Yes it was bad. Maybe reading it back it's a bit too doom and gloom but it was such an opportunity and with 31,000 all Christmassed up I think we deserved a bit more.
Sent from my iPad > On 21 Dec 2013, at 20:57, Brendan Osborne <[email protected]> wrote: > > Cheers Rich > > Sounds like it was bloody awful!! > > Thanks for your reports throughout the year - enjoy your Chateauneuf-Du-Pape > mate! > > Happy Christmas > > > Ossie > > > Date: Sat, 21 Dec 2013 19:39:11 +0000 > > From: [email protected] > > To: [email protected] > > Subject: [LU] Barnsley > > > > There’s nothing like a poor Leeds perfrormance to put you in a bad mood > > pre-Christmas. I was looking forward to my bottle of Chateauneuf-Du-Pape > > tonight after a great win over our bogey team Barnsley. What I actually > > feel is completely pissed off with a performance that was so poor I really > > found myself questioning the manager and a lot of the team. > > > > How many managers do you know would play a 5-3-3 wing back system with > > Danny fecking Pugh and Lee fecking Peltier as wing backs ? > > > > First Peltier. Worse captain ever (even worse than Butler and Aizlewood) > > and now is being reinvented as some sort of rampaging wing back. He’s so > > limited in his play its untrue and when it comes to defending he’s not > > right good at that either. Waste of space. > > > > Second Pugh. I really have to question the sanity of a manager who not only > > pick him in a team pushing for promotion but actually play him as a wing > > back. The guy can’t defend, has no pace and no skill. Granted he has a half > > decent left foot but the amount of times he got into great positions and > > just floated over an aimless cross was beyond frustration. He adds > > stability apparently !? Give it a rest, he adds bugga all and BMD should > > hang his head in shame if he thinks that this is the answer to our left > > sided crises. > > > > The 5 at the back is so blatantly not working, nobody knows who is marking > > who ? There are massive gaps all over the shop. Barnsley carved us apart in > > the first 30 minutes, not through creative, inventive play but through the > > massive holes and space that appeared on the left side of our defence. > > Jason Pearce is playing as a left back, Tom Lees as a right back and our > > Lithuanian (sorry still don’t know his name) is isolated as our only cenre > > back. The amount of times he was left one on one at the back was criminal. > > I like the look of the lad but in this system its all or nothing and he had > > to put in a load of reckless challenges , most of which to his credit he > > got away with. On other occasions he didn’t and Barnsley really should have > > taken the lead on more than one occasion. > > > > In midfield we look lightweight especially with 3 players. Mowatt, a player > > who I think has done ok in the games I’ve seen, didn’t look right from the > > start. He really looked all at sea and maybe he was injured ‘cos BMD > > dragged him off at half-time. With Mowatt having an off day it lies with > > Murphy and Austin to drag us along. That ain’t gonna happen is it ? > > > > and up front, the slowest combination of strikers in the country - Macca > > and Smith. What a partnership ? Yes they’ve scored goals but on this > > performance the partnership has no future whatsoever. > > > > Back to the first half .... yes we had chances. Actually, I should say Matt > > Smith had chances. Two very straight forward finishes. The first a Danny > > Pugh ball (his best and only decent cross of the game) fell kindly and > > Smith looked in control. He shot directly at the advancing keeper who made > > a good save (according to people sat near me in the NE Upper). I’d say it > > was a bad miss. > > > > then he was put through again by a great intelligent ball from Macca, he > > was weak and scraped the ball into the keeper’s arms. Today, Smith made > > some of Becchio’s performances look sharp. He is flat footed, tall but > > actually pretty shit in the air and in terms of ability he looks like a > > centre half. Actually that’s being unkind to most centre halves. John > > Pearson is the nearest comparison I can make, again emphasing my point that > > you can be shit but still score goals in this league. It really means feck > > all. Becchio is the ultimate example of this point. > > > > In that first half, it has to be said that Barnsley were the better side. > > They played football, they passed the ball, they had a bit of pace and > > skill up front. We were hopeless and most of the time despite playing on > > paper what looks like a progressive 5-3-3, what we actually did most of the > > time is punt it long to the hapless Smith in the hope of a knock down. You > > have to ask serious questions about that first half performance. We made > > Barnsley look good and they are not. Their no 11 - a 4ft player with blonde > > hair looked like Lionel Messi next to Austin, Murphy and Mowatt. We really > > lack the basics at times. > > > > We did have other