BRENTFORD AWAY: POST MATCH

Brentford 0 UNITED 0

Booked: Brentford (McCormack 80) UNITED (Bellusci 74)

Sent off: UNITED (Bellusci 88)

Attendance: 8,659

Thoughts: Although many credited our performance, I was disappointed. We had a ton of chances which we failed to take and we really weren't clinical enough in front of goal. Added to that I was furious that Bellusci managed to get himself sent off.

Cup run perhaps! Great results.

GIUSEPPE BELLUSCI

"Good work lads, let's keep implementing this passing game during games and who knows? We might even go up"

My input on the day's training is over and I head towards the car when I hear footsteps running up towards me. I turn around to see Giuseppe Bellusci, who appears eager to have a word.

"What can I do for you Beppe?"

"Can I have a word in private boss?"

"Yeah sure, no problem"

I walk alongside Giuseppe towards a wall where we can have a quiet discussion.

"Right what's up?"

"I'm sorry boss but I don't think I can play for this club much longer. Don't get me wrong, I love the club but off-the-pitch I'm just not settling"

I start to feel sorry for him. On the pitch he can be a bit of a prick but off it he's a great guy it's a shame to see it not working out for him.

"Is there anything we can do to help you settle? I can grant you a leave of absence to clear your head if you want"

"I'm afraid that won't help boss, but I feel that will just make it worse. I appreciate the effort but I feel as though my mind is made up"

"Well if I can't convince you to stay I'm going to have to find a new club for you"

"When do you think you'll be able to let me go?"

"Well I've heard from the Football League that as a result of financial mismanagement in the last regime breaking financial fair play rules, we'll be under a transfer embargo in January which means we wouldn't be able to sign a replacement. I'll have to let you go at the end of the season"

"That's great, cheers boss"

I hate Bellusci irl but he's a good player. Shame you're losing him

2015-07-12 17:11#216185 Jack : I hate Bellusci irl but he's a good player. Shame you're losing him

I love him to bits as a player but he is a bit of an arsehole

END OF MONTH: SEPTEMBER

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Results

Birmingham (A) 2-1
Bournemouth (A) 3-2
Huddersfield (H) 2-1
Wigan (H) 2-1 (LC)
Brentford (A) 0-0

Table



Board Meeting

I walk into the boardroom for my monthly performance review, and to my surprise I see Shaun Harvey, former club CEO and now CEO of the Football League, sat amongst the board members.

"Hello gents" I say as I enter the room. I proceed to shake Shaun's hand.

"What a pleasant surprise to see you here Mr Harvey"

"Pleasure to meet you too Mr Townend" he replies.

I sit down and Massimo Cellino is next to speak.

"Josh, I'm sure you'll recognise Shaun Harvey. He is here to give something to you"

Shaun Harvey begins to speak again.

"The form from your team over the past month hasn't gone unnoticed and as a result you have been unanimously voted by the Football League as the Sky Bet Championship Manager of the Month. Congratulations"

He gets up to shake my hand and presents me with the award. I feel proud that the efforts of my team have been recognised in this way and I'm keen to share this award with the players.

"Thank you very much Mr Harvey, it's an honour, thanks"

I take my seat again and thanking the board members for inviting him into the room, Shaun Harvey makes a quiet exit. Massimo pipes up again.

"Well Josh, we don't really have any negatives to point out as such obviously because we didn't get beaten at all and we won all but one game. What I will say is that I've been impressed with how Danilo Bueno has turned his form around. I understand this time last month you took some criticism because of his performances but whatever it is you did with him, we're very happy to see his improvement. Well done. Do any other members have anything to add?"

A silence follows and it appears my review for this month will be fairly brief.

