FOR ALL THE LATEST LEEDS UNITED TRANSFER NEWS AND RUMOURS CLICK HERE

Trumped by Ipswich Town to the signing of quality reinforcements and an uninspiring mini-raid on the MLS can mean only one thing – It’s time for more Leeds United transfer rumours.

Sean St Ledger

We start with Leicester City’s Sean St Ledger, allegedly a Leeds United target on account of him being a central defender whose well-publicised availability means the dots were quickly connected by some kid with an orange crayon.

Whilst there may be some truth in this rumour, it’s always difficult to believe Leeds United have entered a bidding war for any one – least not a player belonging to Leicester City, a club in no desperate need of cash who can’t be bent over a barrel by our tight-fisted leader.

The Foxes have even less reason to accept one of Leeds’ trademark derisory offers after our old friends Ipswich Town came to an agreement with Leicester. Considering our success at going head-to-head with Ipswich (Keith Andrews, Lee Bowyer), the fact Leicester City expect to receive money for the player and the lack of creativity put into this rumour, I conclude that we probably are interested but would have more chance signing Thierry Henry.

Chris Birchall

Speaking of has-been MLS stars, Chris Birchall is another name being thrown around at the moment.

Unlike St Ledger, Birchall meets all the criteria The Scratching Shed looks for in a highly-feasible Leeds United transfer rumour. Low wages, free and remarkably average. He also plays central midfield, which is an added bonus considering our lack of cover there at present.

Alan Smith

It wouldn’t be a Leeds United transfer window without the standard Alan Smith rumour. We’ve considered adding a counter to the right-hand sidebar for the amount of times he’s linked with a return, but unfortunately, we lack the necessary man power to make such dreams a reality.

Yes, he’s a central midfielder (nowadays), yes he’s looking for some first team football and yes, Simon Grayson probably is interested. The problem is, so too are Ipswich (allegedly) and since Alan Smith already turned us down once because he couldn’t cope with a few grand less per week, he’ll no doubt do so again when Ken Bates offers to sweeten the deal with a £3.50 goal bonus.

Reaching an agreement with Newcastle United over wage percentage will always be a stumbling block here, and even if we can overcome that, the amount of money invested would be better spent on a permanent addition – one whose legs haven’t gone and whose major skill isn’t collecting yellows. We have Michael Brown for that.

Kris Boyd

Another incredibly average footballer to add to the ever-growing list of depressingly predictable Leeds United transfer rumours is Kris Boyd.

The former Rangers and Middlesbrough striker managed to find an even lower class of football by wondering off to Turkey sometime last year but is now a free agent mulling over a contract offer from MLS side, Houston Dynamo – I swear, there’s a common theme here somewhere… 

According to the Daily Star, whose lack of credibility is the only reassuring thing about this rumour, Boyd is considering offers from several Championship clubs, as well as teams in Qatar, China and the MLS.

Mark Marshall 

Finally, Leeds are rumoured to be keeping tabs on Barnet winger Mark Marshall. According to London24, Marshall is also attracting interest from West Ham and Portsmouth.

Seems incredibly unlikely that Leeds would be successful in agreeing terms with Barnet after Charlton Athletic and Bournemouth had bids rejected in the summer.

However, despite Barnet’s determination to keep hold of the 24-year-old, Marshall is making enough thinly-veiled “get me out here” noises to suggest his days are number – The speculation is great, I’m just concentrating on my football, we’ll see what happens… etc… 

Marshall will undoubtedly have a new home by the end of January, but the chances of it being Elland Road are slim. Following the arrival of Robbie Rogers, Leeds will be looking to strengthen in other areas and are unlikely to join a three-way bidding war for an unproven lower league player.

If there’s one sure fire way to give Leeds United fans a desperately needed lift this January then re-signing Jermaine Beckford from Leicester City would be top of any list.

Unfortunately, I just can’t see it happening, and here’s why;

1. Saving Face

When Jermaine Beckford left Elland Road, he did so with dreams of taking the Premier League by storm at Everton. 18 months on, he’s playing for a club that currently sits four places below us in the Championship. Accepting he made a mistake before performing a u-turn seems incredibly unlikely.

