Leeds United 2 - 1 Nottingham Forest

The build up to the match on Saturday was an odd one, news had gone round that Ken Bates was to make a statement on Yorkshire Radio just after 1pm, meaning that people were speculating on the investment/takeover rather than their full attention on the game.

This was the first time we'd had anything from the club in quite some time, usually we were in the dark about the matter and frankly that's how we thought it was going to stay but not today.
We were all thinking that this was either going to be, Bates telling us that the deal was off and blaming everyone but himself, or that it was complete (There weren't many who thought the second!!).

The full statement can be found here: http://www.leedsunited.com/news/20120922/ken-bates-investment-update_2247585_2926464

In short, Ken explains that negotiations are in an "advanced stage" and that they are looking to wrap up the deal "as soon as possible"

Bates added, "there's a number of finer points to be resolved, but we're making good progress".

This was much better news than expected, but still I personally refuse to get my hopes up, until all the i's are dotted and all the t's are crossed.

The investors joined Ken Bates in the Directors Box for the match.

The sun was beating down on us inside Elland Road, we got inside nice and early & watched the lads warm up.

The team was announced and it actually made me feel quite positive about the match!!
Neil had made changes to the side that lost to Hull City on Tuesday with White and Varney dropped to the bench. Drury and Poleon were called up in their place.

You have no idea how nice it felt to have a Varney-less first team, even Aiden White, they have both been less than uninspiring of late.

Poleon had come on and spiced the game up on Tuesday night and I was glad to see him get his first full start.

As the teams came out of the tunnel, Elland Road sounded a lot more like Elland Road than it did mid-week. There was an atmosphere back, people were getting behind the lads.

In the first minute Rodolph Austin tested Lee Camp with a shot on goal but Forest retaliated quickly as Paddy Kenny saved a shot from Simon Cox. Tom Lees was next on the 4th minute when he headed just wide of the goal after a corner from Diouf.

In the 10 minutes or so that followed there were plenty of tackles flying in, free kicks given and chances from both sides but I would say Forest just had the edge on us, they had a goal disallowed too early on, Paddy Kenny took the free kick and the game continued. This match so far was by no means boring.

14 minutes into the match and El Hadji-Diouf sailed a cross into the box, Sam Byram in the right place sent it to the feet of Luciano Becchio who placed it firmly in the back of the net to make it 1 - 0 to Leeds United.

Forest were now chasing the game and Simon Cox had a header in the penalty box on the 20th minute which went over the crossbar.

6 minutes on however and Luciano Becchio couldn't find his way past the Forest defenders to score, the ball fell to the feet of Dominic Poleon and he fired the ball past Lee Camp to double the lead.

We looked comfortable and kept the Forest chances to a minimum, right up until the 40th minute when James Coppinger had a long range shot that didn't worry Kenny as it went wide left of the goal.

A few more chances on goal came for us for us before half time, but none of them on target, most notably, what should have been Luciano Becchio's 2nd of the afternoon when he found himself one on one with the keeper at close range, but the ball came off the wrong part of his foot and the shot went well over the crossbar.

Forest made two changes to their side as they came out for the second half, Henri Lansbury came on for Andy Reid and Lewis McGugan replaced Guy Moussi.

It took until the 49th minute for anything of significance to happen and it was McGugan that tried his luck on goal but Paddy Kenny saved and from then on, the pressure was on us.

The visitors were really making us work and testing our defence, a header from inside the penalty area by Greg Halford going over the crossbar in the 5th minute.

Dexter Blackstock got his head on a long throw in by Greg Halford and got Nottingham Forest the goal they had been pushing for on the 59th minute.

2 minutes later, a Lewis McGugan corner almost found its way into the net but Luciano Becchio was at the near post and he cleared the ball excellently to stop the visitors from equalising.

Dominic Polen was taken off shortly after to make way for Aiden White and Lee Peltier who had taken a knock to his ankle came off too, he was replaced with Luke Varney.

Forest were still coming at us and on the 67th minute Simon Cox shot on target and Paddy Kenny made the save.

