As protests go, surely this had to be one of the most pointless ones ever?? What did it achieve? I'm sure Bates knew how much he was disliked by a percentage of the fan base anyway, and I'm doubly sure that it didn't bother him in the slightest beforehand, and won't do now either. Secondly, as he says, he's going nowhere, and all the protests in the world aren't going to change that. Who's going to get rid of him?

Don't get me wrong, I'm not exactly pro Bates, but I'm not vehemently against him either. I'm not sure how accurate his "I saved your club in 2005 and 2007 when nobody else would" rant is, but there's no guarantees whatsoever that we'd be in a better position now had someone else took over (if indeed there ever really was a possibility that anyone else might?)

Financially we are in the best position we've been in for years, and I'm still confident we can get out of the Championship (in an upwards direction!) at some point over the next few years. It probably won't be this year, but I'm ok with that - the best things in life are worth waiting for after all

Squad wise, we're not that far off despite all the moaning about lack of signings. Losing both Becchio and Somma, having players away on International duty, and having players suspended has caused a lot of unfortunate disruption to the start of the season, but when all's said and done we're only 1 point worse off than we were at this stage last year. We lost to 3 quality goals against a red hot Southampton team who are 3 for 3 so far, and destroyed Ipswich last night, and we played much better and were unlucky to lose against a good Middlesbrough team on Saturday. Lonergan looks like he's going to do a good job for us in goal, I'm really pleased Tom Lees is getting a chance in defence as I've heard a lot of good things about him, Adam Clayton is looking excellent so far in Midfield, and McCormack is showing a bit of form up front now that he's getting a decent run of games. With Gradel and Howson to come back in on Sunday we're starting to get a little bit of shape. I'm still concerned about left and right back, but we're getting there..... A point at West Ham on Sunday would do me.

Great win last night, Snoddys goal was a beauty. Tom Lees finished his well too.

Picked his spot and finishes.

Very good, morale boosting result... Last year we did ok on Saturdays but couldn't buy a win on a Tuesday until late in the season, looks like it's the other way round this season! Hopefully bodes well that we're playing on Sunday this weekend not Saturday!

You better watch out, you better beware,
he's good on the floor and he's good in the air,
Santa Cruz is coming, to town!

Sky Sports News.

More chance of signing Eric Cantona IMO.

Quality

Unfortunately tho,we couldnt even afford a third of his wages!

Nunez scores 2 again. Will he be getting a start now?

notice how we have only won when he has started

Apparently Whites sending off was abit harsh and that changed them game? Anyone see it?

And according to the paper I read Bullard pulling all the strings for them. Good player him.

Just seen "Gradel goes" on Twitter. Surely not?

Socheaux put a 2 million bid in which was rejected!

Also the Leeds/Scum game is gonna be on Sky on Tuesday 20th Sept. Can wait to watch them batter us from the comfort of my armchair!

"St Etienne have agreed a deal to buy winger Max Gradel, subject to a medical, from Leeds United"

Breaking news on BBC!

www.leedsunited.com/news/2011083 ... 85_2436793 Gradel hands in transfer request, accepted by Leeds & he's signing for St Etienne.

www.leedsunited.com/news/2011083 ... 85_2436793 Gradel hands in transfer request, accepted by Leeds & he's signing for St Etienne.

So we've now lost Johnson, Kilkenny and Gradel who were all first choice last year and added no one!

No one that is, apart from Lonergan, O'Dea, Brown, Keogh and Rachubka.

Also we've got Nunez and Kisnorbo which is like another 2 new players if you like, as they weren't around last year. Lees looks like he's gonna be a solid player at this level, Clayton is again like a new signing - looking class so far this year as well. So all in all i'm not too worried.

I'm not in the Bates out camp just yet, but now he has to get his hand in his pocket and get us a replacement for Gradel - in fact he should have put his hand in his pocket and given Gradel the wages required to keep him. But still, I think Nunez will do a job there, but we could do with another midfielder in case of injuries.