"Well, that concludes this meeting. Well done once again for your efforts this month and we hope to be able to have a similarly positive meeting when we meet again next month"

Bloody hell, Shaun Harvey having something positive to say about Leeds?! That's a first! But well done on the award mate

ROYAL PERFORMANCE FROM WHITES

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UNITED 3 Reading 1 (2-0 at half time)

Leeds line-up (4-3-3): Silvestri, Byram, Del Fabro, Bamba, C Taylor, N'Goyi, Mowatt (Austin 59), Cook (Sloth 59), Bueno, Williams, Morison (Sharp 90 )

Subs: S Taylor, Wootton, Alborno, Austin, Sloth, Doukara, Sharp

Reading line-up (4-3-3 (2 DMs)): Federici, Kelly, Ferdinand, Pearce, Obita, Sweeney (Edwards 45), Hector, Fridjonsson, Mackie (Pogrebnyak 62 ), Robson-Kanu, Yakubu (Blackman 62)

Subs: Andersen, Gunter, Blackman, Pogrebnyak, Edwards, Travner, Fosu

Attendance: 25,618

Thoughts: An outstanding performance from the lads, and particularly impressive was Steve Morison. I was also pleased to see that although he came on late, Billy Sharp didn't just take a back seat, rather he stepped up and wrapped up the game for us. Equally impressive was our discipline, with no one sent off or booked which made a nice change!

NB You may have noticed I'm trying out a new format with my match reporting, let me know what you think!

THE LATE WHITE SHOW

UNITED 1 Sheffield Wednesday 0 (0-0 at half time)

Leeds line-up (4-3-3): Silvestri, Bellusci , Del Fabro, Bamba (Byram 10), C Taylor, Austin , Cook, Mowatt, Bueno, Williams (Sharp 63), Morison (Doukara 77 )

Subs: S Taylor, Wootton, Byram, N'Goyi, Sloth, Doukara, Sharp

Sheff Wed line-up (4-5-1): Westwood, Buxton, Loovens, Lees (Dielna 81), Helan, Stobbs, Palmer (McCabe 81), De Havilland (Nuhiu 45), Corry , Maghoma, Bus

Subs: McDonagh, Dielna, Zayatte, Nuhiu, Melo, Mattock, McCabe

Attendance: 39,368

Thoughts: We played well today and did the not-so-glamorous parts well. I don't think Sheffield Wednesday deserved to lose today, but by the same token, we looked good value for the win and I was delighted with how Doukara came of the bench and won it for us.

THE LATE WHITE SHOW (PART II)

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Rotherham United 1 UNITED 2 (0-0 at half time)

Rotherham line-up (4-3-3): Collin, Hunt, Broadfoot, Wood, Sadler, Green (Arnason 69), Smallwood, Pringle, Bowery (Hammill 56), Ward, Sammon

Subs: Loach, Richardson, Hammill, Derbyshire, Frecklington, Arnason, Newton

Leeds line-up (5-3-2 WB): Silvestri , Bellusci, Cooper (Del Fabro 73), Bamba , Byram, Alborno, Austin, Mowatt, Cook (Sloth 67), Morison (N'Goyi 82), Sharp

Subs: S Taylor, C Taylor, Del Fabro, N'Goyi, Sloth, Doukara, Bueno

Attendance: 11,348

Thoughts: Wasn't the best performance we've ever put in this year but sometimes there's just nothing more satisfying than a stoppage time winner away from home and I'm delighted Billy stepped up for us tonight.

NORWICH ROB LEEDS

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Norwich 2 UNITED 1 (0-0 at half time)

Norwich line-up (4-2-3-1 Narrow): Ruddy, Whittaker, Turner, Bassong (Bennett 77), Garrido, Howson, Tettey, Misimovic, Hoolahan , Redmond, Jerome (Grabban 57 )

Subs: Bunn, Bennett, O'Neill, Grabban, Andreu, Miquel, McGeehan

Leeds line-up (4-3-3): Silvestri, Byram, Bellusci, Bamba, White, Austin (Wootton 64), Mowatt, Cook (Murphy 73), Bueno (Morison 85), Williams , Sharp

Subs: Taylor, Berardi, Cooper, Wootton, Murphy, Doukara, Morison

Attendance: 26,248

Thoughts: Norwich came from behind to win this one and I've simply no idea how. We were very much the better team but two goals in the last ten minutes seemed to come from out of nowhere. We deserved to win tonight and I'm disappointed that the game wasn't won on the balance of play.

