Mighty Leeds Weblog

Yorkshire Evening Post 30/1/08 Macca eyes Leeds United promotion By Phil Hay Elland Road icon Gary McAllister was launching his reign as Leeds United's manager today – with the sole and immediate aim of returning the club to the Championship. McAllister was meeting United's squad for the first time this morning after finalising an emotional return to the club yesterday, and his first challenge will be to grasp the chance of promotion which set up by his predecessor Dennis Wise. United have handed McAllister an initial contract until the end of the season, resisting the option of tying him down to a long-term deal immediately, and the 43-year-old revealed he had been recruited by chairman Ken Bates with the order to secure a route out of League One this season. McAllister said: "The job brief is promotion. I'm here until June initially and, quite simply, my job is to come here and kick-start it. "There's a lot of hard work to be done. They've got themselves...

Leedsunited.com 29/1/08 NEW BOSS NAMED Gary McAllister is the new manager of Leeds United. The 43-year-old, former Elland Road midfielder, joins the club initially until the end of the season.Gary takes over from the departed Dennis Wise, who left the club today after 15 months as manager. The former Scotland international, who made almost 300 appearances for Leeds United during a six-year spell as a player, will meet the players for the first time on Wednesday. Gary was a member of Howard Wilkinson's Football League title winning side of 1992 and formed part of a formidable midfield that also included Gordon Strachan, David Batty, and Gary Speed. He also enjoyed spells at Motherwell, Leicester, Coventry, and Liverpool, making over 700 career appearances and winning 57 international caps. His honours include a League Cup winners medal, an FA Cup winners medal, a UEFA Cup success, and he was part of Liverpool the side which won the European Super Cup in 2001/02. Gary's previous ...

Yorkshire Evening Post 26/1/08 Late strike denies Leeds United Luton Town 1 Leeds United 1 The long-term health of Luton Town depends heavily on their move out of Kenilworth Road, and the sight of the bulldozers moving in on the club's present home will not upset Leeds United. Leeds gave a good impression of a team on their way to the gallows at Kenilworth Road last season, and the 1-1 draw they were forced to accept today left a similar feeling of sickness in Dennis Wise's dressing room.United's visits to Bedfordshire rarely produce scrapbook material, and the 5-1 defeat inflicted on the club by Luton last term was consigned to the category of matches best forgotten. It cost John Carver his job as caretaker manager, and left several of the players involved on borrowed time. Even by United's standards, the fall-out was extreme.Their performance this weekend was not comparable with the club's abject surrender 15 months earlier, but neither did it rank among their mos...

Yorkshire Post 17/1/08 Ken Bates unveils his big plans for the future of Leeds United By Richard Sutcliffe Ken Bates will celebrate his third anniversary in charge of Leeds United next week. Here, he outlines to Richard Sutcliffe his vision for the future. GAZING out of the window in Ken Bates' office at Elland Road on a wet and windy afternoon in January, the view is one of contrast. In the distance, the lights of the city centre shine brightly with the imposing new 32-storey Bridgewater Place acting as a beacon for the new-found prosperity that has saw vibrant Leeds christened the 'Knightsbridge of the North'. A world away from this Harvey Nichols existence, however, is Holbeck, a suburb of red brick terraced houses and potholed wasteland that makes it very much a poor relation to the affluent city centre. It is this down-at-heel suburb that the back of the East Stand at Elland Road looks out on to and with an ugly motorway running through it, the view is distinctly under...

Yorkshire Evening Post 14/1/08 United third after beating Crewe By Phil Hay Crewe Alexandra 0 Leeds United 1 Leeds United might prefer for Jermaine Beckford to keep a low profile until January is out, but the striker witnessed the familiar sight of his name in lights at Gresty Road last night. The official line from Elland Road states that Beckford is not for sale, but the 24-year-old is tempting other clubs to test the extent of United's resistance. His 16th goal of the season completed a routine but important victory over Crewe Alexandra and reminded Dennis Wise why Leeds must reach the end of the month with Beckford intact. Paul Jewell, Derby County's manager, was present at the Alexandra Stadium yesterday evening, an appearance which was enough in itself to set the rumour mill in motion. County have been linked - somewhat tenuously - with a £3million bid for Beckford, and if Jewell's attendance was not purposeful, it was certainly convenient. Wise has already indicated ...

Yorkshire Evening Post 11/1/08 Promotion is in reach for Leeds United By Phil Hay It sounded like a figure plucked from the air, and to most observers it was. The date was August 9, and Dennis Wise was at his most defiant. News had reached him that Leeds United's appeal to the Football League against their 15-point deduction had been dismissed with what amounted to a near-unanimous vote against the argument from Elland Road. In response, Wise vowed that Leeds would aim for 105 points and finish the season in May as League One's champions. It was a bold comment, but one which seemed to invoke a herd of flying pigs. The city of Leeds was more inclined to feel that the Football League was attempting to relegate their club. United's position at that beleaguered point in their history did not lend itself to such a target. Wise had been hindered by a transfer embargo until the third day of August, a week before the first weekend of the season. The group of players he had hastily ...

