Good Morning. It's Monday 25th January, and here are the latest headlines from Elland Road...
Newcastle Defensive crisis delights Leeds fans
Newcastle Utd's 2-0 loss at Villa Park over the weekend was their tenth game in a row without winning. Their only saving grace was their rampant opponents sloppiness in front of goal saved the Geordies from conceding a much heavier defeat. First choice central defenders Federico Fernandez and Ciaran Clark will continue to be ruled out due to injury. Makeshift defender Isaac Hayden may revert back to normal midfield duties following his inept performance at centre back. Manager Steve Bruce said;
We have got a problem at centre back, we have got three or four missing unfortunately there so we hope that clears up well.” There has got to be a certain way that we go about our work, especially we have got to tighten up defensively still and that’s got to be the key to it.
Newcastle also only recorded one shot on target over the entire 90 minutes.
Meslier returns to training after illness
Leeds shot stopper Illan Messlier is back training at Thorp Arch with the rest of the first team, and looks as sharp as ever. The 20yo was absent from the Brighton game with illness, prompting mass speculation on social media that Meslier had caught the Corona Virus. Below, we see goal keeping coach Marcos Abad put both keepers through their paces;
Spurs sell 300k of grass to Leeds
As reported last week, the Premier League demanded that Leeds needed to improve on safety conditions, especially for visiting players. Whilst making these improvements, the Whites decided to take advantage of their two week home break to completely relay the playing surface. The Leeds hierarchy contacted their North London dealers to find out whether they would be prepared to part with a pitch load of their best stuff! Tottenham agreed, and both clubs settled at £300k.
Spurs were in the process of growing the turf as an eventual replacement for their currently one, but their pitch is still in great shape. According to Phil Hay, the pitch transplant is just a stop gap. Major works are earmarked for the Summer including digging out and replacing the drainage system, the undersoil heating and all the different layers of soil, sand and gravel.