We were still having our moments though and hadn't given up (as we usually would!!) and Rodolph Austin had a shot that went just wide in the 72nd minute.

80 minutes gone and Luciano Becchio was called to make another clearance when Lewis McGugan's corner came into the box.

Forest looked to shake things up a bit going forward and brought on Billy Sharp in place of James Coppinger.

This was now a game of keeping calm for us and keeping the ball, making sure we didn't make it hard for ourselves by soaking up unnecessary pressure. El-Hadji Diouf taking short corner after short corner in order to make sure we got the 3 points.

Luciano Becchio was taken off just before the end of the 90, Andy Gray replaced him.

There was 6 minutes of time added on but we worked really hard to keep possession and won the game 2 - 1.

Neil surprised me with the squad he put out on Saturday, I was worried he would stick with the same squad as Tuesday night but introducing Dom Poleon and Drury into the first team was the most sensible thing to do and look at how well it worked. Forest had a much stronger squad than we did, so we should be proud that we came through that match with all three points.

I said it in the last report against Hull, and I'll say it again, El-Hadji Diouf is impressing me more and more as the season goes on. He did so well, working hard in both and wingers when needed a strikers position. When we trying to run the clock down too he was holding the ball up really well and making sure we kept possession. I hold my hands up, I am actually glad we signed him, I wonder how many other Leeds fans are eating their words/hats ;o)

I feel so much calmer with Drury in the team, he did his job well and I hope he gets more starts.

Bryam, what more can I say about this lad that hasn't been said already, he really is proving his worth. I mean how hard must it be to come into a league as competitive as this one, and do as well as he is, at his age as well, it really is astounding. So happy with his performance, solid.

Luciano adding to his goal tally for the season, scoring 8 goals in 7 games (League & Cup), he also saved a couple from going in the other end too, and he STILL manages to get stick, some people need to get a grip. I'm really happy he's scoring again and the confidence is clearly back with him :o)

For me and Jamie, seeing Poleon score at Elland Road was brilliant as we have seen him play quite a few times in the youth team, glad Warnock has recognised his talent and given him a shot :o)

A game against Premier League opposition tomorrow night as we play host to Everton in the Capital One Cup.
Everton have really switched it on in the league this season so far, playing some great football but this isn't one I care too much about losing. As long as we don't embarrass ourselves!!
I'd care more if we were to lose against Bristol City at the weekend.

But on the other hand I'm not saying a win wouldn't be good for us!! I reckon it would give us plenty of confidence, I just really want to come out of tomorrow with no injuries!!

MOT xx <3 xx

Leeds United 2 - 3 Hull City

The very thought of us playing on a Tuesday night sends shivers through my spine. I don't know what it is, and I don't know why, but we just can't win on a Tuesday night.

I underestimated just how cold it was last night and it only got colder as we sat down inside Elland Road and dusk became night.
I didn't realise it was time for kick off when the teams came out, simply because, as I looked around, Elland Road, was empty. I mean, I know there are always spare seats in the East Stand, but there were spare seats in ALL areas of the ground, there were rows and rows and rows of empty seats in front of me, all of which are usually full.
Hull had brought a fair few though and they were making all the noise.

The game kicked off and we started really well, most notably we were actually playing the ball on the floor and knocking it about which Hull were failing to deal with.

El-Hadji Diouf was brought down in the area by Joe Dudgeon and the referee (eventually) gave us a penalty. Luciano Becchio took the ball to the spot and put it past Amos to make it 1 - 0 on the 5th minute of time.

We are ALWAYS more vulnerable when we score a goal but we looked to be quite comfortable and in the minutes that followed and looked to double our lead on the 9th minute as Diouf crossed in to Becchio but the keeper saved his shot. a minute later, Amos was called into action again as Rodolph Austin was the next to take a shot followed by Luciano Becchio after another ball from Diouf.

On the15th minute Tom Lees was forced to clear the ball when Elmohamady sent a ball into the area. Quinn took the corner for Hull and Paddy Kenny saved.

We were slowly losing control of the game and Ahmed Elmohamady found enough space to shoot from the edge of the box and even the score at one a peice on the 23rd minute.

