Messages

Former Armagh player Mickey McDonald. A magnificant athlete and sportsman.

Was very sorry to hear about Mickey. Fond memories of him and Johnny Corvan terrorising defences back in the early eighties. I was sat right behind Mickey in 1982 when he took the sideline kick in Ballybofey and scored a point, very late in the game, to win the match for Armagh. Although a first-round match, that game was effectively that year's Ulster Final.

Managed to get a live feed on my phone from French TV (I think) and I'd have to say some of the football that Leeds played was brilliant. One touch possession game that saw us keep the ball for what seemed like ages and play through the Spurs midfield and defence. Ultimately though we were done by our Achilles heel, with the defence shipping two goals in as many minutes. The January transfer window is huge and there needs to be strengthening at left back. That would free Striujk to play in the centre. Both Cooper and Llorente are not at this standard. A striker would also be great to bring in but Summerville is playing brilliant stuff and scoring goals, whilst Rodrigo is playing like a Spanish international at the moment - long may it continue.

Incidentally, the decision of VAR not to ask the ref to review the challenge on Meslier for the first goal has almost universally been challenged by all pundits I have heard / read. I'm open to correction here, but I understand the VAR official was the same one who intervened in the home match against Arsenal to review Bamford's goal for a nudge on the defender. The official was Paul Tierney. Inconsistency is bad, but when it comes from one person and goes against you both times, it begs a lot of questions.   

Leeds can't be good for the heart.

Believe me, they're not and following them by constantly refreshing Phil Hay's Twitter feed is an excruciating way to spend two hours on a Saturday afternoon.

Leeds were horrific in the first half and the boos seemed end of management stuff. Hard to believe they turned it around.

Amazing turnaround, and a lot has to do with the sense of togetherness and commitment between the players and the management. However there currently is a very fine line between triumph and disaster and it remains an accident waiting to happen. The weaknesses exposed by Bournemouth are not going to go away.

On the basis that the Wolves away game in the League Cup will not hold much importance, we have Spurs away next weekend before the World Cup. Thereafter, it is City at home and Newcastle away at Christmas.

The World Cup therefore is probably coming at a good time for us, but come New Year's Day, the likelihood of storm clouds will be much greater, with the start of a transfer window that will be hugely important in terms of addressing flaws that have been there for some considerable time.

It's never boring.     

Leeds will always drive us round the bend but yesterday was by any standards one of the good days.

Correct. There are bad days - plenty of them - but there is always a hope that they are capable of a big performance to overturn the odds.

Whatever about the manager or strikers, that Leeds team has balls.

Yes, they stood up, that's for sure, and the manner in which the players celebrated with the manager at the end suggests absolute commitment and togetherness in support of Marsch. With such a positive attitude, there is always hope.

For all that it was such an excellent team performance, there are still weaknesses within the team and they do need addressed. Paddy again spurned a sitter - a miss that was borne from absolute lack of confidence. Cooper too give his all, but floundered on one occasion - a mistake reminiscent of a mistake made against Sheffield United in a pivotal Championship game back in 2019 - and was bailed out by Meslier.

Three points this weekend though, at home to Bournemouth, are still badly needed. 

apart from Crossmaglen I would safely say they are 5 to 6 better clubs teams in Down than in Armagh, hopefully, we can start getting the buy in like Armagh county get to make us compete again.

It's entirely possible. I honestly feel the standard of club football in our County is terrible.

It actually contrasts with the 1996 - 2006 period, when the Senior Championship in Armagh was actually very strong - Mullaghbawn, Clan na Gael, Pearse Og and Dromintee in particular, all had sides capable of winning Ulster Clubs, but couldn't get out of Armagh due to the exceptional nature and dominance of that great Rangers team.

It's very difficult to see Marsch surviving after today's result, which leaves Leeds in the bottom three after eight games without a win. He was a little unlucky in a couple of them, but the overall trends are dire and relegation looks odds on if the board does not intervene. While it is possible he was always out of his depth, the club's failure to bring in a striker and a left back in the transfer window effectively finished him off. There is plenty of time to turn the season around, but the next appointment will define Radrizzani's time as chairman.

