Two goals by 'born again' Smithy gave us a 2-0 win against Everton this afternoon.

Considering our much documented injury problems, it was a solid enough display by the lads, especially in the first half, when we put some nice stuff together.

To read a match report, click here.

According to a news story appearing on the Sporting Life website late this evening, David O'Leary is considering the possibility that he might be without the services of Harry Kewell until the New Year: a bombshell that even eclipses his earlier prognosis that David batty might miss the whole of the campaign. David sure knows how to put a smile on our faces with the season just 24 hours away ;-)

If the United boss is right and Kewell's Achilles tendon injury is worse than at first feared, he will also be forced to miss the Olympics, taking place in his home town of Sydney.

"About three weeks down the line we will be able to see whether Harry is improving or will need an op," O'Leary says, "If he does need an operation then he will come back perfect, but it won't be until after Christmas."

David O'Leary is expected to complete a new six year contract in the next 24 hours.

He has agreed the new deal after lengthy negotiations with the United board this week and may even put pen to paper before Saturday's opening Premiership fixture, against Everton at Elland Road.

Speaking on the official site, the Leeds boss says: "I'm very excited about what we're doing here and I truly believe we can do something special at Leeds."

The £4.25M transfer of Dominic Matteo from Liverpool has been completed this afternoon.

The move was put on hold when a knee injury was discovered during Matteo's medical. However, having contacted Liverpool to renegotiate payment terms, the deal has now gone through.

Let's hope he now makes a speedy and full recovery and can be available for first team selection sooner rather than later.

Harry Kewell has pledged his long term future to Leeds by signing a new contract that should keep him at the club until 2004. The news comes as something of a relief, following revelations earlier in the week, from girlfriend Sheree Murphy, that she would like him to play in London: comments, incidentally, she now claims were taken out of context.

Everyone at the club is delighted that the club's biggest talent is so keen to stay, Peter Risdale issuing a statement saying:

"This proves Harry's committed to Leeds and I'm absolutely delighted. I'm thrilled that such an exceptional talent is staying at Elland Road."

He now becomes clearly the biggest earner at the club, believed to be on wages of £28,000 a week. However, by today's crazy standards, few would doubt that he is worth the money - especially considering the riches he could earn in Italy or Spain.

Can you believe it? The buzz-phrase of the Summer would seem to be "As if things couldn't get any worse...." Well, true to form things have just got gloomier with the unbelievable news that prospective new signing Dominic Matteo has a knee injury that will keep the defender out of action for up to two months.

However, in a statement issued on the club's official site, Peter Ridsdale revealed they still want to conclude the deal:

"Dominic Matteo has undergone a medical which revealed a knee injury. This means he will not be immediately available for selection. We understand he will be fit in six to eight weeks so we are prepared to complete the transfer, "said Peter Ridsdale.

"We are currently in discussions with Liverpool and believe it will lead to a mutually acceptable financial arrangement that will allow the transfer to be completed. "

To continue with the deal is a brave move, especially considering the complications faced by David Batty over the last year. Some supporters have expressed their opinion, on the LUW Message Board, that we should now pull out of the deal and look elsewhere. Only time will tell.

After several denials from official Leeds sources, it looks increasingly likely that Liverpool's Dominic Matteo will become O'Leary's third major signing of the Summer when he signs for us today in a £4 million deal.

Matteo has already agreed personal terms and undergone the first part of a medical, which will be completed tomorrow afternoon.

If he does sign on the dotted line, as expected, he may well be thrown straight into the first team on Saturday for the visit of Everton, such is the extent of injuries facing the Leeds manager.

The close season seems to be littered with stories eminating from the club, expecting supporters to be delighted that more of our hard earned cash is being stuffed into their bottomless pockets. I don't mean to sound bitter but am I the only one not jumping for joy when these stories are reported?

Following improved contracts for several key players, it's now the turn for manager O'Leary who - despite proclamations on how obscene football wages are at present - will no doubt be more than happy to pick up £1.4 million per year for six years. Nice work if you can get it ;)

Like I say, I don't mean to sound bitter but I'm not sure this is the best time to announce this. Despite last season's success, there is a rather negative feeling in the air at the moment, perhaps surprisingly so. The reason being is that supporters feel that the club has not made the leap forward many were hoping for over the Summer - as hinted at by Chairman Peter Risdale.

Despite the Chairman's insistence that O'Leary is the "hottest" managerial property around at present, football can have an alarming way of shooting you in the foot when you least expect it. The Leeds boss is well liked by supporters. However, he is yet to win anything and his transfer dealings overall have been poor. An early exit from the Champions League and a few poor Premiership results early on might well lead to disgruntled fans questioning the merit of making O'Leary the highest paid manager in the country and on such a long term contract.

In today's papers, West Ham boss, Harry Redknapp expresses his anger at Leeds, suggesting that the Leeds Chairman in particular is trying to engineer a move for Rio Ferdinand.