Hull were suddenly all over us and Elmohamady was involved again when he assisted Faye in the second goal for Hull just 6 minutes after the first. Following this goal, a puff of pink smoke filled the away part of the West Stand, one of the Hull fans had brought a smoke bomb....There really are no words to describe how pathetic that looked.

Whatever grip we had on the game was now lost entirely and it looked like our starting 11 had been swapped for a Sunday League side. Silly errors were being made and we weren't closing Hull down when they were on the attack.

Tonge wasn't having the best of games and his poor defending left Pearce with no choice but to bring down Aluko on the edge of the penalty area in the 38th minute, resulting in a booking for Pearce and a free kick for Hull, taken by Robert Koren. Paddy Kenny saved the ball however and the game continued.

Hull were full of confidence and just before half time Corry Evans shot from 20 yards out.

Michael Tonge found himself in the book when he gave away a free kick after fouling Robert Koren.

The ref blew for half time and it couldn't have come sooner for us, we needed to get in the changing rooms and re-group, or get a rollocking from Warnock to kick them up the arse.

Straight from the off Hull City had a corner, but we regained possession and Becchio's header went just wide of the goal.

Rodolph Austin was next to have a shot on goal but Ben Amos had no trouble saving it.

Shortly after, Luciano Becchio went down, un-touched, with what looked like a serious injury, Harvey Sharman came on to treat him but he still looked in a significant amount of pain. This was so worrying, with us losing Ross McCormack on Saturday it would have been terrible to lose Becchio too. Luckily after a few minutes, he played on, but he still didn't look comfortable and was replaced not long after by Dominic Poleon.

Poleon looked to have just what we lacked, he was sharp and looked fierce when he was in possesion of the ball & his efforts very nearly paid off when he took a shot on the 65th minute.

Jason Pearce and Sam Byram were forced to make clearances two minutes later but Elmohamady finally got a shot away which went just wide of the goal.

Rodolph Austin retaliated to the threat with a shot from just outside the area but it just cleared the bar.

On the 76th minute, Hull looked to have put the game well past us as Elmohamady provided another assist and Robert Koren put the ball past Paddy Kenny to make the score 1 - 3.

Sam Byram tried to peg a goal back for us in the 79th minute from 20 yards out but Amos was on hand to make a save.

83 minutes gone, and Andy Gray was eventually brought on for Luke Varney. To little too late?!

The substitue headed a goal in for Leeds on the 90th minute after he was fouled by Faye and given a free kick. El-Hadji Diouf floated a ball over and left Andy Gray to make it 2 - 3.

In the closing minutes of the game, Amos was booked by the ref for timewasting and Peltier tried to get Leeds a point with a shot on goal but it went just wide.

The game finished with Hull taking home all three points.

Where do I even begin to try and analyse this game?! The scoreline flatters us slightly and I don't think it really describes how bad we played in parts of the game.

Hull were playing a very clever 3-5-2 strategy, when they were attacking, they were attacking with their forwards and their midfield, Elmohamady being one of their very key men.
We couldn't cope with the tactics they had, Tonge, White and Varney being the weakest players in Leeds shirts last night for me.

El-Hadji Diouf continiues to surprise & impress me. I can't tell you how weird that is foe me to admit because to say I hated him would be putting it lightly. Hats off to him, he's come here and so far, worked his balls off for us and that is all we can ask of anyone!!

Sam Byram was another shining light in an otherwise dull match last night too, he looks years beyond his age sometimes and I'm really pleased with the way he is coming on.

Becchio sometimes unfairly gets the blame when we lose, but what people don't realise is that he NEEDS a playmaker, he is a goalscorer, he is the one that knows where to put it when the ball comes into the box & I thought he played alright last night, Luciano and Diouf were hardly at fault for what really was a poor, poor performance by the rest of the squad (apart from Byram & Poleon).

Another player that did impress was Dom Poleon when he came on, he made an impact immediatley and had the pace we needed to inject some life into the match.

