock-down, but it isn’t going to work like that. We’ve got to get the crosses in for him to attack, rather than him have his back to goal at all times. As long as the midfield are disciplined enough not to all go forward at once, this should work well.

4-1-2-1-2 formation. Looks pretty solid and our best bet in my opinion.

Doesn’t really look a bad line-up does it? Maybe another centre-half ahead of Peltier and a goal-scoring poacher and we mean business.

4-2-3-1

A personal favourite of mine, and a formation we’ve seen used to good effect back in the 2010/2011 season. Jonny Howson behind Becchio, he used to pick the ball up between the oppositions defence and midfield. We had Robert Snodgrass and Maxi Gradel in the wide positions. Both were able to go outside and get crosses in, and both had the ability to come inside when needed and chip in with goals. In back up we had Sanchez Watt and Lloyd Sam.

How would that work this season, with us having once real winger? Ross McCormack could be pushed out to the left, but we all know he influences the play better when through the middle. Maybe Luke Varney or Aidy White could play on the left with Byram or Hall on the right. But none of them players have the ability to be able to go both outside and inside. It would be easy for the opposition to work out where they’re going and what they’re doing.

If rumours are to be believed, we’ve bid for Gary Mackay-Steven of Dundee United. If he signed it’d be a big step forward in terms of being able to use a winger. I still believe we would then need another pacy winger. Dom Poleon could always adapt to playing on the left but then his decision making isn’t always the best, although that’s going to improve with experience and age.

Then it would be who to play up top, Smith or Noel? For me, from what I’ve seen and heard, Hunt has the better all round game (and a pretty decent leap to be fair). Then again, he could always be moved onto the wing or behind the front man.

This probably isn’t the best formation to use with the current state of our squad. Below is an image of, in my opinion, the best team we could field in a 4-2-3-1. Lack of pace on the wings as expected. If we did need pace we could always use Aidy White and Ryan Hall, but White’s decision making has really stopped his career in its tracks. Rarely used last season but he could still prove me wrong under Brian Mac. Hall on the other hand, just why hasn’t he been played? Could it be an attitude problem, or was it just again because of Warnock and his direct, rigid approach? Like White, deserves a second chance under McDermott.

4-2-3-1 formation. Wingers aren’t really capable of going outside and inside.

4-3-2-1

Another option could be to play a 4-3-2-1. This again would be a formation with no real wide play in the midfield, so the full backs would be key.

I guess this is quite similar to the diamond, but rather than have one player in the hole we’d have two. This could also be turned into a 4-3-3 if the two attacking midfielders were pushed further up the field.

I think if this was tried and tested it would work quite well. You’d have the three central midfielders which would give us the edge over teams with the two. They could rotate and take it in turns to help support the attack.

The full backs – Byram and Warnock – could supply width at times, whilst the attacking midfielders could also move out there giving us other options.

4-3-2-1 formation.
Hunt and McCormack could both move out wide.

With all three of these formations there would have be quite a bit of rotation and fluidity, rather than just playing a rigid 4-4-2 and not having any movement. Is our current squad capable of providing this? At a push, probably. But if one or two players got injured, then we would struggle. We need to build a squad, not just a team. Two, maybe three players capable of playing in each position and we’re looking good.

Is Positivity at last at Elland Road?

As Noel Hunt’s is on the brink of becoming Leeds’ 3rd signing of the summer and with Mr Bates drifting off into the sunset, Leeds signing a £1m player and GFH finally looking like they will back Brain McDermott. Is the sleeping giant finally going to be woken up?

Elland road set for better days?

It has been a dream last 48 hours for us Leeds fans and who would have thought it after the news on Friday that we had to sell to buy and with the departure of Steve Morison on a season long loan to Millwall, optimism wasn’t a word that could be associated with the majority of the Leeds United faithful.

‘Legend’ was how Neil Warnock described Morison, 3 goals in 16 appearances and he was the 1st major casualty of Brian Mcdermott’s reign

But the signing of Luke Murphy,23, for £1m, our first signing over a £1m since that of Richard Creswell from Preston North End way back in 2005, has now seemed to of created a cloud of positivity over Elland Road and quite rightly so too. Brian Mcdermott described Luke Murphy as the best player in league 1 and the fact that clubs like Wolves and Blackburn bid for Murphy whilst not to mention Swansea, Everton and Aston villa were all tracking the highly rated 23 year old shows how much of a coup this is for us. Mcdermott said it was a significant signing and showed the clubs ‘intent’ and he’s not far wrong there. Murphy is a classy midfielder who played over 100 games for his hometown club Crewe Alexandra and also went onto captain the Lancashire based side. He can create goals and score goals and this was something we were evidently lacking last season,with his cultured style of playing and with the combative style of Rudy Austin alongside him it seems we have a great balance in midfield and also early as it may seem it looks as if finally we have replaced Johnny Howson. Murphy is certainly a player of quality and a player we should all be excited to watch next season.