The fact Leicester City are struggling more than we are should mean we’re the better bet for Premier League football next season though, shouldn’t it? Well no, not really. Things haven’t quite fallen into place for The Foxes yet, but they’ll keep throwing money at it and something will stick sooner or later.

Leeds on the other hand are achieving pretty much what we all expected them to, and there’s no real reason to believe our position will improve by much. We’re three, maybe four quality additions shy of a decent shot and it’s hard to see where they’re going to come from given the limited resources available to the manager, which incidentally, brings us on to my next point…

2. Wage Demands

The only reason Leicester City were able to prise Jermaine Beckford away from his cushy little earner in the Premier League was by offering wages well above what Ken Bates likes to dish out.

It’s all well and good having a wage cap at Elland Road, but all that really means is that when we’re attempting to sign big names like Keith Andrews, Ipswich Town will simply offer a few quid more and we’re left with Michael Brown. Our wage cap is a bit like communism – it sounds good in theory.

The theory falls apart however when you try to sign anyone that is above the standard quality of this division. Average players will accept an average wage. The better ones won’t.

3. The Price Tag 

Wages don’t matter though because there’s a huge hurdle we’d have to overcome before that which Ken Bates’ stumpy little legs simply can’t clear.

Leicester City paid £2.5m for Jermaine Beckford, and the rumour is, that they want to recoup as much of that as possible. Our starting and finishing bid of £30 and one Billy Paynter is unlikely to seal it.

In fact, I doubt we’d even offer that. Can anyone seriously see Ken Bates offering money for a player who walked away on a free? He’d never sleep again, such insanity would give him nightmares.

4. Priorities 

The single biggest reason why I can’t see this happening is the small matter of not actually needing a striker.

Transfer windows open, fans get excited and it’s always the glamour players that people want to talk about. But Leeds’ problems are not up front, nor have they been at any stage since Jermaine Beckford left.

We have a midfield held together by a 34-year old mad man with all the creativity of a paint-by-numbers masterpiece and a defence taking shifts in the injury room to ensure Ben Parker has some company. The attack is the last thing we should be worrying about.

If we were the Man City of Championship football, then signing Jermaine Beckford would be a no-brainer. Unfortunately, we’re not. We’re Ken Bates led Leeds United and there’s absolutely no way he’ll make an exception to points 2 and 3 for a player we simply don’t need.

As nice at it’d be to see Jermaine Beckford back, it would take such an almighty shift in our transfer policy that I’d give you better odds on a meteor hitting Old Trafford.

Despite a fantastic late comeback at Turf Moor on Saturday, the Leeds camp is still far from settled this season.

November began with the dramatic mental implosion of much maligned stopper Paul Rachubka and threatens to end with an acrimonious exit for Republic of Ireland veteran Andy O’Brien.

O’Brien has had a torrid season managing just two league appearances and a poor performance against former club Bradford. The 32 year old, rumoured to be one of Leeds’ top earners, told Simon Grayson before Leicester City that he would not play for the Whites again. It is thought that O’Brien has been frustrated by a lack of football.

Simon Grayson revealed on Saturday; ”Andy O’Brien came to me on Friday and said that he no longer wanted to play for this football club.

“It came as a shock, especially after I have backed him publicly and privately over the last few weeks.”

Rumour has it that O’Brien is trying to fix a move to West Ham, while BBC Sport journalist Jacqui Oatley has taken to Twitter to claim that O’Brien had not refused to play for the club, but the manager, whom he regarded as “his worst ever”.

Grayson concluded: “I don’t want to say too much about the circumstances just now but we will decide internally what happens now and make a statement next week”.

It is hard to see how O’Brien can stay at Elland Road given the strength of fan opinion. It seems that O’Brien isn’t finished with Leeds, Leeds is finished with Andy O’Brien.

You can criticise Leeds United for a lot of things; for the lapses in concentration that cause shoddy defensive blunders, for their fascination with hoofball football, for the poor discipline record that already has us on five red cards for the season. You can even fault the manager at times for the wrong tactics or player signings.

But the one thing you cannot take away from Simon Grayson’s side is their spirit and resilience. I’ve spoken of a resilient Whites side picking points up on a number of occasions this season, but nothing speaks to that attribute quite like today’s win over Leicester City.

