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Leeds United: Lonergan shoulders blame for Reading defeat
Leeds United endured a pre-Christmas nightmare on Saturday, with the team booed from the pitch and goalkeeper Andy Lonergan admitting he deserved to be dropped after a lame defeat to Reading.
United felt the ire of their supporters as the club’s last game before Christmas ended in a 1-0 loss at Elland Road, and Lonergan declared he did not expect to keep his place at Derby County on Boxing Day.
The 28-year-old made his first appearance for two months against Reading, returning from a broken finger and replacing on-loan Alex McCarthy who was ineligible against his parent club.
Lonergan appeared to be at fault for Reading’s goal, lobbed by Simon Church in the second minute, and he was critical of his own performance on a disappointing afternoon.
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Boss Simon Grayson had previously said that he anticipated a “difficult decision” choosing between Lonergan and McCarthy when Leeds travel to Pride Park next Monday but Lonergan effectively ruled himself out of contention by saying he had no prospect of remaining in United’s starting line-up.
“Not after that,” Lonergan said. “To be honest, I don’t deserve to. I was poor.
“I feel like I’m starting from scratch again and I’m upset because that was my chance to get back in the team. But I’ve played 250 games and I know I’m a good goalie. It’s a minor blip.
“That’s life and these things happen. Someone else has come in and done well, so fair play to him.”
Leeds, who announced before kick-off that season ticket prices for existing holders at Elland Road would be frozen next season if renewed by January 31, held onto sixth place in the Championship despite Saturday’s defeat.
Lonergan said: “You’ve got to look at the bigger picture but at a time like this it’s hard.
“It’s a disappointing day and it was very down (in the dressing room) – as expected. With the goal, I was kicking myself at the time. I’ve watched it again and I really don’t think there’s much I could have done.
“Maybe I could have retreated to my line so I didn’t get lobbed but that’s the thing you can’t practice – real match situations.”
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Comments
There are 12 comments to this article
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leedsbulldog
Tuesday, December 20, 2011 at 11:26 AMLonergan to blame? NO WAY - dont forget that the "defence" on this occasion let it end up as a 'one on one' blame the defence NOT andy - hes class! MOT 4 EVA WHEREVER WHENEVER WHATEVER!!
Bubionwhite
Tuesday, December 20, 2011 at 08:47 AMBefore his injury, Andy Lonergan was absolutely immense and accumulated a large number of points for the club with some outstanding displays, I for one will forgive him his mistake, one that he should not have been exposed to ... particularly in the opening minutes of the game. Church was given so much time and space that he couldn't miss by a totla lack of basic defensive knowledge. His name MUST be on the teamsheet for the Derby game and he MUST be shown loyalty by SG. Sorry COL104 ... the number one shirt is already his and it should stay that way ... Alex McCarthy goes back to Reading very shortly and we do not want to alienate the first class keeper who is Andy Lonergan.
OzTyke
Monday, December 19, 2011 at 09:49 PMGrayson should have Lonners pencilled in already for Derby. He has stood up to be counted and shouldered the blame but having seen Reading's goal on u-tube it was a cracker and would have beaten most keepers. I like McCarthy a lot but he is not our player, he was just cover until Andy was fit again and now he's back so unless he picks up another injury END OF STORY really. How many other Leeds players have come out and apologised to the fans for their displays recently? I reckon Lonergan is showing lots of class and the fans should really get behind him because he is showing some pride and passion!!!! MOT.
dkershaw4
Monday, December 19, 2011 at 06:00 PMHe made one mistake but thats it and its fine... he has been great this season and sat was an all round team disaster.. all though the young lad has done well whats the point in choosing him in goal when we can not keep him !!! pointless
Number1leedsfan
Monday, December 19, 2011 at 04:23 PMI thought Andy played fine on Sat and if PK had not misjudged the long ball then he would not have been put in that situation. Simon should surely stand by Andy lonergan and pick him for the next match, we cannot afford to have another crisis of confidence in the nets.
tiff
Monday, December 19, 2011 at 03:42 PMIf that is a true quote from Lonergan. It worries me when a player says he should be dropped. What will the rest of the team think when the goalkeeper says he should be dropped. The defence is bad enough without players making stupid statements like that ? GET A GRIP OF YOURSLEF Lonergan YES you did make a mistake for their goal. BUT NOW YOU NEED TO BE STRONGER AND SHOW THE REST OF THE TEAM THAT IT HAS NO AFECTED YOU.
Rosedale Raider
Monday, December 19, 2011 at 02:34 PMNo way should Lonners be a scapegoat for this load of cr*p. We've been rubbish at home for weeks now and he's not been playing! I'm afraid major surgery is needed now if this season isn't to turn out to be another damp squib, and that maybe includes a change at the top. I've been a loyal supporter of SG until now but if a manager can't get a team up to perform at ER then there's something radicly wrong. As for renewing my season ticket in January, they cannot be serious! I even cosidered asking for my money back on Saturday so pitiful was the performance!
K W Bates Monaco
Monday, December 19, 2011 at 12:41 PMLonergan had the perfect oppertunity to make the no.1 shirt his own again, but he blew it!! That said, it was a shocking all round display and no member of the team will have left the pitch thinking they did themselves justice. Biggest disapointment was Simon Grayson. Not for the first time this season, his substitutions were a joke!! Chants from the kop of " you don't know what you're doing" were well deserved.
munger
Monday, December 19, 2011 at 11:56 AMNo way should Lonegran be blamed . Goalies always get it in the neck. In fact Lonners should be in goal against Derby he is our No 1 because he is a Leeds player. As good as McCarthy has been he is only on loan I wait with baited breath to see who comes in during the January transfer window. I do not want loan players. I want proper signings and I want some quality and evidence of ambition shown by the club. After all we are Leeds United.
armchairtd
Monday, December 19, 2011 at 10:28 AMAgree Leeds 83. Lonergan should not shoulder all the blame here, Reading could have scored 2 or 3 more had it not been for some decent saves. The fact is defensively we are stil not where we need to be, we played the long ball over the top all the time, the midfield was out of sorts for some reason - missing JH perhaps? We require a holding midfield player, someone who can keep the ball, get us back into the habit of playing the passing game and keep possession more, every time the long over the top ball is played it gives the ball to the opposition and misses out the midfield. This is basic stuff you learn at school!!!
mkeddie
Monday, December 19, 2011 at 10:23 AMFair play to Andy for taking this on the chin ....When will other members of the team have the balls to do the same each and every week ! As Ken & Simon say ...if you want it bad enough, you will get on with it....us supporters want to afford watching you in vast numbers each and every week...we get our heads down and get on with it even during this expensive time of the year. ALL WE ASK IS THE PLAYERS DO THE SAME ! Granted 3 or 4 additions to the squad will hopefully shake it up and hopefully give us that final push ! Get rid of the hangers on and deadwood and this time if we do bring in new faces, please make sure its QUALITY !!!!!
Leeds83
Monday, December 19, 2011 at 10:09 AM1 blip in what has been an excellent start to your Leeds United career. A goalkeeper should only be used as the last line of defence and I would question how easy it was for Church to get in to that position. The reality is that there's 10 other players in front of him that the other team need to get past before Loners and it was all too easy for Reading - Don't shoulder all the blame as apart from that you again pulled off a very convincing display including a world class save.
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