Yorkshire Evening Post 5/4/08
Leeds United are Beck in the play-off mix
By Phil Hay
Leyton Orient 0 Leeds United 2
THE demands of Gary McAllister's initiation at Leeds United were emphasised last night by the club's reappearance in League One's top six.
United had their hand on a play-off position when McAllister walked through the door at Elland Road, but the sharp end of the division has been uncharted territory for the Scot ever since Leeds collapsed in a heap on his managerial debut.
That was until yesterday, 11 games later, when a victory at Leyton Orient thrust Leeds into sixth place and sent several teams tumbling away beneath them.
Orient were pulled up by Martin Ling with the exhausted look of a Grand National outsider, and Oldham and Brighton failed to produce victories on a day when the value of United's result was enhanced by scores elsewhere. Ultimately, it was Tranmere's defeat at Walsall which opened the gates to the six-room penthouse.
Paul Huntington's first-half header was the least that Leeds deserved for their creditable performance before the interval, and Jermaine Beckford's volley in the 50th minute gave the final scoreline greater realism.
The striker's goal was his 20th of the season, the first Leeds player to produce a score since Mark Viduka in 2003.
The achievement was worthy of acknowledgment, but captured less attention than the sight of him being helped from the pitch with an injury 15 minutes after passing his milestone. However, the damage to his ankle was not serious enough to prevent him spending the night in London.Beckford's condition was, for a short while, the sole grimace from a performance which was as creditable and composed as any other this season and earned its reward.
Orient provided limp opposition and were the victims of what Ling called a "gulf in class", but their display was arguably symptomatic of their visitors' quality. Yesterday's result consolidated fully United's midweek victory over Doncaster Rovers which, in the grand scheme of the League One table, was utterly essential.
The win at the Keepmoat Stadium on Tuesday night was so spirited and crucial that changes to Leeds' line-up yesterday would have taken some justification from McAllister.
His team's structure was the same as in South Yorkshire, excluding David Prutton who was fit enough to travel to London but granted only a place on the bench. As an example of the competition in McAllister's squad, Prutton's only crime had been to injure his foot eight days ago.
Victory at Doncaster's was achieved with Leeds backed against a wall for most of an exhausting game, but the defensive demands made of them at Brisbane Road were far less severe.
Huntington scored in the 16th minute with an opportunistic header, and his goal cleared the way for a win which came more easily than McAllister could have imagined.


Yorkshire Evening Post 4/4/08
Bates: Mac's the man for me
By Phil Hay
Leeds United chairman Ken Bates has revealed how a routine meeting with Gary McAllister a fortnight ago moved him to place a new deal on his manager's table.
McAllister committed himself to a 12-month rolling contract yesterday, replacing an existing agreement until the end of this season, and the offer was the direct result of unrelated discussions between the 43-year-old and his chairman last month.
Bates and McAllister met in Leeds two weeks ago, along with club chief executive Shaun Harvey and technical director Gwyn Williams, to review United's squad and wage bill ahead of next season.
They are understood to have taken decisions on which players would be retained and which would be allowed to leave Elland Road, and Bates was so impressed with McAllister's knowledge of both the first-team squad and United's academy that he began drawing up improved terms for the former Leeds and Liverpool midfielder.
Bates' confidence in McAllister, who replaced Dennis Wise as Leeds' manager in January, was strengthened by his record of two losses from 11 league games, and the conclusion of negotiations this week came on the back of a 1-0 victory at Doncaster Rovers which revitalised United's chance of promotion.
Bates told the YEP: "We met in Leeds a fortnight ago and went through every player on the books, from the highest earners to the kids on £15 a week. He told us who he thought was surplus to requirements and who he thought we should keep.
"The depth of knowledge that Gary showed about every player, and not just the senior players, was extremely impressive. He goes to every reserve game and his knowledge showed how dedicated he was to the job.
"His record in league games is also very encouraging, and Shaun and I made the decision with the board that he deserved a new and longer contract. I'm delighted that he's accepted because, from the club's point of view, we know the direction we're heading in and we can start planning for next season."
Confirmation of McAllister's new contract came as something of a surprise yesterday, with consideration of his future widely expected to be deferred until after United's bid to return to the Championship had been resolved. Leeds have six League One matches to play and could rejoin to the top six for the first time under McAllister with a victory at Orient tomorrow. The club last occupied a play-off position on February 2, the date of his first game in charge.
Bates said: "The most important thing about Gary was that when Gwyn Williams first asked him whether he wanted the job back in January, he said yes. Full stop.
"There were no questions about 'how much', and no arguing about the contract. I think he feels as if he's come home."