It wasn’t a pretty win, nor was it a particularly enthralling one. The game in truth was actually pretty dire. But Leeds arrived at the King Power Stadium with a determination that they would right the wrong of Wednesday night, and that’s exactly what they did.

Through sheer force of will, the Whites contained Leicester City better than they have any team in quite some time. On loan Alex McCarthy barely had a save to make as Leeds scrapped away, keeping Leicester City from breaking into the box and forcing them out wide to ensure they were never gifted a simple shooting angle.

It was containing football at it’s most basic from The Whites, but every player on the park worked hard to ensure the strategy succeeded and Leeds emerged deserving victors as a result.

Our own chances were as limited as Leicester City’s, but Adam Clayton once again proved his worth with an absolutely unstoppable goal-of-the-season contender that proved to be the difference.

Jermaine Beckford, who described his time at Leeds United as the best of his career in the programme was given a warm welcome by the Whites fans, but even he couldn’t break through Leeds’ determined defence to level the score and create an all too predictable finish to the game.

This was the kind of reaction I predicted after the humiliation at home to Blackpool midweek. We may not be the most consistent team in the league, and Christ knows we’re prone to the odd horror show, but there’s a determination in this squad that will see us over that all important play-off line come May – of that I have no doubts.

Whilst every player on the park deserves a huge pat on the back for their efforts today, I think Andy O’Brien and Patrick Kisnorbo are worthy of special mention. Much like Simon Grayson, they’ve been subject to a lot of disproportionate criticism, but both of them worked tirelessly today to ensure we kept the clean sheet and as such, fully deserve to share the match ball. On and on…

You can catch highlights of today’s win on The Revie Way.

It’s been a difficult few days for us Leeds United fans coming to terms with the embarrassing 5-0 defeat at home to Blackpool.

The inquest into the cause of that defeat was led by angry fans, and once we’d finished blaming everyone from Lucas The Kop Cat to the Elland Road tea lady, with no one else left to blame, we turned on each other.

A club whose fanbase was once impossible to divide, united by an “us against the world” mentality born of the hatred aimed at us from every possible direction has crumbled into a divided mess of angry name calling and relentless moaning.

The defiant roar of “we’re Leeds United, we don’t give a f**k” is nothing more than a poignant reminder of how much we’ve changed. Of how petty we’ve all become.

When did we start to care that our star winger was a little slower than average? That our striker is a bit short to pose any aerial threat? That our bench is perhaps a little less exotic than that of Leicester City? “We’re Leeds United, we don’t give a f**k” remember?

This is a club built on misfits for Christ sake. By the end of the season there’ll be two statues outside our club. One will be a fiery Scottish player rejected by most clubs as being too small to make it pro, the second will be Don Revie; the laughing stock of many an FA meeting with his threadbare lucky suit, bingo games and Gypsy curses.

But “we’re Leeds United, we don’t give a f**k”. They didn’t laugh when Revie’s team was tearing their set of generic footballers apart, guided by that fiery little redhead they’d all dismissed.

Enjoy yourselves while you can people, because we’ll only come back stronger. We’re like a little Yorkshire terrier ragging away at your trouser leg – you might shake us off, but we’ll only come back more determined and hungrier than ever.

Except, that’s not true any more is it? We’re so busy picking faults in the manager, in the captain, in the players, in each other that any claim to a die-hard, determined spirit should come with an asterisk stating *if we’ve finished sulking in time. 

That’s the crux of the matter you see. We’re a club of great contradictions. Where once we went Marching On Together throughout the ups and downs, we now moan more than Arsenal and handle defeat worse than Manchester United. There’s no togetherness about this fanbase at all.

We expect results, and we expect them every week regardless of opposition and circumstance. The late Sir Bobby Robson understood the football fans psyche better than anyone, and was absolutely spot on when he said; “People want success. It’s like coffee, they want instant.”

I appreciate the irony of a blogger writing this, but the game is so over-analysed these days that fans are finding fault in absolutely everything. Are there any managers left whose fans don’t seem to think they could do a better job?

A manager shouldn’t be judged by the little things we can pick up on with video replays and the benefit of hindsight, nor should the players. They should be judged on results, and not on a game-by-game, or month-by-month basis but over a long enough duration for the unpredictable variance inherent in every sport to level out and give us a true reflection of their performance. I don’t know, let’s say a season for example?