This has prompted Peter Risdale to release an official statement which appeared on the club's official website. In it, he points out:

"I am happy to make clear our official position. Some weeks ago, and I stress it was several weeks ago, I asked West Ham Chairman Terry Brown if Rio Ferdinand was for sale. He said he wasn't, so I asked to be kept informed if that position should change.

"I have re-iterated on numerous occasions since then that we have made no bid for Rio Ferdinand, nor would we do so unless their Chairman informed us that West Ham's position had altered. I have had no such call and therefore, have at no time made a bid for Rio Ferdinand.

"I am extremely disappointed that the West Ham Manager appears to imply something different."

Eirik Bakke learned today that he would only be handed a one match ban by UEFA following his red card against 1860 Munich, not the three that had been initially stated. The reason for UEFA's U turn was that referee Costas Kapitanis had made a mistake in his match report suggesting he'd shown Bakke a straight red card rather than two yellows.

Some justice perhaps? Not really when Eirik clearly shouldn't have been sent off in th first place. Even Dacourt, who might have deserved a yellow card for his slightly idiotic dive, shouldn't have picked up his initial yellow.

Yet again, European Football has left us with a very sour taste in our mouths :(

This morning's 'Daily Mail' carried the headline "£15m Rio is off to Leeds", the second time over the Summer months that the paper have confidently proclaimed that a move was imminent.

It went on to say that "A meeting has been scheduled for Upton Park today to tie up a transfer that Leeds have been keen to push through since May."

However, sure enough, by the end of the day both clubs were dismissing the story: a Leeds spokesman confirming that no bid had been made whilst West Ham dismissed latest developments as "absolute rubbish."

Following the dodgy sendings off of Dacourt and Bakke in last night's Champions league qualifier, added to the mountain of injury problems the club are currently facing, the Leeds boss is seriously concerned about the team he will be forced to put out in a fortnight's time. Rather worryingly, he pointed out to the official United website: "I don't mean this as a joke, but I don't know what side I can field for that game."

His concerns mainly centre on the middle of the park, where Lee Bowyer looks like being the only one of his regular midfield to be available.

He also added: "I'm not very confident about going through." More of the usual O'leary kidology? Let's hope so - because if these depressing comments are for real, then I can't see him being able to motivate his team too well for the return leg :(

Following last Sunday's news that there might be more conflicts with FA Australia on the horizon, it was reported today that we might lose Harry and Viduka for the whole of March 2001, as the Socceroos prepare their qualification campaign for the 2004 World Cup.

If so, it would mean us being without two of our most dangerous players for almost two months of the campaign (We are already resigned to losing them for most of September!) It's a far from ideal situation and will clearly hamper our chances of making progress both domestically and on the European stage.

Costas Kapitanis, a novice official from Cyprus, tonight produced the most inept refereeing performance Elland Road has ever seen - and that's saying something!

With United 2-0 up and playing against ten men, we looked to be in total command. However, following the harsh sendings off of Dacourt and then, unbelievably, Bakke - and his decision to add on four minutes of injury time - he allowed TSV 1860 Munich to score a last gasp away goal, that might prove crucial in the away leg in a fortnight's time.

As if things aren't bad enough already, David O'Leary intensified the feeling of gloom surrounding Elland Road this morning: dropping the bombshell that David Batty might miss the entire 2000-2001 season - as a result of his continuing Achilles problems.

It had been hoped that the fans' favourite would return after Christmas, following surgery over the Summer to finally rectify the problem: a major boost in our attempts to chase glory on both domestic and European fronts.

However, speaking at a Press Conference for tomorrow's European match, the Leeds boss dropped the bombshell to the massed reporters: "If he plays this season I'll be surprised. I think he will miss all of this season."

If this proves to be the case, there must be a major question mark over whether the player will ever kick a ball again. Even if he was to eventually recover, by that time he would be nearly 33 and wouldn't have played Premiership football for almost two years.

Let's hope O'Leary's prognosis doesn't prove correct - especially as Batty was playing some of the best football of his career when he received the initial injury that led to his current problems.

There was good news today - with Harry suggesting that his achilles problem might not be as bad as some pessimists are making out - and that he might even be available for the Premiership opener against Everton on August 19th.

In an interview with the Sunday Telegraph in Sydney over the weekend, he pointed out that "those predicting that I face the prospect of surgery and will be out of action for months are totally misinformed. That's an absolute worst-case scenario and not something I'm contemplating at all at this stage."

David O'Leary will be praying his star player is right. In today's 'Sun', he re-emphasises his side's injury problems and admits to being cautious about Kewell's optimistic diagnosis: "I am not getting carried away by his words. We shall just have to see how he goes over the next 10 days."