McAllister's joy at new United deal
By Phil Hay
There is one word in the English language which never fails to shake the bones of any Leeds United supporter who hears it: stability.
The road to hell is laid with good intentions, just as the road to nowhere at Elland Road has been laid with promises of sunnier climes. Optimistic projections are so often a concealed warning of turbulence ahead.If the future sounds bright then a crisis is probably on the horizon. So it was when Peter Ridsdale announced that funds accrued from the sale of Jonathan Woodgate had provided Leeds with "peace of mind". But then off-field business is like the sport itself – an easy game to talk, but a more difficult one to play.
Gary McAllister was careful to avoid any rash statements yesterday, and the word stability was missing from his weekly press conference at Thorp Arch. It was a sub-concious if astute omission, but it did not alter the perception that, in locking McAllister to a 12-month rolling contract, stability was in fact what Leeds had achieved.
The Scot confirmed the terms of his new deal after negotiations with Ken Bates which were as enthusiastic as they were brief.
There was no manner of persuasion involved and it is anticipated that McAllister's assistant Steve Staunton and first-team coach Neil McDonald will follow suit in accepting new contracts without delay. He is satisfied that both men are ready to sign.
Forty-eight hours ago, all three held contracts which ran until the end of this season – a situation which left a degree of doubt among the management team, the players and the club as a whole about whose hands their future lay in.
Promotion was seen as McAllister's decisive bargaining chip for a new contract, but it was never clear, until yesterday, whether he and Bates envisaged the possibility of another season in League One together.
But the fear that Leeds would do what stagnant clubs do by sweeping the floor clear again this summer was one that both parties felt the need to address.
"It's been a rough ride for Leeds United," said McAllister. "They've been through a lot.
"For anyone associated with them, it's been quite worrying. But I believe Leeds United are on the way back. It's still going to be a long process but the worst has gone. We've bottomed out.
"When I arrived here, the job was a three-and-a-half month contract and the job brief was simple – to get us moving forward and to get us out of this league.
"We're nudging closer to that and we're just a wee bit outside the play-offs now with a game in hand. We want to be in the shake-up.
"I'm very honoured to have accepted another contract and there wasn't a great deal of negotiating involved. It's a show of faith by the club in me, and it's a fantastic honour.
"This is one of the top 10 jobs in the country, even though Leeds are in the third tier of England football. I don't think you can get away from that. If you're given the chance, you've got to grab it.
"You take jobs to be ambitious. When I was a player starting out at Motherwell Boys Club, I wanted to play for Motherwell. Then I wanted to play in England, and then with one of the big clubs in England.
"It's the same when you become a coach – you want to try and get to the top with the job you're in. I'm not saying I'm at the top, but I've been given the chance to produce something here. This type of job doesn't come round very often."
The extended contract will allow McAllister to relocate from his home in the midlands to a permanent residence in Yorkshire, a move which also provides an element of surety for his two sons.
His own well-being, however, was a secondary issue yesterday when compared by United's manager to the importance of their six remaining matches this season.
The rolling contract put forward by Bates essentially ensures that McAllister's future employment by Leeds will not rest on their final League One position or their success in rejoining the Championship, but the 43-year-old will think and act as if it does.
Tuesday night's victory over Doncaster Rovers was a monumental result, and arguably the first under McAllister that caught the undivided attention of their division. Tomorrow's game at Leyton Orient is every bit as important, not least because United's attempts to consolidate encouraging victories since Christmas have, more often than not, been unsuccessful.
"Promotion is still the main objective," said McAllister. "It's not about me and the length of my contract. It's about tuning in and homing in on this play-off spot and then pushing on through there.
"The results could have been better I feel, and we've had too many draws. But I've seen little improvements in discipline and tempo, all along the lines of my experience of playing in the Premiership.
"It's things like time-keeping – all the little things. If you look after the little things, they look after the big picture. I know it can look a little bit petty from the outside, but I'm passing on information that I gathered from working with some very experienced managers.
"There's a bit of continuity now and the players know where they stand as far as who the manager's going to be in the future, beyond the end of this season.
"I would imagine that it's nice peace-of-mind to know where you stand. I've been very honest with every player here and it won't be a case of them coming in for pre-season with another guy here and having to prove themselves again.
"If we achieve what we're looking to achieve, they'll go away and enjoy their summer and come back knowing what's expected of them. They won't be guessing who's going to be the new manager, and they won't be guessing what type of football they'll be playing. They'll be coming back to an organised, professional set-up."
Bates is happy to discount United's defeat to Tranmere on February 2 from his manager's record, believing as he does that the disruption caused by the departure of McAllister's predecessor, Dennis Wise, made his first game in charge an impossible baptism.
Newcastle United turned Wise's head and the loose ties of a short-term contract made McAllister as susceptible to approaches from other clubs.
The Scot, however, has given no time to job-hunting, and the contract drawn up by Bates was not the result of insecurity over his manager's position. Bates instead believed that the evidence of four wins and five draws from 11 matches – or 10 meaningful games, by the chairman's reckoning – allied with McAllister's attitude was a combination on which United should rely beyond the end of this season.
"I've been so wrapped up in the job here that I've not had the chance to see what other jobs might come around," said McAllister.
"I certainly haven't been looking elsewhere or looking in any detail at how other managers are doing. And there aren't many bigger jobs than this. The club are giving us a fair crack at it."

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