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Leeds United players
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Eirik Bakke Brought to the club for £1.75 million on 25/5/1999, as one for the future, Bakke quickly established himself in the team. Unfortunately his performances since O'Leary left have not been of the previous standard. Given the club's recent bad publicity with certain Newcastle United players, and the driving ban, you'd have thought Bakke would have kept his head down and tried to appease his employers? Wrong!!! Consequently, during the relegation season, 2003-04 he makes ten ineffectual Premiership appearances. After relegation Leeds fans were delighted when Everton made a bid for Bakke. We get a transfer fee (most O'Leary players went for nothing) and we get his silly Ridsdale-agreed wages off the books. Wrong!! Bakke decides he wants to stay with the club (the wages more like) and get us back into the Premiership. A few weeks later and cruciate ligament damage meant he joined the other higest wage earner at Leeds, Seth "Sicknote" Johnson, on the treatment bench for six months. A bankrupt club is now paying £60,000 a week to two players who would not leave their wage packets if you put a bomb under them despite not doing what they were amply paid to do - keep Leeds Utd in the Premiership. 3rd Nov, 2004 Eirik Bakke makes his return to first-team football in the 1-1 draw with Brighton, 29/1/2205. He comes on for the last three minutes and manages to get himself booked. Amazingly he gets a rapturous welcome from the Elland Road crowd who, one thinks, must have the memory of a goldfish. Update 3rd Feb
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Gylfi Einarsson Postion: Attacking Midfielder Squad Number: 16 International: Iceland full (7 caps at end of Jan 2005) Born 27th October 1978 in Iceland he began as a trainee with KR Reykjavik. Signed on a free transfer from Lillestrom of Norway on 1st Jan 2005. He was brought to the attention of Blackwell by a Scandanavian Leeds fan! A regular scorer for Lillestrom he scored the headed winner against Burnley at Turf Moor on 5th Feb 2005 which was only his third game for Leeds and only his second as a starter! Given the lack of punch from our current strikers his contributions from midfield are much needed. Frank Sinclair of Burnley was also sent off for kicking out at him following a midfield clash in the same game!
6th Feb 2005
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Seth Johnson Johnson is a £7 million David O'Leary signing. Luckily for Leeds United, although the transfer figure could rise to £9 million, that depends on appearances! Now the left-footed, Brummie-born, midfielder was seen as full of promise when at Derby County but full of medication once he came to Leeds. He's spent nearly all the time on the treatment table rather than the pitch. Even at the start of the 2003 season he admitted his knee is sore after each game; but full-marks, he was willing to suffer because the team was short-handed due to idiots like Bakke with self-inflicted injuries. In the final run-in to relegation Seth's injury-proness rears it's ugly head with a cruciate injury! He can't play and so we can't sell him and we cannot afford the £37,000 a week wages in the First Division! His wages will always be the high watermark of Peter Ridsdale's incompetence as a Director of a football club. Updated 4th May 2004New owner, new manager but same Seth. He has just started playing reserves games. 2nd Feb 2005 he completed 90 minutes in a 2-1 reserve defeat to Bolton. Fellow expensive cripple Bakke also played most of the game. Updated 3rd Feb 2005
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Paul Keegan
Dubliner, Paul Keegan, is a midfielder who has attracted admirers with his passing game, able to split open the defence for the forwards and also play a holding role when it is needed.
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Aaron Lennon At 5' 5" Aaron has some growing to do, but at 16 he has years left to do it! Aaron became the youngest Premiership player ever after coming off the bench for Leeds United against Tottenham at White Hart Lane in August 2003 for his senior debut; aged 16 years and 129 days. Though his achievement failed to hit the headlines, it would have done had his scampering run at goal ended with him hitting the back of the net to also become the youngest ever Premiership goalscorer - taking the record from Elland Road team-mate James Milner.
