The Official Leeds United v Bristol City Match Day Thread (Merged)

[phantom]

24 minutes ago, aza said:

Why was O'Neil brought on at 2-0 down???

One of many similar questions we have been asking ourselves for the past few months

[JBFC II]

5 minutes ago, aza said:

His arms were nowhere near the side of his body

They were right by his body, have another look....

[hantsred]

Well done JBFC II for sticking your neck out in this toxic environment. Reality is that even if everything was perfect we would never get a result at Leeds - we never do! 

So the fact we lost is not a surprise and the anti-johnson brigade should not be allowed to use this result to further their cause.

Nothing has changed and most if not all of the pragmatic supporters had written the away games off in this month. So far we have gained a point at Derby (yes gained!) had a competitive game against Leeds and then Aston Villa looks more encouraging as they are being dragged down and if we can get anything against Newcastle then great. 

[aza]

I did just a second ago on Sky Sports App to make sure, the closest they are to his body is at the shoulder joint.

[Nogbad the Bad]

40 minutes ago, JBFC II said:

So backing our club through a tough time is sad? Stating that I thought we played well is sad? And just because I have a differing opinion to you I'm now one of Johnsons relatives....

We're all backing the club, backing a failing manager is another matter entirely.

[JBFC II]

1 minute ago, aza said:

I did just a second ago on Sky Sports App to make sure, the closest they are to his body is at the shoulder joint.

Tbf even if it was a penalty, it still would have cancelled out Woods goal and bar some world class keeping from Green you wouldn't have won that match

[Guest]

48 minutes ago, The Original OTIB said:

City went on to create a host of chances themselves and Leeds were left grateful to a tremendous display from Rob Green who produced a string of fine saves.

In fairness to City, the visitors refused to throw in the towel

Finally, City bagged the goal they deserved when Djuric eventually converted the corner but Leeds had already done more than enough for victory to get the promotion bid back on track as part of a very entertaining evening at Elland Road.

I wasn't there so I was looking for any positives/balance. Another view and it does not add up to points. On current form, we might get 43 Points. That won't be enough. I see Wigan catching us. They are in good form.

http://www.soccerstats.com/formtable.asp?league=england2

 

The reporter is clearly the northern member of the LJ clan 

[Esmond Million's Bung]

21 minutes ago, aza said:

It wasn't a foul. Wood was stronger and your defender just folded like a pack of cards, too often defenders take a risk and really make a meal of something, a risk too far it seems this time.

I haven't seen the goals yet but your description would fall into the evidence over the past now almost 5 months and fully backed up by your City supporting friend "you just wanted it more, the difference in closing down was massive".

I suspect you are right.

['Orns]

25 minutes ago, aza said:

It wasn't a foul. Wood was stronger and your defender just folded like a pack of cards, too often defenders take a risk and really make a meal of something, a risk too far it seems this time.

Not that I've seen it, but the Radio Bristol lot said that the whole media box said at half time it shouldn't have stood, Leeds reporters as well

Glad Ayling is doing well, a very clever footballer and a great move to a massive club for him

[italian dave]

8 minutes ago, aza said:

I did just a second ago on Sky Sports App to make sure, the closest they are to his body is at the shoulder joint.

It can't have been a pen. When it's a pen Flint sinks to his knees with his head in his hands. Even when the ref has missed it. See Wolves v City at Christmas!!

[Monkeh]

I back the club, I want the club to do well, but the head coach hasn't got a ******* clue!!, he chops and changes for the sake of it, he doen't know who to make captain, the players are confused and can't follow instructions,

Its the head coach he is the route of all our problems, if cotts had this squad we'd be around the play-offs

[JBFC II]

2 minutes ago, Monkeh said:

I back the club, I want the club to do well, but the head coach hasn't got a ******* clue!!, he chops and changes for the sake of it, he doen't know who to make captain, the players are confused and can't follow instructions,

Its the head coach he is the route of all our problems, if cotts had this squad we'd be around the play-offs

But we wouldn't would we, we'd be playing 3-5-2 and conceding 3 or 4 every week, LJ hasn't been chopping and changing, 1 change tonight, 1 change at the weekend, hardly chopping and changing

[Monkeh]

Just now, JBFC II said:

But we wouldn't would we, we'd be playing 3-5-2 and conceding 3 or 4 every week, LJ hasn't been chopping and changing, 1 change tonight, 1 change at the weekend, hardly chopping and changing

when was the last time we started with the same squad and same formation?,

and no we wouldn't Cotts was doing a job without the tools, Johnson has all the tools but can't read the instructions

