Leeds United news as Joe Gelhardt issues 'first of…

Leeds United news as Joe Gelhardt issues 'first of many' statement after first Sunderland goal

Here are your latest Leeds United morning headlines for Wednesday, February 22.

Leeds loanee Joe Gelhardt scores first Sunderland goal

Leeds loanee Joe Gelhardt hopes that his maiden goal for Sunderland will be the 'first of many'. The forward opened his goalscoring account for the Black Cats on Tuesday, but couldn't prevent them from succumbing to a 2-1 defeat at Rotherham United.

Rotherham led 2-0 inside 56 minutes courtesy of goals in either half by Oliver Rathbone and Shane Ferguson respectively.

Just past the hour-mark, Luke O'Nien delivered from the right for Gelhardt to power his header at the far post beyond Rotherham goalkeeper Viktor Johansson.

Sunderland now sit one-point outside of the Championship play-offs after their disappointing defeat at the New York Stadium. Gelhardt took five games to get off the mark for Sunderland, after registering an assist for Jack Clarke in the Black Cats' 1-1 draw against Bristol City on Saturday.

"It was a matter of time," Gelhardt told SAFC's official YouTube channel. "I had a lot of chances, I probably could've scored three or four by now but I'm happy to get off the mark now.

"Hopefully it's the first of many for the remainder of the season but every game I'm trying to score goals so hopefully this kicks me on now."

Leeds United have a crucial bridge across three-fold dilemma Javi Gracia must approach sensitively

Speed and breadth of change are going to be critical to Javi Gracia’s success at Leeds United. How much the Spaniard wants to tear up the previous regime and how quickly he does that could make or break the last 15 games of the campaign.

The Whites have gone from 11 months of Jesse Marsch’s ill-fated doctrine to two weeks of Michael Skubala’s tweaks and now there is a third voice to follow. How well the squad takes in and adapts to what Gracia is telling them will be so important.

Marsch would tell you, and told the players too often perhaps, the squad was struggling to get to grips with his tactical outlook. Others might tell you his system was flawed in the first place, but either way, it’s a way of playing which has been driven into them every day since the end of February 2022.

Read the full story here.

Leeds United boss Javi Gracia's record vs Premier League relegation rivals

Leeds United's new manager Javi Gracia has come up against the Whites' fellow Premier League relegation rivals before during his time at Watford, as the club hope he can keep them in the English top-flight this season.

As the full-time whistle blew at Goodison Park, things were looking bleak for Leeds. Without a league victory in over three months, they had just lost to one of their fellow relegation rivals - who were enjoying somewhat of a new manager bounce under Sean Dyche.

Although the Whites still find themselves 19th in the league and just one point from bottom, they now have a new head coach to rally behind for the remainder of the season. And in Gracia, they have got someone in with previous Premier League experience.

Read the full story here.

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