I've kept relatively quiet about the 'takeover' on here, but last night really hit home for me just how much we need investment. This team just isn't good enough. Sure, we have individuals that can do the job, but you are only as good as the team that surrounds you and at the moment the bad outweighs the good.

It really is soul destroying at the moment when you see the performances week in, week out and they seem to be getting worse. When you see the attendances at Elland Road dwindling I mean I know Tuesday night is rarely a good attendance but under 20,000 people and being outsung by the away support is just not Leeds United.

The other thing I saw on Twitter last night was 'Warnock Out'....Give me an actual break. The good lord Jesus Christ wouldn't be able to do a better job than he can right now!! I am shocked he hasn't walked already if I'm honest, this is his job and his reputation at stake and I honestly beleive he's doing all he can right now & we need to get behind him, not give him a reason to leave.

We have another tough game at Elland Road this weekend as we play host to Nottingham Forest.

We also found out that Ross McCormack will be out for 6-8 weeks with his injury and he may have to have an operation too, Neil Warnock said "We're already without Ross and we know he'll be out for six to eight weeks now. It might be that he needs an operation on Friday because he chipped a bone alongside the ligaments. It's as bad as you can get from a twisted ankle without breaking it."

It's just one thing after another for us at the moment, let's hope for some good news before the weekend for a change!!

MOT xx <3 xx

Cardiff City 2 - 1 Leeds United

Saturday started at half past 5 in the morning for me, we were setting off from Leeds at quarter to 7 but I had loads to do!! The sun wasn't even up and it was pitch black but I was in a pretty good mood and so ready for some football :o)

We were all pretty much of the same opinion on the coach, this was going to be an extremley tough game for us. Wales is never a good hunting ground for points for Leeds and I don't think anyone was confident we were going to get anything out of the game.

It was a really lovely sunny day all the way down, but we knew when we were in Wales as it clouded over and the road signs didn't make sense anymore.

We stopped off for a couple of pints in a nice little pub for about an hour and then we had to meet the police (AKA Heddlu) at Cardiff West Services to get our tickets for the match. You see, we don't get match tickets sent to us when we play Cardiff, we get vouchers, when you get into Wales, you then meet up with the police and exchange your vouchers, for match tickets and then we get escorted into the ground.

We got off the coach and headed for the turnstiles, Jamie got frisked and said to the guy that did it "Oooh that was the best one yet" to which he replied, "thanks!!" We were laughing and I said to him, "Are you feeling up my boyfriend?!" he said "I am yes, would you like some tips?!" I laughed for like 5 minutes, it's very rare you can have a bit of banter like that with the security staff!!

As both Norris and Green are injured, we signed Michael Tonge on loan from Stoke on Thursday, until December. Tonge hadn't played a competitive match in quite a while so for me, this was a bit of a risky signing but Warnock seemed confident of his abilities.

In the opening minutes of the game, a tackle was made by Jordan Mutch on Ross McCormack and from where we were it looked bad, the ref didn't give any kind of advantage to us though and the game carried on on, but Ross was still down and looked in agony.

He attempted to get up but couldn't put any weight on his foot, he was eventually taken off of the field in a stretcher and replaced by Luke Varney.

To be fair there was nothing much to get excited about from either side in the first half at all, pretty much everyone agreed it was one of the dullest halves of football they had seen in quite some time.

It was tit for tat and there wasn't a great deal of shots on target from either side. It felt like the game never really got going and was very stop, start.

The game restarted after the half time break and Warnock made a change to the squad as El- Hadji Diouf came on in place of Adam Drury.

Cardiff looked like the 15 minute break had done them good, and were coming up with a few more shots both on, and off target, testing us more and more as the game went on.

Tommy Smith was involved in a couple of shots on goal as Cardiff looked to go into the lead, one was saved by Paddy Kenny on the 57th minute and one that just cleared the bar on the 63rd.

When we got possession we weren't doing enough to keep it and very rarely was it going to the forwards, Cardiff were onto us and we were losing whatever grip we had on the game.

On the 63rd minute Craig Noone was replaced by Craig Bellamy.

