Marques signs new deal - Yorkshire Evening Post 20/5/08
By Phil Hay
Rui Marques has agreed a new two-year contract at Elland Road after positive talks with Leeds United last week.
Discussions over an extended deal for the Angolan defender were suspended at the start of April but after a number of minor details were ratified Marques today ended speculation over his future by opting to remain at Elland Road for another two years.The 30-year-old's existing one-year deal had been due to expire at the end of this season but negotiations aimed at reaching a new deal stalled on April 8 with Leeds blaming "differences in valuation" for their decision to withdraw from talks.
Marques' wage demands were believed to have contributed to the deadlock, but the parties were also at odds over the length of the contract being offered to the centre-back.
His initial request was for a three-year contract, taking him up to the age of 33, but Marques has now agreed to the 24-month extension with the club he joined in 2005.
Fresh talks between Leeds and Marques' advisors took place last Friday, and today's confirmation of the deal is a welcome development for United ahead of Sunday's League One final in London.United were always hopeful of tying Marques to the club beyond the end of this season. A statement released after the suspension of discussions last month revealed their intention to revisit the matter.
The statement read: "The removal of contract extension discussions from the agenda will allow Rui to concentrate on making a positive contribution as the club looks forward to gaining promotion to the Championship.
"We still remain positive that we will be able to retain the player's services."
It was initially anticipated that further negotiations would be delayed until after the play-off final, but despite rumours of interest from several Championship clubs, Marques was intent on remaining in Leeds regardless of this weekend's result at Wembley.
Marques has enjoyed 18 impressive months at Elland Road since winning promotion to United's first team in January 2007.
His form at the start of this season was good enough to earn him a place in Angola's squad for the African Cup of Nations earlier this year.He immediately regained his place under Gary McAllister following his return from Ghana in February, but a hamstring strain sustained against Brighton on March 29 saw his position in the centre of defence taken by Paul Huntington.
Marques has made only two substitute appearances since recovering from his injury.
Yorkshire Evening Post 20/5/08
Bates hails modest McAllister
By Phil Hay
Gary McAllister has steadfastly refused to take credit for Leeds United's season, but chairman Ken Bates today paid tribute to the "inspirational leadership" which he believes is behind the club's emergence in the play-off final.
McAllister will have Wembley as the backdrop for his 20th game as United's manager on Sunday, but in keeping with the demeanour he has maintained since his appointment on January 29, the Scot is likely to leave the acclaim to his players if promotion to the Championship is earned at the end of the road in London.Asked after United's semi-final win over Carlisle how qualifying for the play-off final ranked among his footballing achievements, McAllister said: "It's definitely up there, but it's not about me. It's about the players."
It is a line he has taken consistently in the past three-and-a-half months.McAllister's modesty has been lost on Bates, however. His opinion of his manager has grown with each passing game.
The identification of Dennis Wise's replacement was completed quickly in January but not with undue haste, and McAllister's selection appears to be an increasingly inspired decision. There will be no effort on the part of Bates to deny the 43-year-old the recognition he is worth.
"Gary's a natural manager and a natural leader," said Bates. "Those were the qualities we were looking for when we asked him to take over at a difficult time.
"He has his own opinion, but my understanding is that he's due a lot of the credit for the fact that we're in the play-off final.
"His leadership's been inspirational and being at Wembley is the result of a lot of hard work from everyone involved.
"Football club's don't rely on one or two people. The successful clubs are the ones where every single person plays their part. I like the way Gary goes about his job – there's no fuss and no drama. He gets on with it quietly and thoughtfully. I don't think he can be faulted.
"In the second leg against Carlisle, we not only won the game but we won it with style and a bit of class. The players are responsible for that but I do think it's a reflection of the manager as well. We've become a very good team."
The belief that Leeds may have peaked at the perfect time – a factor which is perennially crucial in the Football League's play-offs – is not held by Bates alone.
Over the past two months, United have been beaten at Huddersfield Town and at home by Carlisle, but the defeats have been exceptions to the rule in a spell in which Leeds have been as convincingly consistent as at any other stage of the season.
Their last nine matches have yielded seven victories, five of which have come away from Elland Road, and United's dominant conclusion to the League One season has justified Bates' decision to lock McAllister to a 12-month rolling contract before the outcome of the play-off final is known.
McAllister was originally handed a short-term agreement on the understanding that an extension was likely to depend on him achieving promotion, but Bates pre-empted the club's possible return to the Championship by revising the agreement at the start of last month.
United's chairman admitted that he feared briefly for the club's season after they were beaten by Carlisle in the first leg of a fascinating semi-final, but their recovery at Brunton Park, where two goals from Jonathan Howson earned Leeds a 3-2 aggregate win, has left him "quietly confident" that Sunday's game against Doncaster Rovers at Wembley will deliver the prize that the club have chased since August.
"I wouldn't want to sound over-confident, but in my own way I'm quietly cocky," he said.
"I'd expect it to be a very difficult game, but we're going into it on the back of a classy performance at Carlisle. I've got a lot of faith in Gary and his squad.
"I've said before that I'm immensely proud of these players, not just for reaching the play-off final but for the way they approached this season and the way they've fought back from an unjust 15-point deduction. They've been tremendous."
In the minutes after United's defeat to Watford in the 2006 Championship play-off final in Cardiff, Bates descended to the Leeds dressing room to deliver a rousing speech to the club's beaten players.
He thanked them for their effort and told them to forget the disappointment of defeat during the summer ahead. They were words of consolation he will hope to avoid repeating two years on.
"One big difference between this season and 2006 is the age of our players," said Bates. "If you worked out the average age of Gary's team, you'd be quite surprised by how low it is.
"We're younger and fresher this time round. We also deserve to be promoted after the season we've had, and I think the players know that. We'll see on Sunday what I have to say to the players afterwards but they've already earned an awful lot of credit for what they've done."