The mature response in these circumstances is to reflect and re-consider the reasons for current situation, that the `blame game’ be avoided. But to be frank, I’ve never really held with that.

What follows is a candidate list, of the 5 worst decisions (and this is entirely subjective – and opinion based) which have lead us to where we are – a voting option follows beneath.

1. Selling the crown jewels

We overachieved in our first season back in the second tier. A 7^th place finish was more than we could have dreamed of on the day we scraped past Brizzle Rovers. Yet we ended up disappointed to miss out on the play offs. The key to that? A coveted cache of some very talented players :-

Jonny Howson, home-grown, Leeds supporting, a box to box midfielder capable of defence splitting passes, late runs into the box, and the odd meaty tackle, a second division lampard if you want. Yes he went missing from time to time, but at 23 you can forgive him that.

Max Gradel, a top quality striker cum winger, an Ivory Coast international, with bags of pace, flair, and a genuine hunger for goals. You `pitied the fool’ who was given the job of marking him, and despite a foul temper, generally much loved by the Elland Road Faithful.

Bradley Johnson – Not everyone’s cup of tea,  Johnsons proclivity to aim for Row-Z was a shortcoming, but he remains to this day, full of running, a genuine ball winning midfielder, and able to score goals of almost mind bending quality (see Arsenal FA Cup 2010). Like Michael Brown in his prime. He was a player we plucked from relative obscurity at Northampton town.

All the above of course are now plying their trade elsewhere. Howson at Premier League Norwich, ditto Johnson, and Gradel at Ligue 1, Saint Etienne. Collective transfer fees of close to £4m received for those players seems of little comfort when we review the threadbare squad at Elland Road.

Howson seemed a sacrificial lamb,. He wanted evidence (like most of us) that Leeds were serious about the premier league next season, and like all of us saw zero investment of any note into the squad. Refusing to sign a new contract until the time was right, he was hardly engineering a move out. But lo and behold in January Bates and Harvey decided to cash their chips and accept £2m for a player worth probably 3 times that amount – had they not delayed and bungled a new contract (of which more in point 2)he might be with us still.

Would keeping Howson have kept us in contention for the play offs? Well he’s playing for Norwich now, and isn’t it March? We were all told he wouldn’t be fit until April? A key player, with good fitness record, and a scorer of critical goals (Carlisle, Bristol Rovers) Howson was Mr Dependable, and one of few who coped well with pressure.

Gradel was of course `not for sale’ a phrase which should be banned from Elland Road forthwith – we’re sick of hearing it. Apparently he wanted to be close to his Family in France (who are Paris based I believe) by moving to St Etienne – a 5 hour 525Km drive from Paris. Mmm? £2m later on transfer deadline day and he was sat in the conference room of the rather unspectacular French club, (who most of thought were an Indie Beat Combo from the 90’s), next to some bloke who looked like the Toymaker from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang – with a big grin on his face. Gradel would have bagged us 20 again this season; perhaps a bigger contract might have encouraged the Gradel clan to move to Yorkshire? Didier Drogba doesn’t seem to be hell bent on playing for Sochaux or Auxerre to be closer to his brood? Just dreadfully handled and like Howson despite the cash and saved wages – where was his replacement?.. Still waiting.

Johnson publicly stated he wanted to sign a new contract (much as Howson had done) and yet come the close season he fell off the radar and we all knew he was on his way with Norwich, West Brom and a couple of other mid table premier league sides interested.

He’s since slotted nicely into Norwich’s midfield, and we all look on enviously. Why on earth did we let one of our key players leave? But as per the two previously mentioned where was the `superior replacement?

Bates has got out of jail with the emergence of Adam Clayton, but an aged Michael Brown, the bizarre Mika Vayrynen, and the inconsistent Ramon Nunez and Lloyd Sam just haven’t cut it. There have been latter additions like Robbie Rogers, but their impact has been limited, and the odd loan who couldn’t stick it (Townsend) surely keeping hold of your best assets is key – we sold them – and didnt adequately replace them.