[JBFC II]

2 minutes ago, Monkeh said:

when was the last time we started with the same squad and same formation?,

and no we wouldn't Cotts was doing a job without the tools, Johnson has all the tools but can't read the instructions

LJ came in, took Cotts' squad over, brought in Tomlin and took us from bottom to 18th with top 6 form, no way would Cotts have this team in the play offs, we can't have the same team if a player isn't 100% because of an injury imo

[samo II]

Two Leeds fans I know that went (I couldn't; Valentines and all that...) said they were impressed with us going forward, but that we looked poor when forced to defend - said we deserved at least a goal after putting them under the cosh second half, but equally they should have scored more, as they were having an off night.

They are pretty balanced lads, and said they can see why we are down the bottom with the defence we have, but not the forward line - the one who was also at Ashton Gate back earlier this season and has watched us on Sky reckoned Tammy going off was a big loss, and he might have made a difference.

[Monkeh]

22 minutes ago, JBFC II said:

LJ came in, took Cotts' squad over, brought in Tomlin and took us from bottom to 18th with top 6 form, no way would Cotts have this team in the play offs, we can't have the same team if a player isn't 100% because of an injury imo

that doesn't explain 3 wins in 21 league games most of those against the teams in and around us

I hope you like league one football because thats where we are heading under this clown, and I can see the same effect SoD had on us in League one if he continues in charge,

this "thoughtful" tinkerman couldn't pick his best side even if we only had 11 players

[Davefevs]

23 minutes ago, JBFC II said:

But we wouldn't would we, we'd be playing 3-5-2 and conceding 3 or 4 every week, LJ hasn't been chopping and changing, 1 change tonight, 1 change at the weekend, hardly chopping and changing

But please don't forget the multiple changes he made in-game, some forced on him, some not.  That us the crux of my 'anger' last night, having heard what he said pre-match.  He just contradicts himself.  I've seen through it.

Hands up who thought that as we came out for the second half and it was announced that Djuric was coming on, that Tomlin was being withdrawn?

Yet it was Little.

There seems to be debate whether we went 4312 or 3412/5212.  The point is why change anything formation-wise?  We weren't tonnes worse than Leeds by all accounts, so why not give it 10-15-20 minutes to see if the line-up you started with apart from Matty for Tammy could get you back in the game.  Making the Djuric sub gave us 45 minutes with only one sub available.  This is happening too often.

He is like a formation-magpie, seeing something slightly shiny but going overboard in his solution to it.

Why do we have to make 3 subs virtually every game.

[Big C]

It was another battling but fruitless performance. Ref missed a foul on Wright on the lead up to the first goal, second goal took a wicked deflection and we scored our goal with the last kick (or head) of the game. If we have scored earlier we may have got something. Again looked good going forward with some quick passing and movement although a reluctance to shoot at times. At the back we  looked liable to concede every time Leeds attacked. Cotterill had another strong game. Also think Giefer is coming into his own and looked commanding. Brownhill was busy and Taylor and Djuric looked like a blossoming partnership, which we may need as Tammy will have an scan on his thigh injury in the next 48 hours and he thinks it may be serious.

[phantom]

2 hours ago, Flint says No said:

Yeah but if it wasn't for our latest form I think we would've got stuffed! Anyway did anyone play well? Was Tammys injury serious?

We haven't been stuffed all season, so not really likely to happen

48 hours to wait on Tammy update

[Major Isewater]

13 hours ago, Olé said:

Halfway through the second half I heard two ten year olds trying to work out our latest formation. Although I had seen the change LJ had made, it was dark humour at its best to hear people still trying to get to grips with the constant changes.

We actually had a decent amount of the ball today and are far better than the shell of a team that stayed compact and went backwards in December and January. Although that in of itself is not saying a lot, there are pub teams that were better than that shambles a month ago.

Today we were better than the worst of LJ but still a team with no identity and no set attacking plan - LJ finds it too easy to adjust shape and/or strategy too frequently for the team to make anything look easy. We make football look very complicated.

We could have quite easily got something from the game but the defence switched off for both goals (actually on the second they didn't switch off,  just sat off, as usual, a feature so common now I cannot believe it is not an instruction.)

