THE CASE AGAINST KEVIN BLACKWELL will be familiar to anyone who listens to radio phone-in shows. The Leeds United manager does not know what he is doing. He might have managed the Yorkshire club during their darkest days, led them from the verge of bankruptcy to within touching distance of the Barclays Premiership, but that all counts for nothing if you cannot beat Cardiff City at home.

According to the airwave generals, gates are down, confidence is low and the man at the top has to go. When it was put to him that his job was on the line after Cardiff City won 1-0 at Elland Road last weekend, Blackwell shrugged his shoulders. “What people forget is that this year we will paying out £7 million in wages to people who have left the club,” he said. “Once that is done and our luck turns, we will be able to compete again.”

Blackwell’s detractors complain that their manager has taken them as far as he can, but his team’s performance at Hillsborough yesterday suggested that he may live to fight a few more days. Leeds were compact and well- organised in the first half and stepped up a gear after the interval when they sensed that the three points could be theirs.

The change in fortune that Blackwell had been hoping for arrived in the 66th minute, when Steve Bennett awarded a penalty and sent off Brad Jones after the Sheffield Wednesday goalkeeper had brought down David Healy on the edge of the penalty area. According to the referee, it was a penalty. According to Paul Sturrock, the Wednesday manager, Healy was offside and Bennett should not be allowed to referee in the Coca-Cola Championship again.

“The Premiership should keep their referees,” Sturrock said. “They don’t seem to be able to handle the step down in class. There is a lot more running around in our league — there are more tackles, headers and collisions — and I just feel that it would be very nice if they leave us alone and let us stick to our own referees.”

Healy kept his nerve to convert the penalty and give his team a deserved lead, but Sturrock’s side would have had at least a share of the points if Deon Burton had shown more composure in front of goal. The former Derby County player should have done better from close range on the stroke of half-time, when he had the goal at his mercy, and although his team-mates poured forward in search of an equaliser in the closing stages, they failed to create a better chance.

“I hope this can be the catalyst to turn our season around,” Blackwell said. “From where I was standing it was a definite penalty and I did not see anyone on the touchline complaining. It was the right decision and we deserved to win because we created so many clear-cut chances. Hillsborough is a tough place to come to, but my players did not let me down.”

Sheffield Wednesday (4-5-1): B Jones — F Simek, G Coughlan, M Bougherra, T Spurr — J Hills (sub: C Adamson, 68min), G Whelan, B O’Brien, C Brunt (sub: K Lunt, 82), L Sam (sub: L Bullen, 76) — D Burton. Substitutes not used: D McClements, S McAllister. Booked: Sam, Lunt, Bullen. Sent off: Jones. NEXT Southend United (a)

Leeds United (4-4-2): T Warner — G Kelly, P Butler, M Kilgallon, S Crainey — E Lewis, I Westlake, S Derry, S Carole (sub: H Foxe, 81) — D Healy, I Moore. Substitutes not used: N Sullivan, F Richardson, R Blake, J Beckford. NEXT Wolverhampton Wanderers (h)