It’s a strange concept I know, but imagine that we saved all the energy we’ve wasted on moaning and belittling our players and manager and channelled it back into our “us against the world” mentality. Imagine that we rediscovered that unity our club was once famous for and our defiant spirit replaced the petty arguments and tiresome moaning.

The next time you’re at Elland Road and you hear “We’ve been through it all together” blast out across the stands, take a look around at your fellow fans, at the 11 men on the pitch, at Simon Grayson prowling the touchline and at the rest of the players and coaching staff stood behind him.

I’ve written this entire article in a collective sense (we, us, we’re) because we seem to have forgotten what united us all in the first place – we all want the same thing. The fans, the players, the coaching staff, the supporters, Lucas The Kop Cat, the tea lady. We are Leeds United.

As for everyone else? Who the hell cares what they think, let them write us off at their peril. “We’re Leeds United, we don’t give a f**k”. And we thrive as underdogs. On and on…

Thanks to Mike McCarthy from Fox Blogger for joining us this week

Like Leeds you’ve had a bit of a mixed start to the season, is it fair to say Leicester have underachieved so far considering how much they’ve spent?

I don’t think anyone could seriously contend that Leicester have been anything but disappointing so far. Certainly less than the sum of their vastly expensive parts.

At times the team has looked unstoppable. Impressive home wins have stopped other pretenders in their tracks. But the side has looked ordinary all too often, and at times, truly dreadful (Millwall at home being the nadir so far).

What did you make of the sacking of Sven and who is your personal favourite to replace him?

I was disappointed to see him go. I’m not a fan of sacking managers during the campaign. It’s very rare that a season can be saved by another boss and the season was and is by no means over for Leicester.

There isn’t a Leicester fan who wouldn’t want Martin O’Neill back, but evidence he’s interested has been scant so far.

Of the other contenders mentioned often, Mark Hughes would be a good pick, but I’m hoping the owners are secretly going about trying to persuade Roberto Di Matteo away from the Assistant job at Chelsea. Unfortunately that looks about at likely as O’Neill coming back.

Jermaine Beckford is still a bit of a Leeds legend, what have been your first impressions so far at Leicester?

It’s fair to say he still has a lot of work to do to prove he’s worthy of a place in the side. There’s no doubting his ability, but his willingness (or lack thereof) to get stuck in is highlighted each time he starts alongside David Nugent.

Kasper Schmeicel probably won’t get as warm a reception from the Leeds fans as Beckford, but how’s he been for you so far?

He’s been great. A real presence at the back that was missing last season.

He’s already won Leicester a few points on his own and despite a couple of recent errors, I’ve no doubt he’ll be a key part of Leicester’s promotion campaign as the season progresses.

Who else should we be looking out for in your team on Sunday?

Watch out for Lee Peltier, a summer signing from Huddersfield, who is doing an excellent job of filling the right-back void left in the summer. Kyle Naughton understandably chose the Premier League with Norwich ahead of another season in the Championship, but Peltier offers a good attacking instincts and is solid in the challenge.

If you could sign one current Leeds player for Leicester, who would it be?

Ross McCormack isn’t bad, is he.

Finally, what’s your prediction for the game?

A home win, but both sides are likely to find the net. 2-1 Leicester.

The journalists in attendance for Simon Grayson’s press conference pre-Birmingham wasted no time in asking whether he’d be interested in the vacant Leicester City job.

Grayson laughs off the suggestion, saying that he’s fond of Leicester City, but much fonder of Leeds United, repeating a message he’s voiced many times – that he has his dream job, and he’s here to stay.

Commenting on Sven Goren Eriksson’s sacking Simon Grayson uses one his favourite football clichés ”it’s a results orientated business” whilst pointing out that Leicester City are just two points off the play-off places. Basically he sits on the fence; it’s a “no comment” reply with a minute or so worth of padding. That’s crucial to being a good manager – answering without really offering an opinion.

Journalists fooled, no one offended, next question please…

You can catch the full video below;

Now that formerly respected manager and full time Swedish sex pest, Sven Goren Eriksson has parted ways with Leicester City, the bookies are offering odds on his replacement, and as ever, Simon Grayson makes the list.