chances. In fact the best chance should have been handed > > to Macca. A decent bit of play from us, ended with Murphy only having to > > play a simple one-two type ball in to Macca and he was in, Murphy > > pathetically over cooked the pass and it went astray. Macca just looked at > > Murphy, arms in the air and head shaking. I’m not surprised, it was a pass > > that anyone with any level of ball control should have made, however 1 > > million pounds of shit was unable. > > > > The only compliment I can play BMD today is that he made changes at > > half-time and didn’t do the Simon Grayson 51 minute, programmed change. > > Peltier (awful) and Mowat (even worse) were replaced by Byram and Tonge. > > > > Barnsley stopped playing second half which meant we had more possession but > > ironically that actually made us look even worse. We didn’t have a clue, no > > idea. Tonge, who was obviously not match fit actually did do ok, managing > > to make their keeper make a save and distribute the ball effectively. Ok, > > not a match changing contribution but compared to the other midfielders > > around him this was a vast improvement. > > > > Pugh and a decent shot parried over by their keeper and we had a few > > moments whoch really resembled panic or their part in their area. They were > > lucky with a lot of clearances and the ref did his best to really ruin the > > game. The ref must have been 3ft tall and was one of the worse I’ve seen > > for a while. > > > > Smith was knackered, Macca was sick of running down blind alleys and Byram, > > who has come on, despite getting forward more, put a couple of Row Z > > crosses. > > > > Pugh then treated us to one of the worse corners in history. He trickled it > > into the side netting, I’d be surprised if it even came into play. Why is > > he taking corners ? > > > > Barnsley had a man sent off for a bad challenge on our Lithuanian but it > > didn’t matter ‘cos that just meant they got more men behind the ball and > > made it even harder for us. We were struggling anyway. > > > > So listening to BMD’s post match interview he said all the right things > > again. Poor match, these things happen, we moved up a place, let’s take > > that and let’s move on. > > > > Sorry Brian, I can’t. That was £31 of pure shite. Your tactics are a > > disgrace and the players you have brought in are not good enough to get us > > promotion. Sort it out. > > > > Scores: > > > > Kenny - 7. Didn’t do anything wrong. Kept a clean sheet despite some poor > > defending in front of him. > > > > Peltier - 2. All of the shop from the start and showed nothing going > > forward as a wing back. Come on Peltier as a wing back ? > > > > Pugh - 3. One good cross, one good shot then just your typical Danny Pugh > > performance. Pure shite. Come on , Danny Pugh as a wing back ? > > > > Lithuanian - 6. I think this guy has talent but he needs another defender > > close to him. He was exposed badly but actually came through most > > situations. Come on Brian ! > > > > Lees - 6. Sensible defending most of the time. > > > > Pearce - 5. Don’t think he knows where he is playing in this formation. His > > he at left back ? cos Pugh ain’t helping him ? Sort it out Brian ? > > > > Austin - 4. Distribution poor, worked hard as always but as usual just > > showed his limitations which are many. > > > > Murphy - 3. He is getting involved more, he put himself around a bit andput > > in 1 or 2 decent tackles but how many times does he give the ball away and > > how many times when in a great position does he fail to make the final > > pass. I’m hoping he’ll turn into Steven Gerard but actually we have to face > > reality he really isn’t that good. > > > > Mowatt - 2. Really poor showing. I don’t think he was right. > > > > Smith - 4. Donkey. > > > > Macca - 5. Some good moments but can’t do it on his own due to lack of > > pace. > > > > Subs: > > > > Tonge - 5. Was probably the best midfielder on show. That’s how bad we > > were. > > > > Byram - 4. Very rusty. I’d drop Murphy and play Byram in this position. > > > > Poleon - 5. Also looked rusty, not surprising. > > > > BMD - sort it out Brian. Terrible tactics for that team and those players. > > > > Crowd - 31k - robbed and loud boos at the end. > > > > What a great start for Christmas. > > > > Bottle of CNP should sort it. > > > > Happy Christmas, > > > > Rich > > _______________________________________________ > > Leedslist mailing list > > Info and options: http://mailman.greennet.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/leedslist > > To unsubscribe, email [email protected] > > > > John 'Grampa' Sykes > > Rest In Peace old lad > > 28th Oct 1938 - 12 Nov 2013 > > MARCHING ON TOGETHER _______________________________________________ Leedslist mailing list Info and options: http://mailman.greennet.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/leedslist To unsubscribe, email [email protected] John 'Grampa' Sykes Rest In Peace old lad 28th Oct 1938 - 12 Nov 2013 MARCHING ON TOGETHER
