Gillingham ... 1 Leeds United ... 1: They run a tight ship down at Gillingham. The squad cost less than £1 million and the club have spent only £75,000 on new players in the past two years. Not that Paul Scally does not like his football. Indeed, the chairman popped into the freshly-built press lounge to ask the assembly whether they enjoyed the game. It was just as well Terry Venables was not looking in at this cosy scene.
Venables is torn, which explains why he spoke on Saturday afternoon with a curious mixture of fatalism and enthusiasm about his precarious position as manager of Leeds. He says he is caught between opposing forces, for a successful team and a healthy bank balance. "The club has got a very heavy predicament," he said. "We want it to be successful but it tends to pull you in two directions."
Despite his further frustration at seeing victory thrown away, largely due to Mark Viduka's red card, Venables drew back from his stance only 24 hours earlier. Any loss of Jonathan Woodgate - and Venables insisted "to my knowledge there has been no bid" - from Newcastle may not be the final straw.
Newcastle are preparing an offer of more than £8 million and have until Friday to seal the deal. Venables strongly opposes any sale but knows the final word lies with chairman Peter Ridsdale. "Peter tells me his stance is to do all he can not to let Woodgate go and I have to believe him. They would be foolish to sell him and everyone at Leeds knows that."
It is understood Newcastle's chairman, Freddy Shepherd, met Ridsdale last Monday and discussed Woodgate. Shepherd mentioned a figure below £8 million, which was laughed out of court by the Leeds chairman. But Woodgate's future may not determine Venables's path. "Once this week is over," he said, "you just get on with it. You hope you don't lose anyone in the last week; we've lost enough."
Of the pressure to sell players over the last seven months he said: "It's easy to fall out on it but we have to stick together to the end of the season. Then we see where we are."
But the stakes are higher now, especially for Leeds. They have seen £3.5 million slip away with Seth Johnson's sale to Middlesbrough breaking down, reportedly on medical grounds. This is on top of the £7.5 million that got away when Robbie Fowler rejected Manchester City.
To muddy waters further it is believed Leeds are prepared to part with one of their stock of strikers but it is Viduka, not Fowler, who is deemed the most expendable. Here Fowler remained on the bench and saw the Australian perform feebly before lowering his stock further nine minutes from time by catching Gillingham's player-manager, Andy Hessenthaler, in the forehead with his arm.
Off went Viduka with his head down before he raised it to blow kisses to Leeds fans stationed near the tunnel. It may have been a gesture of farewell. What is known is a minute later Leeds were saying goodbye to victory. The man from Mali made sure of that. The 6ft 4in Mamady Sidibe swivelled to shoot past Paul Robinson from Paul Shaw's cross. Until Viduka's reckless act, Leeds had been coasting on the back of Alan Smith's curving free- kick just after the break.
Sven-Goran Eriksson joined 11,093 paying spectators, a record for the revamped Priestfield, in seeing Smith excel and Leeds's three Australians perform indifferently before England's friendly next month. The tally must have pleased Scally: £265,000 for Sky's coverage plus a share of receipts from the replay at Elland Road a week tomorrow. But financially who needs the replay more?
Guardian Service
GILLINGHAM: Brown, Southall, Edge, Ashby, Hope, Hessenthaler, Smith, Saunders, Shaw, Ipoua (Wallace 72), Sidibe. Subs Not Used: Bartram, Leon Johnson, Spiller, Perpetuini. Goal: Sidibe 82.
LEEDS UTD: Robinson, Kelly, Lucic, Radebe, Matteo, Bakke, Okon, Wilcox, Kewell, Smith, Viduka. Subs Not Used: Martyn, Harte, Duberry, Fowler, Milner. Sent Off: Viduka (81). Booked: Matteo. Goal: Smith 49.
Referee: N Barry (N Lincolnshire).
