#ilia gruev

[tracksuitlesbian]

Let's do the damn thing!

[stillunusual]

The matchday programme - Leeds United v Rotherham United 10/2/2024

[therealefl]

Leeds United To Confirm First Of Two Signings Ahead Of Deadline Day

Leeds United’s seemingly endless pursuit of midfielders this summer is finally set to bear fruit as the Lilywhites are close to signing Werder Bremen star Ilia Gruev, according to The Athletic. German outlet Bild reported on Wednesday that Gruev was allowed to miss training with Werder to hold talks with Leeds over a proposed 4 million euro (£3.4 million) move before the Friday deadline…

[a2zsportsnews]

Transfer guru who scouted Ilia Gruev is "trying to lure" another Leeds star

With Leeds United set for another year of Championship football, some of Europe’s top sides are sensing an opportunity to lure their best players away from Elland Road. Leeds set to lose big talents this summer As soon as the final whistle at Wembley confined Leeds to another season of Championship football it became clear that the Whites are set to lose a number of their top talents this…

[keonhacaitoinay]

Chelsea vẫn chưa thể thoát hẳn ra khỏi mớ hỗn độn của mình ở mùa giải năm nay. The Blues không có được sư ổn định. Tưởng chừng như có thời điểm Chelsea đã lấy lại phong độ hay niềm tin bằng chuỗi 3 trận bất bại liên tiếp nhưng sau đó thì đoàn quân của HLV Mauricio Pochettino lại để thua bạc nhược ở các vòng đấu sau.

Trước khi đến với vòng 5 của cúp FA thì Chelsea cũng chưa hẳn đã đạt được một trạng thái tốt với 2 lần đều để mất 3 điểm tại sân nhà. Bài toán mà Chelsea cần lời giải khi này không đơn thuần chỉ ở chiến thuật mà chất lượng nhân sự cũng là một vấn đề quan trọng.

Mùa giải năm nay, Leeds đang cho thấy được sự quyết tâm cao độ ở giải hạng Nhất Anh. Sau 34 trận đấu tại sân chơi cao thứ Nhì nước Anh thì Leeds cũng đang nằm trong TOP 2 của BXH. Phong độ này nếu như được giữ nguyên thì việc quay trở lại với ngoại hạng Anh chỉ là sớm muộn.

Lịch sử đối đầu Chelsea vs Leeds

Nhìn vào phong độ của Chelsea vs Leeds đang thể hiện thời gian qua thì rõ ràng đội khách đang nhỉnh hơn. Ít nhất là họ cũng chưa thua trận nào ở suốt các trận vừa qua. Ngoài ra, cũng phải thừa nhận là Chelsea vừa để thua Leeds ở lần chạm mặt mới nhất. Rõ ràng kèo cược chấp 1.25 trái với Chelsea mà nói không đơn giản chút nào.

Soi tỷ lệ kèo tài xỉu Chelsea vs Leeds

Thừa nhận rằng có những trận đấu Chelsea chơi tốt và tạo ra nhiều bàn thắng. Ở chiều ngược lại, Leeds cũng cho thấy tại sao họ lại đang nằm trong TOP 2 hạng Nhất Anh với khả năng nổ súng đều đặn. Song, vẫn cần phải nhớ Chelsea chỉ có đúng 1 trận đẻ lọt lưới nhiều hơn 1 bàn. Leeds cũng tương tự với chỉ đúng 1 lần để thủng lưới ở 5 trận sân khách. Xỉu 3 trái đương nhiên đang rất sáng nước.

Thông tin trước trận đấu Chelsea vs Leeds

Mauricio Pochettino sẽ có được hầu hết các quân bài chiến lược của mình ở đội hình xuất phát. Bên kia, Leeds cũng sẵn sàng cho một thức thách không đơn giản tại sân Stamford Bridge.

