Mighty Leeds Weblog

(DON'T) GO WEST Written by: Rob Conlon Charlie Taylor doesn’t make a good villain. Truth be told, I don’t really want him to be one either. He came through the academy and was decent. Sure, he was a bit silly at the end, refusing to play at Wigan for fear of injury that could ruin a Premier League move as he ran down his (no doubt undervalue) contract. But at least Taylor knows he was daft, and plenty of other exits left much sourer tastes back then anyway. Villainy just doesn’t suit a player I’ll forever think of as Little Charlie, one of that loveable bunch of scamps — Little Sam, Little Lewis, Little Alex — who were pretty much the only positive thing about Leeds United under Massimo Cellino. Until he started selling them. Given the opportunity to throw himself in the way of the hand grenade thrown from the Kop during Burnley’s disappointingly lite posturing after Maxwel Cornet’s free-kick on Sunday, Taylor sensibly ducked out of the way, instead feigning indignation at ...

by Phil Hay In better times, the loss of Stephen Warnock would follow modern-day logic which says a high-earning player who turned 33 before Christmas and has six months left on his deal is someone Leeds United can afford to release. The door closing on Warnock opens another for Charlie Taylor, a left-back 12 years his junior and a self-produced member of the squad at Leeds. They would call this forward-planning at a safe and stable club but United are neither and Warnock’s departure is made to feel like the right move at precisely the wrong time. His impending transfer to Derby County came down to money, which is not unusual at Elland Road. At 33, Warnock will take up a contract for at least 18 months at Pride Park and in the absence of any offer to extend his deal with Leeds, the defender wanted the move. United as a club seem happy to nudge him off the wage bill and trust in Taylor’s talent, much as head coach Neil Redfearn was in no rush to move Warnock on. The left-back’s care...