Phil Hay was suggesting that there are now concerns in the Board. However they have given Marsch the dreaded vote of confidence. The next five games are very tough, and include Liverpool, City, Newcastle and Spurs. I could see us struggling to get three points from that run, which would leave us in a very tight position by the start of 2023 and would undoubtedly invite further discussion about his future.

I'd have to say that things do not look good and there seems to nearly be an acceptance that this will end badly for the Club unless something changes. That change would surely be at the expense of Marsch.

I got a sense there was a certain fragility with Rangers at the start of the Championship, which was maybe a hangover from the defeats of the last two years, and that was evidenced in the first match against Silverbridge, when I felt there were a few things went for Cross in the last quarter which swung a very tight game in their favour. They then made very hard work of overcoming Dromintee - albeit with a man down - but thereafter though, they seemed to grow in belief and swept Maghery aside in the semi-final which I had felt was going to be their biggest hurdle. The final was then a formality.

Rangers undoubtedly have the best team and squad in the County and the victory yesterday will add to the confidence and self belief. I'll be very interested to see how they go in Ulster, although I feel that a provincial title might be beyond them.   

The storm clouds are gathering. Phil Hay did a great article in the Athletic this morning in which he articulated what many of us have been dreading to say out loud, i.e. that we are not good enough and we are going to struggle to stay up.

Last night's performance was of the abject variety and wasn't helped by what appeared some strange decisions around the line up - Harrison and Cooper making way for Summerville and Llorente. Firpo also returned for the injured Striujk which was also a blow.

It seems to have been the case for ages now, and it certainly dates back to Bielsa's time, that we need a striker who will score goals. I really like Paddy Bamford, but he is not good enough at the primary function of a striker - putting the ball in the net. I read where in recent matches we have had 42 shots and only one goal.

We were unlucky against Arsenal I thought and deserved something from the game. I didn't see last night but by all accounts we were awful, and lack of goal threat was again a feature, whilst the left side of the defence (Firpo / Llorente) was targeted by Leicester, with a lot of success. The away fans were not best pleased and singing in praise of Bielsa could be heard.

We now have 2 points from our last 7 games. With Liverpool away coming up, the Fulham match on Sunday is increasingly looking like make or break for Marsch. A win is desperately needed and I'm not hopeful.

I'm not a fan of the forward mark but I fail to see how its abolition is going to suddenly make football watchable and entertaining again or get rid of sideways backwards passing??

Agreed. Just to clarify, I was stating it's an awful rule that I would really like to see dumped, rather than it making any meaningful difference to the debate. I honestly believe there are too many rule changes being made to the game for very little / no gain.

First match in nearly a month, last weekend and it was a turgid affair - 0-0 at home to Villa.

The match turned on a second yellow / red for Sinisterra shortly after half time and from there to the end it was about holding on for a point. To be fair, Villa rarely threatened and I'm sure will feel disappointed at the way the game panned out. Villa appeared to be time wasting from early in the first half, with Martinez taking an age to kick the ball from his possession.

It was good to see Cooper back at the centre of the defence and he was a calming influence. Good also to see Ayling back and Bamford had a very good cameo appearance late on. With Sinisiterra now suspended, would like to see Gnonto given a run, as he looked very impressive - albeit a relatively short substitute appearance - for Italy against England.

Palace away this weekend and there is increasingly a need to accumulate points, as we are for the most part avoiding the 'Big Six' in our run of fixtures. 

The only rule that needs changing is the forward mark, which is a terrible rule. After that, please leave well alone. There is a widespread tendency for critics to lament the loss of some golden era of Gaelic football which never actually existed. Watch any football from the seventies / eighties and see how awful the standard actually was.

First post in about a week on this thread and there is already a lot of water under the bridge.

The last day of the transfer window was, even by Leeds' standards, the stuff of absolute mayhem. They appeared to have sealed a deal for striker Bamba Dieng, with Radrizzani inviting supporters to welcome him on Twitter, and him literally sitting on a plane waiting to depart for Leeds. However his head was turned by a last minute intervention by Nice, and the deal fell through. Unbelievably he then failed his medical at Nice and that transfer also appeared to fall through.