Đội hình dự kiến Chelsea vs Leeds

Chelsea: Djordje Petrovic, Malo Gusto, Axel Disasi, Levi Samuels Colwill, Benjamin Chilwell, Moises Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez, Cole Jermaine Palmer, Conor Gallagher, Raheem Sterling, Nicolas Jackson

Leeds: Illan Meslier, Hector Junior Firpo Adames, Ethan Ampadu, Joe Rodon, Archie Gray, Glen Kamara, Ilia Gruev, Crysencio Summerville, Georginio Ruttier, Degnand Wilfried Gnonto, Joel Piroe

[delectablywaywardbeard-blog]

Aleksandar Mitrovic in azione contro Ilia Gruev

source

[milleniumfussball]

Als Spielgestalter und Standardspezialist gehört auch Ilia Gruev zum Kader der Millenium Zebras. Der Bulgare, der von 2015-2018 als Cheftrainer der Duisburger aktiv war, bewies stets seine Loyalität zum MSV. Deswegen begrüßen wir ihn recht herzlich bei den 23 besten und prägendsten Spielern des Duisburger Millenium-Jahrzehnts. Bilanz: 2000-2004, 180 Spiele, 11 Tore #msv #duisburg #msvduisburg #zebras #meiderichersportverein #wedau #120jahremsv #wedaustadion #fussball #footballunit #bundesliga #dekadenteams #millenium2L #iliagruev Wie erinnerst du dich an Ilia Gruev? (hier: Wedaustadion) https://www.instagram.com/p/Ci10Bg7gKvk/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[dermontag]

Akute Abstiegsgefahr für Arminia Bielefeld trennt sich offenbar von Trainer Kramer 20.04.2022, 10:48 Uhr Arminia Bielefeld steckt tief im Abstiegskampf der Fußball-Bundesliga. Um noch die Wende zu schaffen, trennt sich der Klub jetzt offenbar von Trainer Frank Kramer. Medienberichten zufolge soll der derzeitige Torwarttrainer sein Amt übernehmen. Arminia Bielefeld hat sich im Abstiegskampf der Fußball-Bundesliga übereinstimmenden Medienberichten zufolge von Trainer Frank Kramer getrennt. Der Klub bestätigte die Freistellung bislang nicht. "Wenn es etwas zu verkünden gibt, dann werden wir das heute auch noch machen", sagte ein Vereinssprecher. Die Ostwestfalen stehen nach der 0:3-Niederlage vom Wochenende gegen den FC Bayern München vier Runden vor Saisonschluss auf einem direkten Abstiegsplatz. Die Pleite gegen den designierten Meister war das siebte Spiel in Folge ohne Sieg. Nur einen Punktgewinn und einen Treffer gab es in den letzten Wochen, als es ein glückliches 1:1 gegen den ebenfalls abstiegsbedrohten VfB Stuttgart gab. Nach Informationen der Zeitungen "Neue Westfälische" und "Westfalen-Blatt" soll auch Co-Trainer Ilia Gruev nicht mehr zum Trainerteam zählen. Das Training soll demnach Torwarttrainer Marco Kostmann mit Unterstützung von Michael Henke leiten. Der langjährige Co-Trainer war zuletzt vereinslos. Vor seiner letzten Station beim FC Ingolstadt war er Assistent von Ottmar Hitzfeld bei Bayern München und Borussia Dortmund. Selbst Fürth schießt mehr Tore Kramer hatte die Bielefelder im März 2021 von Vorgänger Uwe Neuhaus übernommen und das Team auf den 15. Platz geführt. Damit wurde der Klassenverbleib gesichert. Zuletzt aber wurde der Druck auf Kramer immer größer. In 13 Monaten als Arminia-Coach holte Kramer lediglich zehn Siege (bei 44 Pflichtspielen). Das Team stand schon bei Abschluss der Hinrunde auf einem direkten Abstiegsplatz. Mehr zum Thema Der Relegationsplatz ist zwei Punkte entfernt, derzeit belegt ihn der VfB Stuttgart. Am nächsten Samstag treten die Bielefelder beim 1. FC Köln an (15.30 Uhr im ntv.de-Liveticker). Anschließend steht das wegweisende Heimspiel gegen den direkten Konkurrenten Hertha BSC an. Die Berliner belegen aktuell den rettenden Platz 15. Der Arminia machen vor allem die personellen Abgänge zu schaffen. So ist jetzt schon klar oder es zeichnet sich ab, dass unter anderem Leistungsträger wie Patrick Wimmer (VfL Wolfsburg), Fabian Klos oder Torhüter Stefan Ortega Moreno (beide offen) den Verein am Saisonende verlassen werden. Zudem ist die Offensive viel zu harmlos: Selbst Schlusslicht Greuther Fürth (24 Tore) hat einen Treffer mehr erzielt als Bielefeld (23).

