Saturday 11 August 2012

Leeds win 4-0 as Diouf signing divides supporters


Leeds overcame a shaky start to run out 4-0 winners against Shrewsbury Town in the first round of the Capital One Cup this afternoon. The Shrews started the game on top and it could be argued were the better side for most of the game. They played some free flowing football at times, but football is a results business and Neil Warnock, the players and the fans won’t mind that the majority if not all the goals came against the run of play. Leeds first goal came immediately after Kenny had saved the ball on his line. Rodolph Austin produced a stinger of a shot that the Shrews goalkeeper managed to parry, but Becchio was on hand to tap the ball into the net to give Leeds the lead. The second came after Ross McCormack saw his shot blocked, but with the rebound managed to find Luke Varney who finished from close range. Incidentally Varney had done well to stay onside during the build up to the goal. Leeds went in at half time two goals to the good.

Captain for the day (and maybe permanently, who knows) Norris made it three in the 65th minute whilst a handball in the box four minutes later gave McCormack a chance to get off the mark this season. He didn’t disappoint and duly converted the spot kick. So a 4-0 win to kick off the season will have pleased everyone associated with Leeds United this afternoon. Brown, Poleon and new man Diouf (who I’ll come to in a minute) all came on later in the second half but neither of them really made an impact. The player who caught everyone’s eye today though was youngster Sam Byram, who has come on leaps and bounds during our pre season campaign. He impressed again today with purposeful runs whilst twisting and turning opponents, getting shots in and producing a solid display at the back. After Eddie Gray asked Neil if his performance had given him food for thought, he answered ‘he’s definitely going to be in our squad, but we’ve just got to be careful, he is a young lad’. He was full of praise for the youngster and after playing in front of 18,000 fans today Warnock said ‘he looked like he had played there all his life’, high praise indeed for the 18 year old.

Austin seems to have fitted in quickly, which is great news, he seemed to not be as involved in the second half, but I think that was down to him playing a deeper role. Paddy Kenny performed some brilliant saves to keep Leeds in the game and is really looking like a key component to our promotion hopes this season. He could prove to be our most solid goalkeeper for years. ‘I wouldn’t swap him for anybody in the country and that’s in the Premiership and Championship’ Warnock said after the game. Whilst I wouldn’t go as far to say that, he will no doubt be a brilliant capture for this division. There were reports that Ross mimicked the signing of a contract in his goal celebration, if that’s true and he does go on to put pen to paper, then that’s a massive boost ahead of the new league campaign. He is a quality player with the ability to make a chance out of nothing and is without a doubt our most important player.

The news that was on everybody’s lips before the game and last night was that El Hadji Diouf had signed for the club. It was confirmed that he had trained with the club by academy player Simon Lenighan I believe, whilst Warnock had hoped to keep the deal quiet. He said of the culprit who leaked the news on Twitter ‘when I see him on Monday he’ll be twittering’, so Simon if it was you, I’d be hiding on Monday. The signing of Diouf on a non-contract deal, i.e. pay as you play, was confirmed prior to kick off. Personally I’m not a fan of Diouf, who has in the past spat at opponents and fans, been convicted for driving offences and arrested for bar brawls. I think he has the potential to upset the dressing room and affect squad morale. The decision to get him on a pay as you play deal is a smart move on Leeds’ behalf, so that if he does step out of line, the club can severe their ties with him. Is it worth the risk? Time will tell, Warnock has a history of getting the best out of players and I sure hope he can tame Diouf for all our sakes.

Neil told Yorkshire Radio that he ‘met him six weeks ago’ and that it ‘wasn’t planned’. He said ‘I told him what I didn’t like about him and yet I told him what I liked about him’. Neil’s past with Diouf is well documented and it looks as though the two have buried the hatchet and that will certainly need to be the case going in to this season. The situation has divided fans once more and I just hope that we get some positive news at the end of this takeover saga to unite us once more. As for the cup campaign, I wouldn’t expect us to go far in the competitions this year as Warnock told YR ‘if it had been on a Tuesday we’d have probably been beaten. I would have played four or five of that squad and that wouldn’t have been good enough against Shrewsbury’. It seems the league campaign is Neils sole priority this year and too right it should be. We need to get out of this division as soon as possible for the long term future of the club. As for the signing of Diouf, let’s hope the icing on Neil’s cake isn’t saliva, because that will surely leave a bitter taste in Leeds fans mouths.

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