The Premier League’s 25 man squads have been announced and there’s a few players who missed the cut that may have caught Simon Grayson’s attention.

Amongst those that have missed out on a place in their respective clubs final 25 are former Leeds United players Rob Hulse, Danny Pugh and one time loanee Hogan Ephraim.

Below is a list of notable exclusions courtesy of Andrew Haigh from The Sun;

• Danny Collins
• Tom Soares
• Danny Pugh
• Michael Tonge
• Patrick Agyemang
• Rob Hulse
• Petter Vaagan Moen
• Hogan Ephraim
• Danny Shittu

If anyone has spotted any other notable exclusions we haven’t listed above, please let us know.

LLoyd Sam wins a header against Forest.

This second instalment of ‘United We Stand’ takes a look at our new signings. A whopping three games in, we’re all forming opinions on these players… but do we agree? One thing is for certain – Leeds fans aren’t afraid to rush in where angels fear to tread, as only @svendleeds on twitter has so far noted that ‘it’s far too early to claim judgements on new signings of #lufc – surely the team has to settle first.’

A sensible point Svend, but as we have seen with the transfer rumours this week, where is the fun without wild conjecture and speculation?

This week’s opinions sandwich an interesting performance on Sunday against Forest, but did this change anyone’s opinions? Did we see something new, or something worrying? Let’s find out…

Glen on the Facebook group sums up many people’s views saying that ‘Schmeichel & Sam look good aquasitions (sic)’. Lloyd Sam certainly seems to be our favourite outfield signing so far, even before his well taken equaliser against Clough’s old team. Keith on Facebook was a rare dissenting voice from the Lloyd Sam love-in, saying that ‘Sam and Watt jury out but played well v Lincoln’. The voice of reason perhaps, although I wonder if he feels the same after Sunday. And here he is, on Monday, Keith  on Lloyd Sam ‘offering width’! Definitely the voice of reason – good old Yorkshire pragmatism from this fan! @Lt_A_Nighthawk on twitter felt that Sam was showing ‘glimpses of what he’s capable of’.

More enthusiastically, Kevin feels ‘Schmeichel, Sam and Watt’ are ‘awesome’ which is exactly the kind of judgment we’re looking for after 270 minutes of the new season.

One new signing who is generally not impressing so far is our young Mancunian loanee Adam Clayton, who has had about 15 minutes so far and failed to do anything good whatsoever. He has either ‘looked dodgy’ or ‘not shown much yet’. I think I would be with our friend @svendleeds in saying it is a little too soon to judge this player.

Kasper Schmeichel. We all love him, don’t we? With his excellent positioning, reflex stops and enormous… boot up field? Actually, not.

On the BBC 606 forum a thoughtful contributor named ‘matterinprobe’ feels that our new Danish stopper wants to be the centre of attention too much, and is ‘shouting and screaming and flapping, and running to the halfway line and back etc etc’. He then goes on to call for Shane Higgs to be reinstated. This is akin to saying that Higgs and Schmeichel both seem too calm when a cross comes in, and we should re-sign the previous Casper, hero of Old Trafford.

Unsurprisingly, ‘matterinprobe’ is a lone voice crying out in the wilderness. Responses on that forum ranged from him being called a donut, which is harsh on donuts, and more measured contributors such as ‘belfast12white’ who pointed out that the ‘keeper isn’t the problem ‘the full back line is’. By this, I am assuming he means the entire back line, not a line of full backs – although we will come to this later! Back to our Great Dane – @svendleeds feels he is a key man already. Ron on Facebook feels he ‘looks the business’ and David states that he and Lloyd Sam have been ‘brilliant’.

Interestingly, Sanchez Watt has attracted relatively little comment. What comments I have received on him have been unilaterally positive, being described as a ‘game changer’ amongst a few other things. Maybe we will have to wait till he bangs in a couple of goals before the fans become effusive in their praise? However, our young gunner Watt did garner praise for his reaction to Gunter’s (did I spell that right?) stamp – and deservedly so.