[duisburgrd-blog]

Innenverteidiger Gerrit Nauber wechselt in ZebraStreifen

Innenverteidiger Gerrit Nauber wechselt in ZebraStreifen

„Gerrit ist genau der starke Defensivspieler, den wir uns für unseren Kader gewünscht haben. Er hat in Lotte eine hervorragende Saison in der Liga und im Pokal gespielt und besticht durch eine hohe Konstanz“, unterstreicht Trainer Ilia Gruev. „Er war zudem Kapitän, was für seine Führungsqualitäten spricht. Er passt vom Typ sportlich und menschlich optimal zu uns.“ „Wer Gerrits Karriere verfolgt,…

[stillunusual]

Leeds United: Meslier, Bogle, Firpo, Ampadu, Struijk, Rodon, James (Piroe 71), Joseph (Bamford 79), Georginio, Gnonto (Aaronson 71), Gruev (Rothwell 71).

Subs not used: Darlow, Byram, Gelhardt, Wober, Crew. Last season Leeds United got off to a poor start, managing to win only one of our first five games - and also finished the season badly, losing four of our last six games. Nevertheless we ended up with an impressive 90 points, but still failed to get promoted. In order to secure a return to the Premier League this time around, we need to do at least as well as last season while hoping that nobody else is able to dominate the league like Leicester and Ipswich did last time….

Our opening fixture against Portsmouth looked like a very winnable game that would get us off to a better start, but what happened instead was typical Leeds - we dominated the game, missed loads of chances, gave away some cheap goals and ended up scraping a draw….

Amazingly, Leeds hit the woodwork three times in the first seven minutes. First of all, a great cross from Georginio found Willy Gnonto in the Portsmouth box, who saw his deflected shot hit the bar and go behind. From the resulting corner, Ethan Ampadu's header also hit the bar, with Junior Firpo's follow up then being saved by the Pompey keeper. Less than a minute later a free kick by Ilia Gruev hit the corner of post and bar.

Shortly after that we were awarded a penalty when Dan James was blatantly fouled in the area and Pascal Struijk coolly slotted it home to give Leeds a deserved lead. To say that we bossed the first 20 minutes of the game would be an understatement, and it should already have been put to bed before awful defending and worse goalkeeping gifted Pompey an equaliser totally against the run of play. Leeds continued to dominate the game, but Mateo Joseph, Gnonto and Georginio all failed to put away decent chances, and Pompey scored again just before half time with their second shot of the match….

Fortunately, Gnonto equalised shortly after the restart and it looked like we would still go on to win, but despite dominating possession and creating more opportunities, we couldn't find the net. Daniel Farke made a triple change in the 71st minute, replacing Gruev, Gnonto and James with Joe Rothwell, Brenden Aaronson and Joel Piroe. A few minutes later Patrick Bamford replaced Mateo Joseph. But the changes actually made us less effective and as the minutes ticked by, it looked like the game would finish 2-2. But then Pompey were awarded a very dodgy penalty in stoppage time, and scored their third goal from only their fourth shot on target - and it looked like it was all over.

However, Leeds didn't give up, and Aaronson almost turned himself into an instant hero by equalising from the edge of the box after being played in by Piroe. I say "almost" because in the final seconds he could have won the game for Leeds but dragged his shot just wide….

It must have been an amazing game for any neutrals watching, but for Leeds fans it was two points dropped at home, and a worrying sign that the flaws which prevented us from getting promoted last season are still there….

[stillunusual]

Leeds United: Meslier, Firpo, Ampadu, Piroe (Joseph 74), Kamara, Summerville (Anthony 74), Rodon, Gray, Rutter (Roberts 74), Gnonto (James 69), Gruev (Cooper 83).

Subs not used: Darlow, Cresswell, Cooper, Shackleton, Gelhardt. Leeds United booked their place in the Championship play off final after a surprisingly emphatic 4-0 demolition of Norwich City at Elland Road.

This was a much-needed return to form by a Leeds team that has failed to deliver in recent weeks. Joel Piroe led the line superbly, Glen Kamara and Ilia Gruev controlled the midfield, Georginio Rutter got his mojo back, Crysencio Summerville and Willy Gnonto were a constant threat, our back four - Archie Gray, Joe Rodon, Ethan Ampadu and Junior Firpo - looked solid throughout and Illan Meslier had very little to do.

The atmosphere was electric and Leeds were on the front foot from the start.