3 Minutes later and a foul by Michael Tonge on Nicky Maynard gave Cardiff a free kick from outisde the box. Craig Bellamy lined it up and from the second he hit it, we knew where it was going, top left, Kenny had no chance, 1 - 0.

This was only the start for Cardiff though as 5 minutes later they scored again, Peter Whittingham putting the ball past Kenny after a penalty was given when Tom Lees fouled Nicky Maynard in the box.

Aron Gunnarsson replaced Jordan Mutch just after the goal and 4 minutes later was involved in a foul on Luke Varney.

Rodolph Austin fired the free kick into the bottom right corner of the goal making it 2 - 1. We felt like we had a bit of a chance, that was until a minute later when Cardiff came straight back at us and Nicky Maynard had a shot blocked by Jason Pearce.

That was his last feature in the game though as Cardiff made a change, bringing on Don Cowie in his place.

We also made a substitution, bringing on Dom Poleon for Luke Varney who was already a substitute when he came on for Ross McCormack earlier in the game.

Cardiff's Tommy Smith tested Paddy Kenny with an effort from 18 yards out 5 minutes before time, but we responded when Lee Peltier headed the ball towards the goal but it went just over the bar.

5 minutes added time went up on the board, and as soon as it did, Cardiff seemed to be getting these mysterious injuries that kept them on the floor for 30 seconds at a time, but some kind of miracle cure meant they could get up and play on without any pain at all. The blatant time wasting was frustrating and we never really saw the ball in the closing minutes, as every time a Cardiff player was touched or nudged, they rolled around on the floor and the ref gave them the free kick.

The referee ended the game and the once blue, reds, had won.

It was an extremely frustrating match, if we'd have switched it on in the first half it could have been a different game, but I personally think losing McCormack in the opening minutes of the really affected the way we played.

Varney is not a suitable replacement for McCormack in my honest opinion, he had a terrible game and to say I don't rate him would be an understatement. It just makes you realise how small our squad is when we have injuries. I would hope, if we hear that Ross' injury is going to keep him out for a while, that we look to the loan market for some kind of replacement however I fear we will try to get on with the season without as we have Diouf, Gray and Poleon.

I have said it time and time again, Aidy White can get into some fantastic positions but when he gets to the final third, he doesn't know what to do with the ball. He loses it far too easily and all the hard work he's done goes down the drain!! He had no chance of

doing anything though when Bellamy came on, White just wasn't able to deal with the way he was playing.

The problem was that we didn't have anyone to come off of the bench and change the game, Bellamy did that for them and you can't knock his goal, it was brilliant.

Tonge didn't exactly set the world on fire and didn't look fit to me, it's all well and good playing in U21 matches but he's 29 and The Championship is a completely different ball game, this is a tough league and any flaws you have will quickly become apparent when you are matched with quality opposition.

I will say that some of the ref's decisions were terrible though and he really did make some vital errors. The way Cardiff were time wasting towards the end of the game was a disgrace, I've never seen time wasting so blatant in all my life and not only did he not pick up on it, he gave them advantage after advantage for absolutely nothing.

He definitely wasn't wholly to blame though, the performance as a whole though just wasn't good enough and we'll need to improve a lot if we have any chance of winning tomorrow.

MOT xx <3 xx

Tuesday 11th September 2012

Today marks the 11 year anniversary of the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Center's in New York. The images of that day will probably never leave us & will never become any less disturbing. RIP to all the innocent people who lost their lives that day and the hero's that sacrificed their lives trying to save others. Never Forgotten.

As a fan of Wrestling too, I would like to add a get well soon message to Jerry 'The King' Lawler who had a heart attack at the taping of WWE Raw last night. Get well soon King!!!!

So, as we know, we didn't play last week due to International games being played over the course of the weekend/week. 

Lots of Leeds players have gone their separate ways to represent their countries in the past week and here is how they have done so far:

Tom Lees made his debut last night for the final 13 minutes of England U21's match against Norway after being called up to the squad by manager Stuart Pearce.

Aidy White was handed the captains armband last night and he lead The Republic Of Ireland U21's to victory against Italy against all odds. ROI ended the game with 9 men on the pitch but still managed to win the game 4-2.

