Leeds banter 5

17 Feb 2026 07:39:19
{Ed's Note - Loveawaydays2 has posted a new article entitled, Leeds and the Run-In: Can We Reach 40 Points?

17 Feb 2026 08:12:30
Good write up LAD. it's achievable certainly unless we do something Leedsy but we wouldn't, would we?

17 Feb 2026 12:31:39
Nice one LAD, totally agree re Wet Spam and Florists. Of the others can't really see anyone apart from Spuds and Brighton coming close but you would think they have too much, just. Next 3 games are vital for us, Villa away I can see us getting something as well as home v Citeh.

If we don't the home game v Sunderland is massive. Personally I can see us getting 46+ points. Pressure is a massive influencer and if the 3 just below us don't pick up wins in the next few games it's going to be a bun fight for them with no butter. Confident our boys can handle the heat and make us proud. UTWDTP wiv some hot cross buns.

17 Feb 2026 20:19:18
Only 40 days to go until we can enjoy hot cross buns. I hope you had your pancakes today. 🥞.

16 Feb 2026 19:01:20
Norwich at home in the FA cup at HOME! Nice one for DF.

16 Feb 2026 19:10:04
Well probably get fined for that draw!

16 Feb 2026 22:58:51
Happy with that draw.

17 Feb 2026 08:53:54
Should give us a good chance to progress, shame the big 6 avoided each other.

17 Feb 2026 11:23:49
Odd that, innit Ox? 🥴🤔.

17 Feb 2026 13:29:33
True bright. Weird. Didn’t think that.

17 Feb 2026 20:58:08
Mind you, Man City have a tricky away game at Newcastle, and Chelsea will absolutely not relish having to visit Wrexham, and remember that some of the so called "big six" have already been knocked out. 😀.

16 Feb 2026 19:01:08
well it's Norwich at home . good tie, with some big teams not going to make it to the next round.

16 Feb 2026 16:18:53
The form may have been poor yesterday, but the team travelled early Sunday to get to Birmingham.
What were you doing valentine's day night?

No excuse, but the players are human. Combine that with rusty players that were out of position and we got what we got.

16 Feb 2026 19:29:43
I was putting some plasterboard on the wall ready for plastering yesterday. What about yourself?

16 Feb 2026 19:46:08
Mo they get paid very good money for inconvenience 🤷🏻‍♂️.

16 Feb 2026 20:07:20
Totally disagree Mo. Games like these give players an opportunity to show their worth and push for a league start. Unless certain players believe no matter how well they perform they still won’t be given a chance by DF?
Lads like Tanaka Willie and Piroe with the charity minutes they are being given at the end of games are either so disillusioned or so under pressure to perform that they literally offer nothing when called upon.

16 Feb 2026 22:38:59
I get it, they're athletes and professionals and they SHOULD act that way. They're also still human and do stupid human things, multiplied by money and fame.


Piroe went 8 games without scoring, and his dry streak started just as he (his wife) had his (first? ) child.

It's not the main cause for them playing gash, but the human factors element plays into it as much as injury rust and playing out of positions do.

Tiny little things add up. The swiss cheese model it's called.

16 Feb 2026 15:36:44
{Ed's Note - Loveawaydays2 has posted a new article entitled, Leeds and the Run-In: Can We Reach 40 Points?

16 Feb 2026 18:00:14
Great post LAD2 think there’s always a twist, do either Spuds or Forest get a bounce from their new Manager, your right Nuno definitely has turned Wet Sham around of late, with Cy in hot scoring form.

I think we will actually get there with a couple to spare, but have a feeling Nuno may yet escape condemning one of his old employers, mainly due to the European fixtures placing additional pressures on their squads.

16 Feb 2026 12:06:25
In view of the ridiculous dive by Vicente yesterday, which happily (no VAR remember) the ref wasn't fooled by, might it be an idea to consider mandatory red cards for diving in the penalty box? Too many players seem to regard the chance of getting a yellow card versus the possibility of getting an undeserved pen as a risk worth taking.