After a couple of early chances we took the lead in the seventh minute, by actually scoring from a set piece (I can't remember the last time that happened but it seems like a long time ago). Rodon was fouled in what looked a great crossing position on the right, but Gruev chose instead to whip an inch-perfect free kick inside the near post, beyond the despairing dive of the Norwich keeper….

We kept up the pressure and soon had a two goal cushion when Gnonto delivered a superb cross for Piroe to head home at the far post. Meslier made a crucial one-on-one save to deny Josh Sargent a couple of minutes later, and I started to believe that it was going to be our night….

Leeds dominated the rest of the first half and a killer third goal just before the break pretty much put the game to bed. Piroe broke down the left and slid an enticing delivery across the face of goal, which ended up at Rutter's feet after Summerville and Norwich’s Shane Duffy failed to control the ball, and he fired home off the underside of the crossbar, sending Elland Road into ecstasy.

Rutter, Gnonto, Piroe and Summerville all had excellent chances to add to our lead, before we finally scored our fourth goal midway through the second half. A shot from Gnonto rebounded to Firpo, who cut the ball back to Summerville and he fired it into the net from close range.

Further chances came and went as Daniel Farke brought on four substitutes. It was nice to see a brief cameo from Liam Cooper, which was almost certainly his last appearance in a white shirt.

In the other play off semi-final Southampton beat West Bromwich Albion 3-0 on aggregate, so we will face them at Wembley on 26th May to decide which team gets promoted to the Premier League. I've never had any negative feelings about Southampton, but at one point during the home leg of their semi-final, the Sky cameras focused in on Rishi Sunak, who was in the crowd and is apparently a life-long fan.

How utterly nauseating….

[stillunusual]

Leeds United: Meslier, Firpo, Ampadu, Kamara (Piroe 84), Bamford (Joseph 72), Summerville (Anthony 90), Rodon, James, Gray, Rutter, Byram (Shackleton 90).

Subs not used: Darlow, Cresswell, Cooper, Gelhardt, Crew. On Easter Monday Leeds United were again playing after all the other Championship games had been completed, so before kick off we already knew that Leicester had beaten Norwich, and Ipswich had beaten Southampton, which means that the Saints are pretty much out of the race for the automatic promotion spots.

There was a great tribute to Christopher Loftus and Kevin Speight before the game (and another one in the 24th minute) - credit to the Hull City fans for respecting it.

It's still not clear when Ilia Gruev, Willy Gnonto and Connor Roberts will be back from injury, and it looks increasingly likely that Pascal Struijk and Stuart Dallas will miss the rest of the season. Daniel Farke fielded the strongest starting line up that was available to him, even though not all of the players were fully fit.

It was another tired performance from Leeds, with the same lack of fluency as against Watford. We were over-run in midfield for long periods of the game and badly missed Gruev once again.

Nevertheless, we got an early goal, when an amazing run by Georginio Rutter ended with a pass to Crysencio Summerville on the left flank. He darted into the area and forced a fine save from Ryan Allsop, with Sam Byram on hand to head home the rebound at the far post.

Then, a few minutes later, Patrick Bamford missed what looked like an simple chance to put us 2-0 up….

Hull grew into the game and dominated the rest of the first half. They levelled proceedings when Fabio Carvalho met Tyler Morton’s cross at the near post, flicking an effort beyond Illan Meslier and into the back of the net.

Just before half time we had several chances to score from a corner - Rutter, Summerville and Junior Firpo all had shots blocked.

The home fans were unusually quiet, but early pressure from Leeds after the break got them going again.

Hull also had opportunities in the second half and looked like the better team until Farke turned to his bench. Mateo Joseph replaced Bamford with just under 20 minutes to play and almost scored, flicking Firpo’s low cross onto the post, with the left back then glancing Byram’s floated delivery wide after we had recycled possession. Firpo also had a great chance to score with a header a few minutes later.

But just as it was looking like another poor display was going to end with two points dropped, Summerville was brought down in the Hull penalty area and the referee pointed to the spot….

Joel Piroe, who had just replaced Glen Kamara, stepped forward to take the penalty, but Summerville grabbed the ball and refused to give it up. Ethan Ampadu had to get involved and ended up ushering a visibly annoyed Piroe away. Fortunately, Summerville calmly slotted the ball past Allsop in front of the Revie Stand to cue pandemonium inside Elland Road.

