Matches – 20 March 2012 – Leeds United 3 Nottingham
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Matches – 20 March 2012 – Leeds United 3 Nottingham F 7 Championship – Elland Road – 21,367 Scorers: Leeds United - Snodgrass (6 mins, pen), Becchio (53), Brown (55) – Nottingham Forest - Guedioura (8), McCleary 4 (45, 56, 60, 71), Blackstock 2 (52, 81) Leeds United: Lonergan, Connolly, Lees, O'Dea, Robinson (Pugh 66), Brown, Clayton, White (Webber 46), McCormack, Snodgrass, Becchio (Paynter 80) Nottingham Forest: Camp, Chambers, Lynch, Gunter, Cunningham, Moussi (McGugan 86), Guedioura, McCleary, Reid, Majewski (Wootton 84), Blackstock (Miller 84) Leeds United faced Nottingham Forest at Elland Road towards the end of the 2011/12 campaign determined to secure three points to boost their Play Off chances; the odds were on them achieving that goal. Four months earlier at the City Ground, Leeds had romped to an emotional 4-0 triumph against Forest. Days earlier former United midfielder Gary Speed had taken his own life, and the victory served as an emotional tribute to a great footballer by his first club. United’s form slumped badly following that comprehensive victory, thanks in the main to the brittleness of their rearguard, but new manager Neil Warnock had steadied the ship, with just two goals conceded in five games. Back in September, the Yorkshire Evening Post’s Leon Wobschall highlighted the defensive shortcomings which the previous manager had been unable to resolve: “The switching around of Leeds United’s centre-halves has resembled a game of musical chairs since the start of last season – with Simon Grayson’s search for a harmonious and long Home grown youngster Tom Lees, pictured lasting combination a wholly taxing one. during the Forest game, had become a regular choice at centre-back “A total of seven different partnerships were paraded in the heart of the back four in all competitions last term and with the 2011/12 season not yet two months old, the number count is already up to five as the United boss wrestles with a conundrum which is every bit as problematic as a Rubik’s cube. “For the record, the separate central defensive axes that have started for United since August 2010 are as follows: Collins/Naylor, Bruce/Collins, Bruce/O’Brien, Collins/O’Brien, Collins/Bromby, Bromby/O’Brien, Naylor/O’Brien, Kisnorbo/O’Brien, Kisnorbo/Bromby, Kisnorbo/O’Dea, O’Brien/O’Dea and Bromby/O’Dea. The pairing together of the latter two players, in United’s roller coaster 3-3 draw at Brighton last Friday, was United’s fourth already in the Championship this term. (By March, the list had been extended by the pairing of Tom Lees with first Kisnorbo and then O’Dea.) www.mightyleeds.co.uk - Matches – 20 March 2012, Leeds United 3 Nottingham Forest 7 1 “But instead of finding answers, Grayson – who fielded three separate combos in the first three League matches of 2011/12 against Southampton, Middlesbrough and Hull City – has received only more questions as the back four defensive charge sheet grows more damning. As it stands, porous United have shipped 15 goals in eight League matches, with only Ipswich Town (16) having got out the welcome mat more times in the Championship. “A first clean sheet of the campaign in all competitions has proved elusive for United, who have played 11 matches so far this term and you have to go back the same amount of away League matches to February 12 for their last shut out on the road, in the polished 2-0 victory at Bristol City. “It’s enough to keep a manager awake at night and it will have occupied the minds of many supporters travelling back from the south coast to West Yorkshire in the wee hours after Friday’s game with no obvious solutions in sight. “Mean, streetwise and in some cases nasty is not something you can level at United’s defence in recent years, with their inability to box clever at the back summed up in a nutshell in their past three League matches. “Having totally dominated the hosts and deservedly gone in two goals to the good following a wholly disciplined first half at The Amex Stadium, it’s not rocket science to deduce that Grayson will have been cajoling his charges to keep it tight for the opening 10 to 20 minutes of the second period to take the sting out of the jaded hosts and effectively Andy Keogh scores for United at Brighton in September - a 2-0 lead break their spirits. Job done. was thrown away by some poor defensive play “Just as he would have been stressing