Four Signings In One Day For Leeds United

Jul 23rd, 2012 61 Comments

Something is clearly amiss at Elland Road, how else do you explain four signings in just one day?

Hell freezing over, North Korea forming a democratic government, America outlawing guns – just three of a billion unlikely scenarios I’d have considered more likely than Leeds United signing four players in a single day.

Adding to the earlier announced deals of Andy Gray and Jamie Ashdown is former Portsmouth striker Luke Varney who signs on a two-year deal and Jamaican midfielder Rodolph Austin at a rumoured cost of around £300,000 each.

No details of Austin’s contract have yet been released by the club as he requires a work permit to officially complete the deal. Austin automatically qualifies for a work permit as a regular in the Jamaican international side so this should be a relatively straightforward process.

Following Leeds United’s 6-0 pre-season friendly victory over Tavistock, Neil Warnock said his “crucial signings” were yet to come.

Transfers (IN) so far

Name Pos Age From Est Cost
Jason Pearce CB 24 Portsmouth £500,000
Adam Drury LB 33 Norwich City £0
Paul Green CM 29 Derby County £0
Paddy Kenny GK 34 QPR £450,000
Andy Gray FW 34 Barnsley £0
Jamie Ashdown GK 31 Portsmouth £0
Rodolph Austin CM 27 SK Brann £300,000
Luke Varney FW 29 Portsmouth £300,000
£1,550,000
Tags: , , ,


Founder and editor of The Scratching Shed, born locally and have followed Leeds United all my life from the dizzying heights of Europe, to the dark depths of League One.

  • fordy

    add to that Robbie Rogers been fit again and looking like the player we thought he was and i think Poleon and Gimple will play first team football this season im actually looking forward to the season for once.

  • TimPM

    Bates foresaw this. We’ll go bust now. We’re spending money ffs. Money aint for spending!

    • Matthew

      Ah well. I’m feeling better about this upcoming season now anyway, we have some decent players now, granted we need a few more but for what we have, we’re doing alright, definately think this side can achieve a top 10 finish now.

  • bd

    love the transfer in table

  • The WhiteLizard

    With Varney & Gray signed added to Rogers & Somma, I have to think McCormack’s on his way out.

    • sniffersshorts

      have to agree with McCormack being outed, am not sure if this is a good or a bad thing. his work rate is fantastic, but it takes a long time for him to start sticking it in the net. From what we read from the reports of the recent friendlys he cant hit a goal, where as everyone around him seems to. We seem to know have a glut of strikers, I really want to see Somma back, great to see Rogers figuring along with the youth coming through. The warlock has his game plan, and is slowly but surely appointing the players we have been linked to all along. The overall impression I get is these guys seem to have passion and hunger which is all important. And it seems he has not stopped in his search for others, I really cant see Snoddy going, and will be gutted if he does. As for the others who have been listed they have had their shot, and unfortunately just dont figure anymore so goodbye and good luck to them in the future. What a great day yesterday was, lets cross fingers for Rudy, as we are all looking forward to seeing the impact this guy has.

  • andy

    tim the doom n gloom merchants doubt this is bates.

    • http://www.thescratchingshed.com/ TSS

      You mean the realists that remember the last 7 summers and know what to expect?

      • scottw

        exactly.thank you.some people need to get their hand off it.

  • Gordo Strach

    Great day!!! Exciting times ahead!

  • Oxford White

    Good signings too, not just quantity. Slight caution as Austin is deal agreed not yet a signing….

    • http://www.thescratchingshed.com/ TSS

      That won’t be a problem. He qualifies automatically as he’s a regular in international side. I remember the rules from when we trying to sign Robbie Rogers, who managed to get a permit despite not meeting criteria.

      • Matthew

        Austin will get his permit purely on the basis of being Rudolph Austin, il’d feel sorry for the one who refuses his work permit, dude will knock your socks off with his tackles lol.

  • Ron

    Now we need some marquee signings. The squad fillers are in.

    • Bubionwhite

      Just who would you consider to be marquee signings Ron … and how much should the club expect to have to pay for them? The players Neil Warnock has signed to date are all v.good players and bring added value and their reputations are a big improvement on the players they will replace … they simply have to live up to the reputation.

  • http://www.smartdogdigital.com Illiya Vjestica

    At last!!!!!! All shrewd signings. Very pleased. If we can sign a striker and a right back we are looking really really good.

    Warnock knows what he is doing. Someone at ER has taken the reigns off, obviously can’t be Bates. :-)

    • Pete wilson

      We need 3 big hitters now right back and striker and bother midfeild

  • Colin

    It’s quantity, but is it quality? Errrm, frankly no.

    • Matthew

      Personally I would call every player on that list good.

