Season Review Part One - The Players

Goalkeeper

Robinson 6 – Well he had plenty of chances to show he was an England standard keeper, but he never really proved it. Basically he was competent and little more. Better than average for close range reaction saves, below average when faced with shots from outside the area.  I think the fact his value dropped during the season says it all. In the England squad because there’s no-one else. Not as good as he thinks he is, not as good as Nige.

Defence

Kelly 6 – Never gave up, and often appeared to be the only one trying to organise the defence into any sort of order. But unfortunately after being a revelation in midfield last season, he was largely dragged down to the same level as the rest of the defence. If he stays it may be better to deploy him in midfield in front of Richardson.

Harte 5 – Remarkably he ended the season having seen off the challenge of yet another centre-back brought in to replace him. Not quite sure how, as even his free-kick skills seem to have deserted him nowadays, maybe he’s got a telephoto lens and loads of blackmail material on all the Managers. Can’t see him going anywhere though, whose going to match his wages. As quick across the pitch as an asthmatic ant carrying some heavy shopping in the words of Blackadder, still at least quick wingers are in shorter supply in the Nationwide.

Matteo 7 – Oh for a pair of decent knees. Did everything you could ask of a captain, managed to play in the majority of games despite being obviously in pain at times, but is not a midfielder and should never have been asked to play there. Should have played him at centre-back all year and then we might not have let in as many goals, Judas George knew about building a team from the back. Again his injury problems mean it's unlikely many will want to risk paying a wage his high, so may turn out to be the linchpin of our defence next year, providing they put a few pins in his knees first.

Duberry 3 – I blame the Kop. If they hadn’t encouraged him so much with those ridiculous "Dubes" chants, he might have concentrated on doing his job properly. Has pace and strength, 2 of the main attributes of a centre-back, unfortunately appears to have no brain. Often caught out of position and appeared to have no concept of basic defending. Ie Keep goal-side, know where your centre-back partner is. The odd goal doesn't mean you can forget about your main job. We needed a strong centre-back this year, not a cheer-leading clown.

Camara 6 – Unlucky – Played pretty well early season, quick and composed if prone to the odd heart-attack moment as he dribbled out of defence. Dropped after a heavy home defeat by Ars*nal, which is hardly a fair test and then only recalled for Southampton where he had a nightmare and was never seen again. Deserved better as he looked a better defender than most of the other Centre-backs we saw this year.

Domi 6 – An early appearance in the debacle at Leicester, and then not seen again til after Xmas. Added a different dimension to our attacking with a bit of extra pace out wide but often missing a bit at full-back, Liverpool game especially. It's no good leaving an answerphone at full-back in the Premier league, 'i'm sorry Didier's gone walkabout at the moment, leave a message and he'll get back to position when he can". Potentially an improvement on Harte but never conclusively proved it. A shame because the Do Didi Dom song is great.

Kilgallon 6 – Also unlucky not to play more, Eddie obviously decided a youngster wasn’t the right person for a relegation fight, but looked more composed and unflustered than most of his competitors. Will get his chance next year. Resembles Woody both on the pitch and in the brain, demanding a transfer because he didn't get a big new contract - we're broke and you're not even in the team you prat.

Caldwell 4 – One of the more bizarre signings of the season. Signed in a position where we had loads of players already, despite the fact we were crying out for an extra midfielder. He then held his position in the team, whilst better CB’s were played in midfield (Matteo and Radebe) or left out entirely (Kilgallon and Camara). From a promising debut against Villa he just got worse and worse and formed a defensive partnership with Duberry that resembled Laurel and Hardy at times. The more they played together the less they seemed to know each other. Shambolic.

Midfield

Morris 3 – Ineffectual on the pitch, a disgrace off it. Should have signed for Cardiff at the start of the season, they’d have deserved each other. Rarely noticed he was playing til he got booked for a daft late tackle, no goals, no assists, 2 r*pe charges, thanks a lot Jody, just when we thought our reputation couldn’t sink much lower. Would have been up their with Paul Okon as worst Leeds player in recent memory except for …

Roque Jr 2 – Five league starts. 20 goals conceded, this included the mighty Pompey, Everton and Leicester, says it all really. Even threw in a redcard as an added bonus. Didn’t want to tackle or head the ball and almost single-handedly caused Peter Reid sacking with a masteclass of jogging round aimlessly and avoiding the ball when picked in midfield at Pompey. The only positive thing you can say is he’s a better defender than midfielder. Even when not picked did a virtuoso performance of sulking whilst warming up at Southampton. Brazil must be f***ing good if they can win the World Cup with him in the team, must be football equivalent of a handicap system. UEFA are catching on and have put Duberry in the France team this summer whilst Harte’s turning out for the Dutch. Wouldn’t get picked for the Lards.

Sakho 5 – His season probably peaked pre-season in Dublin when we didn’t even know his name. Got an early run in the team on the wing but despite a bit of pace and skill, always a bit too lightweight to really have an effect in the Premier League. Basically disappeared after Reid was sacked, though would have made a useful sub at times, went home early and injured.

Pennant 7 – Flattered to deceive. Probably proved exactly what Wenger already thought of him, a decent enough Premier League player but not ready for Ars*nal yet. Often the only spark of flair in the team mid-season, but if your going to follow a darting run past 3 defenders with a cross into the crowd, then you may as well have just saved time and given it to Duberry in the first place. Will no doubt get transferred onto a mid-table PL team, score the odd spectacular goal, but ultimately never make it to the very top. Better than most of our lot though.