16 Feb 2026 15:01:47
Or like Salah forearming a defender in the neck, then diving for a penalty. Cheating Kant.

For sure diving should be a straight red. It's the only way to stop it.

16 Feb 2026 19:07:20
That dive was on a par with Gordon Watson at Sheff Wed when we beat the 6-1, embarrassing to try and cheat in such a pathetic attempt straight red for me.

15 Feb 2026 18:08:38
A lot of players were under par and we were lucky to get away with that one. I mentioned a few weeks agp that Buonnotte and Tanaka were poor. Don. t know what's happened to AO and Bunonotte (forgive spelling) is having the the start that Rutter did. Hope he makes the same sort of progress but very lightweight at the moment.

15 Feb 2026 18:31:18
FB has hardly played all season. Not fully fit and not match ready. It will take a bit longer before he is ready to give his best.

15 Feb 2026 21:40:10
I think it easy to see why Gnonto and AO are not first choice. AO is capable of brilliance, but can be very ordinary at times. Gruev is more consistent and dependable even if he can’t reach the level AO can.

I know Gnonto is not a defender, but in games like this, that’s where you can end up, and he’s a mistake waiting to happen around our box.

BA was particularly poor today even if he added a bit of chaos in the second half. Very indecisive and lost the ball a lot.

Still a win is a win; let’s hope for a “easy” draw at home and then we’re one match from a Wembley vist.

15 Feb 2026 21:43:33
I think it’s poor to slag off players who have barely seen any game time this season.

15 Feb 2026 22:34:39
Don’t be ridiculous OP…who’s slagging anyone off? Sharing observations that’s all.

16 Feb 2026 04:32:00
Agree with above. We were poor today but got away with it. Lot of under performers but a few haven’t had much game time. But that’s the point. Take the opportunity to give fake a selection problem.
Funny. Fake. That was an auto correct but hey ho.


As has been noted before. We haven’t got a prem squad depth. Very disappointed with gnonto and ao in particular. Amps made a difference. Through to next round. Hope we don’t get gunners. And hope for home cause we are generally woeful away.

16 Feb 2026 06:03:10
It’s a very easy observation to me that players who have barely played this season and are thrown into a cup game against a team away like Birmingham who will play with an intensity like no other game they will play this season, are expected to play above and beyond themselves.
Not forgetting with half the team changed they are also expected to play seamlessly.


Expectations for players like Gnonto are far too high in my opinion.
Everyone on here complained about Aaronson being selected every game and now with all that game time has come good. Maybe Gnonto would be playing better if he had more game time.?
Not so ridiculous in my estimation Ani4ni.

16 Feb 2026 07:28:13
In defence of OP, FB has already been panned as a waste of space already by a few, based on the thick end of about 50 mins for us, and very few more at Chelsea.
Additionally, both Ao and Willy are, imo, gametime players, who need to be playing week in week out to achieve their best form.

16 Feb 2026 08:24:30
Fb was decent in his first 5 min cameo but not yesterday. So that don’t stack up bright.
He is a highly paid professional footballer who trains everyday pretty much. If that’s his best. No thanks.

16 Feb 2026 10:25:00
Nothing to do with discussing whether a player played or not, performed or not, I resent the accusation that I and others were slagging off players. No one was doing that.

E. g, if I said your posts were wrong or boring that would be like discussing your performance, however, if I called you a moron that would be “slagging” you off. See the difference?

16 Feb 2026 10:47:10
100% ani. These are highly paid individuals fighting for the right of selection. If they are rusty cause lack of game time then they will never make the big 11. Absolute stupidity to suggest otherwise.

16 Feb 2026 12:23:37
Like it or not Aus, there's a huge difference between match time and training, and fitness isn't the major factor. The pace of the game, intensity and physicality can make a match just pass you by whether you like it or not, and "rustiness" is a well used term for a reason, irrespective of pay!
Talk of pay is more aligned with "stupidity" I reckon!
Think you hopped on the defensive bus a bit too soon, Ani.

