Written by Mike Courtney
So a new year begins with Leeds sitting pretty at the top of the table...
It could have been even prettier only for a late Blackburn equaliser, but we are where we are and it’s not a bad place to be. I think if you'd have offered any Leeds fan this position back in the summer when Summerville, Rutter and Archie Gray left - they would have bitten your hand off, I know I would have.
Yes we could be a few points better off, 2 points thrown away at Sunderland springs to mind along with that aforementioned late leveller by Blackburn, but that’s the same for any club. This is the Championship after all and crazy things do happen. Our 4-3 win at Swansea and the late late equaliser against Preston evened those drop points out. That is how this league goes. Leeds are still ahead of the managers 2 points per game target and 3 points and a better goal difference ahead of the chasing pack.
But this is Leeds and we know we don’t do things the easy way. No one wants a repeat of last season when we lost out in a four horse race. This season is shaping up to be a similar battle, with 4 teams vying for those automatic promotion spots in the hope of avoiding the lottery of the playoffs. I mean do we really want to be facing Blackburn, who seem to have our number, in a playoff semi or final? With 3 of the next 5 games at home and only Burnley away looking anyway like a difficult fixture, Leeds have a chance to stretch that lead at the top by early February.
So the big question on everyone's lips as we enter January is... Will we stick with the current squad or dip into the transfer market?
Farke is on record as saying he doesn’t want to disrupt the spirit in the group too much, but with injuries to 3 of our full backs at the moment maybe this is an area that needs to be looked at. Junior Firpo will be back in training shortly, Bogle and Byram have a chance of featuring against Hull despite both going off with injuries against Blackburn. So maybe Farke thinks he has enough in this department to see us through the remainder of the season. Up front is another worrying area. We saw again against Blackburn and Stoke that we have difficulty breaking teams down when the defend deep, like most do against us to be fair. Joel Piroe is contributing but its his back up in Joseph and Bamford that worries me the most. We are the top scorers in the Division and its great that we are not depending on any one player to find the net, but with teams beginning to frustrate us of late maybe a fox in the box type striker or a Chris Wood clone would give us another option. The problem is, are there any out there and if so will their current club wish to part with them.
We can only dream of a loan signing like Evan Ferguson, I have seen his name mentioned, but it really isn’t a realistic option in my opinion. Maybe we can pinch Villa’s on loan Louie Barry from Stockport, or someone similar. Rumour has it Villa will be recalling him and assessing what they will do with him. Its just a thought.
I doubt there will be any big money signings so the loan market may be our best option. Whatever happens, it looks like being an exciting few months with many twists and turns, ups and downs but the only up we really want is a return UP to the Premier League!
We live in hope…………… MOT
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You pretty much summed up my own thoughts there Mike. The positions we always get to discuss are not new are they? I think we're not far off on the striker front, and would definitely keep Bamford for the run-in. We still need a more creative number 10, although I cannot fault Aaronson's effort. Perhaps raising the bar would enable him to miss less often! The fullbacks are always a source of bemusement. Byram is easily the best defender but clearly injuries have been and are an issue. Firpo gives us so much extra attacking width and and Bogle is awesome going forward. However, neither would be good enough in the Premier League if we're judging them as defenders. As you said, after two appalling summers of discontent, just to be where we are probably enables us all to have these discussions with a certain degree of comfort.