McPhail 4 – He must be brilliant in training. Every manager gives him a chance and soon realises he just doesn’t have the physical strength or pace to survive in the modern game. He may well be able to pass the ball but unfortunately other players aren’t just going to stand around and watch him do it. Only ever likely to prove effective if played with 2 string midfielders (as with Batty and Dacourt in his best spell), which is never a luxury he had.  His attempts to prove he is tough enough, with ludicrous lunging challenges a la Chelsea is quite funny though. Can’t say he didn’t try but just not up to it, not sure the drop in division will help either, they don’t take prisoners down there.

Bakke 6 – We missed him. Never going to be the star man in a Championship chasing team, but that’s not what we are anymore. He has the ability to cover ground and make a nuisance of himself in midfield and had some idea about getting forward to help the attackers. When he came back from injury was starting to forge a decent partnership with Johnson before he got injured again. Also one of the more loyal players, one of only 3 who agreed the wage deferral first time up. Could be an important player in the Nationwide, but I suspect someone will come in for him before long.

Batty 6 – We’ll never know the truth about his attitude in training or what he did to upset Eddie but I suspect falling out with 4 managers in 4 years tells some sort of story. When he did play he improved our midfield no end and gave us the solidity we missed, though was struggling to play more than once a week. If he was the true Leeds hero some think he is he’d have kept his mouth shut, swallowed his pride and done all he could to keep us up.

Johnson 6.5 – Another inconsistent, injury hit season. None too impressive early season playing with the munchkin Morris, but after his first spell out with injury was putting in the best run of games in his Leeds career before getting injured again. If he’d have stayed fit could have made a difference but too many if’s with Seth. Can’t really hold him responsible for his injuries or what he gets paid – would you turn down such an offer, and his injury and the wages mean we’re stuck with him, so just got to hope he recovers and gives us some value for money after Xmas next year.

Olembe 6 – Probably the worst treated player at Leeds this year, bizarrely omitted for most of the season, despite clearly being the best left-back we had and an improvement on most of our midfield. Quick, committed and experienced at the highest level, exactly the sort of player we were crying out for. The ‘he didn’t speak English well enough" excuse, just seems like bollocks, he’s played 60 odd international games so I think he probably knew to pass it to the bloke in the white shirt, which a lot of the other midfielders never got to grips with. A waste.

Milner 7 – One of the few to come out of the season with any real credit. The early season loan move probably gave him confidence and once he made an impressive first appearance against Man U, he deservedly kept his place for the rest of the year. Highlight was probably the roasting of Denis Irwin in the Wolves home games, but despite the odd tired performance, gave us a consistent option on the left, which is probably not his best position. Lacks the searing pace to really be an out and out winger but a combination of skill and a good football brain probably means he has a bright future. Works hard and gets back to do his share of defensive work. We desperately need to keep him but finances are likely to prove otherwise.

Lennon 6 – The odd decent cameo but to be honest little more. Unfair to expect him to have a significant impact on the Premier League at his size and his age and largely used wisely with brief appearances when the opposition tired. There’s definitely some talent there but will need to develop physically to really make it. Expect to see a bit more of him next year, but it may be a couple of years before we really see his true potential. Important not to rush him in our desperation.

Strikers

Viduka 5* – Usual slow start to the season due to a mix of lack of fitness and lack of service. Have no problem with him spending most of January in Oz, and indeed he came back stronger and was our best player for a couple of months. However, ultimately he let us down when we needed him most when his 2 pointless sendings off cost us his services against Pompey and most of the Bolton game. One of the few players who may have been able to save us but he didn’t deliver. One of the better players we’ve seen in the last few years but will leave this summer too little fanfare.

*Score includes extra bonus point for thumping Duberry earlier in the year.

Alan Smith 8 – Easily Player of the Season despite it’s inglorious end. Probably the only player who always looked up for it and never tired. You’d obviously like a striker to score more goals, but the strikers did lack support and service and he was doing a lot of work outside the area, winning the ball in the first place. Added a bit more discipline to his commitment and his run of games without a booking post Xmas was very impressive and proved that he is perhaps a better player when not going at it eyeballs out all the time. Unfortunately it looks like Scum, not us, will benefit from his new found maturity. His comments towards the end of the season, were just stupid. He was obviously going anyway so why make a fuss about it and alienate the fans, the abuse and v-sign at Chelsea was very sad. He’s not the messiah – he’s a very naughty boy.

Others

Carson – Did fine in his 2 appearances though need more evidence before I’d want to rely on him for a whole year.

Barmby – Actually played pretty well in his couple of appearances, can’t really blame him for not being picked. Could be an important player next year if he doesn’t leave.

Richardson – Should have played more – looked solid when he did player. Will most likely be a regular next year,

Johnson – Done Ok for reserves, but his first team appearances have showed me anything that makes me confident he’ll regularly score goals anywhere above the third division. We need to find some strikers.

Chapuis – Well nice one Cyril at Cambridge was fun – apart from that a waste of money.

Wilcox - Bye

Coming next – Management, Board, Fans and where we go next.

Matt