If our budget on day one was £9m for playing staff and we were up by £4m (£5m if you include Schmeicel) how does a £12M spend represent a strain on the business? Youd still be in the money. So bad decision 1 selling our best players.

2. Failing to tie players down to contracts

As already mentioned Howson and Johnson’s contracts were running down a la Jermaine Beckford, but they weren’t alone. Neil Kilkenny also basically got fed up with waiting for championship wages, and like Johnson voted with his feet.

We all sat in disbelief as Johnson and Kilkenny’s contracts ran down. Surely we’d learnt our lesson with Beckford? But amazingly the club had the gall to suggest that the Beckford decision was a calculated one, and that Leeds pick and choose who they offer contracts to – andf hold players to them. A total nonsense when you review the Gradel saga. We all considered losing Howson, Johnson, and Kilkenny – surely we wouldn’t lose all of them – would we? Erm yes.

Not only did we manage to get beaten to the punch for David Norris by Portsmouth, Keith Andrews by Ipswich, who were frees we allegedly came close to signing, we failed to offer our own enough. And the market is dictated by the consumer. Kasper Schmeicel’s situation was more bizarre still – we apparently spoke with his agent and established he might want a pay rise at the end of the season – the response, a trip down the M1 to Leicester and a gleeful ken Banking a near £1m transfer fee (allegedly) Schmeicel replacement Rachubka haunts all of our nightmares, and Lonergan has proven just as inconsistent as Schmeicel.

You’d have thought our asset stripping this season might have taught us a valuable lesson, but apparently not. With Aidan White, Adam Clayton and Robert Snodgrass, Ross McCormack close to the end of their deals we still haven’t clarified what next?

Some clubs seem to do this under the radar so as to achieve a good price for players. Our contract lengths seem almost fair game, and negotiations seem to turn bad rapidly. Remember Brad Johnson’s lambasting at the hands of Ken Bates for Picking his `ma up from the station instead of meeting with him to discuss wages – we should definitely get rid of the arrogant so and so Ken..

Bad decision 2 – mishandling players contracts

3. Failing to invest in new players

So you get £2m for Gradel, plus his save wages, £2m for Howson plus his wages, you save Kilkenny’s Schmeicel’s, Johnsons wages – you get like for like – right?

Erm no.. we scrabbled around the bargain bin again, imagine what class of winger you’d get for £2m and at say £12K to £15k a week – already budgeted for. A rising star from League One, a premier league youngster, or a star from one of your rivals. Well let’s not forget this is Leeds. We already had Lloyd Sam and Ramon Nunez – so why not plump for a centre half? Or rather, why bother.

I wont go on.

The usual tripe we’d gotten used to got trawled out – “why buy – when you can do loans? You’ll get premier league quality without the transfer fee”.

“The player was asking for an exorbitant wage – we told him where to go” – the greedy sod.

“We only want players who want to play for Leeds – not mercenaries, if the wages were all that were important – we dont want him.”

We ended up taking a squad to Scotland for Pre-season reminiscent in depth to that which Dennis Wise took – mid-insolvency to Eastern Europe. Which player we brought in this summer sparks the imagination? Sets the pulse racing, or has made a real difference? Answer – none of them. A restrictive wage policy and an aversion to paying transfer fees was for a time glossed over by some `ok’ performances, and by some of the youngsters doing well – for a time.

But our failure to invest and strategize long term is at the root of our dreadful squad.

Bad Decision 3 – not investing in players

4. Investing £7m in the East Stand

But the figures show a profit for 2010-11? £3.5M (near enough the combined transfer fees for Howson and Gradel)

Surely we do make money? Well yes we do, and have a healthy turnover where income conveniently seems to nearly match our outgoings. A rarety in business.

Where did most of our investment cash go in the summer of 2011? The East Stand redevelopment.

Most of us will never see the fabulous Ivory trimmed Pleasure Palace of which Kublai Khan would be jealous – where Ferrero Rocher run like a mountain stream alongside lashings of Lambrini and Carling Black Label. Joking aside we put (by the looks of it) £2m of cash into those boxes from our own turnover and borrowed a further £5m.