    • http://www.thescratchingshed.com/ TSS

      Pearce, Kenny and Austin are the only first team regulars so far in my opinion. Warnock did say after tonight’s match that his most “crucial signings” were still to come, so I think he’s just been making sure we have the numbers for a promotion challenge.

      • Matthew

        I think Warnock will sign Cranie too, not a bad player and could do the job for us. I would expect this in the coming weeks. If Warnock wasnt interested in him, he wouldnt play him twice now, and bring him down south lol.

  • DGP

    Can you add outs/potential outs to the list, please

  • TimPM

    Taking these signings, The actual fees could be 1.1-1.8m… the sales could be 600k-1m

    So we could be spending only 100k or 1.2m more than we’ve got in?

    • mrbigwheels

      Very shrewd business. Am looking forward to some front end quality coming in now with the couple of million that will be popping up… soon,

  • Col

    It’s nice to see a few bodies joining our ranks but I still think there is a real lack of quality or ambition in these signings. We seem to been trying to sign half of Portsmouth’s squad, just because theyre cheap & available. I was hoping for a real landmark signing that would show we mean business in this division, instead we get Andy Gray! I know things can change quickly but I’m not holding my breath!!

  • Name*

    Just thought id show this short clip of varney http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=V6WEUK8h7tc

    • Mr cynical

      YouTube videos can make anybody look decent. Look at the YouTube videos of Leeds signing from a few seasons ago, De Costa. He looked like a world beater. Truth of the matter was he wasn’t up to League one!!

  • Fin

    All solid signings. None of them jump out of the page as players who will set the division alight but I reckon Colin knows what he’s doing.

  • mrbigwheelsDick

    Very shrewd business. Am now looking forward to some quality front end players coming in with the £2m nett budget Warnock may well be holding soon…

    • mrbigwheels

      Think we’ve sorted the posting problem now TSS.

      • http://www.thescratchingshed.com/ TSS

        Yeah, it seems to be an anti-spam measure.

        Until you’ve had a comment approved, it’ll hold them all for moderation. So long as you use the same email address, you’ll have no further issues.

  • steviedee

    Not inspired at all. Seems we’re buying for quantity rather than quality. This is a team being built to survive not compete.

  • Gordo Strach

    As a I said before its a great day. Fingers crossed that this doesn’t mean McCormack is on his way!! Selling Snodgrass and McCormack might put us in a profit by the end of the transfer window!! Sounds very much Bates type of move!! Great that we are dropping some dollars on signings but what does that mean for a takeover. Its either approved by the new owners and Bates in the event it doesn’t happen or its another master plan by Bates. Still a great day though, fingers croessed for many more!

  • Topvalleywhite

    What’s your point Tim

    • TimPM

      Don’t assume because we’ve got 4 in we’re suddenly flush with funds. Warnock might well have just used the money coming in from sales.

  • Paul South Wales

    I’ve just started working in Portsmouth, and they reckon before his injury Varney was on fire. If we keep him fit we have a decent signing on our hands (their words not mine).

  • Colin

    Audio of Neil Warnock post match interview with Yorkshire Radio after Tavistock game:
    http://soundcloud.com/cas707/neil-warnock-interview-after

  • bazlufc

    TSS do u think the crucial signings will b made wen the takeover goes thru? wen a bit more money is available, eg peltier, a centre back and another winger all for lager sums. And how do u compare our new look experienced midfield (austin green varney) to our old young midfield of howson johnson and gradel?

  • tim campbell

    As you mentioned TSS the ‘crucial’ signings are yet to come – as warnock said previously he wanted around another 8 players in, so by my reckoning there could be 3 or 4 big hitters arriving soon. Would love Snoddy to stay, but that cud well depend on the next few signings.

  • Colin

    We’re not famous anymore? Complete BS. I recorded and uploaded Neil Warnock’s post match interview with Yorkshire Radio after the Tavistock game via SoundCloud (link is above).
    I posted the link on this site and also via Twitter with the hashtag #LUFC to my followers, and TSS also retweeted the link. It was an experiment – I wanted to see how many people would click on the link and listen. Here’s the results:

    Over the first hour of posting the interview, on average, someone new listened to the interview every 5.1 seconds!
    Now take into account that I have only 80 followers, okay TSS has a lot more. But it was slow to start up as the link went around, and then it went crazy. And also remember that this was a friendly against Tavistock!!
    That’s a lot of interest from Leeds fans. If only the club could capture this massive fanbase that supports Leeds so loyally!
    I have to admit I was amazed by the results.

  • tim campbell

    Now all we need is beckford back and a few others PLUS snoddy to sign up and we are going up next season

  • pete58

    A grand day altogether!

