LEEDS UNITED - RELEASED AND RETAINED
14 May 2010
Leeds United squad plans 2010/11...
The following professional players who are out of contract at Elland Road will not to be offered new deals with the Championship club, Casper Ankergren, Rui Marques and Andrew Milne.
The club will offer a new contract to Andrew Hughes and the previous offer made to Jermaine Beckford remains available to him, but he is expected to move on to a Premier League club.
In addition, Alan Sheehan, Lubomir Michalik, Andy Robinson and Tresor Kandol have all been informed that they should actively seek to find a new club for the 2010/11 season even though they are still under contract.
Further players may be available once the club has signed new players for the first season back in the Championship. Second-year apprentices, Mike Whitwell, Ryan Jones, Sam Jones, Callum Williams and Adam Watson will not be offered professional contracts.
Manager Simon Grayson said "It is the hardest part of a Manager's job, informing players who have contributed to a successful season that you are not going to offer them a new contract. In all the cases those that have been allowed to leave have been a joy and pleasure to work with on a day-to-day basis. I feel certain they will find another club who will be lucky to have them.
"The club needs to move forward and these decisions, as hard as they were, had to be made in that interest, so the recruitment of new players can now start to form our squad for the Championship campaign."Over the summer months we will also be looking to extend the term of a number of the existing players contracts and also make a decision on those players who have now returned to their clubs, having been on loan, which will also be made in the context of our squad next season"
Yorkshire Evening Post 13/5/10
Players were desperate for success - Hughes
By Phil Hay
Andrew Hughes attended a function at Elland Road last month where his conversation with one Leeds United supporter was waylaid by another. United's tepid defeat to Swindon Town earlier in the day had created a delicate atmosphere and Hughes anticipated an awkward evening. Still, he took exception to scathing comments made for his benefit.
"I was chatting to one supporter when another came up to him and said 'don't speak to the players, they're all a disgrace'," Hughes said. "I tried to stop him and talk it over but he wasn't interested.
"All he'd say was 'you're peeing promotion up the wall'. That hurt and I take offence at anyone telling me I don't care. Football's my job and it goes home with me. It always has.
"I made a point of remembering his face and I hope I'll bump into him one day.
"Nothing aggressive and nothing clever – I'd just like him to admit that I was right and he was wrong. We're not bottlers and we do care."
Hughes cares so much that he would rank United's promotion to the Championship as the third most important event of his life, behind his wedding day and the birth of his daughter. It is, in his words, the most sublime moment of a professional career in which he has won promotion with two other clubs.
"I'm 32 and I don't think I'll see another moment like this," he said, in no way predicting his own exit from Elland Road.
"Maybe we'll get promoted to the Premier League next season and maybe I'll be part of it but this could be the pinnacle for me.
"That's why I made no effort to get to the tunnel when the supporters invaded the pitch on Saturday.
"I thought 'I've waited a long time for this moment and I want to soak up every second.' If that means getting crushed by the celebrations of 5,000 fans then that's fine by me. I know what they've been through in League One because I've seen it all."
If Hughes is to leave Elland Road at the end of his contract this summer – a decision which would be Simon Grayson's rather than his – then the abiding image of his career in Leeds may be the sight of many shoulders carrying him from the field at Elland Road after the club's decisive win over Bristol Rovers.
The midfielder is synonymous with United's time in League One, the first player to sign for the club after their infamous 15-point deduction was confirmed by the Football League in 2007.
When he answered his mobile phone on the motorway and accepted the terms offered to him by Dennis Wise, United's former manager, he had a fair idea of the unpredictability he was embracing. For him, the past three years have been both brilliant and hard. The moments of optimism were intense but twice Leeds lost in the play-offs, disappointing a brow-beaten fanbase.
Hughes, meanwhile, fought the limits of his ability, admitting to his own shortcomings with brutal honesty but arguing all the time that tireless application could compensate for it. His insistence was underlined by the season just gone, a term in which he played 51 times and proved the theory that show-ponies alone cannot pull a load as heavy as Leeds United through League One.
"When you're young, football is all about skill and technique," he said. "That's what gets drummed into you. But the older you get, the more you see another side of the game – the need to turn teams, to get in their faces and to run them into the ground.
"In this league, you need horrible footballers. I'd put players like myself and Michael Doyle in that bracket, and that's not disrespectful to him, not in the slightest.