Whoopidy do! – so what are the visitors going to watch, more championship drudgery? – did they enjoy 7-3 versus Nottingham Forest more than someone sat in the cold Yorkshire Air that night?

Investing copius amounts of money on our rented ground when the premier league is far from guaranteed seems the most mind blowing piece of bad judgement. £2m would have made some serious inroads into redeveloping our squad, or even our youth set up, as would a £5m loan. It seems like the emperors new clothes. A vanity project which has left us embarrassed. Its the type of decision you lament when in administration. Why was cash flow so poor? Well we were servicing a loan for empty corporate boxes, empty because we didn’t get promoted. Why didn’t you see to it that you did get promoted? Well we needed money for the corporate boxes. Goodnight Vienna.

Bad Decision 4 – Investing what money we did make into corporate boxes.

5. The sacking of Simon Grayson

This is a two-tiered bad decision.

The board were vocal at the time of Grayson’s imminent departure and immediately afterwards concerning just how much they had backed him in the transfer market. And while our erstwhile manager made some gaffes (Paynter, Bruce, Bessone, Sam, Rachubka) which manager doesn’t? Especially one forced to trawl the bargain bins with the aplomb of a 76 year old pensioner (too close to home Ken?)

Generally he did find us some gems, and gave starts to some decent youth players (Somma, McCormack, Gradel, Clayton, Naylor, Lees, White) He returned a decent win ratio of course (over 50%) too.  But his lack of backing in Summer 2011 – at precisely the time he should have been rewarded for strong showing in the championship saw a season of struggle almost inevitable, worse still as per the above his best players got sold from under him.

A manager like Grayson needs backing, not slagging off in public. But the real rub came in the shape of the timing of his departure and the `planning’ around it. Sacked just after the transfer window closed – the club brazenly admitted the move was engineered so the new man could `get the best out of the existing squad’.

They went on to appoint Neil Redfearn, a likeable guy, but at best an assistant at this level ,and certainly not a man to heap a disillusioned and over-tired squad on, losing at Coventry away and Brighton at home is the difference between where we sit now – and the play offs. Sure we brought in Warnock (who seems on paper to have performed worse still) but that decision was appalling in its timing – why didnt they sack Grayson at Christmas, or earlier in the season if they didnt rate him?

Bad Decision 5 – Sacking Simon Grayson

Watford are a surprisingly good side, Grayson insisted in all his pre-match interviews. Don’t under-estimate them, they’re on a good run.

The bottom line is that we have played another relatively poor team and we’ve performed badly against them again. This isn’t a Championship thing: it was the same in League One. And this isn’t an individual thing: from Prutton to Clayton, we’ve been through enough centre mids to know that it’s a tactical thing.

I’m not going to get too deeply into those tactics. I could move little circles around a green screen for an hour, but only the SkySports generation would be interested. Simply put, I reckon we’re playing too defensively and paying too much attention to the opposition.

‘DEFENSIVELY? SIMON “2-0-8” GRAYSON?!’

Yes, defensively. When we lose to these easy teams, it’s almost always with a 4-4-2. The strikers could be Andy Keogh, Michael Ricketts or Jermaine Beckford; if you don’t get the service you can’t score the goals. The wingers, too, rely on short passing from the full-backs and the centre-mids to get going. That’s the trouble, the centre-mids aren’t getting into these games.

At Vicarage road it was Pugh and Clayton. At Griffin Park two years ago (if I remember right) it was Howson and Doyle. The official line then was a “sodden pitch” that “cut up quickly”; the line from Tsar Bates’ Radio on Saturday was a “sloping pitch.” @EmptyUK summed up:  

“Eddie Gray sounds.. hammered. Just listening out for the chink and clang of a hip flask. #lufc #twitterwhites”

But the reality is that we’re facing teams whose only weapon is athleticism and who will look to go route-one given half an opportunity. Our answer isn’t to throw on Bradley Johnson as an attacking midfielder to grab the initiative (especially this season, since he’s gone), it doesn’t seem to even be to play 4-5-1 to allow the two centre-mids to defend against this battering-ram of a team, and an attacking centre-mid of whatever style  to keep them on the back foot. It’s to sit back and invite them on to us.