And the noise level went up another notch when we scored our third goal deep into stoppage time. Dan James began his football career in Hull and the away fans had been taunting him throughout the game, but he ended up with the perfect response. After Allsop went up for a Hull corner, the ball was cleared to Piroe, who fed James, and he took one touch before shooting into Hull's empty net from the half-way line….

[stillunusual]

Leeds United: Meslier, Ampadu, Cooper (Firpo 63), Kamara (Joseph 84), Bamford, Summerville, Rodon, James, Gray, Rutter (Piroe 74), Byram (Anthony 84).

Subs not used: Darlow (GK), Cresswell, Shackleton, Gelhardt, Crew. Good Friday was another dramatic day in the Championship promotion race, with all four teams who are competing for the automatic promotion spots playing at different times.

Leicester City played first, but missed their chance to go back to the top of the league by losing against Bristol City. Southampton were up next, and drew their game against Middlesbrough. Ipswich were third to play, and beat Blackburn 1-0, which moved them into top spot.

This meant that Leeds United needed a win against Watford to reclaim first place, but disappointingly we had to settle for a point after a largely sub-par performance at Vicarage Road.

In his post-match interview, Daniel Farke explained that the international break had left him with only six of his first team squad, and that he had been unable to do a training session with the full team before this game. Willy Gnonto, Ilia Gruev and Connor Roberts returned to Elland Road with injuries. Gnonto and Roberts will probably miss half of our remaining fixtures, but Gruev's injury is apparently less serious. Junior Firpo wasn't injured but was left out of the starting line up after arriving in Leeds the night before the game. Georginio Rutter had a minor hernia operation nine days ago, but was deemed fit enough to play.

For some reason, Farke decided to deal with Gruev's absence by moving Ethan Ampadu back into midfield and giving Liam Cooper a rare start in central defence which, in retrospect, turned out to be a mistake.

We've got used to our defence being well organised and solid, but right from the start the back four looked shaky, with a definite lack of understanding between Cooper, Joe Rodon and Illan Meslier in particular. And I never though I'd find myself saying this, but we really missed Firpo's forward runs, link up play and assists. We also missed Gruev's presence in midfield, where Ampadu and Glen Kamara kept getting in each other's way, and - with the notable exception of Crysencio Summerville - the whole team was poor in the first half. There were definitely some weary legs out there….

Watford are a decent side, which has under-performed massively this season, despite having several players with Premier League experience. We beat them easily at Elland Road last September, but this time things were very different. The opening few minutes were played entirely in the Leeds half of the pitch, and Watford dominated the game until the break.

However, the first real shot on goal was from Summerville in the fifteenth minute, who cut inside on his right foot and struck powerfully, forcing Daniel Bachmann into a good save.

Watford took the lead in the 31st minute, when a quick counter-attack ended with a strike by Emmanuel Dennis which Meslier saved superbly, but the ball rebounded directly to Vakoun Bayo, who made no mistake from close range. Dennis almost scored a second a few minutes later but was thwarted by a last ditch challenge from Rodon. Summerville then gave us hope with a stunning equaliser. He again cut inside and curled a shot into the far corner, and this time the Watford keeper wasn't able to get near it. But just before half time, Dennis received the ball on the right wing, pushed forward into the box, went past Cooper as if he wasn't there and beat Meslier with an unstoppable finish.

The second half was more even, and Leeds almost equalised early on, when Summerville burst into the Watford penalty area and forced Bachmann into another good save.

But we weren't able to create another clear cut opportunity before Farke made his first substitution, taking off Cooper and bringing on Firpo to play at left back, moving Sam Byram to right back, Archie Gray to midfield and Ampadu back to central defence. Leeds immediately looked more balanced and gradually took control of the game, but still struggled to find a cutting edge. Farke then replaced Rutter (who had been a shadow of his usual self and maybe should have been rested) with Joel Piroe, and with only a few minutes to go, his last throw of the dice was to replace Kamara and Byram with Mateo Joseph and Jaidon Anthony.

Literally 25 seconds later, Joseph scored the equaliser when he found space in a packed penalty area to bundle the ball into the net after an excellent run and cross from Summerville.

Moments later, Leeds almost took the lead when Summerville worked his way into the box again, only to see his shot saved by Bachman. The ball fell to Anthony who also managed to shoot on goal, but Bachmann stood firm again and made another excellent stop.

We kept up the pressure, but couldn’t find a winner….

