Winter of discontent for the U23's

26 Jan 2022 09:04 am, by Ellandback1


Good Morning. It's Wednesday 26th January, and here are the latest headlines from Elland Road...


Winter of discontent for the U23's

Joe Gelhardt was spotted in the stands supporting his teammates on Monday Evening, as they were ripped apart by Blackburn Rovers. Even with Leo Hjelde, Lewis Bate, Liam McCarron and Stuart McKinstry all starting for the U23's, the Riversiders netted four times, without response. Unfortunately for the Whites, it was decided that as Gelhardt played a ten-minute cameo against Newcastle on Saturday, that he would be rested for the relegation six pointer. The devastating loss moves Blackburn within a point of Leeds who are third from bottom.

Their form this season raises questions from both Mark Jackson and Marcelo Bielsa. Whilst many will argue that including some of the youngsters in first team affairs has weakened the U23 squad, there seems to be discontent in the youth camp. It has been well documented that Cody Drameh joined Cardiff on loan against Bielsa's wish, and now more players including Crysencio Summerville could be departing. The 20 year old is frustrated at the amount of first team opportunities and (apparently) is close to signing a loan to buy deal with German outfit Hamburg.

The Dutch winger missed the 4-0 hammering on Monday evening, though his absence has not been explained. If he was injured, surely we would have heard about it?





JKA diagnosed with GBS

Former Whites striker Jean-Kevin Augustin has been diagnosed with Guillain-Barré Syndrome, a very rare and serious condition where your body's immune system attacks the nerves. It is not known how long the former French U21 has had the condition, but it could go a long way to describe his performances on the pitch. The side effects include lack of balance and co-ordination, muscle weakness and diarrhea. These issues beautifully sum up his performances for Leeds. The report also indicates Augustin has suffered from long Covid and depression. He is currently contracted to Nantes second team, who play in the fourth tier of French football.

Leeds are appealing the £18m payment they promised RB Leipzig (for Augustin) on technical grounds, and will appear at the Arbitration for Sport on the 15th March.





YEP link Leeds to Spanish ace

The Yorkshire Evening Post are reporting that Leeds are interested in former Real Madrid striker Raul de Tomas. The 27yo has been in fine form for Espanyol, which led to winning two International caps with Spain last year. In 71 appearances, Tomas has netted 38 times, attracting the likes of West Ham and Arsenal.

He came through the ranks at Real Madrid, where he spent fifteen years, before joining Benfica in 2019 for €20m. Things didn't work out there, and Tomas joined Espanyol six months later for the same fee. Whilst it's encouraging to hear, I very much doubt Leeds will want to dig deep into their coffers, especially as Bielsa is happy with the way things are!




View all Showing latest 5 comments of 23...

mentalcase wrote on 26 Jan 2022 07:34 pm

Get real people.
If he's a striker, where would he get in, certainly not ahead of bamford, why in front of Joe ?
If he's a midfielder, same applies, no chance of getting in front of roberts, then what about the other talent trying to force their way in from the U23s ?
Would he come to simply be behind Bate for instance.
Like I said, get real.

Chilli D wrote on 26 Jan 2022 07:25 pm

Carrick Dave wrote: Wed Jan 26, 2022 2:37 pm Interesting post Cjay, and food for thought. The relationship between Radz & the 49ers has always seemed too publicly cordial to me, given that it's all about the money and who does best out of it in the long term.

On another note, you know how Toon paid £25m to secure Wood, though he might be surplus to requirements come the summer. I was wondering if Tom Lawrence might do a job for us for a few months, and he's almost out of contract:

"Derby County’s precarious off-field position has put Tom Lawrence’s future at Pride Park in serious doubt.

The Rams’ problems have been well-documented, with Lawrence potentially about to deal the playing side of things a blow.

The Daily Mail report how AFC Bournemouth and QPR – two of the Championship’s automatic promotion hopefuls – are keen on offering the forward a route out of Derby, with his contract approaching its final months."

He mightn't cost much, he might jump at a crack at the PL and there would be plenty of takers for him in the summer if we wanted to move him on.
I mentioned the possibility of taking a punt on Tom Lawrence a week or so ago CD.
Definitely worth a punt in my opinion.
Skilful, quick, strong and gets his share of goals.
And as you say, wouldn't cost a fortune.

Byebyegeegee wrote on 26 Jan 2022 06:03 pm

After 3 very good and entertaining seasons for Leeds United and us fans things seem to be starting to unravel this year, both with the 1st team and the under 23s. I don’t think there’s anything we can do but just try to ride it out till the end of the season, hope we are still in the Premier League/Premier League 2 and then have a complete overhaul in the summer.

I wonder if the likes of Summerville, Bate and others were promised regular 1st team action as an inducement for them to sign in the first place and are now becoming jittery because that (apart from the odd fleeting appearance) has not been the case.

weasel wrote on 26 Jan 2022 05:12 pm

Carrick Dave wrote: Wed Jan 26, 2022 4:26 pm Change to Covid Postponement rules:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/60135824

Premier League clubs will have to prove they have at least four Covid-19 cases to get matches called off under new guidance announced on Wednesday.

A total of 22 top-flight games were postponed in December and January because of the pandemic.

The rules will be introduced before the next league fixture on 5 February.
Interesting how they change it now that the African players are starting to return and the big clubs will have more players to choose from.

Cjay wrote on 26 Jan 2022 04:41 pm

Carrick Dave wrote: Wed Jan 26, 2022 2:37 pm Interesting post Cjay, and food for thought. The relationship between Radz & the 49ers has always seemed too publicly cordial to me, given that it's all about the money and who does best out of it in the long term.

On another note, you know how Toon paid £25m to secure Wood, though he might be surplus to requirements come the summer. I was wondering if Tom Lawrence might do a job for us for a few months, and he's almost out of contract:

"Derby County’s precarious off-field position has put Tom Lawrence’s future at Pride Park in serious doubt.

The Rams’ problems have been well-documented, with Lawrence potentially about to deal the playing side of things a blow.

The Daily Mail report how AFC Bournemouth and QPR – two of the Championship’s automatic promotion hopefuls – are keen on offering the forward a route out of Derby, with his contract approaching its final months."

He mightn't cost much, he might jump at a crack at the PL and there would be plenty of takers for him in the summer if we wanted to move him on.
Derby have point blank refused to sell anyone this January I believe (all the more baffling given their situation).

Always been decent Lawrence but is he even lower level Premier league standard? Not to sure.

He is match fit footballer I suppose and we have precious few of those so their is that.