Unlike previous links to new management posts however, I think this one could actually tempt Simon Grayson. Not only can Leicester City offer him the kind of finances needed to buy success but he also played for them, making 229 appearances in his six seasons at Filbert Street.

With the recent “revelations” (it was hardly the best kept secret) regarding his personal life, Simon Grayson may be tempted by a fresh start elsewhere considering his bit on the side works at Elland Road. The increased salary Leicester City could provide would also help pay for the divorce lawyers! (Sorry, it’s hard to resist)

Of course, there’s also a good chance Simon Grayson won’t be offered the position considering the money Leicester have available and the fact Martin O’Neill has been made bookies favourite (isn’t he the favourite for every manager’s job?). There are however two things I’m absolutely certain of. The first is that Sven will re-emerge again very shortly at a new club whose female staff he can systematically seduce, and the second is that Simon Grayson will be linked to this position while ever it remains vacant.

The chances of him actually leaving Elland Road? No idea, but if Simon Grayson was to leave Leeds United for any club, Leicester City is where I’d be putting my money.

*Odds on Simon Grayson vary from 12/1-16/1, with Ladbrokes a notable exception offering odds of just 8/1 at time of publication. 

Another round of tightly contested Championship matches did nothing to disprove what a competitive division it’s set to be this year.

Up next for Leeds is Crystal Palace who came back to draw with recently relegated Blackpool. Substitute Glenn Murray levelled less than ten minutes after coming on. Blackpool looked dangerous throughout, creating a number of good chances but Eagles keeper Julian Speroni made a string of impressive saves to keep Palace in the game.

Meanwhile, two 100% records were ended as both Derby County and Southampton lost their first games of the campaign. The Rams were beaten 2-1 at home by Burnley. Billy Paynter’s former strike partner Charlie Austin netted twice, the second coming just minutes after Derby had equalised. Southampton went down 3-2 away to big-spending Leicester City. Ex-Leeds man Dan Harding scored for Saints but striker Ricky Lambert put through his own net to give Leicester the win.

Elsewhere, Hull nicked an impressive win against Reading with an outstanding strike from Robert Brady and Brighton claimed all three points in a game against fellow Championship new boys Peterborough. Craig Mackail-Smith failed to score against his old club but Brighton’s two goals were both superb. The Seagulls are now top of the league.

Cardiff travelled to Portsmouth for a tasty tie but honours were shared with a 1-1 draw. Middlesbrough failed to beat Coventry at home but Marvin Emnes continues his rich vein of scoring, while Barnsley snatched a point away to Millwall. Doncaster picked up their first point of the season at home to Bristol City but remain planted firmly at the bottom of the table.

In Sunday’s games West Ham got back on track, despatching Nottingham Forest 4-1 at the City Ground, while, after a late flurry of goals, Watford equalised in stoppage time to draw 2-2 with Birmingham City.

Full results:

An article on TalkSport titled ‘Manchester City outcast a shock target for Leeds’ has caused a fair bit of hysteria amongst Whites supporters across the social networks today. 

A lot of this hysteria has been caused in no small part by TalkSport’s uncanny ability to read between the lines and spin a quote into something it most certainly was not.

Roque Santa Cruz’s Dad and Agent (Aproniano) spoke of the striker’s unrest at City and how they’d like to send him elsewhere. He adds that there are clubs interested in his services, but concedes that he may have to settle for Championship football because of all the injury problems he’s had.

He then goes on to cite Leeds United as an example of a big club in the Championship Roque could consider;

“The second division is very competitive in England, with powerful teams who were in the top division and have huge stadiums, like Leeds United, but the future will be decided by Manchester City.”

That’s all we have here. Leeds United being used as an example of a big club outside the Premier League. No interest expressed from Leeds United, no cloak and dagger deals being done behind closed doors, just an agent telling the press his son is willing to drop a level in search of regular first team football – something he won’t get at City based on their performance this weekend.

Take the quote away from the highly misleading title TalkSport added and there isn’t even a rumour here.

You also have to consider the monumental wages Santa Cruz will be on. I can’t see him taking a 90% pay-cut to join Leeds United. It’s much more likely that he’ll join Leicester City, where the rest of our summer targets are currently raking in the big bucks.