A week full of activity ended yesterday when Bradley Johnson finally put pen to paper on a three and a half year deal with Leeds United. Before that, we were soundly beaten at Elland Road by Johnson’s new employers and The Cobblers will be looking to bounce back this weekend as Hartlepool United come to town.
Elland Road was always going to be the toughest away game of the season to overcome and I don’t think even the most optimistic Town fan would have said before the game that they thought we would come away with a result from the game. Without Hubertz and Jones, two key players for us at the moment we were in for it from the off.
Andy Kirk on his own up front is never going to work and although Larkin and Bowditch worked hard to support the Cobblers’ top scorer, we never really threatened the Leeds goal. As soon as Frazer Richardson had danced his merry dance through our midfield and finished well to give them the lead, it was curtains. I thought at half time that our only chance would be if we got the next goal but it never looked like coming.
The Leeds full back ran the length of the field for their second goal from the corner and nobody saw him ghosting in at the back post apart from 1800 Cobblers fans and when Rui Marques flicked the ball home for the second there was no way back. The third just added insult to injury in stoppage time. We had our chances, most notably Hughey’s header but if we’re ever going to get anything from Leeds we would have to take chances when we got them.
Overall a disappointing day out at Elland Road but the atmosphere was the best I’ve heard for a long time in this division. That combined with their players which were quite simply a different class to us will see them promoted this season I’m sure.
I’m happy to report a trouble free day as well as I made the 11 hour round trip, boarded a bus full of Leeds fans to and from the station and got back on the train without a hint of bother. The only grumble was the stewards (a worryingly recurring problem at away games) who threw out a couple of people just for standing up when there’s a stand full of Leeds fans standing for the entire game. It was Forest all over again.
Bradley Johnson finally made the move to Leeds on Tuesday for a fee thought to be around 250,000. Best wishes to Brad for the future and we must now move to bring in the right sort of player, hopefully with some of the money received.
Stuart Gray may well have the funds to make a couple of signings for cash now whilst he’s also looking for loan players to fill the gaps of a small squad. Leicester’s Jonathon Hayes has signed for the rest of the season and he fits the bill in terms of a bit of pace going forward which we certainly lack at the moment. Throw in another forward and a battling midfielder of the Chris Hargreaves ilk and I think we would be well set!
I was surprised to see Sam Aiston being allowed to leave the club as he looked like he deserved a chance from the small amount of times he’s played this season. In a time when we’re lacking a bit of width and creativity it’s a bit of a surprise that Stuart Gray has let him go.
But all being well we’ll have as successful a transfer window as we did last time around as Stuart Gray immediately brought in the likes of Deuchar, Hughes, Robertson, Pearce and Cox last January to keep us up. Cox was apparently on the brink of signing for Swindon the last I heard but if we can nab him from under their noses that would be a tremendous signing!
It’s a busy few weeks ahead but all transfer talk is put on hold as we take on Jeff Stelling’s Monkey Hangers at Sixfields. The classic mid-table battle will ensue and it should be another tight game at Sixfields. With Giles Coke’s return and the possible debut of Jonathon Hayes plus the return of Daniel Jones we should be a much stronger outfit this Saturday than we were at Leeds.
Up the Cobblers!
Danny
Elland Road was always going to be the toughest away game of the season to overcome and I don’t think even the most optimistic Town fan would have said before the game that they thought we would come away with a result from the game. Without Hubertz and Jones, two key players for us at the moment we were in for it from the off.
Andy Kirk on his own up front is never going to work and although Larkin and Bowditch worked hard to support the Cobblers’ top scorer, we never really threatened the Leeds goal. As soon as Frazer Richardson had danced his merry dance through our midfield and finished well to give them the lead, it was curtains. I thought at half time that our only chance would be if we got the next goal but it never looked like coming.
The Leeds full back ran the length of the field for their second goal from the corner and nobody saw him ghosting in at the back post apart from 1800 Cobblers fans and when Rui Marques flicked the ball home for the second there was no way back. The third just added insult to injury in stoppage time. We had our chances, most notably Hughey’s header but if we’re ever going to get anything from Leeds we would have to take chances when we got them.
Overall a disappointing day out at Elland Road but the atmosphere was the best I’ve heard for a long time in this division. That combined with their players which were quite simply a different class to us will see them promoted this season I’m sure.
I’m happy to report a trouble free day as well as I made the 11 hour round trip, boarded a bus full of Leeds fans to and from the station and got back on the train without a hint of bother. The only grumble was the stewards (a worryingly recurring problem at away games) who threw out a couple of people just for standing up when there’s a stand full of Leeds fans standing for the entire game. It was Forest all over again.
Bradley Johnson finally made the move to Leeds on Tuesday for a fee thought to be around 250,000. Best wishes to Brad for the future and we must now move to bring in the right sort of player, hopefully with some of the money received.
Stuart Gray may well have the funds to make a couple of signings for cash now whilst he’s also looking for loan players to fill the gaps of a small squad. Leicester’s Jonathon Hayes has signed for the rest of the season and he fits the bill in terms of a bit of pace going forward which we certainly lack at the moment. Throw in another forward and a battling midfielder of the Chris Hargreaves ilk and I think we would be well set!I was surprised to see Sam Aiston being allowed to leave the club as he looked like he deserved a chance from the small amount of times he’s played this season. In a time when we’re lacking a bit of width and creativity it’s a bit of a surprise that Stuart Gray has let him go.
But all being well we’ll have as successful a transfer window as we did last time around as Stuart Gray immediately brought in the likes of Deuchar, Hughes, Robertson, Pearce and Cox last January to keep us up. Cox was apparently on the brink of signing for Swindon the last I heard but if we can nab him from under their noses that would be a tremendous signing!
It’s a busy few weeks ahead but all transfer talk is put on hold as we take on Jeff Stelling’s Monkey Hangers at Sixfields. The classic mid-table battle will ensue and it should be another tight game at Sixfields. With Giles Coke’s return and the possible debut of Jonathon Hayes plus the return of Daniel Jones we should be a much stronger outfit this Saturday than we were at Leeds.
Up the Cobblers!
Danny
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