 In the 'Warnock years' there was a titular song bellowed from the stands by the faithful about Michael Brown, it went;
'Number One is Michael Brown, Number Two is Michael Brown, Number Three is Michael Brown' until it reached Number Eleven. The song was finished off with the chorus of; "We all dream of a team of Michael Brown's." It was funny, but it was more a sideswipe at the management of Neil (Colin) Warnock. We had an abundance of midfielders and nowhere to put them and now history seems to be repeating itself. Now under the tenure of Garry Monk we have a multitude of midfielders within the squad, increased further by the Deadline Day signing of Eunan O'Kane from Bournemouth. Here's the list: Stuart Dallas Toumani Diagouraga Matt Grimes Alex Mowatt Luke Murphy Kalvin Phillips Ronaldo Vieira Pablo Hernandez Liam Bridcutt Eunan O'Kane That's ten midfielders for four or five places in the first eleven, you can add Kemar Roofe who for the majority, when picked he has played on the wing and not his natural position of a striker. Even Hadi Sacko has played on the wing but is listed as a striker on the club's website. We have now, after the sudden departure of captain Sol Bamba only three centre halfs; Bartley, Cooper and Jansson and worryingly the strikers department is just as threadbare with only Chris Wood, Marcus Antonsson and Sully Doukara to score the goals. It's so 'middle heavy' that it's hard to understand the logistics of the recruitment department and as I mentioned in a earlier article we seem to be getting quantity more than quality. Maybe Cellino will find a 'hidden gem' in the free transfer market that will be brought into the club. One thing certain is he won't be offered big money to tempt them into joining. The coming months will obviously see different combinations of the ten midfielders we have in the squad until Monk finds his preferred quartet or quintet. He may have to be quick though as patience has been a virtue of the somewhat madcap owner of Leeds United FC. Myself, my preferred four would be Bridcutt and O'Kane in the middle with either Dallas or Roofe on one wing with Sacko on the other. I cannot see Murphy, Diagouraga or Grimes being used within the eighteen unless injuries occur, which obviously could happen. It would be ideal for both Kalvin Phillips and Ronaldo Vieira to learn their trade from the bench and not relied on as much as they have been. They are young and need time to gain experience in the game, the last thing we want is to burn the young lads out. MOT By Keith Ingham
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 Friday 26/8 A bit of news that came after the usual 'deadline'. Tyler Denton signed a three year deal with the club on Friday, finally the club sees sense in offering a decent contract to a very promising youngster. Mr Denton was quite pleased too; "Delighted to extend my contract at @LUFC ! Thanks for all of your messages over the past week I appreciate them massively 👍🏾😆"  Tyler signs on the dotted line Saturday 27/8 Match Day Nottingham Forest v Leeds Team: 10 changes from the Luton cup tie but only one from the Sheffield Wednesday game; Hernandez in for Mowatt.  The Game: Leeds' run of three games unbeaten came to a shuddering halt at the City Ground. Two goals conceded from bad defending at corner kicks was ultimately the undoing of the team in blue and yellow. At the other end chances were created but squandered, the best falling to Sacko and Antonnson. One bright spot was a superb goal from a free kick by Kalvin Phillips but by then Leeds were already two behind. The away side could even have snatched a draw at the 'death' but for a good safe by Henderson. Forest secured the points when Burke broke away and beat Green from the tightest of angles. More training in the international break on corners methinks. Disappointment after what had been a good week.   There's not a great deal of brothers that both have the ability to play football, there's even less that get the chance to play for the same side. Apart from the Alcantara brothers who represented Barcelona and that ugly pair that played over the Pennines, it's a massive rarity. With the news last week that Ronaldo Vieira has signed a fresh deal at the club that will see his stay at LS11 for at least three more seasons, news also broke that we had signed his brother Romario on a 12-month contract. Both players moved to the UK after a spell with Benfica's youth system and both players occupy the same position in midfield. Ronaldo and Romario both attended the now famed i2i academy which has now seen three players join professional football clubs, with the Vieira brothers and recent Doncaster hotshot Alfie Beestin also coming from the York/Tadcaster based academy. Ronaldo signing a prolonged deal will be a sigh of relief for many fans as the club have handed a youth prospect a deal that lasts longer than 2 years, finally! The young combative midfielder has shown real promise and definitely seems in Head Coach Garry Monk's plans for this season. With Romario, many fans will be hoping to see a lot of the same. However, we are lucky enough to get an entirely different beast in midfield.  Having been lucky enough to watch Romario in action, he is an entirely different type of midfielder. Whereas Ronaldo likes to carry the ball forward and looks to attack head on, Romario is brilliant at dropping back and protecting the back four.
