Whilst it is refreshing to hear Simon Grayson honestly and openly question his team in the media, surely the buck stops with him re: our dodgy defending and inability to hold on to leads?

Grayson was scathing of his side on Friday night at Brighton, having seen us throw awat a commanding 2-0 lead and needed another late strike from Ross McCormack to grab a point.

Although Grayson rightfully pointed out that Leeds had earned an acceptable seven points from their last three-matches, the manner in which they made very hard work of beating average sides Crystal Palace and Bristol City at Elland Road.

Dodgy defending has blighted Grayson's near three-year reign. Leeds have some promising young left full-backs in Messers Taylor and White, however the big question with kids always is when do you throw them in and how long can you keep them in for?

Tom Lee's is a centre-back playing as a right-back. Central defence is where our problems lie, do we have a centre-back we have any confidence in?

Ken Bates reckoned we sorely missed Paddy Kisnorbo last season! Had the Australian been fit, I doubt we would have finished seventh! Darren O'Dea, seen equal glimpses of confidence and calamity to be fair - what worries me about the Irishman is that Celtic have happily and willingly sent him away on long-term loans for three seasons now (Reading, Ipswich and us) so clearly they don't rate him as being good enough for the generally poor standard iof football in Scotland.

Then there is Leigh Bromby and Andy O'Brien! Say no more, neither good enough even for a bit part role in my opinion.

I don't think we are that good defensively in midfield yet, apparently Valyren can play the defensive holding role - we will see, but how many times have we seen gaps appear in midfield wider than the M621 at 2am at ER this season?

Michael Brown would have been a great signing five-years ago!

The buck stops with Grayson and he has had ample time now to sort it out, whether this is through his coaching staff or through his use of the transfer-market, which has proven to be a mixed-bag of fortune.

The Bates' Out campaign continues to run, but Papa Smurf is not going anywhere until either a rich Sugar Daddy or the Undertakers roll-up at Elland Road. I read a suggestion earlier in the season that maybe Bates's reluctance to invest in players is that he has no faith in Grayson's ability to bring in decent players.

How long Bates' will let this rumble on is another question. He is notorious for pulling the trigger and has already fired two Leeds managers in his six year tenure, which is pretty mellow by his standards given his ratio at Chelsea.

Bates however is always keen to burden the blame on another, when discussing the financial implications of the club, the name Peter Ridsdale is never far-away even though Ridsdale has been gone seven years. I wonder how long it will be, if we do not stop shipping goals, his focus turns on the men in the dug-out?

Photo: Action Images

PeterV added 11:31 - Sep 25 I seem to remember Grayson spurned an request from Radebe, generally supported by Bates, on the grounds his coaching staff was sufficient. On paper even if old and slow ( fortunately Grayson has appeared a U- turn for whatever reason with the inclusion of White and Lees) the defence should be good enough to have earned at least one clean sheet by now. Greater speed of foot and mind would be welcome. Grayson is constantly going on about lack of concentration, the inability to kill off opponents etc. etc.. Perhaps there is another problem, one of leadership. For at least the last 3 years I have seen very little leadership on the pitch. If you look at arguably our best captains Bobby Coliins, Billy Bremner and Gordon Strachan throughout the whole match they were audibly encouraging and cudgelling the team, they would give players a rollicking for just conceding a needless corner. But there again they were all vertically challenged Scotsmen.

0

Sniffer added 22:50 - Sep 27 You may well be right about leadership on the field. I think Howson is too inexperienced to be captain, much as I rate him as a player. Maybe in a few years he'll be a good captain, but now he's a bit too quiet.
0

Blogs 31 bloggers

Derby County Polls