The #LUFC Breakfast Debate (Thursday 21st January)

Good Morning. It's Thursday 21st January, and here are the latest headlines from Elland Road


Record Covid levels may have knock on effect on football schedule

With over 70,000 new cases of the Corona Virus being diagnosed in the last 48 hours, and unprecedented deaths levels approaching 2000 daily, it is time to press the pause button on the football season?

The new strain of the deadly disease has effected almost every club in the football league, not to mention the lower leagues where testing for Covid is virtually impossible due to financial restraints.

Is enough being done to protect our clubs?

Would you welcome a four week break whilst the hierarchy try to rid us of this awful disease?

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Put yourself in Sheffield Utd's shoes

With only one league win under their belts, and eleven points from safety, Sheffield Utd's tenure in the Premier League looks like its coming to an end. At the half way point of the season, the Blades have collected a total of 5 points, leaving them rooted to the basement of the Championship. The big question on most people's lips are 'why haven't they got rid of their Manager'?

Chris Wilder has been in charge of the red side of Sheffield since May 2016, and has been a major influence on the team as they rose from League 1. His hatred of Leeds Utd is well documented, making him a god like figure in South Yorkshire. Why haven't the club / fans turned on Wilder? Surely, he should be out of a job by now?

Now reverse the situation.

Let's say it was Leeds that were languishing at the foot of the Premier League. How much time would YOU give Bielsa to turn things around?

Would you accept relegation knowing that the Argentine should be able to rectify mistakes that were made, which should lead to promotion back to the promised land the season after?

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Leeds offered former International Beach player

Leeds have been offered the chance to sign Montpellier and former French International beach Soccer forward Andy Delort. The 29yo has been in excellent form in Ligue 1 this season, scoring nine goals, and six assists in 18 games.

Delort, who is said to be fastest player in Leigue 1, even quicker than Kylian Mbappe.

Montpellier have offered the 29-year-old to a range of clubs, including Leeds, as they look to gain some financial security amid the crisis that has struck French football this season.

A price tag of 14m is expected.

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Morning all,

If the lower leagues survival could be guaranteed with help then I would say cancel their seasons right now.

Allow the championship and Prem to continue. These players and staff are regularly tested. After the last round of tests only 16 people out of the thousands involved in top level football had positives results.

If you look at the spikes in positive results in football it is normally centred around one club. Take Villa for instance who are now 3 games behind everyone else because of their outbreak. When things like this occur the club should be investigated and sanctioned if necessary. This might make clubs tighten up their covid procedures.

 

I wouldn't pause the season now. I possibly would have just after Christmas but the numbers seem to be going the right way now. Death's will increase for a bit but that's just the delay on the daily infection rates catching up. I think we are over the peak regarding infections. To pause the season now would be shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted..... again.

I actually like the way Sheffield United have stuck by Wilder. He took over in League one and took them all the way to a top 10 finish in the PL last season. They have been poor this season but they are better than their current points total suggest. They were unfortunate to lose to us for example.

Delort had a spell at Wigan and was incredibly poor. I like players with pace and we need a striker but I think we need a fox in the box type player. Not a Usain Bolt on the break type. He isn't cheap either.

 

Good morning.

New infections are actually dropping dramatically, deaths as always will lag a few weeks behind but pausing football now would bring the words door, horse and bolted to mind. IF we were going to have a four week pause it should've been after Christmas.

I can see the thought process in sticking with Wilder. If they're going down anyway, might as well keep a manager who has got them promoted before than join in with the usual Championship managerial merry go round. They actually haven't been playing that bad a lot of the time, their relegation is down to bad recruitment.

 

Morning all

 

Gonna do a quick comment on a non Leeds subject. So politics..... joking.


Aston Villa. Last night they went behind to a goal which I will admit watching live thought was offside. The ref, linesman & VAR all gave it as a goal. Dean Smith was subsequently given a red and sent to the stands for going over board while remonstrating with the ref.

It was quickly explained by the Premier League why by the letter of the law the goal was onside. Whether you agree with that particular law is not my point here.

The commentators did not know the rule, the retired ref BT sport pay to explain decisions did not know the rule, Smith clearly did not know the rule and Pep said he did not know the rule.

Surely somewhere amongst all the above someone other than the match officials should have known the rule? These are all people making a very good living from football.

The abuse aimed at Jon Moss last night, firstly from Dean Smith, and then Villa fans is disgusting. Even after the rule was explained and it was clear it was onside the abuse carried on.

Who would be a referee? Refs get things wrong there is no doubt. But in this instance all officials involved have gone it bang on right, even if the rule itself is wrong.
If Smith knew the rules he may not have mouthed off enough to get sent off. Would so many Villa fans get abusive if their manager had taken the goal with a bit more decorum?

