Leeds United v Ipswich Town
Tuesday 15th September 2015 - 19:45
Elland Road – 19:45
Opening Thought – Jamma
One of the great things about the Championship is that you’re never very far away from the next match. Yes, we had to endure the torture of a 2-week break without a game but the fixtures are now once again coming thick and fast. A preview compiler’s nightmare, maybe, but I’m sure my fellow Tractor Boys teammates would agree that they wouldn’t have it any other way!
Another advantage of the fixture pile-up is that it means we don’t have to wait long for the chance to put right the events of Friday night. Mick McCarthy described the 5-1 humiliation at the Madejski as ‘sobering’ and, watching the game unfold in front of me, it did make me wonder exactly what had been in my pre-match drink! Such has been Mick’s success in tightening us up defensively since he arrived – and such is his reputation for this characteristic of his teams – that no-one saw that performance or result coming. Having said that, Ipswich Town do tend to have an unfortunate knack of bringing teams’ long-standing records to an end. In the case of Reading, they had gone 4 months without a goal at the Madejski Stadium, and 6 months without a home win. Somehow, there was only one way that was going to go! McCarthy has accepted some of the responsibility, implying that he had possibly set us up to be too adventurous against another strong attacking side. On the evidence of the last couple of games, it is almost as if we have gone too far the other way, prioritising our qualities going forward at the expense of the solidity and resilience which has previously served us so well. Although the Blues also had their fair share of very presentable goalscoring opportunities, the shambolic nature of our defensive play meant that we never gave ourselves a chance of being competitive.A reaction will be expected in our upcoming matches, from manager, supporters and opposition alike. I have said before how a run of fixtures can take on an entirely different complexion depending on current form. Before the campaign began, the Blue Army may have been looking at Brighton at home and Reading away as a realistic source of points after what, on paper, seemed a tough opening month of the season. As it turned out, these have been two fixtures which have brought our sensational early season form to a shuddering halt. After the ignominy of Friday night, our next three games now provide a rather daunting prospect, with another televised game to look forward to (or not!), preceding a League Cup tie against a certain North-West giant in ten days’ time. But first a less significant North-West team, which apparently used to be famous – the last time I checked, for NOT winning the European Cup…
The Opposition – Leeds United
Leeds United's predecessor team, Leeds City FC, was formed in 1904, and were elected League members in 1905, but were forcibly disbanded and forced to sell off all their players by The Football League in 1919 in response to allegations of illegal payments to players during the First World War.
In 1919, Leeds United was formed and they received an invitation to enter the Midland League. Following Leeds City's disbanding, Yorkshire Amateurs bought their stadium Elland Road, before in turn offering to make way for the new team.
The chairman of Huddersfield Town, Hilton Crowther, loaned Leeds United £35,000, to be repaid when Leeds United won promotion to Division One.
On 31 May 1920, Leeds United were elected to the Football League. Over the following few years, they consolidated their position in the Second Division and in 1924 won the title and with it promotion to the First Division. They failed to establish themselves and were relegated in 1926–27. In the years up until the start of World War II, Leeds were twice relegated, both times being instantly re-promoted the following season.
In the 1946–47 season after the war, Leeds were relegated again with the worst league record in their history.
Leeds remained in the Second Division until 1955–56, when they once again won promotion to the First Division, before being relegated again in the 1959–60 season.
In March 1961, the club appointed former player Don Revie as manager. His stewardship began in adverse circumstances as the club was in financial difficulty and in 1961–62 only a win in the final game of the season saved the club from relegation to Division Three.
Revie implemented a youth policy and a change of kit colour to an all-white strip in the style of Real Madrid, and Leeds soon won promotion to the First Division, in 1963–64. In his thirteen years in charge, Revie guided Leeds to two Football League First Division titles, one FA Cup, one League Cup, two Inter-Cities Fairs Cups, one Football League Second Division title and one Charity Shield. He also guided them to three more FA Cup finals, two more FA Cup semi-finals, one more Inter-Cities Fairs Cup final and one Inter-Cities Fairs Cup semi-final, one European Cup Winners' Cup final and one European Cup semi-final. The team also finished second in the Football League First Division five times, third once and fourth twice.
