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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