A delighted Luke Murphy pictured here with his Leeds shirt after completing his £1m move from Crewe

Matt Smith also joined the club and was our 1st signing of the summer. His signing has somewhat divided opinion between Leeds fans and with the 6ft6 strikers somewhat modest goal record at Oldham its easy to see why.But on abrighter note I think the giant striker certainly will give us something different up top and Will help fill the void left by Steve Morison and could complement Ross McCormack very well. As I mentioned earlier whilst his goal scoring record is questionable,14 goals in 75 games at Oldham Athletic, his overall contribution to the team and with his work rate shown at Oldham , it could turn out to be a very shrewd acquisition by Mcdermott. I just hope we give him time to settle in and not judge him too quickly. But he certianly has some section of the fans to win over for sure.

Can he win some fans over? here pictured after scoring against Liverpool in the fa cup 4th round

The imminent signing of Noel Hunt on a free transfer from Reading will add depth to our Attacking options which already boasts the likes of Ross McCormack, Matt Smith, Dom Poleon, Luke Varney and El Hadj Diouf. Whilst like Matt smith his goalscoring record is rather modest, 33 goals in 145 matches, he is a player who Brian Mcdermott knows all about,having managed him at Reading, and his willingness to work for the team and his unselfish play could prove to be invaluable for us next year and it gives us another alternative to our other strikers. He is a very good replacement for Steve Morison as he is a player who will give it 100% unlike a certain Mr Morison. Another savvy piece of business from Mcdermott I think and no doubt he’ll very quickly become a fans favourite due to his willingness to play for the club and to give it his all every match.

Noel Hunt’s signing is imminent

With Mr Bates finally not in control of the club and GFH’s signal of intent over this last 24 hours, if we can keep onto our key assets,Sam Byram, Tom Lees and Ross McCormack in particular alongside a new winger and a centre back,rumoured to be Matt Mills from Bolton Wanderers, it could prove to be a very good season for Brain and the lads!

Bates is finally OUT!!

Lets stay positive and hope more good news is on the horizon, lets trust Brian and GFH to get the required players in and lets back our new signings!!!
MOT

The big Steve Morison mystery

If we are all to believe the papers and the rumour mill then Steve Morison is set to return to Millwall on a year long loan, posing the question, why? I just don’t understand the thinking behind this, I mean, he did have a poor start with Leeds United but to completely write off a player who came in midway through the season after not playing at all for Norwich last season is crazy in my opinion. Okay, if we have to sell players to get players in then I would rather lose him than Sam Byram or Ross McCormack. But, another reason why this is deal is so strange is that we are loaning him out! If he doesn’t figure in McDermott’s plans then why don’t we sell him?

The rumours are that we are offloading Morison to bring in Noel Hunt, is this just a massive sidestep? He’s certainly no better than a fit Steve Morison. I’m not saying that Morison is brilliant and I’m certainly not defending his lacklustre performances last season but I actually thought he would go onto have a better season this season. With a whole pre season and a full season of games he should have been much more effective.

What do you think about this deal? Let us know your opinions.

Who do Leeds need to sign?

By wardylufc

Following Leeds’ disappointing campaign last season it was a general consensus that Leeds needed to strengthen in order to maintain a promotion push during the coming season.

I feel we need another striker to accompany Matt Smith, Ross McCormack, Steve Morison and Luke Varney. Two midfielders, a battling, defensive midfielder. An attacking, playmaker. Also a central defender to partner Tom Lees as in my opinion Jason Pearce is too inconsitent and prone to a mistake. I also feel a change of captaincy will bring a freshness to the dressing room. However the biggest weakness we had last season was not buying wingers and replacing outgoing captain Robert Snodgrass. A lack of width in the playing style and a lack of natural wingers meant it was going to be very tough to be a creative team.

With Noel Hunt reportedly a Leeds player and with the rumours flying around about possible other signings such as Anthony Stokes, Stephen Hunt, Kevin Doyle, Gary Mackay-Steven and Lewis McGugan, Leeds fans finally have a summer to look forward to and under the management of Brian McDermott it should be a good season in which we should challenge for a promotion place.