Rodolph Austin scored in Jamaica's match against USA  to help them win the game 2-1.

Ross McCormack was un-used in Scotland's goalless draw against Serbia at the weekend. Scotland play again tonight against Macedonia.

Fingers crossed that everyone that has played/yet to play comes back to Leeds with no injuries and is ready to crack on with the rest of the season :o)

At the moment the squad is looking paper thin, we are without Paul Green and now David Norris so Warnock is looking to bring a couple of midfielders in on loan.

It has been rumoured that Jermaine Jenas is on his way from Tottenham who has struggled with injuries in the past and is looking to get back into first team football, though no official word as yet.

Early start for us lot this weekend as we get straight back into it and travel to Cardiff.

This is only my 2nd time to the Cardiff City Stadium and its not all that exciting. Flat pack stadium straight from the Ikea catalogue. The best part about this stadium is the toilets, they are MASSIVE.

Though I'm not excited about the stadium, or the fact that I'll be visiting the capital city of Wales, I am excited that we can get back to some club football after what feels like an AGE!!

MOT xx <3 xx

Our new room!!

For quite some time now me and Jamie (who for those of you that don't know, is my other half) have been saying we'll decorate our room and get a new sofa etc. When you go to every match though, you don't get a spare weekend where your doing nothing and you need to save money for games!!

When we stayed in the ultra modern apartment in Plymouth on the Pre-Season Tour however, we decided when we got home, we REALLY must crack on with doing it.

Over time since we got back, we bit by bit bought a new sofa and new furniture and began to decorate over the August Bank Holiday weekend, and yep, you guessed it, the room is Leeds United themed!! :-)

The hardest part was the vinyl wall stickers that we had made for us. We began to put them on the wall and it was all going so well.

We decided to do the 'Marching On Together' vinyl sticker first. It was all going too well though and when we got to the 'ing' of 'Marching', it stretched and curled itself up into a ball, so now, we had a wall that said 'March' - I was almost crying....What the hell was I going to do with a wall that just said 'MARCH'. My amazing Mum came to the rescue though and in 5 minutes she had sorted it right out. (I clearly didn't inherit any patience from my Mum's side)

So!! It's now all finished and we love it :-)

MOT xx <3 xxx

Leeds United 3 - 3 Blackburn Rovers

A lovely sunny day greeted us as we set off to Elland Road on Saturday, for the first time in a good few weeks, it really felt like summer!!

Blackburn have managed to keep hold of some quality players since being relegated from the Premier League last season. I fully didn't expect to get anything from this match at all and thought we would be outclassed in almost every aspect of the pitch.

As Paul Robinson took to his position in goal for Blackburn just before the game kicked off, he was given a very warm welcome, he showed his gratitude by doing the Leeds salute and soon after chants of 'you're Leeds, and you know you are' filled the air.

It was clear right from the off that these were a different class of footballers, we struggled from the get go. Blackburn were forced to make a change early in the match when Grant Hanley came on for Scott Dann.

The chances were coming thick and fast for the Rovers but Rodolph Austin tried his luck on the 17th minute from 30 yards out, but it was saved by Paul Robinson.

Two minutes after that effort though, Blackburn were ahead when Pedersen crossed a ball into the area for Markus Olsson to put it past Paddy Kenny.

The relentless attack from Blackburn continued after the goal and they looked hungry for another. We just hadn't turned up and looked lost.

7 minutes after the first, Nuno Gomes netted a second for Blackburn.

At this particular point, I looked at the guy next to me and said 'Its gonna be a long afternoon'. We weren't non existent, we were worse.
You couldn't give these guys an inch of space because they knew exactly what to do with it. They exploited our already bruised confidence from the first goal and they had us well and truly on the back foot.

Ross McCormack had a shout for a penalty after he was brought down in the area, but the plea's were ignored by the 'ref' (I use the term loosely - I will come to this later).

Ross was back in action shortly after though as a free kick was sent into the box, there was a bit of pinball but it was Diouf who eventually managed to hit the ball and send it past Robinson to make it 1-2 just before half time.

