Door’s still open for Ryan - McDermott
YEP 25/7/13
by Phil Hay
Brian McDermott has left the door ajar for forgotten Leeds United winger Ryan Hall by denying that the 25-year-old’s Elland Road career is already over.
McDermott told Hall to “get his head down” and fight for a place in United’s plans as he clarified the position of a player who has failed to feature once during the club’s pre-season schedule.
Hall was left out of Leeds’ travelling party for their recent tour of Slovenia with his partner due to give birth but his continuing absence from McDermott’s line-ups appeared to indicate that he had no future under the United manager.
McDermott cast further doubt over Hall’s situation after last weekend’s defeat to Walsall by failing to mention the former Southend United and Crystal Palace player while bemoaning the current shortage of wingers at Elland Road.
Hall was missing for the sixth game running during Tuesday’s night’s 3-0 win at Stevenage and he is not expected to feature in Saturday’s friendly at home to Nuremberg, United’s last first-team match before the start of the Championship season.
But McDermott said: “I’ve spoken to Ryan and I’ve told him to get his head down, get himself as fit as he possibly can and get himself back into the squad.
“He needs to do the best he can but I’ve had a good conversation with him and he’s had his baby recently as well. It was important to make sure that things were done right as far as that was concerned.
“Time will tell with that but he’s part of things here, he’ll work hard and we’ll see what happens.”
Hall is less than a year into a difficult spell at Elland Road during which time both Neil Warnock and McDermott have repeatedly overlooked him.
Ex-Leeds boss Warnock paid £150,000 to bring Hall north from Southend United, committing those funds after a two-and-a-half month loan spell in which the winger played just five times.
Hall has made four further appearances since agreeing a two-and-a-half year contract in January and did not play at all under McDermott during the closing weeks of last season.
Earlier this month, Hall took to Twitter to deny claims that he had submitted a transfer request and insisted he was “happy and ready to sit and fight for my place”.
McDermott spoke out about the lack of wide options in his squad after Leeds limped to a 1-0 defeat at Walsall last Saturday.
“We’ve got a squad with no wingers, bar Aidy White,” he said. “I’ve never had that situation before. When I was at Reading we had five.
“Wingers by definition don’t come cheap and there’s no point in buying a winger for the sake of it, someone who can go in one direction but not the other.
“You need a winger who can be offensive and defensive. I’ve had that in the past and they made the difference.”
White was one of the more impressive performers during Leeds’ 3-0 win at Stevenage, completing the first hour and shining in a tight and cagey period of the game.
The youngster has made limited progress since agreeing a new three-year deal with Leeds last summer but McDermott said: “I thought he did well. He was very lively.”
by Phil Hay
Brian McDermott has left the door ajar for forgotten Leeds United winger Ryan Hall by denying that the 25-year-old’s Elland Road career is already over.
McDermott told Hall to “get his head down” and fight for a place in United’s plans as he clarified the position of a player who has failed to feature once during the club’s pre-season schedule.
Hall was left out of Leeds’ travelling party for their recent tour of Slovenia with his partner due to give birth but his continuing absence from McDermott’s line-ups appeared to indicate that he had no future under the United manager.
McDermott cast further doubt over Hall’s situation after last weekend’s defeat to Walsall by failing to mention the former Southend United and Crystal Palace player while bemoaning the current shortage of wingers at Elland Road.
Hall was missing for the sixth game running during Tuesday’s night’s 3-0 win at Stevenage and he is not expected to feature in Saturday’s friendly at home to Nuremberg, United’s last first-team match before the start of the Championship season.
But McDermott said: “I’ve spoken to Ryan and I’ve told him to get his head down, get himself as fit as he possibly can and get himself back into the squad.
“He needs to do the best he can but I’ve had a good conversation with him and he’s had his baby recently as well. It was important to make sure that things were done right as far as that was concerned.
“Time will tell with that but he’s part of things here, he’ll work hard and we’ll see what happens.”
Hall is less than a year into a difficult spell at Elland Road during which time both Neil Warnock and McDermott have repeatedly overlooked him.
Ex-Leeds boss Warnock paid £150,000 to bring Hall north from Southend United, committing those funds after a two-and-a-half month loan spell in which the winger played just five times.
Hall has made four further appearances since agreeing a two-and-a-half year contract in January and did not play at all under McDermott during the closing weeks of last season.
Earlier this month, Hall took to Twitter to deny claims that he had submitted a transfer request and insisted he was “happy and ready to sit and fight for my place”.
McDermott spoke out about the lack of wide options in his squad after Leeds limped to a 1-0 defeat at Walsall last Saturday.
“We’ve got a squad with no wingers, bar Aidy White,” he said. “I’ve never had that situation before. When I was at Reading we had five.
“Wingers by definition don’t come cheap and there’s no point in buying a winger for the sake of it, someone who can go in one direction but not the other.
“You need a winger who can be offensive and defensive. I’ve had that in the past and they made the difference.”
White was one of the more impressive performers during Leeds’ 3-0 win at Stevenage, completing the first hour and shining in a tight and cagey period of the game.
The youngster has made limited progress since agreeing a new three-year deal with Leeds last summer but McDermott said: “I thought he did well. He was very lively.”