We actually started the more brightly and for a fleeting second I thought they were picking up from Derby. Cotterill had a couple of good runs and a great free kick. But there was nothing like the fluidity of Saturday, and when Leeds scored thanks to total switch off in our defence - we as usual lost all semblance of shape or plan.

The main difference with Derby is Tomlin played far too far off Tammy most of the time, and no one knew what he was going to do (he didn't himself for half the game). Then the Abraham injury really did for us, as he had been able to control the ball and bring others in. We bring on Taylor, a player too similar to Tomlin in needing to play off someone, and very quickly we disappeared from the game altogether.

Another victory for the LJ tactical manual.

The introduction of Djuric at half time was as welcome as it was surprising, although it was very hard to tell if we were playing 3-5-2 or 4-3-3 and I'm not sure the players knew either. As it happens with our first attack of the half we got in behind them and Tomlin and then Djuric went agonisingly close to getting a shot in close.

But then they go up the other end and everyone just stands off the attacker outside the box (this has been going on all season now, why do we let people just go at us, game in and game out.) The bloke has time and space to shoot, it deflects off a defender and past Giefler doing his "I wasn't expecting that" statute for the second time in 4 days.

After that we really had no chance but made a decent go of it - Joe Bryan had his best game of the season, he got beyond Ayling repeatedly and put really dangerous crosses in, as well as tacking well when getting back. They blocked or their keeper saved several times on the goalline. Djuric did everything right up front and looked really sharp, unfortunately the ref was so excited to be at Elland Road I think a defender would have needed to remove all of Milan's clothes before he did anything.

Hegeler looked solid and purposeful out of midfield, Brownhill less so, he looked as tired as I expected after Derby. But overall we just didn't have the fluency we had on Saturday, Tomlin did a few clever things but mostly he just tries to do to much and gives it away. He certainly didn't offer anything like the interplay and quick passing that was a feature of Saturday. As such Taylor, apart from making one great chance for himself, found it much harder to get in the game.

Our final change saw Hegeler - who still looks a class above, even at 2-0 down - drop into CB so O'Neil could come on. Duric deserved his goal but before then Leeds had had a decent penalty shout and Giefler became one of several players (but easily the worst) to give the ball straight back to their forwards. So as one person in the away end put it when O'Neil came on: "I think we're playing for 0-2 now".

I don't know how you sum up a game like this. We are halfway competitive so that is a positive relative to our 8 game losing streak. But we also weren't a patch on Saturday which suggests that the green shoots we saw then were more of a temporary high than a developing approach. 

If I hadn't sat through the prior far worse rubbish in December and January I think I'd be less forgiving of today as it was a game we were more than capable of getting something from and yet we surrendered in defence twice and had no real identity (or at least 3 different formations and strategies) going forward.

As it is I'm prepared to accept that you file this one under "LJ isn't quite as abysmal as he was 4 weeks ago" but I'd still replace him in a flash - it seems obvious to me that apart from the stars aligning at Derby, I have no idea what our main line of attack is, we are poorly drilled to create chances and lack understanding going forward, which is compounded by changes in selection and formation. Granted Tammy got injured but a team with a proven way of playing wouldn't have made the number of changes we made today and expected players to adjust continually. I'm beginning to think LJ makes it complicated as he'd be out of excuses if he kept it simple and hadn't produced with one pattern of play.

The failure to incorporate Tomlin effectively is also now chronic. As blessed naturally as he is, I just don't think we can use him effectively, he is a single minded luxury in a side that badly needs teamwork and understanding, which is why the fact he gets drafted in and out of the team just smacks as even more evidence LJ is so out of his depth he is failing to draw any conclusions or settle on any committed patterns of play.

By the way - full backs watch: they weren't too bad today, Golbourne did alright and made a couple of key tackles. But with defensive switch offs for both goals I'm glad our most consistent one is well rested back in Bristol. That'll help.

Giefler 6 - Jury is well and truly out - I dont think the defence trusts him, Flint absolutely balled him out for giving it away second half with a short clearance
Little 5 -  One shocker of a pass but really didn't get a chance
Golbourne 7 - Was very aware of his need to win tackles after Saturday and did so
Wright 5 - Need to see that first goal again, but looked shaky throughout
Flint 6 - Usual throwing himself at everything but lacking quality
Hegeler 7 - Seems to have an extra yard every time, so much more comfortable than everyone else we have
Brownhill 6 - Couple of bits of decent passing but faded badly compared to Saturday
Cotterill 7 - Worked his proverbials off and was the best player in the first half, nailed on Championship quality, shape second half caused him to drop back and less of a threat
Bryan 8 - Best game of the season by far - that settles it, not a full back, a player who when he has confidence can get at a full back and cross
Tomlin 6 - A few nice attempts but in no way part of a team and too often a liability
Abraham 7 - Looked sharp until he got injured

Subs:
Taylor 5 - Apart from one great run found it a lot harder to get into the game
Djuric 8 - Won everything the ref allowed him to and looked sharp and effective in the air and on the ground
O'Neil 5 - Whatever

Top post again . 