Yorkshire Post 10/1/08 Leeds trying to fill defensive hole by bringing in Kenton By Richard Sutcliffe LEEDS UNITED want to sign Leicester City defender Darren Kenton on loan to plug the gap left by Rui Marques's African Nations Cup call-up. The Elland Road club must do without the highly-rated Angolan for several weeks so Dennis Wise wants to bolster his options at the back with just Paul Huntington and Matt Heath being available for Monday's trip to Crewe Alexandra. Marques, who has been an ever-present in League One this term, could be away for up to seven games and the United manager admitted his interest in Bolton Wanderers defender Lubomir Michalik ahead of the transfer window opening 10 days ago. However, the Yorkshire Post understands that Wise has this week approached Foxes manager Ian Holloway over a possible loan move for Kenton and is now awaiting a response from the East Midlands club. The 29-year-old has made 14 appearances this season but was substituted at half-t...

Yorkshire Evening Post 8/1/08 Beckford not for sale By Richard Byram LEEDS United have today insisted that star striker Jermaine Beckford is not for sale. The 24-year-old has been linked with a £3m switch to Premier Division strugglers Derby County who are managed by former Bradford City and Sheffield Wednesday boss Paul Jewell. Beckford is the leading scorer in League One with 15 goals to his credit so far this term and United boss Dennis Wise rewarded him for his efforts with a new improved three-year contract in October. The London-born striker moved to United from non-league Wealdstone for just £50,000 in March 2006 and his sale would represent an enormous profit for the Whites. But with the financial problems which have dogged United in recent years no longer an issue, the club is under no pressure to sell its prized asset. A United spokesman said: "Jermaine Beckford is not for sale. He is a key part of the club's progress on the pitch under Dennis Wise and there is no re...

Leedsunited.com 5/1/08 THREE AND EASY UNITED 3 (Richardson 43, Marques 52, Weston 90), NORTHAMPTON 0 The game was preceded by the announcement that the club had agreed terms to sign Stoke City midfielder Peter Sweeney, and boss Dennis Wise continued his shake-up on the field. New recruit Neil Kilkenny made his debut alongside Andrew Hughes in the middle of the park, Ben Parker was handed a starting role at left-back, Ian Westlake returned in place of Seb Carole on the left, and Tore Andre Flo made his first start of the season in place of Tresor Kandol. Paul Huntington also made his first league start in place of the suspended Matt Heath. Kilkenny got himself involved immediately as United, on the back of run that has produced one point from a possible nine, started the brighter of the two sides and looked the more threatening. Leeds played some good passing football during the opening 20 minutes and the home side were forced to defend deep and in numbers. On 23 minutes United were den...

Yorkshire Evening Post 4/1/08 Argentina defender ready to join Leeds By Richard Sutcliffe ExclusiveLEEDS UNITED are in talks over a proposed partnership with top Argentinian club San Lorenzo, the Yorkshire Post can reveal. Under the plans, a host of star names will make their way to Elland Road with discussions understood to be at such an advanced stage that Argentinian international Jonathan Bottinelli is due to fly in next week. The highly-rated defender will be joined at Thorp Arch by San Lorenzo team-mate, Under-20 international Nicolas Bianchi, and both will be assessed by manager Dennis Wise. The Yorkshire Post understands the duo's arrival could be the first of many as Leeds and the Argentinian Premier League side, whose 2008 season does not start until February 10, look to forge a link-up that will be mutually beneficial. San Lorenzo have long been established as one of the top clubs in Argentina and were last year crowned champions of Torneo Clausara, the first of the two ...

Yorkshire Evening Post 1/1/08 Wise's silence speaks volumes Leeds United 1 Oldham Athletic 3 In an uncharacteristic moment of silence yesterday, Dennis Wise gave the most telling verdict on the torturous manner of Leeds United's arrival at the gates of 2008. Wise sent his assistant, Dave Bassett, to dissect United's first league defeat of the season at Elland Road, too livid to address the media himself. Managers can reveal a great deal through silence, and if saying nothing was Wise's way of expressing his anger, it had the desired effect. United's boss may feel that comments made behind closed doors are better left in private, but it was not difficult to gauge the mood of his dressing room after the club's torrid loss to Oldham Athletic. An irate Wise sent his players out for the second half five minutes early, trailing as they were by three goals, and the verbal battering they received at the interval is said to have been repeated at full-time. Wise may have ...

Leedsunited.com 1/1/08 NEW YEAR WOE UNITED 1 (Constantine 46), OLDHAM 3 (Hazell 28, Trotman 36, Hughes OG 40) Dennis Wise paired up Alan Thompson and Radostin Kishishev in midfielder, and also recalled David Prutton to the starting line-up with Seb Carole switching to the left flank in place of Ian Westlake. The game marked the return of former United favourite John Sheridan in his capacity as Oldham boss, and it was visiting striker Craig Davies who forced Casper Ankergen into making the first save of the afternoon. It was an untidy opening to the contest, Tresor Kandol had a shot blocked for United and Oldham's Chris Taylor tried his luck from distance. Taylor's afternoon came to an end after just 19 minutes, though, when he limped out of the action, being replaced by Deane Smalley. The sluggish nature of the contest continued until Oldham took the lead with an unbelievable effort from Reuben Hazell. The Latics defender seized on a poor clearance, chested the ball down, and u...