In that scenario, there’s only one winner and it’s not Leeds. In 2009 Max Gradel replaced the injured Snodgrass on the wing, the prolific Jermaine Beckford struggled for supply. We weren’t a poor side.

It looks ominous. We’re a great young, enthusiastic team when we go forward, but we seem to be constantly worrying about making mistakes. We slip up and there’s another scapegoat: Beckford, Naylor, Johnson; Kisnorbo, Becchio, Howson. We’re changing formation match after match, we’re changing the team around in the most bizarre of fashions. Attacking dynamo Nunez overlooked in favour of a 4-4-2 with Keogh and Becchio together. We’re only a mouthy Scottish munchkin from Villa and a non-entity from Spurs off the same problems we found ourselves in last season.

We’re good enough to play confident football. We’ve played Scum twice since our two relegations. Once we reacted to them, ended up scared to pass within ten feet of a red shirt and lost heavily; Once we set out to play our own game with confident, athletic, physical players and beat them 1-0.

So from now on, damn the torpedoes: let’s obliterate these b*stards and get promoted.

-An original article written by Gryff, mental age 10, in orange Crayola.

The latest greedy, unappreciative footballer to turn down one of Ken Bates’ incredibly generous contract offers is rising star Aidy White.

The 2o-year old Leeds-born left back has joined Jermaine Beckford, Bradley Johnson, Neil Kilkenny and captain Jonny Howson in a disturbingly long list of first team players to reject the clubs extended contract offers it has emerged.

Whilst encouraging to see the club being proactive in their contract negotiations by starting them now – as opposed to next season when there would be real cause for concern – it’s worrying that another player has found Leeds’ offer to be unacceptable.

Unfortunately, contract negotiations seem less important to Leeds United than pointless executive boxes and conference facilities, and we know from past experience that The Whites aren’t afraid to play hard ball when it comes to a players demands, regardless of the consequences.

Leeds United’s approach isn’t all bad in fairness. A lack of sentiment is important when it comes to money, there has to be an element of ruthlessness involved if you wish to run any successful business without hemorrhaging funds. But it’s hard for the supporters to see it that way when they’re paying through the nose to support the club, only to see the best players walk away whilst the funds that could have secured contract extensions are funnelled into a pointless cream-coloured vanity project on the side of our East Stand.

Chances are, this is just the start of another long-running contract saga, that should give us all reason to moan for the next 12-18 months. Or, we could all be dealt a shocking blow by news that the club have reached an agreement sooner rather than later. Stranger things have happened – Peter Ridsdale for example is still managing to find work!

The stated aim when the transfer window opened was to retain the talent we already had and only add proven quality capable of improving the first eleven.

Losing Kasper Schmeichel, Bradley Johnson, Neil Kilkenny and most painfully, Max Gradel with only Andy Lonergan coming in and proving to be an improvement means Simon Grayson has failed. There’s no two ways about it, however close he may have come to securing additional players and however frustrated he may be, he has to hold his hands up and accept the summer transfer window was an epic failure.

But that’s all water under the bridge now. It’s happened and there’s absolutely nothing we can do to alter it. Once again we’ll be relying heavily on emergency loans to provide the cover we need. At least until January that is when we get to go through all the fun and games again.

Before we get to that however are more pressing matters. All the players we lost this summer left cheaply or on a free because of our failure to tie up contracts in time, leaving ourselves vulnerable.

Neil Kilkenny and Bradley Johnson are two players we should have received a couple of million for. Both were first team players last season in a squad that narrowly missed out on the play-offs – even if we only received a few hundred thousand each for them, it’s always better than them leaving on a free.

Max Gradel and Kasper Schmeichel meanwhile were perhaps our two most valuable assets, but they left cheaply because we put ourselves in a position where we either sold now and accepted some cash, or let them follow in the footsteps of Beckford, Kilkenny and Johnson and walk on a free.