Following the 1973–74 season, Revie left Leeds and Elland Road in 1974, to manage the England national team, and, although they no longer dominated English football, they remained in the top ten for subsequent seasons, before being relegated at the end of 1981–82.
In October 1988, Howard Wilkinson took over the manager’s role and oversaw their promotion back to the First Division in 1989–90. Under Wilkinson, Leeds finished 4th in 1990–91 and in 1991–92 Leeds won the title.
In October 1998, David O'Leary assumed the manager’s role at Leeds and under his guidance Leeds never finished outside the top 5 in the Premier League, and secured qualification for both the UEFA Cup and the UEFA Champions League, enjoying cup runs to the semi-finals of both competitions.
Under chairman Peter Ridsdale, Leeds had taken out large loans against the prospect of the share of the TV rights and sponsorship revenues from UEFA Champions League qualification and subsequent progress in the competition. However, Leeds narrowly failed to qualify for the Champions League in two successive seasons, and as a consequence did not receive enough income to repay the loans. The net result was that Leeds’ best players were sold, O’Leary fell out with Ridsdale and was sacked, in turn being replaced by Terry Venables, who also ended up being sacked after disagreeing with the Chairman. Ridsdale himself resigned from the Board soon after.
In the 2003-04 season, an insolvency specialist, Gerald Krasner, led a consortium of local businessmen which took over Leeds and oversaw the sale of the clubs' assets, including senior and emerging youth players of any value, which saw them relegated at the end of the season.
Following relegation to the Championship, Leeds were forced to sell both their training ground and their stadium in the autumn of 2004.
The board finally sold the club to Ken Bates for £10 million. Bates appointed a number of managers until, with relegation virtually assured, Leeds entered administration on 4 May 2007, thus incurring a league-imposed 10-point deduction which officially relegated the club to the third tier of English football.
The club was put up for sale by KPMG, and again Ken Bates' bid was accepted. The league eventually sanctioned this under the "exceptional circumstances rule" but imposed a 15-point deduction.
Over the next two seasons, Leeds reached the play-offs but failed to achieve promotion.
In the 2009–10 season, under Simon Grayson, Leeds won their final game of the season to confirm automatic promotion to The Championship. However, Grayson was relieved of his duties after failing to challenge for promotion to the Premiership.
On 21 November 2012, Middle East-based private equity group GFH Capital finalised a deal for a protracted takeover of Leeds, gaining 100% shareholding in the club.
On 7 January 2014, Leeds United's Managing Director David Haigh was involved in Sport Capital, a consortium involving the Managing Director of Leeds United's main sponsors, Enterprise Insurance, Andrew Flowers. Sports Capital came close to completing a transaction with GFH Capital that would have given them a 75% stakehold in the business. However, on 30 January, Sport Capital's takeover collapsed due to a lack of "financial backing".
On 31 January 2014, under controversial circumstances, a new buyer was found for the club in Massimo Cellino, the president of the Serie A club Cagliari Calcio and his Company Eleonora Sports Ltd. After weeks of speculation regarding the purchase of Leeds United, on 7 February 2014, it was announced that Cellino's family consortium had acquired a 75% ownership of the club subject to Football League Approval. At its meeting on 23 March 2014, the Board of the Football League decided unanimously that Cellino's conviction by an Italian Court meant that he did not meet their Owners and Directors’ Test, so could not take over Leeds United, a decision which he immediately appealed. On 5 April, Cellino was successful in his appeal and the takeover was completed on 10 April with Cellino's company, Eleonora Sports Limited, buying 75 per cent of the club’s shares.
On 19 June 2014, Dave Hockaday was appointed head coach of Leeds on a two-year contract but this only lasted 70 days.
On 23 September 2014, Darko Milanič was appointed the new Head Coach of Leeds United but he only lasted 32 days, in turn being replaced by Neil Redfern, who lasted for the remainder of the season before resuming his position for the 2015/16 season as the Academy Director.
Last season Leeds finished in 15th place on 56 points.
Uwe Rösler was appointed by Cellino as Manager for this season on 20 May 2015.