Leeds were now desperate to get another striker in, with Rodrigo injured, and went chasing Cody Gakpo at the eleventh hour without success, although there were hints that this deal might happen again in the near future.

Leeds therefore brought forward the signing of Wilfried Gnonto from Zurich (it was due to take place in January). He is only 18 but is already a full Italian international, so the hope would be that he should be able to offer something now. That said, if things were to go pear shaped for Bamford's fitness, and with Rodrigo out, options suddenly look very few and the supporters will not be long in letting the Board know that.

And Dan James was also released - on loan - to Fulham. I've sympathy for him, as he always appeared totally committed to the Club, was regularly played out of position, and didn't want to leave.

Back to the acion and we got a 5-2 thumping at Brentford. A lot of supporters reckon that it was actually a decent enough performance but was undone by a series of terrible defensive errors, with Llorente, not for the first time, being culpable. The return of Cooper is therefore likely to see him drop to the bench.

Next up is Forest at home, and a win would be very welcome. 

5th isn't a bad start

You're right, it's not. Some sage somewhere was able to point out that in the history of the Premier League, no team that has gathered at least eight points from their first five games has ever gone on to be relegated from the Premier League, so history is smiling. That said, the opening fixtures were relatively favourable and tougher tests await.

Brighton away has always been challenging for Leeds and they were deservedly beaten there at the weekend. Had one or two half chances but Brighton dominated and Leeds struggled to threaten. I'd have to say Brighton have looked quite impressive, albeit they were beaten last night.

We dominated the game last night but our old failing of not converting chances came back to bite us. Everton took the lead against the run of play, thanks to a bad error by Llorente and we lost our way up to half time. The second half started with fresh impetus, and we deservedly got an equaliser through the impressive Sinisterra but we could not get the winner despite the pressure. Indeed, Everton threatened a second goal on one or two occasions.

All in all, two points dropped and we also lost Rodrigo to a dislocated shoulder which could have implications for any decision on bolstering our forward resources before tomorrow. Angus Kinnear strongly suggested in last night's programme notes that they were happy with our striking options, but that may need to be revisited if Rodrigo is out for the medium term, alongside Bamford's fragile physical health.  A decision has to be made and time is not on their side.     

Marsch will probably calm down in due course but he was entitled to be a little over animated as all his new signings were highly impressive and he is clearly getting the best out of Rodrigo and Harrison.

Funny, it was only when I looked at the line up last night that it dawned on me how far removed the starting eleven was from the Championship winning side. Harrison and Meslier (who only came in for the last ten matches or so in 2020) were the only two to start from just three years ago. Granted Klich and Forshaw came on and Bamford, Dallas, Ayling and Cooper are all still out injured, but I felt for the first time that there was a real sense that the team has moved on considerably from promotion. 

What's up with Marsch? Is he not liked at the club?

I think it was the love for Bielsa from right across the support that meant his replacement - whoever it was - was always going to have a big task to win the supporters over. Furthermore, there is a wee bit of soccer snobbery, given that he is a "Yank" and the sense I get is that the accent and some of the phraseology grates with some of the more old fashioned supporters who think that the USA is a soccer wilderness.

Last season he essentially had to work with what Bielsa had left him - a huge injury list included - with the primary aim of staying up, which he achieved. The team is now considered to be more in his image and it is accepted that he will now be judged on the results that follow. Bielsa was a God at the Club and is still much loved and revered, but if the team continue to perform like yesterday and Marsch continues to show the passion and commitment to the Club and the jersey, then he will win over the malcontents.

As for the game, it was a great occasion and a great performance. Thoroughly deserved win and one which particularly irked Thomas Tuchel.  It was a great team effort with excellent individual performances all over the pitch. Harrison given Man of the Match but I thought the two Americans were just ahead of him in terms of performance and Rodrigo is playing with confidence and is now at last looking like a Spanish International. Definite hope for the future and will be interesting to see if we add to the squad before the end of the transfer window. Newcastle are still said to be interested in sniffing around Harrison, but on the basis of yesterday, it should take a considerable sum of money to force his release.