  • tim campbell

    Just read a report onwest ham website that said we had a bid for nicky maynard turned down – interesting!

  • JamesDoc

    This is surely a sign that Bates has gone!!!!
    Onwards and upwards

  • stuartk

    4 of them over 30 years of age ???????

  • Sunnyleeds

    Mick Jones was hoping for “exciting times over the next two weeks”. Cannot say that the first day wasn’t exceptional for starters.

  • fordy

    although the maynard offer as been turned down we should look at the fact we have enough money spare to even table a bid because it would have had to have bben at least 1m+.

  • old goat

    Yep, all good news.
    Think the big need now is for a RB/Right outside mid. The Peltier thing has gone cold and with bids reportedly at £600K (i.e. approx 40 percent of what we’ve spent on eight players and a top end salary as well) I can see him going elsewhere.
    Last year we had the ability to get around opposition RBs but seldom their LB. Snoddy or AW out there is fine up to a point but as natural left-side players they always end up coming back inside and it becomes predictable.
    Is Bromby getting close to fitness even as a stop gap?? He ain’t world class but he’s versatile and you can’t argue with that throw.

  • Mike Kirby

    I have been involved in the take over of a massive group which had one company the new owners wanted to keep ( the one i was MD of ) , its a bit different BUT what is happening is the new LUFC owners giving guarantees and backing to the transfers whilst the deal to buy Leeds United goes through , this is not Ken Bates money if it is the new owners have guaranteed to pay him back when the deal is 100% ratified , however it is great news MOT

  • JB56

    It would be interesting to hear from Snoddy. Is he sufficiently impressed by the transfer activity to hang around?

  • smudger

    Could someone please explain why Neil Warnock is referred to as “Colin” by numerous people on here? Been bugging me for ages!

    On the signings, good but still need a few more real “top drawer” signing in my view if we are going to push for prmotion next year..

    Smudger

    • http://www.thescratchingshed.com/ TSS

      It came from a referee. He was talking about Warnock’s trademark rants and said he called him “Colin” because “Colin Wanker” is an anagram of his name.

  • Dave Vernam

    Sky news is reporting we have made an official approach for Peltier.

    • TimPM

      Now that would be a decent back 5. Kenny, Drury & Peltier, Lees & Pearce.

      We’re Leeds… we’re not meant to do solid defences!

      • JB56

        If we have made a realistic bid for Peltier when we couldn’t find £400k for a FB only two months ago then you might conclude that something is changing at the club. However, let us hope that these signings are not being funded by very high profile sales.

        • marcco62

          Hopefully not… but it was not that long ago NW saying Snods (I think) may have had his head turned by agents etc

  • marcco62

    I also hope that is not the case, but it was not that long ago NW was saying about players (Snods) having their heads turned by agents etc.

    • http://www.white-rose-international.com Morcar

      Snodds played last night V Tavistock. No way would a prospective buyer allow him the possibility of getting injured if they had an agreement in place for him. Ergo his sale isn’t funding these signings.Ergo there is no sale agreement for him and with 3/4 “crucial signings” still to come I’m hopeful he’s going to hang around for one more tilt at the big time. What reward for his loyalty promotion at the end of this season would be.

  • Mike Kirby

    TimPM, maybe we aren’t supposed to do solid defences lately but the REVIE team was built with a solid defence first, Sprake, Reaney., Cooper, Charlton and Hunter I am old enough to have watched them many times, I have a feeling Warnock knows what he is doing lets all pray this is the start of a real new era for us MOT

    • TimPM

      Warnock’s been a bit of a revelation as far as I’m concerned. I remember back in early Feb everybody talking about “total anti-football” and how he’d build a team of overweight 40-year old steroid junkies…. well it’s worked out pretty well so far

      It’s a pity he wasn’t given what he was promised earlier in the year, maybe we would’ve had maximised the value of what we spent even better. But let’s not mentioned “that” man!

  • Mike Kirby

    Thanks TimPM thats interesting we do get the odd Leeds United game here in South Africa on the TV from the championship but i have not seen too many Warnock in charge matches ,thats one of the reasons i am reading your site as i want to see what the true fans are saying and am going to check the site out every week , i just have a feeling that this is going to work , i dont know why ? one thing about Warnock is that he is a yorkshireman who speaks his mind and the Leeds fans will appreciate that , the Revie team epitomised the character of Leeds and its people at the time , we used to be happy when the opposing team came to Elland Road and got “NOWT” i dont know if that would apply now but Elland Road being a fortress that other teams hate to visit will do for a start , i think Warnock will do this , interesting times !!! regards Mike MOT

© 2013 The Scratching Shed. All rights reserved.
Logo design by Confid3ntial