Having returned from Cardiff on THAT late Sunday evening, I would like to express some comments on the match and the destiny of Leeds United Football club.
I fear the club will be destroyed beyond all recognition if Kevin Blackwell remains as manager.
I acknowledge that he has had a tough job to do under exceptionally difficult financial circumstances, however, he has always maintained the largest and most experienced squad in the Championship.
As a loyal Leeds fan for 34 years, I queued for tickets at Elland Road for over 10 hours a couple of weeks ago, and whilst doing so witnessed new members being invited to join and were sold tickets ahead of the loyal season ticket holders.
I travelled down to Cardiff and witnessed a management decision to play a 4-5-1 negative format for a vital match, playing an unfit lone striker up front.
Blackwell responded to post match press interviews by saying 'well, it was just one of those things'. I find that a totally unacceptable summary of our performance.
We were outplayed for 90 minutes by a side who went out there to play positive football, led by a passionate manager who spots young talent and encourages them to maintain their familiar positions on the pitch.
Rob Hulse has obviously struggled with an injury for the second half of the season and Blackwell has admitted that he may need surgery in the close season.
We have Ian Moore who shows pace up front, he has barely featured in the squad. David Healy is obviously not a 'Blackwell boy' and has been out of favour since returning late from international duty.
Eric Bakke has also been out of favour with Blackwell since choosing to play for his country. Bakke''s performance in midfield towards the end of the season was exceptional, showing the experience and capabilities of a former Champions League, Premiership midfielder.
Matthew Kilgallon was played out of position to allow an overweight, unfit, Paul Butler back into the team. This was a panic move to fill the left back position, left open by Stephen Crainey's suspension.
What about Danny Pugh, Dan Harding or Simon Walton ? Leaving Kilgallon in the centre of defence where we needed pace to match up to the pace of the Watford forwards?
As panic set in, and as we went 2 goals down, Blackwell's 'master tactical move' was to throw 2 more strikers on the pitch (Healy and Blake), and still leave our most experience midfielder on the bench (Bakke) until 80 minutes.
Three strikers can't be expected to work if we don't have a midfield capable of driving forward with positive play.
I look forward to seeing what changes are made during the summer months, and will once again look forward to supporting Leeds next season.
I fear we will lose some of our experienced young players to managers in the Premiership who can spot talent and manage them to play positive, forward thinking football.
This could leave us with a bunch of thirty-something's who wouldn't have stood a chance of maintaining their positions in a Premiership squad and will be quite happy to plod along in the Championship and get paid good money for doing a sub-standard job.