One To Watch – Gaetano Berardi
Leeds have always had the individual players to compete at this level since their return to the second tier in 2010. In Uwe Rösler, they now also look to have a manager who is capable of moulding them into a successful team. Central to his task will be integrating the Whites’ contingent of foreign imports. In amongst the strong Italian flavour lent to the squad since Massimo Cellino’s takeover is another player who has spent his career playing in the land of pizza and pasta, suspiciously Italian-sounding Swiss full-back Gaetano Berardi.
Berardi arrived at Elland Road last summer, swapping the Italian league for the Championship along with Marco Silvestri, Giuseppe Bellusci, Tomasso Bianchi and Mirco Antenucci as he signed from Sampdoria. He initially struggled to adapt to the pace of the English game, picking up two red cards in the space of his first four games. Things could only really improve from there and Berardi’s performances grew in composure as the season went on. The 27-year-old is equally comfortable in either full-back position and is adept at reading the game. As well as being an accomplished defender, Berardi also provides a threat going forward with his pace and has linked up well with Sam Byram on Leeds’ right. He has made the right-back slot his own so far in 2015/16 and will be looking to build on his understanding with compatriots Silvestri and Bellusci in the Whites’ back five.
A word of warning to Ryan Fraser, who is likely to come up against Berardi on Tuesday night: this was the offence for which the right-back received his marching orders on his debut: a kung fu kick which Mr. Cantona would have been proud of:
The Gaffer – Uwe Rösler
Born in Altenburg, Rösler started his career in his native East Germany, joining Lokomotive Leipzig in 1987. He then went on to play for BSG Chemie Leipzig, FC Magdeburg, Dynamo Dresden, FC Nürnberg, and then back to Dresden for a second year in 1994.
In March 1994, Rösler joined Manchester City for a transfer fee believed to have been between £375,000 and £500,000. His performances that season meant he was the club's leading goalscorer, and he won the club's Player of the Year award.
Rösler would eventually leave the Citizens in May 1998 on a free transfer following relegation to Division Two. In his four years at City, he played 176 games, scoring 64 goals.
In the summer of 1998, Rösler returned to Germany, joining Kaiserslautern. He then moved on to Tennis Borussia Berlin for the 1999–2000 season, before joining Southampton in the summer of 2000.
In the following season, he only made a handful of appearances before being loaned out to West Bromwich Albion on 30 October 2001. Rösler played just five games for West Bromwich Albion, and then joined German side SpVgg Unterhaching on a free transfer in January 2002, before finishing his career at Norwegian club Lillestrom.
After the first match of the season in 2003, Rösler was diagnosed with cancer when x-rays discovered a tumour in his chest, and had to put an end to his playing career. After chemotherapy, he made a full recovery. While in remission, he obtained his coaching badges, to enable him to continue working in football.
After making a full recovery from lung cancer, he returned to Lillestrøm, and took the manager’s seat in 2005. He led Lillestrøm to two successive fourth place finishes in the league, and also took them to the final of the Norwegian Cup in 2005 and the Royal League final in 2006, subsequently losing both. These results failed to satisfy the Lillestrøm board, and on 13 November 2006 he was sacked from his position.
Rösler was appointed manager of Viking, another Norwegian team, on 22 November 2006. In the 2007 season, he led Viking to third place in the Norwegian Premier League. On 18 November 2009, it was announced that Rösler was leaving Viking
On 31 August 2010, he was hired by Molde on a short-term contract. During Molde's last eight games of the season, he doubled the team's total number of points, didn't lose once and saved them from relegation
In November 2010, Rösler expressed his desire to return to the Premiership as a manager. In June 2011, he was appointed manager of Brentford on an initial two-year contract.
Rösler had a successful first season managing at Brentford, finishing in ninth place with a total of 67 points, Brentford's highest league finish in six years.
In Rösler's second season in charge of Brentford, they almost secured promotion from League One to the Championship automatically. However, a late goal by Doncaster meant they had to enter the play-offs instead, eventually losing out on promotion to Yeovil Town.