"You can't over-estimate the value of a Michael Doyle – someone who bites away at the opposition until they're totally demoralised. I've seen many teams get to the point where they can't handle any more of his tackling and scrapping. You'd get nowhere without it.
"From my first day here, I knew and accepted that there were better footballers here than me. I wouldn't compare myself to someone like Jonny Howson. But I always said that Leeds would get every drop of energy and blood from me if they wanted it and I've given as much as I can for three years. It's been ups and downs every week. It's never quiet here, ever.
"There's pressure on you constantly but isn't that what football's about? Going to a mid-table club and messing around with nothing to play for isn't for me. That's why I came here and why I want to stay."
Hughes should know by the end of the week whether Grayson intends to keep him for a fourth year and a first with Leeds in the Championship.
Hughes played at that level with Norwich City immediately before his transfer to Elland Road and would love to do so again.
"The only thing better than getting Leeds out of League One would be getting them into the Premier League," he said. "I'd love to have a go at that." Last weekend, he knew how fragile United's defence of second place in League One was. With 47 minutes played, Bristol Rovers were a goal to the good and favoured by an additional man after Max Gradel's red card.
At that moment, Charlton Athletic were the club with second place in their hands and Millwall were hovering ominously.
"Of course I was worried," Hughes said. "When (Bristol Rovers) scored, I look round and the first face I saw was Bradley Johnson's. He looked devastated.
"It was a pretty emotional moment because you knew it was all or nothing. I'll never forget the last half-hour.
"We made it happen against the odds and that's what I kept trying to say to the fans who doubted us – judge us when the season finishes. I'm more than happy to accept criticism when it's due.
"But football's a game of opinions and everyone's got one - people in the street, reporters in newspapers, commentators on the radio. To be honest, it's brilliant that so many people take an interest in Leeds United and in us as players. You start to realise that if no-one had an opinion about anything, football would be a pretty boring place to be."
Hughes is not certain of the legacy he will leave at Elland Road as and when he moves on.
"Does promotion make us legends?" he asked.
"I don't know about that. This club's had some real glory years in the past.
"I'm just thrilled to be able to say that I achieved something meaningful with Leeds. A lot of players have passed through here and not all of them are able to say the same."
14 May 2010
Leeds United squad plans 2010/11...
The following professional players who are out of contract at Elland Road will not to be offered new deals with the Championship club, Casper Ankergren, Rui Marques and Andrew Milne.
The club will offer a new contract to Andrew Hughes and the previous offer made to Jermaine Beckford remains available to him, but he is expected to move on to a Premier League club.
In addition, Alan Sheehan, Lubomir Michalik, Andy Robinson and Tresor Kandol have all been informed that they should actively seek to find a new club for the 2010/11 season even though they are still under contract.
Further players may be available once the club has signed new players for the first season back in the Championship. Second-year apprentices, Mike Whitwell, Ryan Jones, Sam Jones, Callum Williams and Adam Watson will not be offered professional contracts.
Manager Simon Grayson said "It is the hardest part of a Manager's job, informing players who have contributed to a successful season that you are not going to offer them a new contract. In all the cases those that have been allowed to leave have been a joy and pleasure to work with on a day-to-day basis. I feel certain they will find another club who will be lucky to have them.
"The club needs to move forward and these decisions, as hard as they were, had to be made in that interest, so the recruitment of new players can now start to form our squad for the Championship campaign."Over the summer months we will also be looking to extend the term of a number of the existing players contracts and also make a decision on those players who have now returned to their clubs, having been on loan, which will also be made in the context of our squad next season"
Yorkshire Evening Post 13/5/10
Players were desperate for success - Hughes
By Phil Hay
Andrew Hughes attended a function at Elland Road last month where his conversation with one Leeds United supporter was waylaid by another. United's tepid defeat to Swindon Town earlier in the day had created a delicate atmosphere and Hughes anticipated an awkward evening. Still, he took exception to scathing comments made for his benefit.
"I was chatting to one supporter when another came up to him and said 'don't speak to the players, they're all a disgrace'," Hughes said. "I tried to stop him and talk it over but he wasn't interested.
"All he'd say was 'you're peeing promotion up the wall'. That hurt and I take offence at anyone telling me I don't care. Football's my job and it goes home with me. It always has.
"I made a point of remembering his face and I hope I'll bump into him one day.