Despite the constant stories linking us with a big money bid for Rio Ferdinand, Hammers boss Harry Redknapp is adamant that the player will not be allowed to come to Elland Road - even for £15 million.

He points out in today's 'Mirror': "I understand that Leeds are prepared to go to £15 million for him, but he's not going there." However, he's not ruled out the possibility of the player moving abroad, most likely to Barcelona.

It all adds up to the most boring of Summer transfer stories. What makes it especially so for most United supporters is that we don't feel Ferdinand is remotely worth that kind of money, in the first place. To pay £15 million for a defender who doesn't know how to defend seems complete and utter madness.

Kewell continues to be linked to big money moves in Spain and Italy. In today's tabloids, it is reported that Lazio have made a £40 million bid for his services.

The Italian club's President, Sergio Gragnotti, is clearly a big fan, saying: "Kewell is an exciting talent and I think the best in the Premiership."

If the story is genuine - and there's no reason to suggest it isn't - then it will certainly test United's resolve not to sell their most prized commodity. Peter Risdale has consistently stressed that Kewell is not for sale at any price. Now we will see whether he is as good as his word.

Whilst Mark Viduka has made a promising start to his United career, albeit in pre season fixtures, the main concerns about signing him have already started to surface, even before a ball has been kicked in anger.

Both he and Harry are wanted by Australia for their Olympic squad warm up as early as August 20th, the day after the Everton match that opens our campaign. It's all a complete farce but somewhat predictable following the conflicts of the last couple of seasons.

The only light on the horizon is that the 'get together' has not been finalised yet....so watch this space and cross those fingers!

With the Champions League qualifier against TSV 1860 Munich now just a matter of days away, United enjoyed another pre-season victory this afternoon, comfortably beating local rivals Huddersfield Town 2-0.

Yet another Ian Harte 'special' did the trick, along with a strike from Lee Bowyer. However, O'Leary is far from happy at the way pre-season has unfolded: crippling injury problems being the last thing he needed before the season has even properly commenced.

He pointed out to the official United site: "We have had a terrible time preparing for the start of the season. We've lost Jason Wilcox, Harry Kewell and Stephen McPhail all of who have no chance of making it for Wednesday."

It's the news that no United fans wanted to hear...especially before a competitive ball has even been kicked: Harry may face an operation to sort out his troublesome Achilles injury.

He is definitely out for the first leg of the Champions league qualifier against TSV 1860 Munich and looks an unlikely starter for our Premiership opener against Everton on August 19th.

However, should surgery be required, we'd be talking a layoff of months rather than weeks, with harry also set to miss the Sydney Olympics too!

We continued our winning streak in pre-season games last night with a 3-2 win against First Division Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park.

We twice took the lead but were pegged back by a battling Rovers side. However, our saviour on the night was Ian Harte - and his trusty free kicks. Unbelievably, he scored a hat trick on the night, all three goals brilliant efforts from dead ball situations.

Does anyone know what's happened to Club Physio, David Swift? If you'll excuse the pun, his departure yesterday was extremely swift and entirely unexpected. He was even, earlier in the day, featured on the Official site, discussing injury problems. Then, after the Blackburn friendly at Ewood Park, it was announced that he had left the club "by mutual consent".

Very puzzling indeed! If anyone has any inside info, drop us a line at my usual e-mail address!

There is something about the Riise transfer (or non-transfer, more to the point) that really sums up this Summer's transfer activities.

We should be feeling on top of the world, elated at the prospect of one of our most exciting campaigns for many a long year....so why are so many supporters feeling disheartened, not to say downright confused?

The reason is that, due to promises made by Peter Risdale earlier in the close season, we were expecting so much more. Dacourt was supposed to be joined at his Press Conference by at least one other signing, if not two. And one of these was supposed to be a bigger deal than the one which brought the frenchman to the club. So why are we waiting?

Yesterday's fiasco said it all. Is it all a 'smoke screen' to get our man or is the Leeds Chairman pulling our legs a little?

According to the Official club site today, Risdale explained that Monaco had "accepted" United's deal but then backtracked. However, on Teamtalk he completely contradicted himself, saying "we've not agreed a fee with anybody" and that there was "nothing to suggest we will be signing him in the near future."

It's been a peculiar day today! From out of nowhere came the news that long term target John Arne Riise was due to join us for a fee of £6.5 million.

Immediate reactions? (1) A lot of money to pay for a 19 year old; (2) Is another left sided midfielder really a priority? (3) Is this for real or just another piece of fiction?

Of course, it didn't take long to realise that, like so many other so called 'transfer' stories this Summer, this particular episode was likely to end in failure.

The reason? Well, the official Leeds line is that we offered £4 million and that the player was due in Leeds at any time to sort our personal terms. His mother, who is also his agent (!) appeared to confirm this earlier in the day. However, at this point Monaco suddenly decided to up the price by over £2 million - at which point Risdale pulled out.

We await further developments.