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Leeds United v Walsall: Grayson fumes at Whites display
Leeds United's finely-balanced season took a turn for the worse with a 2-1 defeat to Walsall which brought another exasperated verdict from manager Simon Grayson.
United were beaten at home in a league match for the first time in more than 13 months after a performance which Grayson said showed "no enthusiasm, no quality and no passion."
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A contentious goal scored by Clayton McDonald inflicted Leeds' first league defeat at Elland Road since January 10, 2009, wasting a priceless game in hand held by the club over League One leaders Norwich City.
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McDonald scored nine minutes from time with a header which was adjudged to have narrowly crossed United's goalline by linesman Matthew Bristow.
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Television replays were inconclusive and the defender also seemed fortunate to have avoided a red card for a second bookable offence prior to his goal.
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Neither factor protected Leeds from their manager's anger at the end of a match which he admitted his team deserved to lose. Grayson said: "We started badly and never got going. The first half was so dire it was unbelievable. "We had no enthusiasm, no quality and no passion – every ingredient you need to win a football match, we didn't have. At half-time I could have taken any player off. None of them did themselves justice.
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"We've lost our unbeaten record at home and that was inevitably going to happen eventually. But you don't go down in the manner that we did.
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"The goal was inconclusive but the linesman's in a position to make a decision and you've got to accept that. It doesn't get us away from the fact that we were disappointing."
United's manager resisted the temptation to cancel his squad's day off today, but he pulled no punches as he faced up to a fourth league defeat of the season and Leeds' third in a month.
"The players need to go away and reflect on the performance," he said. "We've had a lot of games recently so we don't need them in (today) but I expect them to show me tomorrow morning that they want to put it right (against Brighton) at the weekend.
"I'd like to think there's enough about us to be wounded after this. You can't hide from the fact that we've lost but I expect the players to dig deep and drag each other through."
Leeds' display was in stark contrast to their dominant outing at Leyton Orient on Saturday.
Grayson recalled striker Jermaine Beckford after a hamstring strain last night but retained 10 of the players involved at Orient, and he was at a loss to explain their display against Walsall.
"You scratch your head," said Grayson. "Apart from bringing Jermaine back into the team, I've given the same players another opportunity because we played so well at the weekend.
"But you've got to have the right attitude in every game you play. You can't think 'we played well at the weekend so it'll happen again in the next game.' It does confuse you how players can play so well at the weekend and then be as bad as we were 72 hours later."
Grayson could strengthen his squad in the coming days with the signing of Paul Dickov, provided Leeds can clear the hurdles blocking a deal.
United are understood to be willing to hand 37-year-old Dickov a contract until the end of the term but the unattached striker has already played for Leicester City and Derby County this season.
FIFA rules prevent a player from turning out for three clubs from the same country in a single campaign, and Leeds are seeking confirmation from the governing body about whether they can add Dickov to their squad.
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Weather for Leeds
Saturday 26 May 2012
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