Nevertheless, a draw felt like a good result under the circumstances, even though the day ended with Ipswich in first place on 84 points, followed by LUFC (83), Leicester (82) and Southampton (74). Leicester have a game in hand and Southampton have two games in hand.

We only have seven games left to play, so it looks like Ipswich and Leicester are once again favourites for automatic promotion….

[stillunusual]

Leeds United: Meslier, Firpo, Ampadu, Kamara, Piroe (Gelhardt 87), Summerville (Anthony 72), Rodon, Gray (Roberts 77), Rutter (Joseph 77), Gnonto (James 73) Gruev.

Subs not used: Klaesson, van den Heuevel, Cresswell, Cooper. Patrick Bamford was injured in the warm up before this game, so Joel Piroe took his place and we ended up with two goalkeepers on the bench.

A lively start by Leeds ensured that the game was effectively over very quickly.

In the eighth minute Georginio Rutter recycled the ball after the Swansea defence had cleared a Leeds corner, Ilia Gruev then played it to Crysencio Summerville who cut inside and scored via a deflection. Two minutes later Piroe scored against his former side, after a neat one-two with Willy Gnonto.

Swansea's attempt at a high press backfired as we were able to hit them on the break pretty much at will for the first 20 minutes, and Gnonto almost scored a third after Glen Kamara intercepted a short corner from Swansea and released Summerville, who played Gnonto through one-on-one, but he was denied by the Swansea keeper.

The home side then tried to slow down the pace of the game and keep the ball more, but just as it looked like they were gaining a foothold in the game, Archie Gray played the ball down the right for Gnonto and he cut inside, beat his marker and calmly slotted the ball into the bottom corner with his left foot.

Swansea were more threatening after the break, but it was Leeds who added to the score. Summerville won the ball on the wing and played in Gnonto, who raced into the area and calmly found the bottom corner again.

Our recent form (seven league wins in a row since the start of 2024) has enabled Leeds to close the gap on the other teams at the top of the Championship, and this result temporary moved us into second place. Leicester are still well in front in first place, Southampton can overtake us if the win their game in hand, and Ipswich will be level on points with Leeds if they win their game in hand, but with an inferior goal difference….

[stillunusual]

Leeds United: Meslier, Firpo, Ampadu, Kamara (Cooper 90), Bamford, Summerville (Joseph 90), Rodon, James (Anthony 45), Gray (Byram 90), Rutter, Gruev.

Subs not used: Klaesson, Piroe, Shackleton, Poveda, Gelhardt. This was a scrappy game, which Leeds won thanks to Patrick Bamford's headed goal early in the first half.

Norwich had a lot of possession but didn't do much with it. As usual we were very wasteful in front of goal and totally deserved the three points.

Ethan Apadu and Joe Rodon have becme a great partnership in central defence, and Ilia Gruev has done a good job in Ampadu's usual position in midfield, so it will be interesting to see if Pascal Struijk can get back into the team when he's fit again.

Dan James and Archie Gray both had excellent games, but both had to leave the field with injuries. Gray recently signed a new contract with Leeds United and I hope he'll stay with the club for years to come. However, there's no sign of any incoming transfer activity by Leeds with only a few days left before the window closes….

[stillunusual]

Leeds United: Meslier, Gray, Rodon, Struijk, Byram (Ayling 85), Ampadu, Gruev (Poveda 85), Gnonto (Summerville 70), Piroe (Bamford 70), Anthony (James 70), Rutter.

Subs not used: Darlow, Cooper, Kamara, Shackleton. This was a game we could have won, but somehow managed to throw away. Daniel Farke took a gamble by dropping Glen Kamara, Dan James and Crysencio Summerville, and replacing them with Ilia Gruev, Jaidon Anthony and Willy Gnonto - all of whom struggled to make an impact.

Stoke dominated the first half without really threatening, while Leeds failed to get going. We looked solid enough in defence but kept giving the ball away in midfield, and Georginio Rutter and Joel Piroe were mainly spectators.

We were better in the second half, particularly after Summerville, James and Patrick Bamford came on. Bamford was put through by Rutter and brought down in the Stoke box - a blatant penalty, which he insisted on taking, despite the fact that Summerville wanted to do it. Bamford has only scored from 50% of the penalties he's taken as a Leeds player and missed the previous two. I expected him to also miss this one - and he did, blasting the ball well over the bar.

A couple of minutes later, Stoke scored from a corner. We kept up the pressure but couldn't find a way through.

Typical Leeds….