Warnock in transfer talks with trio
Yorkshire Evening Post 17/12/12
By Phil Hay
Neil Warnock confirmed that transfer talks were underway with the parent clubs of Jerome Thomas, Michael Tonge and Alan Tate after Leeds United’s 2-0 win over Ipswich Town.
Warnock said Leeds had made the first move towards securing all three players beyond the end of their loan deals in a bid to keep their squad intact when the transfer window opens on January 1.
United’s plans for the second half of the Championship season took a step forward last week when striker El-Hadji Diouf agreed a new 18-month contract at Elland Road, and with a £150,000 deal for on-loan Southend United winger Ryan Hall already in place, Warnock is now turning his attention to securing the signatures of Thomas, Tonge and Tate.
Thomas and Tate are tied to Leeds until January 3, the date on which they are due to return to West Bromwich Albion and Swansea City respectively, and Tonge’s three-month emergency loan from Stoke City expires later this week.
Leeds plan to bring Tonge back to Elland Road on a permanent basis at the start of January and the club are also expected to make a £250,000 offer for centre-back Tate.
An extended deal with Thomas is also high on Warnock’s list of demands and the winger heightened his appeal with a match-winning display against Ipswich on Saturday.
Thomas scored United’s opening goal and created their second before making way six minutes from the end.
“I’ve wanted to sign Jerome for many years,” Warnock said. “I love positive players who commit to that type of play.
“I’ve said to him what I used to say to Adel Taarabt (at Queens Park Rangers) – I’m not bothered how many times you lose the ball in the opposition’s half, take them on and lose it as many times as you want. Just have a go.
“It’s early days and at the moment I’m still trying to get Thomas to play 90 minutes. I can’t push him too hard because he’ll pull a muscle or something and we’ve got to treat him with kid gloves.
“But we’ve been in touch with the clubs of all the loan players. You have to start conversations. With Michael Tonge we’ve made initial enquiries and we’ve done the same with Jerome. We’ve spoken to Swansea about Tate too.
“I’ve also given the club one or two names regarding another striker. We need to put pressure on Luciano Becchio in case he has a period where he’s not himself, and we need a top-class striker to take us into the second half of the season in a positive way.”
Diouf will remain among Warnock’s pool of forwards for the foreseeable future after agreeing to extend the half-season deal he took up at Elland Road in September.
The former Liverpool player justified his new contract with an influential outing on Saturday and, like Thomas, he had a hand in both of United’s goals as Leeds atoned for their tepid defeat to Derby County seven days previously.
“I’m pleased to put it (Diouf’s contract) to bed,” Warnock said. “It seemed like Ena Sharples was still in Coronation Street when we first started talking to him about it.
“He had other opportunities and he wasn’t telling porkies about that but it’s great that he’s thrown his lot in with us. That’s one signing ticked off and now we concentrate on the next one.
“We’re still going to get knockbacks from time-to-time, like we did last week at Derby County, but with a few adjustments, we can have a decent second half of the season.”
United’s win over Ipswich left them 12th in the Championship, four points adrift of the play-offs.
By Phil Hay
Neil Warnock confirmed that transfer talks were underway with the parent clubs of Jerome Thomas, Michael Tonge and Alan Tate after Leeds United’s 2-0 win over Ipswich Town.
Warnock said Leeds had made the first move towards securing all three players beyond the end of their loan deals in a bid to keep their squad intact when the transfer window opens on January 1.
United’s plans for the second half of the Championship season took a step forward last week when striker El-Hadji Diouf agreed a new 18-month contract at Elland Road, and with a £150,000 deal for on-loan Southend United winger Ryan Hall already in place, Warnock is now turning his attention to securing the signatures of Thomas, Tonge and Tate.
Thomas and Tate are tied to Leeds until January 3, the date on which they are due to return to West Bromwich Albion and Swansea City respectively, and Tonge’s three-month emergency loan from Stoke City expires later this week.
Leeds plan to bring Tonge back to Elland Road on a permanent basis at the start of January and the club are also expected to make a £250,000 offer for centre-back Tate.
An extended deal with Thomas is also high on Warnock’s list of demands and the winger heightened his appeal with a match-winning display against Ipswich on Saturday.
Thomas scored United’s opening goal and created their second before making way six minutes from the end.
“I’ve wanted to sign Jerome for many years,” Warnock said. “I love positive players who commit to that type of play.
“I’ve said to him what I used to say to Adel Taarabt (at Queens Park Rangers) – I’m not bothered how many times you lose the ball in the opposition’s half, take them on and lose it as many times as you want. Just have a go.
“It’s early days and at the moment I’m still trying to get Thomas to play 90 minutes. I can’t push him too hard because he’ll pull a muscle or something and we’ve got to treat him with kid gloves.
“But we’ve been in touch with the clubs of all the loan players. You have to start conversations. With Michael Tonge we’ve made initial enquiries and we’ve done the same with Jerome. We’ve spoken to Swansea about Tate too.
“I’ve also given the club one or two names regarding another striker. We need to put pressure on Luciano Becchio in case he has a period where he’s not himself, and we need a top-class striker to take us into the second half of the season in a positive way.”
Diouf will remain among Warnock’s pool of forwards for the foreseeable future after agreeing to extend the half-season deal he took up at Elland Road in September.
The former Liverpool player justified his new contract with an influential outing on Saturday and, like Thomas, he had a hand in both of United’s goals as Leeds atoned for their tepid defeat to Derby County seven days previously.
“I’m pleased to put it (Diouf’s contract) to bed,” Warnock said. “It seemed like Ena Sharples was still in Coronation Street when we first started talking to him about it.
“He had other opportunities and he wasn’t telling porkies about that but it’s great that he’s thrown his lot in with us. That’s one signing ticked off and now we concentrate on the next one.
“We’re still going to get knockbacks from time-to-time, like we did last week at Derby County, but with a few adjustments, we can have a decent second half of the season.”
United’s win over Ipswich left them 12th in the Championship, four points adrift of the play-offs.