His ability to track a players movement and wait until the correct time to make a challenge makes him a great addition to our squad. If there's anything our bloated midfield is lacking, it's a prosper defensively minded midfielder. Overall, I'm excited to watch both these talents grow at Leeds and I hope that with their promise, comes a legacy that sees these two fantastic and well respected young midfielders blossom at Elland Road and become a real threat for years to come. Now let's give them the support they need and watch them grow to be stars in that white kit! By Ryan Ingham  That's all Folks!
The first Transfer Window of the 2016/17 season closed on Wednesday the 31st August and with no emergency loan window this season, what you have is who you play. There are still out of contract players available to sign but the next window opens in January 2017. An incredible amount of money was spent by Premier League clubs this window. Over one 1billion pounds was spent on new recruits and there's also been a few surprises on Deadline Day; David Luis returning to Chelsea for £30million and Sissoko rejecting a move to Everton and then ending up at Spurs for a bloated £30million as well. The biggest surprise of the day was Jack Wilshere, he turned down Milan for the delights of AFC Bournemouth. The team that nearly went bust a decade ago have spent a tremendous amount of money and broke their transfer record buying Jordan Ibe for £15million from Liverpool, not long after completing the deal that took Lewis Cook from us. Leeds compared with others spent within a budget, the eleven players brought in wont have seriously 'dented' the money that Cellino received from the transfers of Sam and Lewis and whatever happened to the McContract money is anybody's guess. Yes we buy players but we do so on the cheap and how he can expect us to challenge for the top six with what we have is beyond me. The refund he promised for not reaching the playoffs looks a certainty. I really wanted a statement of intent, not stupidity. The lack of options, especially in the forward area of the team is worrying. An injury to Wood or Antonsson leaves us with Doukara and the kids in the under 23 squad as our options. We could play Roofe up top, as he played there last season with great success at his last club but Monk see's him as a wide player and recently only a option from the subs bench. We've a multitude of midfielders and it will be interesting to see who he picks for the next game. The latest recruit in this area is Eunan O'Kane, the player Lewis Cook replaced in the Bournemouth squad. He's a Republic of Ireland full international and has played four times for his country. He signed for an 'undisclosed fee' and is contracted for two years. Eddie Gray, ex-Leeds legend always used to say it's more about the quality of your signings not just the numbers that make a team stronger and more importantly better. He's right and Cellino's so, so wrong. I hope that the lack of ambition shown in this window doesn't come back and bite the team in the a*** because if it does there is only one person to blame. The list of Transfer in and out of Elland Road this summer; IN Kemar Roofe (Oxford Utd, undisclosed, approx £3m) Marcus Antonsson (Kalmar FF, undisclosed, approx £2m) Liam Bridcutt (Sunderland, undisclosed, approx £1.5m) EUNAN O’KANE (Bournemouth, undsclosed) Luke Ayling (Bristol City, undisclosed, approx £750,000) Robert Green (QPR, free) Hadi Sacko (Sporting Lisbon, season loan) Kyle Bartley (Swansea City, season loan) Pontus Jansson (Torino, season loan) Pablo Hernandez (Al-Arabi, 6-month loan) Matt Grimes (Swansea City, season loan) OUT Lewis Cook (Bournemouth, undisclosed, approx £6m, rising to £10m) Mirco Antenucci (SPAL, released) Guiseppe Bellusci (Empoli, season loan) Scott Wootton (MK Dons, free) Lee Erwin (Oldham, loan) Jordan Botaka (Charlton Athletic, season loan) Tommaso Bianchi (Ascoli, undisclosed) Casper Sloth (AaB, undisclosed) Eric Grimes (Cork City, released) Alex Purver (Guiseley, 6-month loan) Let's give the signings a chance and hope for the best. Come January you'll know if the kids have been bargain signings or a waste of club funds. MOT By Keith Ingham |
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January 2019
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