January looms

The Leeds United rumour mill is gearing up as January gets ever closer, and the first name to be linked is Ipswich Town midfielder Sammy Moore. The 20 year old has been impressing whilst out on loan to League Two side Brentford, fueling speculation that Leeds will make a move for him in January.

Meanwhile, David Prutton has been rewarded for his fine form so far this season with a new contract that will keep him at Elland Road until 2009, whilst out of favour Shaun Derry has been loaned out to Crystal Palace where he'll team up with former manager Iain Dowie.

Out of JPT, but up the league we go

Whilst still very disappointed at our JPT exit, Saturday did bring back the smiles as Beckford's brace saw off Wise's old team, Swindon.

The dream of Wembley may have been short lived, but the reality of Leeds United winning the title with a 15 point deduction grows more realistic by the week. Now into 4th, and just two points off the top spot, it's becoming increasingly harder for anyone to write-off the mighty Leeds United.

A cold, dull and largely uneventful afternoon at Elland Road, saw the dirty Swindon - who managed to accumulate 7 bookings during the game - cause little threat to Leeds United's undefeated home record. A slow start for Leeds saw Swindon waste a couple of chances before Beckford fired us into the lead from the spot, following a deliberate handball from a Swindon defender.

Swindon equalised shortly after the break, but Beckford fired Leeds back into the lead soon after, following a great move by man of the match Johnny Howson, Kandol chested the ball into the path of Becks, who sweetly volleyed home to send Elland Road into party mode, and Leeds into 4th.

Swindon did hit the back of the net once more, but via the hand of one of their players. The goal was rightly ruled out, but despite a deliberate handball, the player remained on the pitch. How Swindon finished the game with 11 men is anyone's guess. Another dreadful performance from the woeful referee's we keep seeing in this league, but luckily Leeds provailed.

Huddersfield game moved

Due to the potentional for violence when Huddersfield Town visit Elland Road early next month the match has been moved to an earlier kickoff time of 12:15pm.

Leeds United and the West Yorkshire Police have also recommended that Huddersfields ticket allocation be slashed to 1,710, which will allow the Elland Road stewards and police to seperate the fans easier.

Huddersfield have however appealed against the cut in tickets and the decision on how many fans will be allowed to travel will now be decided by the FA, who are likely to back LUFC and the West Yorkshire Police. Afterall, if any trouble does break out and the FA have ruled against Leeds, the finger of blame is likely to point directly at them.

League rules do state that unless Leeds have good reason to cut allocation, they must provide 2,000 seats for travelling fans. This has so far been honored by Leeds, with Hartlepool and Swansea given 2,800 each.

Whites bounce back

Bournemouth 1-3 Leeds United

After Saturdays dismal display which saw us throw away a 1-0 lead against Carlisle, to lose 3-1, Dennis Wise was demanding a strong response from his side, and within 3 minutes of kickoff, Tresor Kandol was on hand to open the scoring.

Tresor slipped by the Bournemouth defence, firing a shot straight at the opposition keeper which fortuitously deflected back into Tresors path to be slotted home.

Despite Bournemouth's poor start to the campaign, they weren't ready to roll over and die and equalised with a drilled shot from Jern Karacan 8 minutes before half time. It was no less than they deserved as Casper Ankergren saw a busy first half end on level terms.

10 minutes into the second half and Leeds were back infront, with Seb Carole restoring the Whites lead. Things went from bad to worse for Bournemouth as card-crazy referee Steve Bennett dismissed Bournemouth's lone striker, Lee Bradury for swinging an arm at Matt Heath. There certainly didn't seem to be anything malicious about it, but Bennett being the man he is had no problems pulling out his red card to all but seal Bournemouth's fate.

All that was left was for Tresor Kandol to add his second and wrap up the nights proceedings three minutes from time.

Overall, a good display from Leeds United, who took their chances well and deserved the points. However, there's still a few worrying areas that need addressing, most notably the increased amount of goals we're conceeding in recent weeks. Bournemouth will be left feeling a little bitter following the result and the red card, but Leeds took their chances well, whilst Bournemouth wasted all but one of theres. The result is a fair reflection of this, and see's Leeds back up into 7th.

An important result, and great to get back to winning ways before the FA Cup halts league proceedings this week. The next league match will be on the 17th of November when Dennis Wise's old team, Swindon visit Elland Road.

Highlights: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAs1dexHSYY

Crazy gang reformed

It's been revealed that Dave Bassett will succeed Gus Poyet as the new Leeds number two, at least until the end of the season. Personally, i aren't Bassett's biggest fan and would have preferred someone a hell of alot younger, but he's done a decent job in managing lower league clubs and will bring a little humour to the Elland Road press conferences if nothing else.

Bassett originally signed Wise to play for Wimbledons notorious "Crazy Gang" when he was just 18 years old, and the pair have remained close ever since, with Bassett helping Dennis out a few years back at Swindon in a similar role.

The deal will see Bassett in the assistants role uptil the end of the current season, at which point i'm expecting Alan Thompson - who's currently learning his coaching badges - to take the number two spot, having worked alongside Dennis at the weekend.

Bassett will need to bond with the players as quickly as possible, before Dennis' 3 match touchline ban comes into effect.

Gus gone, and Dennis banned!

If any other football club lost their assistant manager, and then had the manager banned by the league, all in the space of 3 days, it would seem rather unfortunate. But, this is Leeds United, and after everything we've had to overcome in the last six years, it's just another day at the office.

Yes, Gus Poyet's move to Tottenham as Ramos' translator... I mean, assistant manager has been agreed and Leeds are now looking for a replacement, with Gianfranco Zola being the only name to emerge from the ever-churning Leeds United rumour mill that makes me feel the slightest bit excited.