I was ridiculed by some for wanting to replace Brownhill with Reid for this match .

 I was worried about energy levels .

 I agree with you that LJ tries to be  clever when the game is simple really .

Our lads have talent in spades but don't play as a TEAM because they don't know what they should be doing and with whom .

They are being inhibited by the coach .

The players are still trying their hardest and full credit to them .

Someone should talk to LJ about the KISS principle .

Keep 

It 

Simple ,

Stupid .

 

[Major Isewater]

3 hours ago, Sixtyseconds said:

Rule of Spudski.

You are not allowed to say complicated.

Lee Johnson is trying lots and lots of different things to achieve different outcomes.

Everybody does it.

Except the outcomes are always the same .

[phantom]

14 hours ago, southvillekiddy said:

Whenever Tommy Doc tried to take a free kick quickly the ********************** ref always called play back.

Rules of the game have changed since then

13 hours ago, RedDave said:

Referee doesn't have to blow whistle.  

On second, why is striker given so much space?  I blame lack of closing down. 

Exactly this - we were ball watching!

13 hours ago, Slack Bladder said:

On the highlights, the "foul" happens out of shot so I cannot tell.

Wright was caught out by how quickly the kick was taken thus making it look like he was fouled but was actually way off balance

[CityCiderEd]

6 minutes ago, phantom said:

Rules of the game have changed since then

Exactly this - we were ball watching!

Wright was caught out by how quickly the kick was taken thus making it look like he was fouled but was actually way off balance

Wright was also the wrong side of Woods,pish poor defending and as the ref was chatting to their players stood on the ball why didn't one of ours just stand in front until told to move by the ref?

[pillred]

4 hours ago, bcfcfinker said:

Maybe you're one of these souls who is unable to think things through and work it out for yourself?

Am I surprised?

As to breathtaking - maybe you need to get a grip on what excites you?

yes being in the financial position to retire 7 years early was quite exiting. Enjoy work tomorrow, don't forget to set the alarm.

[Guest]

21 hours ago, 054123 said:

Lansdowns mismanagement and lack of leadership is hilarious.

Nice stadium though.

 

I don't want a "NICE STADIUM" I want a ground and atmosphere that puts the fear of god up visiting players and fans;

[054123]

It's too late for that now!

[Olé]

17 hours ago, Up The City! said:

I honestly do not understand why you contribute to a forum when all you do is try to run a poster into thr ground if they don't hold the same thoughts as you? Describing people's views and posts as nonsense, ridiculous etc shows you up for who you are.

Okay, thanks for the spectacular over-reaction. All I do is run people into the ground? Blimey, where are all these people I've upset? I've not heard from them.

OTIB has a search function, so you're more than welcome to show me where I've run anyone into the ground. Apart from your WUM act this week I go out of my way to be non-confrontational, polite and matter of fact. You're not, as a matter of course, going to find me "describing people's views as nonsense, ridiculous etc", in fact the one thing that you're referencing, is me referring back, in a single remark last night, to the "nonsense you were saying" during our losing run, and going on to conclude you're getting in a habit of being wrong (my opinion). If that shows me up for who I am, so be it, I stand by every word of it.

I'm sorry if it hurt your feelings, however there was plenty of justification between your tone during our losing run and your little digs this past week.

• During our run of defeats, including what in my view, was some of the worst football for years, you would routinely post things which by any measure were  at the extreme positive of most views on here. I don't know if you actually had to suffer going to every single one of those matches, but regardless, you were entitled to your opinion and more power to you for having it - I don't believe I did any more than occasionally debate those views, I certainly would not have disrespected them.
   
• But then on Saturday, you jumped on my overwhelmingly positive view of the Derby match (and I hope I've been fair and consistent to that point), with a smug told-you-so reaction "Today was why I never called for LJ's head". It was quite obvious what your subtext to that was - about me and many others - and very patronising it was too. But there was no correlation between that first half and prior views of LJ because there had been zero evidence of him producing that level of football ever before, even over the whole season. It was also a wildly premature remark and so on both counts, oddly big headed.
   
