Toffees, Bristol City and takeover titbits

I along with many other supporters didn’t believe that we would get anything out of the Capital One Cup tie against Everton on Tuesday night. A belief that was further strengthened when I saw the team sheets announced on Twitter. A team featuring Fellaini, Mirallas and Naismith would easily overpower and defeat a Leeds team starring the likes of Brown and Pugh I thought. How wrong was I? Brown was strong, sturdy and his tackles stifled the Everton attacks, whilst Danny Pugh gave his best performance for Leeds and was equally as impressive. Both these players have come in for a lot of criticism from myself and many others in the stands, but I’ll hold my hands up and say they performed beyond my expectations on Tuesday. However let’s not kid ourselves that this solves squad problem, as it clearly does not. However if they continue to put in these performances then they could become valuable squad members. Fingers crossed ay.

As for the rest of the team, they all performed admirably. No one had a bad game and for the first half, Everton had nothing to throw at us. Leeds stifled the Toffees and for the first 20 minutes or so would not let them out of their half. And even though, Everton came back into the game in the second half following two changes from David Moyes, Leeds continued their brilliant performance and duly deserved to go through and have their name in the hat for the next round. If i had to pick a player for man of the match however, it would have to go to Diouf. I was among those who didn’t want the Senegalese when he joined the club. But his performances have been nothing short of brilliant for the club since he has joined, whilst his behaviour has been exemplary. Who’d have thought we would have been saying that two months ago? If he carries on like this he will no doubt become a cult hero at Elland Road. It could very well be another Vinnie Jones situation brewing. I enjoyed the atmosphere at the game as well and I am looking forward to the same kind of atmosphere every week if this takeover finally goes through, however more on that in a minute. It was great to sing for Gary Speed once again for 11 minutes and when our fans are in full swing, I don’t think anyone can match them.

This brings me to the Bristol City match. The first half was one of few chances and as Eddie Gray kept mentioning, it was very ‘dour’ or was it ‘dire’? Who knows? However in the second half Leeds managed to break the deadlock with a goal for Diouf. Unfortunately Bristol hit back six minutes later with an impressive diving header from Adomah. The pendulum swung in Bristol’s favour as the home side applied more pressure on Leeds’ back line. However 11 minutes later it was the away side that were back on top, when Diouf calmly slotted under the goalkeeper. Two minutes later on loan midfielder Michael Tongue lashed a shot into the net from outside the box sending the crowd into delirium. I thought we would hold out and head back to Leeds with a plus two goal difference. However a scrappy Austin own goal ensured a few nervy minutes until the referee ended the match sending Leeds home with three points. It was a good win away at Ashton Gate, especially seen as only Blackburn had beaten them on their home patch so far this season. The match rounded up an impressive streak of three victories for Leeds United. The first time we’ve achieved the feat since 2010. Let’s hope we can continue this rich vein of form into the Bolton match at the Reebok on Tuesday night.

As for the takeover, we all know it has taken its sweet time, but developments in the past week or so seem to finally indicate that it’s moving in the right direction. Statements from GFH Capital surely hint that it is all but done, as such statements surely wouldn’t be released if there was lingering doubts. All signs lead to it being completed and announced this week, with tomorrow even being a possibility. Who knows? Monday 1^st October could be the start of a new era for Leeds United. New week, new month, new start?