From the transfer market to Bradford and back

By Steve Barras

The transfer of Andy Gray from Leeds to Bradford has got all the conspiracy-theory lovers out in force and I admit I love reading the theories that people dream up. I am one of these so called conspiracy-theorists and my dreamt up idea is that Leeds have released Andy Gray so that he could then be snapped up on a free by Bradford City and signed to an 18-month contract. This is one of the clauses in an eventual transfer of Nahki Wells to Elland  Road. Wells is apparently eager to help Bradford dispose of Aston Villa in the Capital One Cup semi-final (he scored the opening goal in the first leg which Bradford won 3-1) before making the move, but that does pose the question that if they do manage to progress to the final then will he want to sacrifice a run out at Wembley Stadium for a two or three year contract at Leeds which he will sign after the second leg on the 22nd January.

The transfer window is well under way now and Leeds have so far only brought in Ryan Hall from Southend United for an undisclosed fee and fans are questioning the wealth of new owners GFHC. Yes I would like an influx of new players that will propel us into the play-off places and beyond, but I am  also realistic and I understand that these things take time. If you look at the other teams in our division who have had players arriving at their training grounds then you will see that the only teams that have done more than Leeds are Ipswich, Hull City,Peterborough and Blackburn. Peterborough have only had an influx because a certain Sir dotes on his son and has to help him out because he cant handle the big wide world on his own. Ipswich are ‘Doing a Grayson’ and dipping into the loan market, even taking our own Patrick Kisnorbo off our hands for a month. To be fair looking down the list of players below who have moved there are none apart from Chris Wood that I would have welcomed at Elland Road.

Ryan Hall: Southend to Leeds. Undisclosed Fee.
Chris Wood: West Brom to Leicester. Undisclosed fee.
Josh King: Man Utd to Blackburn. Undisclosed Fee.
Stephen McLaughin: Derry Cityto Notts Forest. Undisclosed fee.
Patrick Kisnorbo: Leeds to Ipswich. Loan.
Aaron Mclean: Hull City to Ipswich. Loan.
David McGoldrick: Notts Forest to Ipswich. Loan.
Frank Nouble: Wolves to Ipswich. Undisclosed fee.
David Meyler: Sunderland to Hull City. Undisclosed fee.
Neil Danns: Leicester to Huddersfield. Loan.
Robbie Brady: Man Utd to Hull City. Undisclosed Fee.
Scott Wootten: Man Utd to Peterborough. Loan.
Martyn Woolford: Bristol City to Millwall. Undisclosed fee.
Davide Petrucci: Man Utd to Peterborough. Loan.
Todd Kane: Chelseato Blackburn. Loan.
Craig Davies: Barnsley to Bolton. Undisclosed fee.

I think its fair to say that most of the big deals have not been dealt yet and it is unfair to jump on the backs of Messrs Patel and Haigh….at the moment. The ball is in their court though and you would hope that they would continue promoting their new ‘Bums on Seats’ initiative by making that marquee signing.

One more thing before I sign off, could Leeds supporters leave off sending hateful messages to Salem Patel and David Haigh via Twitter? At least wait and see what we have in place come the 1st of February, I think its refreshing to see the directors of the club on Twitter and actively interacting with the clubs support. One such conversation between a fan and Salem Patel caught my eye the other day just after Twitter exploded with the news that Sam Byram could be on the verge of leaving the club, I can’t
remember the exact dialogue but it went along these lines..

FAN: Will you look after my kids while I come to Elland  Road?

PATEL: Bring them along to the crèche here.

FAN: Not likely, they’ll be sold to Norwich within minutes.

PATEL: Not before we tout them out to every other Premier League club first.

I thought this was hilarious considering everything else on my timeline at that particular moment. (If you are the fan that was involved in this then please post below what was exactly said, it seemed funnier than above)

It seems obvious to me that keeping a sensible dialogue open with the Directors would be a great thing for the relationship between Leeds and their fans and not something to be used to send obscene messages to them. Ultimately they will just close their accounts and that will be the end of it.

Thanks for reading.