Leeds United Nottingham Forest 1: YEP jury verdict

Another poor home result. Things just aren’t clicking at Elland Road. We don’t create enough chances and we aren’t creative enough.

We were lacking another man up front all game to partner Mirco Antenucci, who really looked out of his depth. He must have only touched the ball five times in the second half and never got in a position to score a goal. Steve Evans needs to sign a striker in the emergency loan window, otherwise we are going to be struggling for weeks.

Our full-backs were very poor going forward. Charlie Taylor wasn’t at his best at all and Scott Wootton had a nightmare of a game. I’ve always stuck up for Wootton but after Saturday’s performance he deserves to be dropped and be replaced by Lewie Coyle. The young right-back is very highly rated and has impressed when he has appeared for us, he deserves a run in the side.

Giuseppe Bellusci was again outstanding. He has really turned a corner, he is playing with confidence and defending brilliantly. He is miles better than our other centre-halves, and I didn’t think I’d be saying that at the start of the season.

I don’t think Nottingham Forest looked much better than us. There wasn’t much in the game and a draw would have probably been a fair result. The problem that we have got, unlike Forest, is that we are too easy to beat.

When games are tight, we aren’t strong and resilient enough, unlike the better teams. If Forest can carry on their run, they could be a dark horse for the play-offs.

Our season is dead in the water. We don’t have enough quality and we aren’t ready to mount a promotion charge.

If we recruit well in the summer, I do believe that Steve Evans can make us stronger and turn us into a formidable team.

We shouldn’t rush Chris Wood back even though we are crying out for him.

If he’s rushed again, it could set him back months never mind weeks.

And we want him fully fit and fresh for next season. Hopefully he’ll start the season with another quality striker next to him.

The players shouldn’t give up the ghost, however; they should go on a good cup run to give us, the loyal fans, something to shout about!

Man of the match: Giuseppe Bellusci.

JAMES HARRISON

Leeds United subjected 20,000-plus fans to another Championship defeat.

Not many who left the ground would have thought they deserved anything from the game. If this is the best the professional footballers of the club can perform, the fans of the club face a worrying next few months.

Steve Evans made one change with Liam Cooper replacing club captain Sol Bamba. It was hoped the formation that was successful at Bolton Wanderers in the FA Cup would be the same against draw specialists Forest.

Leeds should have been one up very early on,but Doukara headed wide. Liam Bridcutt was integral to the good things the home side did early on but they did not threaten De Vries in the Forest goal. Gardener for Forest rattled the frame of the Leeds goal with a shot that easily beat Silvestri.

Wootton warmed up De Vries’ hands early in the second half but it was Forest who claimed the winning goal on the hour mark. Not for the first time Leeds were found wanting by a disciplined team.

The best part of the day was catching up with fellow ‘juror’ Stephen Clark in the South Stand and a couple of pints in a local pub with my mate Bob.

If Evans thinks this is good enough he is fooling himself, but not the fans. It was dire.

Man of the match: Liam Bridcutt.

KEITH INGHAM

I’ve said it all season, this Leeds United defence is not good enough; none of them. If you were to count up the points we’ve given away this season through defensive and goalkeeping errors, we would be comfortably in the top six. Instead we are marooned in mid-table. Another certain point was presented to Forest on a golden platter on Saturday as we allowed the Forest number ‘17’ (oh the irony!) the freedom of Elland Road to nod the ball past Silvestri, whose best effort was to nudge the ball into the corner of the net instead of pushing it away to safety. Doukara was slow to close down Gardner who crossed the ball and Bellusci and Cooper were doing that “waving an arm in the air” thing, appealing for offside. That they did actually have a good case is irrelevant; the rule is: ‘play to the whistle’.

DAVID WATKINS

I was unsure if I would get away with just sending in a single-word expletive report for the latest Leeds defeat!

In a game which meant nothing between two sides who, in reality, have nothing to play for. But, at the crucial moment, Souleymane Doukara allowed a cross to come in from the right-hand side and the defence allowed Nelson Oliveira to head in the winner.

Steve Evans said after the game that Leeds are lacking quality in a few key areas – unfortunately that’s the boardroom, the dugout and the pitch.

The club is a mess and the way it is being run is leading to the slow and painful death of its support base. I have never been more disillusioned.

Man of the match: Liam Bridcutt.

STEPHEN CLARK

Home game ‘16b’ was a disappointing defeat.

Forest ‘parked the bus’, and took the points courtesy of another error from the ‘undroppable’ Marco Silvestri. Shocking defending and a myopic linesman also contributed. A lifeless, disjointed performance.

Man of the match: Liam Cooper.

GARY NEWBOULD

Leeds United took on Forest for the second time in six weeks and were met with the same tactic deployed at the City Ground over Christmas; namely allow the opposition possession but grab a goal when the opportunity allows.

They played it to perfection.

It’s unfortunate that Steve Evans used United’s retention stats as an indication that we’d played well, and that he ridiculed Forest’s style of play straight after it had resulted in a disappointing 1-0 home defeat. Like every season – seemingly this decade – this one is meandering its way through to May with nobody seeming to give a care.

There was a slight improvement to our play on Saturday but it’s points that matter and we’ve got none.

Man of the match: Liam Bridcutt.

MATTHEW EVANS