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Jamie McMaster
Height 5ft 10" Jamie arrived at Leeds from the NSW Academy, having been born in Sydney. Jamie committed his international future to England. He made four appearances under Venables, who wasn't afraid to blood youngsters, in the 2002-03 season but has still to fullfil his much vaunted potential. Update Nov 2002: Loaned to Coventry City 20/11/2002-17/12/2002 Played 2 League games Update Jan 2004: Loaned to Chesterfield 7/1/2004 - 22/2/2004 Played 6 League games (2 as substitute) and scored 2 goals. Regarded as a succesful loan Update Sept 2004: Loaned to Swindon 27/9/2004 - 27/10/2004 Played 4 games (inc 2 as sub) scored 1 goal Update 18/2/2005: Like Harpal Singh, Jamie has never come close to fulfilling the huge expectations placed upon him. He has been on loan at Peterborough since 21/1/2005 where the midfielder is helping Barry Fry's team fight relegation. Friday March 4th: Jamie completed a loan move to Chesterfield with a view to making it permanent on Monday 7th March. The loan makes him available for the match on Saturday. The transfer will be a free one. Scant reward for either the club or the player for so many years of hard work and unfilled promise. Appearances for Leeds - 1/7/2000-3/3/2005: Update: 29th December, 2005 - Jamie is reported to have signed for Central Coast Mariners back in Australia on a short-term contract. Manager Lawrie McKinna said, "There's no doubting that the boy has got talent and adding him to our squad gives him the chance to show his home town just how capable he is."
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James Milner Postion: Midfield Squad Number: 38 International: England U-21
Made his full debut as a substitute at West Ham in November to become the second-youngest ever player to ever play in the Premiership.
Milner, at sixteen and 309 days, is the second youngest ever player at Elland Road behind Leeds legend Peter Lorimer, who at the tender age of 15 years, 289 days, made his debut against Southampton in September 1962.
The Horsforth teenager impressed for the England U-17 side in the 2002 summer tournament and his performances helped him force his way into senior football at such a young age.
He became the youngster ever Premiership scorer during the 2002-03 season, aged 16 and 357 days, when Venables gave James his chance against Chelsea. He took the recently-set record away from Wayne Rooney by just 4 days.
After playing over 30 games during the relegation 2003-04 season the teenager was in demand and Spurs made a spectacular offer for him, but teenager James stepped up to fill the shoes of former "Mr Leeds", Alan Smith by saying, "No", and opting to stay with Leeds in the First Division.
However, it wasn't long before Robson, aged manager of Newcastle (now known as NewLeeds) United, who seems to have no managerial plan other than "buy Leeds United players", had another attempt at buying the Premiership by making a silly bid in excess of £5 million for the youngster. The spineless Leeds Board wet their collective pants at the size of the fee and immediately put it to the youngster that he could leave, contrary to all the verbal assurances the mendacious gits had given Leeds fans since the Spurs bid. Typical that a Leeds Board once again puts the onus on a Leeds player to leave and try to avoid the inevitable flak. This time Milner turned the tables by forgoing financial benefits to help the club and his agent said,
"However, he leaves with a heavy heart and is glad that the money his move has generated will help Leeds in the longer term." Nice kid, and all at leedsutd365.co.uk wish him well in his personal footballing achievements in the future. As for Robson and Newcastle United we wish them relegation nightmares and financial ruin so we can see other clubs pick over their corpse; look at your history "Toon Barmy", you know it's coming once again, the spectre of failure hangs over your club and has for 35 trophy-less years. As for the Leeds Utd Board, they can stop pretending to be Leeds United fans and return to the smoke-filled rooms of financial skull-duggery and let the real fans try and save the club by belief in the youth - oh, bollocks we can't, they've sold 'em all, the fuckers.
Update 2nd July 2004 yet another black day in the tarnished history of Leeds United
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Danny Pugh Postion: Left-Back/Left-Wing Squad Number: 12 International: none
Kevin Blackwell's first signing as Leeds United manager. Danny signed on a two-year contract at Elland Road. He arrives in Yorkshire as part of the deal that took Alan Smith to Old Trafford. Being part of any deal that took Alan Smith away from Elland Road would, up to last week, be to effectively end your Leeds career before it started as far as the fans were concerned. However, since Smith's hypocritical move to the Scum, Pugh will now be seen in a very positive light as he chose to leave the Reds and come to Elland Road.
The 21-year-old made seven first team appearances for Manchester United, including three in the Champions League.
Kevin Blackwell said Danny offers him a lot of options: "Danny is a young up and coming player who I was aware of and he has the hunger to do well that I want to bring to this club.
"He hasn't had a lot of first team experience but he knows that if he does well then he will get the chance to play regularly.
"He can play in a number of positions and that could prove very useful to us. I have already mentioned that bringing him in allows us to fill that left hand side and move James Milner, a right-footed player, to the right wing or even upfront."
Reading what Danny has to say in response, he could certainly make a living as a diplomat. In the following interview with the offcial Leeds website he pushes all the right buttons:
"I've had a look around the place today and got a good feeling about it. I'm just looking forward to getting started here now. I got to a stage at Manchester where I needed a change and I think this is the perfect place for that change.
"Obviously when you are at a club you want to play as many first team games as you can, that's what you are judged on, I would have liked to have played more games but it didn't happen and I believe I can do that here now.
