Mighty Leeds Weblog

leedsunited.com 24/3/11 MIDFIELDER JOINS FOR PROMOTION PUSH Tottenham youngster joins on loan... Leeds United have signed Tottenham midfielder Jake Livermore on loan until the end of the season. The 21-year-old's loan deal includes provision to stay on until May 31 should the club reach the Play-Offs. Jake, a product of Tottenham's Academy, has made 44 career appearances and has had loan spells with Derby, Peterborough, and Ipswich. He played against Leeds earlier in the season for Ipswich at Portman Road. United manager Simon Grayson said: "Jake is a hungry, young player who has gained good experience at this level with both Derby and Ipswich. "We're at an important stage of the season and he gives us increased competition for places. He is a good addition to our squad."

Bradford Telegraph & Argus 24/3/11 Redfearn: McCormack will be Leeds United hit John Wray Ross McCormack has sent manager Simon Grayson a message – don’t worry about Billy Paynter’s suspension, I’m ready to go. Striker Paynter picked up a three-match ban after being sent off in Leeds’ 2-0 defeat by Sheffield United at the weekend but, if McCormack has his way, Paynter could be kicking his heels much longer. The Scot fired home four goals in the reserves’ 6-0 demolition of Hartlepool and reserve boss Neil Redfearn admitted: “He was almost unplayable at times." The 25-year-old striker has only made four first-team starts and 12 substitute appearances since joining Leeds from Cardiff last summer and has yet to score at that level. But Redfearn is convinced that McCormack’s form against Hartlepool is no fluke. “There have been times in the last three or four games when he’s been like that. It will give him confidence. He knows that if he goes back in the first team he’ll soon brea...

Bradford Telegraph & Argus 21/3/11 Paynter red card completes derby woe as Blades hit promotion hopes Sheffield United 2, Leeds United 0 Leeds’ prospects of automatic promotion suffered a blow after a bitterly disappointing display at relegation-threatened Sheffield United. The meek surrender of three points was bad enough but Billy Paynter’s off-the-ball offence two minutes from the end earned the substitute striker a red card and a three-match ban after the referee’s assistant spotted the incident. It was the first time Leeds had failed to score in successive games for a year. They are still fifth but now six points behind an automatic Championship promotion spot after second-placed Norwich drew at Hull. Although it is claimed Sheffield broke regulations by naming six loan players in their 18-man squad and having five on the pitch at one time, including goal-scorer Bjorn Helger Riise, Leeds had no excuse for a below par showing. Manager Simon Grayson said: “I am hugely frustrated...

Mail 20/3/11 Sheffield Utd 2 Leeds 0: Billy Paynter dismissal adds to United's derby despair By John Helm Should Leeds fail to make the play-offs, they will look back in anger on the curse of the Yorkshire derby. They have dropped 12 points in games against Barnsley, Doncaster, Hull and struggling Sheffield United. The form book went out of the window in a feisty encounter at Bramall Lane, and the Championship's top goalscorers failed to register while the division's lowest scorers netted twice. It was the home team's second win in 18 games while promotion-chasing Leeds lost for the third time in 24. Sheffield United included four former Leeds players, plus Leeds-born and resident Nick Montgomery, the man of the match, while manager Micky Adams was in the Leeds team when their manager Simon Grayson made his playing debut for the club. It might have been different had Max Gradel buried Eric Lichaj's far-post cross in the first half, but he missed, and only Kasper Sch...

Yorkshire Post 16/3/11 Revie’s stars reflect on the man who turned Leeds into legends FIFTY years ago today, Don Revie was appointed Leeds United manager and the Yorkshire club was about to be changed forever. He was only 31 at the time and the task of breathing life into a Second Division club that had become the very epitome of ‘moribund’ was a tough one. Leeds was a rugby league city where not only were the Loiners at Headingley considered superior to United, but also Hunslet and Bramley. Revie, however, was not without ambition – as underlined by his changing of the team colours to all-white in an attempt to instil a Real Madrid-style ethos into his players. But he also realised it would take time, and the development of a youth policy that would provide a conveyor belt of talent into the first team, to transform United into winners. The Leeds board, led by Harry Reynolds, were prepared to be patient and their support was rewarded a little over three years after Revie’s appointment...

Bradford Telegraph & Argus 16/3/11 Leeds United reach milestone since appointment of greatest manager John Wray Today marks the 50th anniversary of Don Revie’s appointment as Leeds manager – the start of a 13-year reign that took the club from the depths of the old Second Division to undreamed of glory at home and abroad. Revie was famously handed the job by United chairman at the time Harry Reynolds, who drafted a letter recommending him to Bournemouth before deciding to appoint him instead. Leeds narrowly avoided relegation to the Third Division in Revie’s first season in charge but the man of many superstitions – who had played with distinction for Leicester, Hull, Manchester City, Sunderland, Leeds and England – went on to manage United to trophies in the League Cup, FA Cup, Second Division Championship, League Championship, Inter-Cities Fairs Cup and Charity Shield. He was manager of the year three times – in 1968-9, 1969-70 and 1971-2 – and became Sir Alf Ramsey’s successor a...

Bradford Telegraph & Argus 15/3/11 Leeds United chief defends club ownership structure The chief executive of Leeds United today told MPs he has no knowledge of the people behind the “mysterious trust” that owns the club - and that chairman Ken Bates does not know either. Leeds’ ownership structure came under the microscope at the culture, media and sport select committee’s inquiry into football governance at a hearing at Burnley FC today. The club’s chief executive Shaun Harvey said Leeds is owned by a holding company called FSF, based in the West Indies island of Nevis and owned by three discretionary trusts. The trustees have appointed two men, Patrick Murrin and Peter Boatman, to run the club and they had asked Bates to be chairman. Harvey told the committee: “I don’t know who the beneficiaries of this discretionary trust are, no.” Asked if Bates knew, he replied: “Not to my knowledge.” He added: “There is no individual [owner], that’s the nature of discretionary trusts - it’s ...