The above examples are why it’s so worrying to see so many players with less than a year on their contract.

Contract Expires 2012 

• Ben Parker
• Aidy White
• Michael Brown
• Lloyd Sam
• Jonathan Howson
• Ramon Nunez

Michael Brown isn’t too much of a concern obviously, and it remains to be seen whether or not Ben Parker can keep himself fit long enough to be of any use to us.

But the rest of the players on that list are important to the first team. Fears of shining light Ramon Nunez walking away on a free following an excellent season at Elland Road capturing all the headlines are all too believable after the conclusion of the long-running Jermaine Beckford saga.

Ken Bates did say the club were in talks to extend Ramon Nunez’s contract in his most recent radio address but there has been no mention of club captain Jonny Howson thus far.

The club will obviously be aware of the situation and are probably (hopefully) in the process of getting these deals done. But after failing so miserably in contract talks with a whole host of other players, patience is running thin amongst fans.

Alongside those whose contracts expire in 2012 there are another thirteen players whose contracts expire at the end of 2012/13, with only Luciano Becchio and Andy Lonergan contracted for the next three seasons.

Simon Grayson has told West Ham United to multiply their rejected £2.5m offer for Max Gradel by three or four times and he’ll consider parting with Leeds United’s 2010-11 player of the season. 

The Leeds United manager challenged his Ivorian winger to show West Ham what they are missing this Sunday by putting in a performance that forces the Hammers to return with an increased offer.

“West Ham made an offer for Max this summer, but it was not acceptable.

“Will he want to show West Ham what they are missing? Every time a player pulls on the shirt, you want him to play to the maximum of his ability – and that’s the case with Max.

“If he goes out there and scores a hat-trick and they come back in with three or four times the money they offered previously, then it’ll be something to think about.”

With just one year left on his contract at Elland Road, the reality is that Simon Grayson is unlikely to get anywhere near the figure he’s demanding.

The decision to release such a statement now could be taken as a “come and get him” plea from Grayson who fears contract negotiations will not yield the desired result for Leeds. It’s an entirely speculative suggestion, but the timing of this does seem a little odd.

But The Whites have shown before that they are not scared to lose out on a potential windfall by keeping hold of players until their contracts expire. Several offers were rejected for Jermaine Beckford with Leeds United keeping him until his contract expired at the end of the 2009-10 season, whilst Neil Kilkenny and Bradley Johnson both left on frees this summer.

Looking ahead to this Sunday’s clash, Grayson believes Leeds United could cause an upset at Upton Park with the odds stacked against them.

“Hopefully, we can go out there and become coupon busters. It is their remit to win promotion at the first time of asking, but I know we have a team who are capable of beating anyone on our day.”

Talksport presenter Adrian Durham was yesterday spouting his usual nonsense and declared that Leeds United would be relegated this season because we’ve lost Kasper Schmeichel, Bradley Johnson and Neil Kilkenny.

Here at The Scratching Shed, I’m predicting a play-off finish for The Whites but how does that compare with what the objective types think?

Jonathan Liew – The Guardian 

The Guardian’s Jonathan Liew has written his predictions for all the teams in the Championship and has Leeds United 11th with the following explanation;

Certainly good enough to make the play-offs at least, but Leeds’s problem will be in stringing a run of results together. Grayson has been unhappy with the team’s performances during pre-season, and in such a strong league, a slow start could prove fatal to their promotion chances.

@AndrewHaigh – The Sun 

I contacted The Sun journalist and Leeds United fan for his prediction via Twitter and he appears to be playing it safe with a conservative 10th place finish on 63 points (very specific!)

Free Betting Online 

Simon from Free Betting Online is predicting a mouthwatering 2nd placed finish for The Whites;

Leeds were unlucky not to be involved in the play-offs last season. Simon Grayson, however, can take great credit for seeing his newly promoted team battle so well over the full course of the Championship.