Personally, I would like to see Vinnie Jones approached. He's expressed an interest in returning to Leeds before in a coaching role, and he's just the kind of character Elland Road needs. Failing that, Gary McAllister, Lucas Radebe and Eddie Gray spring to mind, but it's doubtful any of them are even being considered.

Whoever becomes Dennis' new assistant, they'll find themselves immediately in at the deep end as Dennis serves his ridiculous 3 match ban handed down by the almighty gods that are the Football League disciplinary board. They claim to be investigating the referee's antics too, but since it was Dennis Wise of the notorious Leeds United that made the complaint, I seriously doubt much action will be taken.

All in all, a rough few days for the club, but nothing out of the ordinary. Good luck to Gus in his new job, and lets hope Dennis finds a worthy successor soon.

Leeds 4-2 Millwall

A dominant display by Leeds United saw us make it 13 games unbeaten and move up into 6th place in the league, despite a late comeback from the Millwall club.

Prutton got Leeds ahead before halftime, before Beckford punished an error by the Millwall keeper and stand in captain Jonathan Douglas fired home twice in the space of just a few minutes. Game over, 4-0. It probably should have been easier, but Leeds got a little complacent and allowed Millwall to pull a couple of goals back, but there was to be no historic comeback, and Leeds would record there 11th victory thus far.

Assistant manager, Gus Poyet was not in attendance, after Leeds decided it was best he stay away as they feared the current media attention surrounding a move to Spurs as Ramos' number two, could take peoples minds off the game, so Leeds United captain, Alan Thompson assisted Dennis Wise on the bench. It seems that Gus will be leaving for Spurs, so Alan Thompson may take up the role permanently following his retirement.

The match was marred by the usual trail of destruction that follows the South London thugs, with coaches reported to have been smashed up before kickoff and the Millwall fans trying to get out of there enclosure during the match. However, thjs will not detract from what was certainly one of Leeds' best performances so far this season.

30,139 fans turned out to watch the match, making Elland Road the 4th most attended stadium in the country yesterday.

Highlights of yesterdays game can be found here; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qOMzhONba8

Gus set for Spurs?

As I predicted only two days ago, Martin Jol has now parted company with struggling Tottenham Hotspur after seemingly losing the dressing room, and guiding the London club into the dark depths of the relegation zone.

Jol spent millions on new players during his spell at Tottenham, and has gone from fans hero to villain almost overnight.

Tottenham are set to replace Jol with Sevilla coach, Juande Ramos, but the news that will worry Leeds fans is the rumour that former player, and now Leeds United assistant manager, Gus Poyet will take the role as Ramos' number two!

The suprising twist in the tale may well see the formidable Wise and Poyet partnership, which has been together from their days at Swindon finally broken. More worrying is the effect this may have on Leeds United, and Dennis Wise. Losing your right-hand man is not an easy thing to deal with in the world of football, and a good replacement isn't going to be easily found. Afterall, Wise and Poyet are not just friends at work, but close friends outside it too.

Meanwhile, Gary McAllister has told Sky Sports how he would have been "very interested" in the Leeds United job last year, but was never approached by Ken Bates, despite being a favourite with the fans and bookies. If Gus does decide to leave for Tottenham, which none of us could really blame him for, maybe Dennis could give Mac a call?

Onwards and upwards

Another win, still undefeated and moving upwards rapidly.

If anyone had told me at the start of the season that our first twelve games would see us undefeated, with a record of 10 wins and 2 draws, and we'd be just 6 points off the top by mid October, I'd have been rolling about on the floor in laughter. However, that's exactly how it stands, and had it not been for the 15 point deduction, we'd now be 9 points clear at the top.

The achievement is not to be underestimated or down-played either. Yes, we're in the lowest division of our entire existance, and yes we are the biggest club down here, so we're obviously going to attract the bigger players. Plus, with close to 30,000 fans turning out to our home games, we're also sitting in a much stronger position financially than our counterparts.

But, let's not forget what we've had to endure before this season even started. Firstly there was the mass clearout of players, followed by a lengthy and turbulent spell in administration, leaving supporters questioning whether or not they'd even have a club to support this season.

Thanks in no small part to the Inland Revenue, Dennis Wise was left with just a few days to sign almost an entire squad of players and have them ready to play the following weekend, and to top it all off, the Football League somehow re-wrote the rule book, and decided our exit from administration (which they'd already agreed to) was somehow "illegal" and we'd be starting the season 15 points behind the rest of the league.

So, we now sit within reach of the playoffs, and even the top of the table, and yes, we are quite smug about it. And rightly so! No one has had to endure the same fall from grace that Leeds United has. The inept financial mismangement that saw us fall from the highest level of world football to League One in just six years. Endless buyout speculation, the media constantly on or backs and labelling us for every sin they could dream up, dodgy chairman, useless managers, Ridsdales fish, and let us not forget the almighty power that is the Football League.

So, yeah, we're smug. Dennis threw a team together in almost no time at all, that came out only a few days later to claw us back our first three points. 5 games later, we were on 0, and now, just twelve games in, we sit proudly in 9th spot, looking upwards, and knowing this is the first small step on the road back to the Premiership.

Peter Ridsdale, the Inland Revenue, Lord Mahwinney and the Football League, I thank you all. Between you, you've managed to completely destroy our football club, but in doing so, you've created the kind of unity that every other team in the world should be jealous of. The kind of unity that will see us back to the starry heights of the Premiership, and we, the Leeds United faithful will still be here when we rise again. Just as we were when we fell.

Other teams supporters that may be reading this and mocking us, I thankyou too. For all of you that continue to batter the mighty Leeds United with your endless abuse, and kick us when we're down serve only to unite us more, and make us stronger!

"15 points. Who gives a f*ck? Super Leeds, we're going up!"