Sitting in a play-off spot for the first time since our away
victory at Ipswich, and sitting 3rd in the form table, it’s all
smiles at Elland Road this weekend. With
3 straight wins and a striker who can’t stop scoring, the misery of September’s
baron spell seems an awfully long time ago. As we approach the mid-season mark,
and the all-important Christmas run in, we at @LUFC_Calypso thought we’d
analyse just how far this Leeds United squad can go, and whether our push for
promotion is as genuine as it may appear. In the spirit our friend @PositiveLufcFan, we
think our promotion aspirations are far from dead.
Saturday’s result against Middlesbrough, albeit thanks to Boro
‘keeper Jason Steele , saw us continue in our rich vein of form, and if this
momentum is continued into our run of slightly more challenging fixtures, Leeds
United will see themselves approaching the dizzy heights of an established play-off
spot. On top of this, some of the players seemed to have turned a corner. The
once ‘pantomime villain’ Danny Pugh seems to be putting the performances in to
warrant selection and challenge Stephen Warnock outright for the left back
spot. Jason ‘50p head’ Pearce has
finally scored a goal, something that even the most optimistic of Leeds fans
didn’t seen happening, and Ross
McCormack can’t miss at the moment, scoring 7 in 3 games and soaring to the
peak of the Sky Bet Championship top goalscorer’s list – happy days. Competition
for places in the starting XI has never been better, with many considering
gentle giant Matt Smith unlucky to be taking his place amongst the substitutes
given the impact he’s made having been given his chance, and the arrival of
Marius Zaliukas has proven to be both an excellent bit of business and a much
required option in the centre back role.
Not only this, but it seems that those not willing to get stuck in and
fight for their place are gradually being edged out. We can say with total
conviction that the termination of Ryan Hall’s contract has not been met with
any sadness, at least not from the large majority of the United faithful. Brian
McDermott seems to have incorporated a system that works, with our best players
being used in their correct positions, and the periphery players so relied upon
by Neil Warnock seem to have taken their rightful place in the reserves.
Off the field, things seem to be as settled as is physically
possible given the constant speculation around the future of the various owners
in recent seasons. Off the back of a string of disappointing losses, however
ridiculous a claim it was the ‘McDermott Out’ minority were just starting to
creep onto social media and Ross McCormack was being written off just as often.
On both accounts, no such delusional calls for either of their heads are being made any more. In addition,
contract talks with Alex Mowatt have begun, and without being overly confident,
it seems they are going well at this stage. Should this come to fruition, the
consolidation of one of our most prized assets would only add to the positive
vibe at the club. It certainly seems that in all areas Leeds United are on the
up.
This all very well, but the job has barely started. The focus must now be shifted away from the good work we
have achieved in recent weeks and towards sustaining it on a longer timescale.
This purple patch has now boosted us into the realms of potential promotion
candidates, but to slump back to the form displayed against Millwall and Derby
in particular would see us retain our place as the middle-of-the-road, mediocre
side that teams have no reason to fear. With some much needed improvements made
on our away form, we really believe that this season may be a turning point.
Let’s hope so, Marching On Together.
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