Leeds United Football Club - Pay-Back Time For Ricketts
United striker Michael Ricketts is determined to reward Kevin Blackwell's faith in him by scoring goals - hopefully lots of them.
The burly striker grabbed his first goal for Leeds in Wednesday night's friendly against Bodens BK, his first since putting a penalty past Scott Carson for his former club Middlesbrough in January's 3-0 defeat for the Whites, and is feeling good about his football again.
He quite openly admits that his time at Middlesbrough was a disaster. A £3.5m move produced just four goals and in 16 months at the Riverside he made just 17 starts in all competitions which came as a major disappointment after two very successful spells at Bolton and Walsall.
Understandably keen to leave his Boro nightmare behind him, he has no qualms about dropping down a division if it means he can make a fresh start.
"I just need to look at the club I have stepped into here - it's still a massive club," said Ricketts.
"The club has had it's problems recently but it's a chance for both of us to recapture former glories.
"If I didn't go through a bad patch at Middlesbrough then the chance probably wouldn't have been there for me to come to Leeds, but I am really looking forward to the opportunity here."
The 25-year-old knows he needs to find his goalscoring touch again to make sure his time at Elland Road is successful and show Kevin Blackwell that he was right to take a 'gamble' on signing him.
"The boss impressed me with the way he wanted to push the club forward.
"I was stagnating at Middlesbrough and I wanted to reintroduce myself into football and he's given me the opportunity so I need to repay him now.
"I want to improve as a player and I want to play football, hopefully I can do that here.
"No-one has named the team yet, there might be another striker to come in too, so I know I have to work hard in pre-season, do well and impress the manager."
Blackwell for his part in the deal was looking for a proven striker in the First Division; Ricketts produced a return of one goal nearly every two games at Bolton, and he agrees that 20 goals this season should be a realistic target for him.
"That's a decent target, I will take that challenge up. I am here to be challenged so if people are after twenty goals a season from me I will do my best."
United striker Michael Ricketts is determined to reward Kevin Blackwell's faith in him by scoring goals - hopefully lots of them.
The burly striker grabbed his first goal for Leeds in Wednesday night's friendly against Bodens BK, his first since putting a penalty past Scott Carson for his former club Middlesbrough in January's 3-0 defeat for the Whites, and is feeling good about his football again.
He quite openly admits that his time at Middlesbrough was a disaster. A £3.5m move produced just four goals and in 16 months at the Riverside he made just 17 starts in all competitions which came as a major disappointment after two very successful spells at Bolton and Walsall.
Understandably keen to leave his Boro nightmare behind him, he has no qualms about dropping down a division if it means he can make a fresh start.
"I just need to look at the club I have stepped into here - it's still a massive club," said Ricketts.
"The club has had it's problems recently but it's a chance for both of us to recapture former glories.
"If I didn't go through a bad patch at Middlesbrough then the chance probably wouldn't have been there for me to come to Leeds, but I am really looking forward to the opportunity here."
The 25-year-old knows he needs to find his goalscoring touch again to make sure his time at Elland Road is successful and show Kevin Blackwell that he was right to take a 'gamble' on signing him.
"The boss impressed me with the way he wanted to push the club forward.
"I was stagnating at Middlesbrough and I wanted to reintroduce myself into football and he's given me the opportunity so I need to repay him now.
"I want to improve as a player and I want to play football, hopefully I can do that here.
"No-one has named the team yet, there might be another striker to come in too, so I know I have to work hard in pre-season, do well and impress the manager."
Blackwell for his part in the deal was looking for a proven striker in the First Division; Ricketts produced a return of one goal nearly every two games at Bolton, and he agrees that 20 goals this season should be a realistic target for him.
"That's a decent target, I will take that challenge up. I am here to be challenged so if people are after twenty goals a season from me I will do my best."