Good Morning. It's Wednesday 8th July, and here are the latest headlines from Elland Road Brentford reduce deficit to two points Brentford came from behind with two goals in the last 15 minutes to heavily dent Lee Bowyer's Charlton Athletics chances of avoiding relegation. Charlton took the lead on eight minutes, courtesy of a Macauley Bonne's header, and maintained that lead until the final quarter when Benrahma was adjudged to be fouled in the 18 yard box. The referee hesitated before pointing at the spot. The Algerian International stepped up himself to level the game. For the next 10 minutes the Bees laid siege at Dillon Phillips goal, and were rewarded five minutes from time when former Barnsley centre back Ethan Pinnock headed home his second goal of the season. The West London Club have now recorded their sixth victory in a row. Last night was the first time that the Bees had conceded in these six games. Ollie Watkins is the division top scorer with 23. Benrahma has netted 15 times with eight assists. Mbeumo also has 15 goals to his name and seven assists. All three have a significantly better strike rate than Bamford. They are now just two points (because of their +41 goal difference) away from the Whites who must beat Stoke on Thursday to keep the distance respectable. Fulham too are keeping the pressure on. Back to back wins against Birmingham and an impressive victory at the City ground last night leaves the Cottagers five points adrift of Leeds. West Brom too, have hit some form in the last two games having scored seven times dispatching Sheffield Wednesday and Hull. The Baggies face a tricky tie at the Hawthorns this early evening (5pm) against Derby. I'm sure we'll be praying for a Ram raid!!!! please log in to view this image Thorp Arch academy awarded category one status by PL The Leeds Utd academy, based at Thorp Arch, has been awarded Category One status by the Premier League for the first time. Earlier this season, the club was audited on the level of investment, facilities, resources, staffing and productivity and clearly impressed the assessors. The Under-23s will go into the national Premier League 2 and be allowed to compete in the EFL Trophy, where League One and League Two clubs compete. More external funding into the set-up at Thorp Arch will also be available A club statement said: “Despite the Leeds United academy being the fourth most productive system in English football in the past six years, in terms of producing players to compete for first-team football, promotion to a category one status is a landmark day for the club.” Academy Manager Adam Underwood said: “We are delighted to receive confirmation of our category one status and the credit must go to the staff who have given everything for the football club. “They have brought through some of the best young players in the country and they will now get the opportunity to showcase their abilities at the highest level. “I’d also like to take this opportunity to thank Victor Orta, Angus Kinnear and especially Andrea Radrizzani for supporting our vision in every way. “The investment into the academy has tripled since they joined our club and they are creating a legacy that will help drive the club forward for decades to come.” Chief executive Angus Kinnear said: “The real credit here must go to Adam Underwood and his team. “A category one academy was one of our key objectives when we started on this journey and we tasked Adam with delivering this within five years and as a team they have completed the job within three years. “Our academy has always been critical to our club and to be ‘Leeds’ is very important to our supporters. “It is at the heart of our DNA, and today’s accolade is an acknowledgement of their efforts, enabling Adam and his staff to continue to produce even more quality footballers in the future.” please log in to view this image Bielsa's Pre Match Press Conference
Good Morning to Matt and co from a cold Bardsey I'm sure Brentford are feeling the strain as well but they had the drive to get a result lets hope we have because we need to win our next 2 games
Im going to come clean. Don't quite know how to say this but ] ] Im a huge Derby fan till 2.30 Saturday Cmon the mighty Rams
Ok, Brentford are 2.5 points behind ? If they make up two they're behind us, if they make up three they're ahead. But if we win tomorrow we'll be 5.5 points ahead, simples !
If we continue our form for the season as a whole then our PPG average would see us finish on 87.51 points. That's just so incredibly close to the needed 88 but it's such a fine margin. If we finished on 87 points and two clubs finish above us we couldn't really say we've bottled it as we've played to our season long capabilities. Fantastic news about the Academy being awarded Category 1 status under the Premier League's Elite Player Performance Plan. This is a huge boost to the club as they look to develop talent for the future and apparently has come at a cost of £4 million a year being invested into the Academy. Massive thanks to all involved and particulary Radz for fronting up the cash after many years of owners starving the academy of the necessary funds. Our youngsters will now be able to comppete in PL 2 for the U23's as well as European competitions and also enter into the Leasing.com Trophy against senior teams from L1 + L2. The club will also now receive an increase in central revenue funds for youth development. I'd also remind everyone that funds invested on youth development do not count towards financial fair play calculations.
I cannot see Brentford winning 10 games in a row (there that's jinxed it). WBA must be feeling the pressure worse than us as Brentford are even closer to them. Not sure if Derby will do us a favour this evening, I watched them against Forest and didn't think they were great. I'll be tuning in though, we live in hope.
there's no pressure on the brentford's and the fulham's... it's challenger mentality, nothing to lose. The pressure for them comes, if the door gets left open by us or WBA. Pressure is all on us and the baggies
great news on cat 1 staus for the academy - although aren't we moving it Credit to the club for the investment and the academy team for the delivery
Leave Ell alone. He’s still made up he managed to get a reference to cottaging Into a footballing thread.
understand that Jonny hence the smiley.. I had it all explained to me in some depth by an academy player a few years back, but jiggered if I can remember the detail! I can’t generally remember what I had for breakfast