Mighty Leeds Weblog

Yorkshire Post 13/5/15 Phil Hay Rodolph Austin and Aidan White were the most high-profile casualties as Leeds United released nine players. Austin and White have both been told they will not be handed new contracts when their current deals expire at the end of next month. But United have offered contract extensions to Kalvin Phillips and Lewis Walters, easing fears that the two academy products might leave Elland Road this summer. Austin’s exit brings to an end to his three-year stay at Leeds while White is quitting a club he first joined at the age of nine. The left-back caused waves when he broke into United’s first team as a teenager in 2008 and he made a total of 111 appearances. White, however, never established a settled position and the 23-year-old’s final season at Elland Road was largely written off by a broken foot bone. Austin also amassed a century of appearances for Leeds and played regularly throughout the recent Championship term. Leeds paid around £300,000 to s...

Yorkshire Post 13/5/15 Phil Hay Nigel Adkins has reacted coolly to claims that he is in contention to become Leeds United’s next head coach, saying the rumours “haven’t come out of my mouth” and praising the performance of existing boss Neil Redfearn. Adkins, the former Southampton and Reading manager, is among the coaches who Leeds will consider for the post at Elland Road if they decide not to extend Redfearn’s contract beyond the end of next month. Redfearn’s future is up in the air and owner Massimo Cellino has made no move to confirm whether he will take up an option to renew his deal as head coach for another 12 months. The confusion surrounding Redfearn’s job has prompted a wave of speculation about potential replacements for him. His contract is due to expire on June 30. The agent of Burton Albion boss Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink told the YEP last month that Leeds had expressed an interest in the Dutchman, and Brentford’s Mark Warburton - himself out of contract this summer a...

Yorkshire Evening Post 12/5/15 Leeds United will be free to sign players without restriction this summer after the Football League lifted their Financial Fair Play (FFP) transfer embargo. In another positive development at Elland Road, United have cleared a hurdle which hampered them throughout January by demonstrating to the Football League that they are compliant with FFP rules. The governing body is understood to have informed the club last week that they would not be subject to an embargo during the coming window. Leeds were punished in January after losses of more than £22m in the 2013-14 financial year – most amassed prior to owner Massimo Cellino’s takeover – broke limits set for Championship clubs. They were one of three second-tier sides, along with Blackburn Rovers and Nottingham Forest, who breached FFP regulations. The embargo did not prevent United from signing players completely but the club were limited to loanees and free transfers on wages of less than £12,000 a we...

Yorkshire Evening Post 12/5/15 MASSIMO CELLINO has affirmed his desire not to sell Leeds United’s star young players after prized asset Lewis Cook signed a new two-year deal with the club. Cook has ended speculation regarding his future by agreeing fresh terms, with the teenager now contracted at United until the summer of 2017. The 18-year-old, part of England’s European Under-17 Championship-winning squad last summer, made 38 appearances in a stellar 2014-15 season before an ankle ligament injury ended his campaign in late March. Cook’s performances have marked him out as one of the hottest properties outside of the Premier League, with a host of top-flight clubs including Aston Villa and Newcastle United linked with moves for the talented York-born midfielder. A new deal for Cook, who was nurtured in his formative years by Neil Redfearn during his time with the United Academy, comes as a welcome fillip for Leeds fans. And chairman Cellino has stated his intent to hang onto Uni...

Yorkshire Post 12/5/15 ADAM PEARSON will today be unveiled as an executive director at Leeds United – after calling time on a similar role at Sheffield Wednesday. The former Hull City chairman met owner Massimo Cellino over the weekend – the story was exclusively revealed on The Yorkshire Post website last night – to discuss a possible return to Elland Road. Agreement was struck in principle and Pearson, whose departure from Hillsborough is yet to be made public after he was appointed to the Owls’ three-man football committee just last month, returned to Elland Road yesterday to finalise matters. It is believed he has already been allocated an office and will start in the role this morning. “I’m here to assist Massimo as much as possible on all sides of the club and I’m really looking forward to it,” said Pearson. “I’ll be like his right-hand man as executive director at the club, trying to get the club moving forward in the right lines and in tune with its supporters. “I know t...

We would like to welcome Adam Pearson back to Leeds United as the club’s new Executive Director. Pearson has a wealth of experience in football and is no stranger to the club having previously held the position of Commercial Director at Elland Road before going on to purchase Hull City in 2001. Under Pearson’s chairmanship, Hull rose from being a team in administration and on the brink of exiting the Football League, to becoming a competitive Championship side pushing for the top-flight after a remarkable ascent up the divisions. Pearson decided to sell the club in 2007 and soon took up the role of executive chairman at Derby County, before returning to Humberside within just two years as he resumed the position of chairman at the KC Stadium. In 2011 he then purchased Super League side Hull FC, who he still owns, and eventually moved on from the Tigers the following year. His most recent role in football came at local rivals Sheffield Wednesday as part of their sporting committee. ...

leedsunited.com 11/5/15 Lewis Cook expressed his delight after agreeing a new two-year deal at United on Monday afternoon, with the midfielder "over the moon" to have committed his future to the club. The 18-year-old, who recently claimed the 2014/15 Young Player of the Year award, capped a fine breakthrough season by extending his Elland Road stay until at least summer 2017. Cook, a graduate of United’s famed Academy system, made 38 appearances in all competitions last season and received international recognition for England Under-19s along the way. The midfielder had a year remaining on his previous contract, but has now put pen to paper on a fresh two-year deal as the club prepares for the new campaign. "I’m over the moon, all the hard work this season has paid off I think," he said. "I’m delighted to sign with Leeds United, I’ve really enjoyed this last season." Asked if he needed much persuading, Cook replied: "Not at all, I’m enjoying my...