A RUSHED and carefully orchestrated announcement that Alan Smith had signed a new contract to stay at Elland Road until 2006 was followed last night by a routine victory over Gillingham that took Leeds United into the FA Cup fifth round. With the protests saved until after the game, when a crowd briefly gathered to call for the board’s resignation, Peter Ridsdale must have been tempted to ask what last week’s fuss was all about.
The Leeds chairman would have been reminded of the need for bodyguards in his own stadium if Andy Hessenthaler had not fluffed the chance to score an injury-time equaliser after Guy Ipoua’s 85th-minute goal, but he, like his team, survived the late fright and will meet either Liverpool or Crystal Palace in the next round.
At one point in the second half, Ridsdale was even seen smiling, although he is not so out of touch as to believe that the storm passed last night.
Until their late rally, Gillingham were so mediocre that this victory offered few clues as to Leeds’s prospects, although there was one glimpse into the future. Among his more inflammatory statements about the sale of six first-team players, Ridsdale had said last week that he would prefer to lose 10,000 season ticket-holders than the £9 million profit from selling Jonathan Woodgate.
An attendance figure of less than 30,000 should have reminded him not to treat the loyalty of the supporters so lightly, although it would be wrong to assume that those who stayed away did so out of fury at the loss of Woodgate and the rest of their heroes. A bitter night in Yorkshire and the underwhelming attractions of Gillingham were more telling deterrents, and those who stayed away did not miss much as goals from Mark Viduka and Eirik Bakke put Leeds in control until the scare at the end.
“The supporters were expected to behave in a certain way, but they didn’t, as if to say what’s done is done and lets look forward,” Terry Venables, the Leeds manager, said. “It was a victory we needed badly, but now I will have to count the heads at the end of the week to check we have a team.”
A lingering cause of friction between Ridsdale and Venables is their differing perceptions of the calibre of talent left at Elland Road, and the manager’s assertion that his severely reduced squad is a long way from Champions League qualification was backed up by the players available to him last night.
With Smith, Harry Kewell, and Teddy Lucic missing through illness and injury, Bakke had to be pressed into action as a centre forward at a club that was, until the recent exodus, spoilt for strikers.
When Lucas Radebe had to withdraw midway through the first half, Michael Duberry was the best defender on the bench and Dominic Matteo’s injury left Leeds exposed to a side of even Gillingham’s limitations.
All of which must have made Venables relieved that his side were facing a Gillingham team missing four of their best players on a night when defeat would have threatened his own status among the Leeds fans as a victim of boardroom machinations. He was happy to be able to rely upon Viduka, who had already proved himself the game’s most classy performer even before he put Leeds ahead in the eleventh minute.
Ian Harte, who has spent most of the season moaning about his lack of chances under Venables, whipped the ball into the penalty area and Leon Johnson could only clear as far as Viduka, who lashed his right-foot shot past Jason Brown from ten yards to atone for his dismissal in the first tie.
Gillingham could muster little in response apart from hopeful punts up to Mamady Sidibe, their towering but cumbersome Mali forward, whose most effective contribution was to force Radebe to withdraw after a clash of heads. The ball was mostly heading the other way, to Gillingham’s acute discomfort. Johnson almost scored a comical own goal with an overhit back-pass, while Leeds should have doubled their lead when Bakke broke free after more defensive confusion.
Thirteen minutes after the interval, Bakke did make it on to the scoresheet when he rose to flick home an inswinging free kick from Harte. It was a goal that should have put a one-sided game beyond doubt but, after Matteo’s departure, Leeds looked vulnerable.
Paul Robinson had to make a stunning parry from Sidibe’s powerful header and Ipoua, on as a substitute, shot horribly wide before running on to a long ball out of defence and chipping a leaden-footed goalkeeper to set up a tense finale.
Ridsdale must have been the most relieved man in the ground when Hessenthaler scuffed his attempt on goal, although the Gillingham player-manager did not leave Elland Road without a parting shot. “It was a shame Terry Venables did not want to shake hands with our coaches,” he said. “Maybe he is too big for us. He’s been to Barcelona.”
LEEDS UNITED (4-1-3-2) P Robinson — D Mills, L Radebe (sub: M Duberry, 32min), D Matteo (sub: J Milner 76), I Harte — P Okon — G Kelly, S Johnson, J Wilcox — E Bakke, M Viduka. Substitutes not used: N Martyn, J Burns, S Johnson.
GILLINGHAM (4-4-2): J Brown — N Nosworthy, L Johnson, C Hope, R Edge — K James, A Hessenthaler, N Southall, D Perpetuini (sub: T Johnson, 70) — R Wallace (sub: G Ipoua, 70), M Sidibe. Substitutes not used: V Bartram, D Spiller, J Awuah. Booked: Southall, T Johnson.
Referee: M Dean.
