Nothing less than improvement

After Simon Grayson watched his Leeds side fall at the hands of Southampton on the opening day of the season negative thoughts have cascaded around about the clubs chances on going one better this term. There is such an expectancy not just from the Elland Road faithful but from fellow players and management to perform when you pull on that famous white shirt. Saturday marked a shocking start for the Whites as many players failed to perform which saw us come unstuck against a strong Saints side who fully deserved their 3-1 victory.

The main problem I've seen with the summer's recruitment drive is that we've failed to replace the outgoing players with equal or better quality, and even in some cases failed to replace. I barely have to remind people how the summer started with the expulsion of Kasper Schmeichel from the squad. After that sale Grayson & Bates had to replace Neil Kilkenny, Bradley Johnson and sure up a leaky defence. So far this season their response to this has been bringing in two new stoppers; Paul Rachubka and Andy Lonergan. Darren O'Dea was brought in late last week and played on Saturday, it's fair to say he didn't make the best first impression. Michael Brown the experienced x-Portsmouth midfielder has been the only acquisition in that department and fans are still crying out for more strength and depth.

Last season was plagued with injuries for many United players. Patrick Kisnorbo missed all but 12 minutes of last season as he recovered from an injury suffered when the club were still in League 1. Hopefully his presence will help us strive for bigger and better things this time out. Along with him there were many more who had injury setbacks including Lloyd Sam, Billy Paynter, Ben Parker and Paul Connolly. These injuries forced Grayson's hand in the loan-market something that proved unsuccessful bar Eric Lichaj the Aston Villa full-back. Unfortunately for Leeds the squad and most specifically the defence seems extremely average! It just isn't good enough to gain promotion, I feel terribly sorry for the goalkeeper as often he will be helpless to prevent the inevitable.

As is the opinion with most fans, one defeat and we're in a relegation fight. That's overreacting we have some very talented players but then again who can gain success through two or three players, you need a well rounded squad and most importantly a rock solid defence. Last season our attacking prowess saved us somewhat, however alarms bells are already ringing with both Luciano Becchio and Davide Somma facing lengthy spells out. Which only leaves Paynter and McCormack to lead the line for us however with those two having only bagged three goals between them in around 50 appearances, it is hardly inspiring. This adds pressure to United's big three of Howson, Snodgrass and Gradel.

It's not all doom and gloom, we have players who are trying to break through now after learning their trait out on loan. Adam Clayton is the stand out player for me. The x-Man City youngster was signed by Grayson and then was shipped out on-loan to both MK Dons and promoted side Peterborough. Adam was another who made the starting eleven on Saturday, he put in a sold performance on only his third appearance for the club after an eye-catching pre-season from the young midfielder. Ramon Nunez is the other, he went out on loan to Scunthorpe at the back end of last season grabbing his first goals in English football. Again he had an impressive pre-season and looks a real spark on the ball.

This Leeds side needs work and tomorrow night is a chance to right a wrong against Bradford City in the Carling Cup. I'm desperate for the squad to be strengthened further, any fan would love to see a household name join the squad, something slightly different. So far Grayson has failed to impress with some of his signings, however the manager needs the support and given the lack of money we've spent it raises eyebrows to whether he is getting it. The pressure is on for everybody at the club to deliver an improvement on last season, let's just hope tomorrow night can be a confidence boost for a big test against Middlesbrough at Elland Road on Saturday.