Grayson has held onto the majority of his squad except for the departure of 1 or 2 players including goalkeeper Schmeichel. However, injuries to Becchio and Somma will see the front two miss the start of the season. Expect Leeds to swat away bids for their other forward, Robert Snodgrass, unless of-course someone offers silly money.

I expect Leeds to take 2nd and get automatic promotion to the Premier League.

Christian Brown – The Football Front 

Chris points to the loss of Killa, Johnson and Schmeichel to justify a prediction of 13th place for The Whites.

What is going on at Leeds? First they lose both holding midfielders Bradley Johnson and Neil Kilkenny on frees, then they force their goalkeeper out before bringing in a sub standard replacement in comparison to Schmeichel, and then to top it off, 2 of their best strikers get injured (Becchio and Somma)! With Premier League eyes keenly fixed on both Max Gradel and Robert Snodgrass, if Leeds aren’t careful, they could be back where they came from. Losing Schmeichel is a monumental blow, as he won the club so many points on his own last. New keeper, Longeran will not do the same.

Systemlays 

The betting site Systemlays is another predicting a season of mediocrity for The Whites with an 11th placed finish.

I am surrounded by Leeds fans at the moment and they are not a happy bunch. After making an excellent return to the Championship last year and just missing out on what looked like a certain play off place, they seem determined to go backwards rather than forwards. Could be a turbulent season once again up at Elland Road.

Sky Sports 

Another tough year of disappointment for The Whites according to Sky Sports who are predicting an 11th placed finish for Simon Grayson’s side. It should be noted that they did predict we’d finish 19th last season!

Grayson is doubly determined to steer Leeds towards another promotion challenge after narrowly missing out on the play-offs last season. But competition in the second tier is getting ever stronger and following a summer of limited rebuilding a top-six finish might be beyond them.

Ollie Holt – Daily Mirror

The Chief sports writer of the Daily Mirror reckons Leeds United have what it takes to secure a play-off spot this season;

I’m going to go for West Ham and Burnley to be promoted automatically from Championship. Forest, Blackpool, Leeds and Brighton for playoffs

Michael Owen – Professional bench warmer

No mention of Leeds United in Michael Owen’s Championship predictions;

I’m going for Leicester as Champions with Forest going up with them. Play Off teams being West Ham, Ipswich, Burnley, Blackpool.

Other predictions 

I’ve contacted a few other people for their predictions and will continue to update as they come in. If you know of any we’ve missed from the national rags or other sites, please post a link below and we’ll add them in.

With no real news to speak of speculation and rumour is the natural stopping point for sites like ours.

Whilst not normally one to get too concerned about the ins and outs before the manager has had chance to do his business, the persistent stories linking Max Gradel with a move away from Elland Road do worry.

It’s not that I expect Max Gradel to see pound signs and jump ship, it’s more that the ever-loveable Ken Bates will see an easy couple of million in additional Project Meccano* funds and cash in.

*Project Meccano – An eyesore currently being erected on the side of Elland Road’s East Stand. Also known as ‘The Ken Bates Vanity Project’ and ‘Chelsea Village, Leeds’.

Despite the fact the new season is miles away and clubs are only just starting to reshape their squads, Leeds United fans have resorted to mass panic as several players exit the club with only a reserve team goalkeeper brought in.

Relegation then, is inevitable.

Well no, not at all really. This is so reminiscent of last years panic that I’ve had to pinch myself a few times just to ensure I’m conscious and not living in some horrible, never-ending nightmare of whining, doom-expectant Leeds United fans.

Those that have left the club so far – for my money – are all easily replaceable. Bradley Johnson improved massively last season and I was disappointed to see him leave, but players like Neil Kilkenny and Richard Naylor were surplus to requirements.

Kasper Schmeichel understandably annoyed the fans a little, but I can’t help think his name carried him a little and a replacement won’t be too hard to come by. Had Kasper stayed I’d have still expected a more experienced keeper to be brought in that could organise a defence and had some level of communication skill.