LEEDS PUNISHED FOR POOR FINISHING

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UNITED 1 Wolves 3 (0-2 at half time)

Leeds line-up (4-3-3): Silvestri, Byram, Bellusci, Bamba, White, N'Goyi (Wootton 54), Mowatt, Murphy, Antenucci (Morison 59), Williams (Cook 67 ), Sharp

Subs: Taylor, Berardi, Cooper, Wootton, Cook, Doukara, Morison

Wolves line-up (4-2-3-1): Ikeme, Doherty, Batth, Stearman, Golbourne, Evans, Rowe, Ismail (Jacobs 84), Ledesma , Graham, Dicko (van La Parra 87)

Subs: Kuszczak, Ricketts, Saville, van La Parra, Price, Iorfa, Jacobs

Attendance: 28,509

Thoughts: We were horrendous today, simply put. N'Goyi's job was to win balls in the midfield which he never looked like even attempting to do. After Cook pulled one back for us in the second half, we had a catalogue of chances to equalise, most of which fell unfortunately to Billy Sharp who couldn't hit a cow's arse with a banjo. We were punished by our failure to make those chances count when Dicko scored Wolves' third with five minutes left.

LEEDS MARCH ON TO QUARTER FINAL

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UNITED 3 Burnley 0 (aet) (Capital One Cup 4th Round)

(0-0 at half time, 0-0 after 90 mins, 2-0 at half time in extra time)

Leeds line-up (5-3-2 WB): Silvestri, Byram (Berardi 66), Bellusci, Cooper, Del Fabro, Alborno, Cook, Murphy, Williams (Mowatt 75), Morison (Antenucci 91 p), Doukara

Subs: Taylor, Berardi, N'Goyi, Wootton, Mowatt, Antenucci, Sharp

Burnley line-up (4-5-1): Gilks, Bellerin (Kightly 77), Duff, Strandberg, Ward (Mee 83), Trippier, Abeid (Barnes 45), Marney, Jones , Wallace, Sordell

Subs: Heaton, Mee, Dombaxe, Barnes, Obertan, Keane, Kightly

Attendance: 31,470

Thoughts: We battled well and I'm pleased that we kept a very strong-looking Burnley at bay during the 90 minutes and then went on to win it in extra time. Particularly impressive was the way Antenucci stepped up to score a hat-trick after coming off the bench for extra time.

END OF MONTH: OCTOBER

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Results:

Reading (H) 3-1
Sheff Wed (H) 1-0
Rotherham (A) 2-1
Norwich (A) 1-2
Wolves (H) 1-3
Burnley (H) 3-0 (COC)

Table:



The letter

It's gone lunch time, and I'm wondering why I still haven't had my monthly review meeting with the board? Could they have forgotten, who knows?

I return to my office to find an envelope on my desk with the club's logo on it. I can't have been sacked this early on these results? Surely not. I open the envelope and to my relief, there seems to be no signs of a surprise sacking anywhere on the letter. I look through the letter and it reads:

Dear Mr Townend,

Given the fact that the club finds itself in the top six of the table and the quarter final of the Capital One Cup, the board sees no reason to call a meeting to review your performance.

We feel that there is practically no pressing cause for concern to be pointed out at this moment, and that you can now consider yourself untouchable in terms of your job security. We hope that the bright start you have made continues throughout the season.

Kind Regards,

Massimo Cellino
President

LEEDS TURN GAME AROUND IN SECOND HALF

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Cardiff 1 UNITED 3 (1-0 at half time)

Cardiff line-up (4-4-2): Marshall, Fabio, Connolly (Morrison 76), Turner, Malone, Noone, Gunnarsson, Whittingham (Dikgacoi 76), Pilkington, Jones, Macheda

Subs: Moore, Morrison, Dikgacoi, Mason, McAleny, Gabbidon, Revell

Leeds line-up (5-3-2 WB): Silvestri, Bellusci, Del Fabro, Cooper, Byram (Berardi 15), Alborno, Cook, Austin (N'Goyi 52), Williams , Doukara (Antenucci 45 ), Morison

Subs: Taylor, Berardi, N'Goyi, Wootton, Mowatt, Antenucci, Sharp

Attendance: 26,891

Thoughts: Admittedly the first half was very poor, I was furious with the team as we went into half time 1-0 down. The response in the second half was phenomenal and largely inspired by second half substitute Antenucci who in hindsight, should have started the game. Not particularly happy with the clumsy tackles Cardiff players were diving into as it cost us Byram and Austin.