the need to avoid early concessions in the previous home games with Crystal Palace and Bristol City. “What he got instead was his defence criminally yielding straight after the restart at Brighton, which followed leakages against the Eagles and Robins four and eight minutes respectively after the hosts had taken the lead.” By the time United hosted Forest, Lees and O’Dea had settled down to be the regular pairing. They had played together in every game since Neil Warnock’s arrival and on nineteen occasions altogether, with eight of United’s nine clean sheets achieved with the two men in harness. Warnock’s first game in charge of United brought a goalless draw at Portsmouth on 25 February; they lost by a single goal to table-topping Southampton a week later, but then drew 0-0 at Hull and won 2-0 in fine style at Middlesbrough. The Whites were unfortunate on 7 March, when a late header by West Ham’s Danny Collins denied them all three points. The 1-1 draw left Leeds tenth, five points shy of the Play Off positions. Forest had endured a trying campaign. When former England manager Steve McClaren took charge at the City Ground in June it was hoped he could lead a promotion challenge. But in October, after www.mightyleeds.co.uk - Matches – 20 March 2012, Leeds United 3 Nottingham Forest 7 2 111 days at the helm, he resigned with Forest 21st in the table. Steve Cotterill replaced McClaren and won four of his first six games, but the revival was short lived: Forest were in the bottom three at the turn of the year after an alarming seven-game run which produced six defeats and no goals. By the end of January, Forest were six points from safety after returning seven blank sheets in a row at the City Ground. They were still struggling as they travelled to West Yorkshire at the end of March, just four points outside the relegation zone with four wins in 19 games. Such contrasting form pointed to Warnock’s momentum being maintained, though the manager freely admitted that United would require “fantastic form” to break into the Play Offs. Warnock: “I think we have to win seven now. Not many teams in our League win four or five on the trot, let alone seven out of nine. So we’ve got to have pretty fantastic form and you’ve got to say we’ve got to start winning our home games. Of our ones left, we’ve got to go for maximum points because all the away games we’ve got left are tough, for one reason or another. “You always look at that sixth position, don’t you? And I think until that’s gone beyond us, (we’ll aim for that). Five points at this stage is quite a big gap, but when you look at the positions we’ve been in and the games we’ve had, there’s no reason why we can’t get the right results if we get things going the right way. Two or three results and you are right back in it. “I can sit here and look at the games we should have won and that’s frustrating. On Saturday we threw away two points. I can understand if it’s a great goal, but it wasn’t. “There was Saturday we should have won, Southampton we should have won, and Portsmouth we should have won. Put in those six or seven points that we’ve missed and we all know where we would be. It’s frustrating because I want everything done yesterday not tomorrow, and it’s frustrating that we’re not closer to sixth place. “The games are running out, and you have to say that it’s becoming almost impossible if we don’t Neil Warnock had thought he'd solved United's defensive woes, put a run together.” but he was mistaken - he shows his despair and frustration on a disastrous evening at Elland Road Warnock described the Elland Road atmosphere for the West Ham clash as a “raucous amphitheatre”. While the crowd for the Forest game was significantly less than the season’s-best 33,366 which watched the Hammers, Warnock was confident it would be as lively as ever. He commented: “I asked for a 30,000-plus (crowd) on Saturday, which is easier said than done, and the fans responded in a magnificent way. I also think Elland Road under floodlights is a very special place as well. We won’t get the same amount of people, but there’s no reason why the atmosphere www.mightyleeds.co.uk - Matches – 20 March 2012, Leeds United 3 Nottingham Forest 7 3 isn’t the same. It was rocking against Southampton.” Warnock spoke with sympathy of Forest’s tragic season, which had seen the unexpected death of chairman Nigel Doughty. “They have been a club in turmoil,” he said. “It’s been a very, very traumatic year for them.