 

Good points hemase.

A professional footballer should know that if he deliberately plays the ball, then an opposition player in an offside position, is no longer offside. His manager/coach and team mates should all know that as well.

We've had many PL players come out this season and openly state they don't understand the laws of the game anymore...their implacature being that the laws are too daft for anyone to understand.

They're not and they should all be ashamed as highly paid professionals at the top of their field for failing to do the necessary research.

 

With regard to a covid break, lets do it. Leeds would then come back and win the league, according to Karen Carney anyway!

 

Totally agree and to be honest it's been like that a number of years. I remember listening to one pundit, can't remember if it was Match of the Day or whatever the lunchtime Sunday afternoon ITV version was called (it was regional, so think it had different names), so this is pre Premier League games, explain why the referee was wrong in allowing a goal when the player who scored was offside, or in an offside position when he received the ball. Neither the presenter or the second pundit made any comment. Think it may have been Jack Taylor (former ref from 1974 World Cup) in his Monday column for some tabloid who said well the guy who scored received the ball direct from a throw in, and thus the law states he can't be offside. So this incident had been highlighted and analysed on national television, one ex professional stated the ref was wrong, the other ex professional and presenter (also an ex professional) just sat there and nodded in agreement, and we also had to listen to one manager also state he wasn't happy about the goal being allowed, when in fact the decision had been correct.

 

Mings has **** for brains, as supposed to be a top defender, capped for his country etc should know the rules, why didnt he just let the ball go over his head and to the keeper????? no sympathy whatsoever, Dean Smith's outburst made me laugh, ref was not having any of it and he also ignored Grealish throwing himself to the ground a few times, hope this is the start of Villa's slide.

 

Good points from hemese and jammy, but my argument revolves around the rule makers:

We all grew up as kids and quickly learned the rules, even a 7yo knew every rule and one we always ignored was the offside rule until we played organised footy, but we knew what the rule was.

this last couple of seasons we have seen VaR completely screwed up and interpreted different in different countries. Last season was a joke for VaR in the Prem. This season doing it differently again but with many obscure, ridiculous results. Refs have had the hand ball rule changed twice and the offside rule changed 3 times. Bamford goal deemed offside for an armpit and last nights goal allowed when the player was so far offside it was laughable.

football administrators need sacking, many pundits need sacking and commin sense needs bringing back. The days of “the offside is close so level means hes on” needs to happen again. The attacking player getting the benefit of the doubt was common sense. VaR was supposed to assist a quick decision which is patently doesnt.

 

On the Villa goal when I was watching last night I said it was inside because Mings played the player onside by touching the ball, they only conceded down to his poor touch and lack of awareness hoping the rules would save them. The anger Villa get sometimes reminds me of a child not getting its way just like the goal we scored against them when we played on.

 

There is no doubt that in this villa case the rule needs looking at but until it is the rule is the rule.

Villa are very much a classless club at the moment. Smith was manager, Terry as assistant and the likes of Grealish and Watkins as players, what a horrible bunch.

Only stayed in this league because of a computer error and failure from officials. Did not do the right thing that day and let Sheff United walk one in.

Scored against Chelsea while they had a player down injured. Did not let Chelsea walk a goal in. The double standards at that club are amazing.

Grealish the most fouled player in the league. Pundits defend him with comments like "he bought that girl" "he's initiated contact". I think the word they are missing is cheating.

Smith for sent off last night for comments made to officials because he didn't like a correct decision going against him.

Horrible club villa who will never get any form of credit from me.

 

Villa weren't complaining last season when the goal technology was not working properly, with the ball obviously over the line. The alarm stating the ball had crossed the line actually went off at half time.

If that goal had stood, Villa would have been relegated.

Did they offer to do the right thing as Bielsa did two seasons ago when he allowed Villa to walk the ball into the net....

 

Snap

 

That is something that has been lost in all the falling out. Mings control, especially for their best defender, was awful and he should take the blame, not the officials.

 

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Just another of Dean Smith's examples of trying to swing a game, and not bothered about who it affects, Fortunately his luck ran out that time, the cheating ARSHO**,sorry for that rant but he and Villa just make my blood boil ,

 

Best Oxymoron heard in football commentary: Grealish has so much balance yet he spends more time on the deck than any player in history.

Oh and seems that Zidane is going to be sacked at the end of the season, getting knocked out of the cup was the final straw. Embarrassing defeat and the club owners who brought him back now admit he has to go, and state that Zidane era is over

 

My pet hate is when a pundit says "As soon as he feels contact he's entitled to go down". No. Football is a contact sport, not every contact is a foul. It's embarrassing to hear ex pros admit that's what they did.