"Nothing aggressive and nothing clever – I'd just like him to admit that I was right and he was wrong. We're not bottlers and we do care."
Hughes cares so much that he would rank United's promotion to the Championship as the third most important event of his life, behind his wedding day and the birth of his daughter. It is, in his words, the most sublime moment of a professional career in which he has won promotion with two other clubs.
"I'm 32 and I don't think I'll see another moment like this," he said, in no way predicting his own exit from Elland Road.
"Maybe we'll get promoted to the Premier League next season and maybe I'll be part of it but this could be the pinnacle for me.
"That's why I made no effort to get to the tunnel when the supporters invaded the pitch on Saturday.
"I thought 'I've waited a long time for this moment and I want to soak up every second.' If that means getting crushed by the celebrations of 5,000 fans then that's fine by me. I know what they've been through in League One because I've seen it all."
If Hughes is to leave Elland Road at the end of his contract this summer – a decision which would be Simon Grayson's rather than his – then the abiding image of his career in Leeds may be the sight of many shoulders carrying him from the field at Elland Road after the club's decisive win over Bristol Rovers.
The midfielder is synonymous with United's time in League One, the first player to sign for the club after their infamous 15-point deduction was confirmed by the Football League in 2007.
When he answered his mobile phone on the motorway and accepted the terms offered to him by Dennis Wise, United's former manager, he had a fair idea of the unpredictability he was embracing. For him, the past three years have been both brilliant and hard. The moments of optimism were intense but twice Leeds lost in the play-offs, disappointing a brow-beaten fanbase.
Hughes, meanwhile, fought the limits of his ability, admitting to his own shortcomings with brutal honesty but arguing all the time that tireless application could compensate for it. His insistence was underlined by the season just gone, a term in which he played 51 times and proved the theory that show-ponies alone cannot pull a load as heavy as Leeds United through League One.
"When you're young, football is all about skill and technique," he said. "That's what gets drummed into you. But the older you get, the more you see another side of the game – the need to turn teams, to get in their faces and to run them into the ground.
"In this league, you need horrible footballers. I'd put players like myself and Michael Doyle in that bracket, and that's not disrespectful to him, not in the slightest.
"You can't over-estimate the value of a Michael Doyle – someone who bites away at the opposition until they're totally demoralised. I've seen many teams get to the point where they can't handle any more of his tackling and scrapping. You'd get nowhere without it.
"From my first day here, I knew and accepted that there were better footballers here than me. I wouldn't compare myself to someone like Jonny Howson. But I always said that Leeds would get every drop of energy and blood from me if they wanted it and I've given as much as I can for three years. It's been ups and downs every week. It's never quiet here, ever.
"There's pressure on you constantly but isn't that what football's about? Going to a mid-table club and messing around with nothing to play for isn't for me. That's why I came here and why I want to stay."
Hughes should know by the end of the week whether Grayson intends to keep him for a fourth year and a first with Leeds in the Championship.
Hughes played at that level with Norwich City immediately before his transfer to Elland Road and would love to do so again.
"The only thing better than getting Leeds out of League One would be getting them into the Premier League," he said. "I'd love to have a go at that." Last weekend, he knew how fragile United's defence of second place in League One was. With 47 minutes played, Bristol Rovers were a goal to the good and favoured by an additional man after Max Gradel's red card.
At that moment, Charlton Athletic were the club with second place in their hands and Millwall were hovering ominously.
"Of course I was worried," Hughes said. "When (Bristol Rovers) scored, I look round and the first face I saw was Bradley Johnson's. He looked devastated.
"It was a pretty emotional moment because you knew it was all or nothing. I'll never forget the last half-hour.
"We made it happen against the odds and that's what I kept trying to say to the fans who doubted us – judge us when the season finishes. I'm more than happy to accept criticism when it's due.
"But football's a game of opinions and everyone's got one - people in the street, reporters in newspapers, commentators on the radio. To be honest, it's brilliant that so many people take an interest in Leeds United and in us as players. You start to realise that if no-one had an opinion about anything, football would be a pretty boring place to be."
Hughes is not certain of the legacy he will leave at Elland Road as and when he moves on.
"Does promotion make us legends?" he asked.
"I don't know about that. This club's had some real glory years in the past.
"I'm just thrilled to be able to say that I achieved something meaningful with Leeds. A lot of players have passed through here and not all of them are able to say the same."