There was time however, for McCormack and Diouf and they almost struck again to even the odds, but Paul Robinson was on hand for The Rovers to make sure they took the lead into the changing room at half time.

It really was a lovely warm and sunny day, and the same old half time 'entertainment' ensued. It never for a second even crossed my mind that we might be back in this match, plainly because squad was so much stronger than ours, they had players that could come off the bench and change the game if needs be, our squad is paper thin in that department!!

In the first minute of the second half, Jason Pearce almost scored after he headded a free kick by Ross McCormack at close range, however it was just over the bar.

Adam Drury floated a ball into the path of a waiting Ross McCormack who scored a fantastic volley from the edge of the box on the 56th minute. Such a brilliant finish from Ross, Robinson had no chance.

Now we were really getting into the game, Blackburn had lost their spark and we were full of confidence, Marching On Together was being sang at the top of our voices to get behind the lads.

The next 9 minutes belonged to Leeds as Blackburn struggled to find a way back into the game. Rodolph Austin, Luke Varney, Luciano Becchio and David Norris all had chances, but it was the Argentinian that eventually managed to put us 3 - 2 up on the 65th minute with a diving header after Diouf's ball into the box.

Literally moments later, we found ourselves celebrating again when Jason Pearce headed past Paul Robinson, however the 'ref' didn't give it due to a foul in the box and a free kick was given to Blackburn.

Though we were pretty much in charge of the second half, the Blackburn threat was still very much there. Ruben Rochina shot on the 79th minute but Paddy Kenny was on hand to save it.
Not long after, Pedderson tried his luck with a long range effort but it went just wide of the goal.

On the 82nd minute, the 'ref' gave us a free kick, he then changed his mind and decided Tom Lees had fouled Ruben Rochina and gave the free kick the other way....This was the (shocking) decision that lead to the equaliser for Blackburn as Danny Murphy took the free kick and the ball was cleared by a Leeds man for a corner. The corner was taken by Pedersen and Rochina backheeled the ball to equalise.

The board went up and showed there was 5 minutes of stoppage time to be played, and there was still all to play for, for both sides.

Another penalty shout was dismissed by the 'referee' in the closing moments of the game.

Etuhu was the next to try and get all three points for Blackburn however but his effort went wide of the goal.

The final chance of the match however was El Hadji Diouf's, who came face to face with Paul Robinson after catching out the Blackburn defence. However, what I can only describe as a rush of blood to the head, prevented him from scoring as he shot well over the bar.

The 'ref' blew for full time and the game ended 3 - 3.



Neil Warnock might not be allowed to air his views on the terrible decisions of the 'ref'....But I can.

Its all too easy to blame the referee sometimes, which I think is the reason people tend to dissmiss it when you say 'the ref had a terrible game'. However, terrible would be a kind word when describing this fail of a 'ref'.

Where do I start?! Neil Swarbrick, reached for his card when Formica kicked the ball away just before half time....He then realised he'd already booked Formica earlier on in the game, and decided against giving him a second yellow....Joke....

I can't really comment on whether our 4th goal should have stood, I personally saw nothing wrong with it, which was why I celebrated it going in, however, it wasn't given. But like I say, I didn't have a great view.

He missed two big penalty shouts, one in stoppage time and one earlier on the match.

I have read that Blackburn reckon he cost them the game....I can only assume they were at the wrong match.

I don't think I have been that angry with a so called official in a long time.

Positives to take out of the game however, biggest positive for me was that we managed to come back from 2 goals down, at that point, I expected an absolute thrashing, I mean a 4/5 nil.

It's just disappointing that we did go two goals down to be fair but it's still early in the season and we can hopefully learn from the mistakes that were made in the first half.

El-Hadji Diouf had a brilliant game and if he'd have kept his calm to score right at the death, he would have fully deserved the plaudits. He really is changing my mind about him, game by game, and after the game, he signed a short term contract with us that sees him here until January.

No club games this weekend due to the international break. I will have to think of something else to do with my Saturday!!

MOT xx <3 xx