"High standards have always been expected of me at Manchester United since I've been there, and hopefully that's what I can bring here and carry it on."
"I met Kevin today and I was very impressed with him, he's very enthusiastic and you can tell he wants to take the club forward and that's what I am looking forward to as well."
Danny follows some illustrious footsteps in making the short trip from Manchester to Leeds, such as, Johnny Giles, Brian Greenhoff, Gordon Strachan and Lee Sharpe. All those players were taken to by supporters at Elland Road, and he's hoping to follow suit and with his attitude we have no doubt that he will.
"I don't know how the fans will take to me, but if I am performing well on the pitch then I am sure they won't have a problem with me. It won't matter then who I played for before - as long as I am doing a job for Leeds United it will all go well.
"If I have half the impact of someone like Gordon Strachan then I will have had a great start.
"It's definitely a challenge, but I'm looking forward to that challenge and hope I can succeed here. If I can play as many games as possible and establish myself as a regular then I will be happy. I know it's not going to be easy to get into the side but I will work as hard as I can."
June 2004
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Matthew Spring Postion: Midfield Squad Number: 17 Place & DoB: Harlow; Sat, 17 November, 1979 Height: 5' 11" One of many summer signings that arrived at the start of the 2004/05 season on a free transfer, Matthew Spring is a key addition to the "Blackwell Revolution".
Kevin Blackwell spotted Spring playing for Luton, and pipped Spring's old boss Joe Kinnear and Nottingham Forest to the signing of the midfielder.
"It was a bit of a shock because I was lined up to go to Forest and I was pleased with that," he said.
"Then a couple of days later Leeds came in with an offer.
"I had a decision to make but as soon as I saw Elland Road and thought about the atmosphere of 35,000 fans at every home game my mind was made up.
Leeds is Sping's first move since joining the Hatters as a schoolboy, made his debut at 17, and went on to clock up 243 league appearances with the Kenilworth Road club.
The last four seasons have seen him average over six goals a season from midfield, and he is well known for the odd spectacular strike from distance.
Kevin Blackwell will look for Spring to continue in his role as play-maker.
1st July 2004
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Harpal Singh Postion: Left Wing Squad Number: 32 International: A promising career as yet stuck in the starting blocks might be a fair assessment of Singh's time at Leeds so far. He was unlucky with injuries for a couple of seasons and then faced the daunting prospect of unseating Kewell or Wilcox for a starting place in the team. Last season, 2003-04, he spent on loan at Bury. Despite the movements at the club it seems Harpal will not break through this season as he played at Farsley Celtic in the Reserves whilst the first team were picking up their first win under Blackwell in the pre-season tour of Sweden. This season really is make or break for the young man; if he cannot get into a Championship team he has no chance if we win promotion back to The Premiership
Update: 18/2/2005 - Harpal has joined Stockport County on a one month loan. County play under manager Chris Turner, in Coca-Cola League One for season 2004-05.
Feb 2005
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Walton, Simon Postion: Central Defence, Midfield Squad Number: 18 International: N/A Made his debut, aged 16, in the centre of midfield for Leeds Utd versus Claudio Raneiri's Valencia in a pre-season (2004-05) friendly. Memorable as he scored a penalty and then got sent off! He immediately became a crowd favourite replacing the recently departed Alan Smith in their affections.
He was rapidly signed on a a full professional contract and he became a Blackwell midfield regular at the start of the season and against Portsmouth in the Carling Cup, in October, he played in the centre of defence after Butler and Kilgallon were suspended.
October 2004
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Martin Woods
Born New Year's Day, 1986 in Bellshill, Scotland (what a celeberation that must have been!), Martin is a midfielder who earned himself a berth on Leeds United's pre-season trip to Dublin after some good displays for the juniors and reserves.
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Jermaine Wright Postion: Midfielder Squad Number: 7 International: 28-year-old Jermaine Wright was out of contract at Portman Road after rejecting Ipswich's contract offer at the end of last season (2003-04). The midfielder was an ever-present in the Blue's run to the play-offs, and he collected five goals along the way. In an epic 51-game season Jermaine can boast to never having been cautioned during the campaign! The Greenwich-born player has been with Ipswich for five years following a move from Crewe, and just last week Ipswich manager Joe Royle confirmed that his old club Everton was interested in buying him Height: 5' 9"Weight: 10st 3lbs Date of birth: 21-10-1975 Games 03/04 - 51; Goals 03/04 - 5 Cards 03/04 - 0 y 0 r
29th June 2004
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