Leeds United vs Blackburn Rovers match report: Humiliation for new manager Steve Evans as hosts crumble early

Leeds United 0 Blackburn Rovers 2: Visitors score twice in first six minutes as United's poor run at home continues

Blackburn’s Craig Conway puts his side into the lead after 18 seconds at Elland Road (Reuters)

Gone in 18 seconds. On a night Steve Evans must have dreamed would see him welcomed as the man who, finally, could restore some credibility to Leeds United by bringing a victorious home performance to Elland Road for the first time since early March, his new Leeds lasted 18 seconds before succumbing to Blackburn Rovers.

Just 18 seconds, that’s all it took for Blackburn to score and for Evans to have his dream punctured. And it got worse. On the eve of his 53rd birthday, Evans saw Blackburn score again in the sixth minute. This was no new era, this was humiliating. This was a continuation of the erratic ownership of Massimo Cellino, who had made Evans his sixth manager in 18 months 11 days earlier.

Cellino, facing disqualification as a director due to a tax offence in Italy, is notorious for his unpredictability and superstitious nature. Having banned the number 17 from Leeds United, Cellino’s latest ruse is apparently to have installed lemon trees in the Elland Road reception area for good luck.

That idea withered here, and at this rate Leeds could do no worse than ransack Don Revie’s old phone book to see if the daughter of Gypsy Rose Lee is around. At Revie’s behest, Lee once performed quite a trick at each of the four corners of the Elland Road pitch to bring good fortune.

Cellino’s Leeds have made it easy to be cynical, to mock. Even their own fans have lapsed into this condition. There were under 20,000 of them here for Evans’ home debut; when the club left the Premier League, in 2004, Leeds averaged 37,000. Half a tribe lost in just over a decade of mismanagement and farce.

The dissatisfaction of Leeds supporters here could be measured in their second-half chants.

There were a few expletives. From “Sky TV is f***ing s***” – Sky had switched this game from Saturday to Thursday night so they could cover it – to “Massimo, it’s time to go” – a reference to the watching Cellino – and on to “We’re Leeds United, we’ve all had enough”, a story was told. One of the reasons the rainbow-colourful Cellino had put forward for removing Uwe Rösler 12 games into his “reign” was: “I wanted the team to play heavy-rock football, but instead it was like country music.” Evans, a Scot, must recognise a lament.

On the final whistle, there was an outbreak of booing as Evans shook Blackburn hands, and there was some anger, but this is a subdued club in a subdued stadium.

Evans must have noted that as he made his way to the dugout shortly before kick-off, without introduction. The new manager of Leeds United was not even accorded a message over the public address system. It was quiet, it was embarrassingly quiet.

It is not easy for a man of Evans’ girth to be anonymous anywhere he goes, but he was here. A silent welcome from a depressed ground.

After a few paces, Evans turned and applauded those behind the home dugout, and he received some claps back. Little did he know, this was to be the good bit.

Steve Evans shows his frustration (Reuters)

Having presumably roused his new players in the dressing room, Evans watched as they failed to make a challenge from the kick-off. Within 20 seconds Blackburn were 1-0 up as white shirts simply backed off. When the ball came to Craig Conway, unmarked at the far post, the Rovers winger had time to pick his spot and beat the Leeds goalkeeper, Marco Silvestri. They have witnessed some questionable new eras here, yet Elland Road was stunned by this.

All that could be heard were Lancashire voices chorusing: “You’re getting sacked in the morning”, and with Cellino in control it could have been a prediction as much as a taunt. Then they sang: “There’s only one Jack Walker.”

And then it was 2-0. In his first programme notes, Evans wrote of being a family friend of the Rhodes. He hoped Jordan would remember this, but when Rhodes was presented with the ball six minutes in, he forgot about Evans and buried a typical low shot on the turn beyond Silvestri.

The goal was the second in front of the Leeds Kop, which promptly burst into a chant of: “What the f*** is going on?”

Nobody knew, certainly nobody in white. The place was in a state of shock. Blackburn had started the match one place below Leeds in the Championship table.

Evans must have wondered if this was a public betrayal by his players. He had spoken of having the ground “bouncing”, of spectators enthused by attacking football rather than the “containment” game of his immediate predecessor, Rösler. Instead he had silence, resentment and players missing tackles.

Gradually it improved. It had to. Mirco Antenucci hit the side-netting and on 40 minutes Tom Adeyemi’s flicked header clipped a post.

Had Leeds produced a goal then, the atmosphere would surely have changed. As it was, Norman Hunter descended a gangway in the main stand just before half-time and blew out his cheeks.

The second half was better, in that Blackburn did not add to their tally. But the atmosphere did not change. There was no mass walkout but the mood was sullen.

Evans made substitutions, the players went through the motions. The damage had been done… in 18 seconds.