• Then last night, you responded to my report again, but this time on a completely different basis "what game were you watching" - as your reaction, of all things, to thinking I'm being too positive (coming from you, you couldn't make it up!). I have no idea if you went to Leeds or not and all the sacrifices of time, sleep, money that go with that, but you'll forgive me if I didn't react more charitably to your contradictory digs this past week, seeing it as a bit of a WUM act. There are occasions when a flippant "what game were you watching" might work, but long midweek away trips are not bloody one of them.

 

I suppose your real issue is that I didn't engage you in lengthy friendly discussion about the validity of our respective views, but given that in a relatively short space of time you had managed to come at me from two different sides (#1 being how well you'd done to be so positive, #2 being I can't possibly have watched the game because I was too positive) I couldn't really take you seriously. It's certainly nothing personal but I haven't read a poster on here I disagree with more.

For the record I have given you plenty of courtesy in the past while finding little in common with anything you have seen (including your additional comments on yesterday's match). And while you might rightly characterise me as "LJ Out", I never engaged in the more spiteful ridicule you got for defending him in January. I generally let me views of matches do the talking. I'm certainly not right about everything, nor have any right to be, but I do have a go at being right sometimes!

[BobBobSuperBob]

19 minutes ago, Olé said:

Okay, thanks for the spectacular over-reaction. All I do is run people into the ground? Blimey, where are all these people I've upset? I've not heard from them.

OTIB has a search function, so you're more than welcome to show me where I've run anyone into the ground. Apart from your WUM act this week I go out of my way to be non-confrontational, polite and matter of fact. You're not, as a matter of course, going to find me "describing people's views as nonsense, ridiculous etc", in fact the one thing that you're referencing, is me referring back, in a single remark last night, to the "nonsense you were saying" during our losing run, and going on to conclude you're getting in a habit of being wrong (my opinion). If that shows me up for who I am, so be it, I stand by every word of it.

I'm sorry if it hurt your feelings, however there was plenty of justification between your tone during our losing run and your little digs this past week.

• During our run of defeats, including what in my view, was some of the worst football for years, you would routinely post things which by any measure were  at the extreme positive of most views on here. I don't know if you actually had to suffer going to every single one of those matches, but regardless, you were entitled to your opinion and more power to you for having it - I don't believe I did any more than occasionally debate those views, I certainly would not have disrespected them.
   
• But then on Saturday, you jumped on my overwhelmingly positive view of the Derby match (and I hope I've been fair and consistent to that point), with a smug told-you-so reaction "Today was why I never called for LJ's head". It was quite obvious what your subtext to that was - about me and many others - and very patronising it was too. But there was no correlation between that first half and prior views of LJ because there had been zero evidence of him producing that level of football ever before, even over the whole season. It was also a wildly premature remark and so on both counts, oddly big headed.
   
• Then last night, you responded to my report again, but this time on a completely different basis "what game were you watching" - as your reaction, of all things, to thinking I'm being too positive (coming from you, you couldn't make it up!). I have no idea if you went to Leeds or not and all the sacrifices of time, sleep, money that go with that, but you'll forgive me if I didn't react more charitably to your contradictory digs this past week, seeing it as a bit of a WUM act. There are occasions when a flippant "what game were you watching" might work, but long midweek away trips are not bloody one of them.

 

I suppose your real issue is that I didn't engage you in lengthy friendly discussion about the validity of our respective views, but given that in a relatively short space of time you had managed to come at me from two different sides (#1 being how well you'd done to be so positive, #2 being I can't possibly have watched the game because I was too positive) I couldn't really take you seriously. It's certainly nothing personal but I haven't read a poster on here I disagree with more.

For the record I have given you plenty of courtesy in the past while finding little in common with anything you have seen (including your additional comments on yesterday's match). And while you might rightly characterise me as "LJ Out", I never engaged in the more spiteful ridicule you got for defending him in January. I generally let me views of matches do the talking. I'm certainly not right about everything, nor have any right to be, but I do have a go at being right sometimes!

Don't get sucked in Ole

You don't have to justify yourself

Shes in a world of her own and after months of Blind Faith ,now she's turned she's criticising your positive points !!! 

Priceless

I like others look for your post match reports that I don't see,  as a sensible balanced account of what's actually happened