Round 26: Leeds vs Bolton

Okay so we got a win. Good on the one hand as, well its a win. On the other hand I don't get as much justification to be a grumpy bar steward and slate the players this time.

Not that its going to stop me!

Tyrone Mears, I mentioned this guy last time. Seems he had one of his better games this season, however based on the performance I saw him put in at London Road thats not saying a huge amount. Holden's Hairstylist provoked abit of a debate by asking others opinions of Mears and stating that he thinks Mears is a "solid" player who is rarely beaten by the attacker. Now I'll say now that this is not a dig at HH, everybody is entitled to their opinion and I can certainly remember worse players in a Bolton shirt than Mears- anybody remember Gerald Cid? So bad he retired from the game completely at the age of 27?- however I would not have been on here singing the praises of Mears after one decent performance.

For a start attackers got past him numerous times at London Road because he was so far out of position and even with his pace he wasn't alway back to even try and stop a cross going in. Boyd and Tomlin were running rings round him all day and neither of them is that pacey. Now Peterborough was not really a day of good performances from anybody except Andrews, who in my opinion does take more stick than he deserves, but Mears was not good. I can't wait for Wheater to get back then we can get him and Knight out of the team.

That being said I should be fair to him I suppose and point out that he did manage to put in a decent cross on Saturday for Alonso's goal. I say decent because from the highlights I have seen and the opinions of those who were there that I have read it was precisely that; decent. Not fantastic, not world class, just solid and made to look better because Alonso scored as a result of attacking the cross.

Which is in itself a shock. Not the Alonso scoring bit, we know he can pop up with the odd one, he did it against Wednesday earlier in the season. No the bit about a Bolton player attacking a cross is what is odd.

Attacking a crossed ball. Fairly basic concept really. Run towards the flight of the ball, jump and get your head on it your added momentum making it harder for the keeper to save. I can sometimes see the ball go over the bar as well but thats the unpredictable nature of a header so you live with it and the fans accept it. However as with many of the more basic football concepts this season our players seem to have forgotten how to do it.

Except Petrov, who despite not having his best game against Sheffield Wednesday*, has shown numerous times this season that he is still one of our best players; he still has pace to burn, is still our best option from a dead-ball situation and is still one of the best crosses of the game in the English league setup, including the Prem. Which is why it was so disappointing that he didn't make the most of getting a start.

So come on Martin sort it out! We all saw at Peterborough that you care, your frustration at being on the sidelines made that clear as did your reaction to scoring. So next time you get a start play like you did in that 10 minutes of craziness where just for a moment we thought you might just inspire that 3 goal come-back.

As for the rest of you, don't think that one win means you're out of the woods. You're not. We've seen now how you can play and thats what we expect week in, week out, not just when you can be bothered or have had a bo1locking from Dougie. You want cheers rather than booing, you want me to stop picking on you Mears and Knight, well then start earning your wages! We don't enjoy booing you, we'd all rather cheer just as much as you'd rather we did!

And speaking of cheering thats not something that Leeds fans will have been doing alot of yesterday as they lost 2-0 away to Hull, this on the back of a 4-2 away defeat at Nottingham Forest. That took their tally to 7 defeats out of 13 on the road this season, so something tells me the Leeds faithful will be glad to be back on home turf.

*Cheers Royston Vasey for pointing out it wasn't against Birmingham as my work addled brain originally thought!

Team News

Leeds could again be without leading scorer Luciano Becchio after the striker missed Saturday's game at Hull because of a thigh strain.

Neil Warnock will be without defender Aidy White who is suspended after reaching five bookings for the season.

Bolton are waiting on the fitness of a number of players including David Ngog and Benik Afobe who are suffering from knocks.

Midfielder Mark Davies (shoulder) and defender Matt Mills (thigh) miss out.

Predictions

Really not sure. However as I'm out of the running for the title this year anyway and predicting a loss got us a win last time, 2-1 Leeds, Diouf to once again prove the existence of the "Law of the Ex".