Following the drama and disappointment of the 2012–13 season, Rösler left the position of Brentford manager on 7 December 2013, having led a revival in the team's fortunes, winning seven of his final eight games. Brentford still went on to achieve automatic promotion to the Championship on 18 April 2014
On 7 December 2013, it was announced that Rösler had been officially appointed as the new manager of Championship side Wigan Athletic, taking over the position from Owen Coyle. Rösler’s first season in charge saw Wigan finish in 5th place in the Championship. However, the following season he was dismissed from his post in November, with Wigan struggling in the relegation zone.
On 20 May 2015, he was appointed as the head coach of Championship side Leeds United on a two-year deal.
Past Match - Video Highlights - Trev
More of this, please, would be great:
Trev's Trivia
Players to play for both teams:
Cameron Stewart ITFC 2014 Dirty Leeds 2014 loan
Ian Westlake ITFC 2002-2006 Dirty Leeds 2006-2009
David Norris ITFC 2008-2011 Dirty Leeds 2012-2015
Richard Naylor ITFC 1995-2009 Dirty Leeds 2009-2011
Media Watch - K L Blue
The inquest into Friday night’s display continues:
http://www.twtd.co.uk/ipswich-town-news/28081/
Stat Time
Head To Head
Leeds Wins.........................29.....(43.28%)
Ipswich Wins.......................21.....(31.34%)
Draws...............................17.....(25.37%)
Leeds Goals........................99.....(Ave. 1.48 per Game)
Ipswich Goals......................88.....(Ave 1.31 Per Game)
Head To Head at Leeds
Leeds Wins..........................18.....(52.94%)
Ipswich Wins........................6.....(17.65%)
Draws................................10.....(29.41%)
Leeds Goals.........................58....(Ave. 1.71 Per Game)
Ipswich Goals.......................37....(Ave 1.09 Per Game)
The Predicted Teams
Leeds
Leeds are one of just four Championship clubs to have not yet experienced defeat in 2015/16, but are still searching for that winning formula, having also only tasted victory once. They may therefore make changes, especially given that they will have had one day fewer to prepare.
1 Marco Silvestri
28 Gaetano Berardi
3 Sol Bamba
5 Giuseppe Bellusci
21 Charlie Taylor
2 Sam Byram
10 Alex Mowatt
23 Lewis Cook
8 Luke Murphy
15 Stuart Dallas
9 Chris Wood
Ipswich Town
Although there will be the inevitable – and understandable – calls for widespread changes in personnel, Mick has never been one for impulsive decisions and will be equally tempted to give his players a chance to redeem themselves. All of which is a long-winded way of saying I have no idea what his team will be!
33 Bartosz Bialkowski
4 Luke Chambers
5 Tommy Smith
6 Christophe Berra
3 Jonas Knudsen
7 Ainsley Maitland-Niles
8 Cole Skuse
17 Kevin Bru
14 Ryan Fraser
10 David McGoldrick
20 Freddie Sears
Match Referee – James Adcock
Final Thought - Frosty
Well we were Royally f*cked at Reading and I think I will leave it at that.
I can see Tuesday going one of two ways, maybe confidence has taken a beating and we will stumble again at Leeds or at best gain a scrappy point. Alternatively, maybe we will make amends for the weekend and absolutely belt them. Although this fixture will not define the season, it will teach us volumes on how well our current group responds to adversity.
Leeds (and I know I speak for another member of the ‘preview team’) are just one side I can’t warm to. They haven’t been a great threat in recent seasons due to the reccurring board room dramas and manager exits that have plagued them in recent years. However, like most teams in this division, they are a different proposition at home as opposed to meeting them on our own turf.
Leeds are a couple places off our own on the table currently. They have had a number of draws this season, including one against Brentford at the weekend, however they did notch up a good win against Derby at Pride Park just before the international break. Certainly I wouldn’t be taking this fixture lightly as Rosler seems to have the club heading in the right direction.
Couple of other fixtures worth keeping an eye on Tuesday night are our opponent on Friday night …. Birmingham at home to Forest, Hull’s visit to Cardiff, Boro host Brentford and Derby make what could be an unpleasant journey to Reading.
For those of you making the effort to get to Leeds on Tuesday …. Good on ya! …. I hope the result makes the journey worthwhile.
LEEDS UNITED 1 IPSWICH TOWN 2
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