The panic however is not created by those that have left, but the lack of players brought in to replace them. The fact is, there is a mini-clearout at almost every club this time of season as players contracts come to an end and the doors open for them to find new employment. Almost every club will see some sort of exodus before the new arrivals grace us with their presence.

At the end of the 2010-11 campaign most Leeds United fans will have agreed that the defence needed a complete overhaul, that the centre of midfield was a little lightweight and the only two areas where we could comfortably say no changes were needed was the wings (Snodgrass and Gradel) and the strikers (Becchio, Somma and McCormack).

So far, those are the areas where no damage has been done. Our strengths remain, but our weaknesses have been cast aside ready for new peoples to be brought in. Unfortunately, these things take time. It’s difficult to be patient when you see a half empty team-sheet, but we were in the same position last year and for almost every year before that.

The only real concern we should have at this point is whether we can keep hold of those afore mentioned players that are vital to any promotion push. If we can start 2011-12 without Ken Bates cashing in to fund his vanity project then maybe Simon Grayson will surprise everyone by once again defying expectations with little or no money spent? We didn’t do too badly last season after all.

The title of this post is perhaps a little optimistic as rumour and speculation often continues well into the new season, but for football fans, 54 days remains until the first ball of the 2011-12 campaign is kicked.

That’s almost two months before we’ll have any idea of the line-up that will hopefully guide us towards a long awaited Premier League return. Still, there’s plenty of speculation, rumours and damn lies to keep sites like this one busy in the meantime.

Invariably, with each transfer window comes the ‘return of the hometown lad’ rumour. I swore I’d not mention his name because the tedium of it all makes me want to tear my hair out, so for the sake of this post let’s refer to him as Calum Myth.

For those of you that can’t figure out who I’m talking about, there’s little hope for you. Survival of the fittest dictates that you’re probably too stupid to survive in this dog-eat-dog world, but I’m not one to turn away visitors so while you’re still alive and kicking here’s a few additional clues for you.

Myth is a 30 year old has-been midfielder whose wages would undoubtedly hinder Simon Grayson’s plans. Whilst he is available at Ken Bates favourite price tag (free), his injury problems mean we’re unlikely to get more than a dozen or so appearances from him. Some fans will refuse to forgive his departure to Scum meaning his arrival would undoubtedly divide the fanbase – and with Ken Bates still in charge, the thin ice our fanbase is currently supported by already has it’s fair share of cracks.

Only time will tell whether Calum Myth does return to Elland Road or not. It’s a scenario that has been considered many times in the past on this site and I still fail to see how his move could be a good thing. Expensive wages, constant injury problems and a divided fanbase – we might as well sign Harry Kewell back and have done with it. At least he was a better than average footballer in the first place.

The other major story doing the rounds is that Simon Grayson will be offered the vacant managers position at Aston Villa. Following a flurry of bets in a North Yorkshire bookies, Grayson’s odds were dramatically slashed as the bookmakers grew suspicious of insider knowledge. However, Grayson’s odds have lengthened again over the past 48 hours with other potential targets becoming favourites.

Grayson, who is currently on holiday in Barbados, apparently knew nothing about the speculation leading the more cynical fans amongst us to question whether the bookies made the North Yorkshire story up to boost interest.

Elsewhere, the talk is all about the midfield and defence. With several of last seasons squad expected to leave the club shortly the line-up come opening day is likely to see several changes from the one that ended last season with victory over the champions, QPR.

The contribution of Neil Kilkenny and Bradley Johnson to our recent fortunes has been quickly dismissed by some who feel a club of Leeds United’s stature can attract a higher calibre of player than those expected to depart. Whilst I wouldn’t disagree with that school of thought, continuity is rarely a bad thing at football clubs. The most successful clubs generally build their team around a key core of players and simply tinker with the edges. Wholesale changes could mean we start the new campaign with a mismatched squad who need time to adjust and gel as a unit.

Judging by the abundance of sites and newspapers claiming Bradley Johnson yesterday underwent a medical with newly promoted Norwich City, it seems only a matter of time before it’s announced his free transfer to Stephen Fry’s beloved Canaries is complete.