I don't think anyone has accused you directly of being one to slag players off!? I haven't read it that way, or written anything myself to say it? I was personally referring to other comments in other posts!

16 Feb 2026 18:39:11
Perhaps slagging off was not a good choice of phrase more like unfair opinion when knowing the said players had hardly played any matches and likely played out of position not to mention with already about 6 or 7 first team changes in the team sheet.
You can’t expect these players to be ripping it up in these circumstances and they rarely do.

For me it’s an unfair assessment of these players performances without underlining the reasons why they may have not played a good game.
Those players would be specifically Gnonto, Tanaka and Buenonotte.

My response was initially to Hess’s post.

16 Feb 2026 22:24:42
OP, no one can argue BA doesn’t get minutes and he was poor yesterday; likewise AO is no where near an ever-present but he’s had a lot more minutes than most coming into the team yesterday and was also poor imo. Some of these players are going to get less and less opportunities as we come to the crunch end of the season: I doubt DF will risk a weakened team in the FA Cup, given beating Norwich would put us one match from Wembley.

To be fair to those yesterday, Birmingham was always going to be a tough game; they were already in great form at home and this was their cup final. I still think these fringe players are Important; Gnonto has shown on numerous occasions to come on and change a game.

I think if I was being critical and to provide some defence to these players, is that introducing them 6 or 7 at a time is always going to be an issue. I mean, the whole midfield was “new’ and fresh from injury. We only wrestled an element of control once Amps came on.

15 Feb 2026 16:13:31
Ok, which Leeds fan has created a forcefield around our goal posts, deflecting any last minute Leeds luck?

Two games we've gotten away with it and I love it.

I hope our luck gets to the point where we're called Dirty Lucky Leeds 😁.

15 Feb 2026 18:50:28
The atmosphere behind the goals when Perri saved the penalty was metal, he made a world class save in the first, but still made me nervous every time the ball was at his feet.

15 Feb 2026 21:00:20
Darlow has better control of the box and kicking but Perri is the better shot stopper (because he's almost a foot taller) .

Good to see the lad cheering and being cheered though. It should do his confidence good.

15 Feb 2026 21:12:45
Ampadu was instrumental in making us more positive in the second half, but Perri gets my MoM with his decisive saves.
Without his contribution, we would be out of this competition.

15 Feb 2026 21:33:57
Bit of a struggle, but safely through to the next round. Now can we please please please have a home draw just for a change, and not against Arsenal or Man City or suchlike, not too much to ask is it?

16 Feb 2026 00:18:21
Please, not an away trip to London.

15 Feb 2026 15:35:17
What has happened to Tanaka? He was woeful as was Gnonto, Buonette and Longstaff.

15 Feb 2026 16:42:22
Corky said the same about Tanaka and Gnonto the loanee Facundo was shocking!

15 Feb 2026 21:01:00
Not enough game time, Gnonto, AO and Long staff playing out of position.
Defensive orders when they're all attacking players.

15 Feb 2026 14:47:32
A win is a win.

15 Feb 2026 15:05:48
Well played the Cat, lots of relief after that especially for Vid I’m sure.

15 Feb 2026 15:22:15
A great win, no Cup game is a walk in the park.
Understand that.

15 Feb 2026 15:38:32
Absolutely CJ. Under the cosh for a lot of that game, which is hardly surprising as it's a massive game for the Blues.

Nice to be in the draw for the next round and hopefully everyone has come through it unscathed.

Back in Birmingham next weekend - now that's the one to get a positive result from!

15 Feb 2026 16:14:29
A win against Birmingham in my house is quiet all around.

15 Feb 2026 17:14:14
CJS you are completely right football is funny old game .

16 Feb 2026 08:50:38
Enjoy mezzer.
Let’s hope we beat gunners one day so I can invite my dad out for a beer instead of hiding behind the curtains.