Reflecting on Johnson’s time at Elland Road brings mixed emotions. Bradley Johnson had the ability to go from infuriating to magical, lazy to tireless and useless to integral and back again several times per match.

The one thing I won’t miss about Bradley Johnson is the wild 40 yard shots he hit at every available opportunity regardless of angle, the options he has in front of him or scoreline. The Kop and South Stand will once again be a place where you can sit without fear of a Johnson special smashing you in the face and I imagine the ball-boys are pretty pleased with the news too.

It was only really in his final season at Leeds United that his full potential began to show as Simon Grayson switched him to a more defensive role, removing the opportunity for speculative shots and putting his power and weight to good use. In this position, Johnson played his best season for the Whites, tirelessly and fearlessly battling away in an ultimately doomed attempt to help the weakest defence in the Championship keep the ball out of the back of the net.

Regardless of how you personally rate Johnson, he’s been an ever-present in the Simon Grayson side that won promotion from League One and narrowly missed out on a play-off spot this season.

It’s all too easy to highlight the moments of magic and suppress the infuriating ones, but for the uncontainable excitement he showed as his cross found it’s way to Jermaine Beckford to slot home the promotion winning goal of 2009/10 (not to mention his celebrations afterwards) and for the odd strike that didn’t sail over the roof of the Kop (Arsenal in the FA Cup comes to mind) I wish Johnson all the best. After all, football is all about suffering through hours of agony for a few precious moments of joy, and Johnson certainly provided us all with a few of those.

We announced earlier that Shane Higgs and Richard Naylor would be leaving the club at the end of their contracts and we revealed last week that Paddy Kisnorbo would be offered a new short term deal to prove his fitness. The deal isn’t yet finalised but the both parties are working towards a conclusion.

A similar thing is true for Bradley Johnson and Neil Kilkenny. The midfield pair’s future has been in doubt following difficulties in agreeing new deals. The club are looking to discuss options with both players and sort things out as quickly as possible.

Meanwhile some new blood is coming through from the academy. Zac Thompson recently signed a professional contract and he has now been joined by twins Nathan and Lewis Turner, a central midfielder and a defender respectively and goalkeeper, Alex Cairns. The players have featured in the under 18s and reserves this season and we look forward to hopefully seeing them pull on the white shirt for the first team. Not so fortunate are James Booker, James Baxendale and Jonny Birbeck who have not been offered deals.

Also exiting the club are this season’s loan men. They’ve been a mixed bag and, now they’ve left for a summer break before re-joining their respective parent clubs, it’s probably a good time to assess their performances for Leeds United.

Sanchez Watt

Unfortunate to be kept out of the side by injury and the form of Robert Snodgrass and Max Gradel, he showed a lot of promise. He was somewhat of a flair player, exciting to watch and lightning quick, only let down by some weak finishing. He has made 26 appearances this season, scoring one goal. It’s a shame to see him leave as he seems to have thrown himself enthusiastically into life at Leeds United. If he was ever to leave Arsenal, I’d gladly have him back at Elland Road. B

Eric Lichaj

The American full back arrived from Villa for the last stage of the season and was extremely impressive on the right and the left. Despite an own goal against Sheffield United, he often looked the most assured in a shaky defence. He had bags of stamina and a long throw enabling him to get up and down the flank to help out the attack. I’d happily see him in the white shirt again. A

Jake Livermore

Had just a few appearances in which he failed to do anything noteworthy apart from gift a goal or two and escape getting sent off. Within a couple of weeks fans were questioning his inclusion in the squad let alone the starting line-up. It’s good to see the back of him. D

George McCartney

Seemingly completely uninterested in playing for Leeds United from the beginning of his time at Elland Road, he quickly became the target for many fans’ frustration. He had far many more dismal performances than memorable ones and how he ever demanded the transfer fee or wages that have been reported is a mystery. Good riddance, I hope we never have to see him again. D

David Gonzalez

Who? N/A

What do you think of this season’s loanees and the future of Neil Kilkenny and Bradley Johnson?