Now then. This has all been very friendly so far. Not now. Onto the defensive signings. The consensus was that there has been a steady defensive improvement over the course of our two league game and a training session against Lincoln City. There seems to be a lot of confidence in a player who has had 24 teams in his 25 years, Alex Bruce, based mostly on his ability to stand up and occasionally head the ball against an awful Imps side. @Lt_A_Nighthawk feels he will be ‘OK when he gets in the side to replace Nayls’, something many of us expected to see on Sunday at the City Ground. Jonathon felt that ‘Collins is still poor… much prefer to see Bruce and Naylor in the centre of defence until Paddy’s return’. As far as centre backs go, it does appear that only the absent Aussie has the support of the majority of fans.

Fede Bessone, who some feel was only signed to give Luciano Becchio a fellow Argie at the club, has certainly grabbed a lot of attention since signing. Unfortunately, it hasn’t all been for positive reasons. Jonathan feels ‘Bessone looks like the worst signing so far’, perhaps because he appears scared of heading the ball? Also on Facebook, Domenico was more measured, feeling that time would tell on our defensive acquisitions. After the defiant performance on Sunday, however, faint praise began to trickle in Bessone’s direction, with Jonathon noting that ‘Bessone has gone up in my ratings, he actually showed the winger on the outside of him against Forest and didn’t get the wrong side of the winger at any time, much improved.’

There were, of course, many more comments made, on twitter, Facebook, and this esteemed site – but it’s impossible to fit you all in. Make sure you keep your comments coming, through all the different media, and feel free to add your thoughts and feelings in the comments section below.

Millwall next – who’ll be the hero after that, and who the villain? What formation will we stick with? Will we all agree? Probably not, but we will enjoy the friendly discussion surrounding it all. MOT.

Kris Commons celebrates winner

Had it not been for a controversial penalty decision and an Elland Road crossbar providing more cover than the Derby keeper,  it might have been a much happier opening day for the Whites, but that doesn’t mask the glaringly obvious problems Leeds had with the new 4-5-1 formation.

On paper, the versatile 4-5-1 should mean that the defence is covered well by the extra men in the middle and that going forward, Leeds have plenty of bodies as the formation changes to 4-3-3. The reality however, was that Luciano Becchio found himself alone in the box all too often and the Derby defence hardly had to break a sweat to cover him.

When he wasn’t being outnumbered by the Derby defence, Becchio had the linesman to contend with who had clearly missed waving his flag all summer and hardly put it down all game. Coupled with a referee and his own dubious decisions, the omens were never good for the Whites.

Out wide was probably the strongest area for Leeds as Lloyd Sam had a solid début and Sanchez Watt kept the opposition busy. Centrally, I had to double check a couple of times to make sure Jonny Howson was still on the pitch (and he has arguably the best of the three!), Bradley Johnson was having one of his off days and Killa has put in much better performances.

Even in defeat, you have to look for positives and there definitely were some. The game was played at a good pace throughout which provided much more entertainment than in recent years. The “multi-ball” system (short for, Leeds United bought a second ball) kept things moving along nicely and stopped Derby from kicking the ball out of play to time waste at the end.

Kasper Schmeichel had a great game which was capped by a brilliant double save to prevent Derby running away with the points. The new additions to defence clearly need more time to gel, but you couldn’t fault the efforts of any of them. The dodgy penalty decision was harsh on new boy, Lloyd Sam – I’ve watched the replay twenty times and it still seems iffy – but he didn’t let it get to him and worked hard to try and make amends.

Overall, it was disappointing to see our opening day record lost and there’s definitely things to be improved upon. The attendance at Elland Road was dreadful, clearly not aided by the BBC showing live coverage, and the atmosphere was very subdued. Six hours drinking before kick-off probably didn’t help matters.

Still, there were as many positives as there were negatives and we should be able to build on a disappointing first game. When you consider the key men we’re missing through injury, this Leeds United side will only improve as the season goes on. It was nice to be back at Elland Road and I’m now hungry for another season of ‘ups and downs’.

TSS man of the match

Rob Hulse deserves credit for refusing to celebrate his goal – although, he could have gone one better and just not scored in the first place! I’m going to go for Becchio, not only for the goal he scored, but for his tireless efforts throughout. Quite how he got on the scoresheet and managed to pose such a threat with an entire defence marking him and the linesman doing everything in his power to make things difficult is anyone’s guess?

Ryan – Hi Daniel, after England’s dismal display at the World Cup I bet you’re as eager for me for the new football season to get underway. Every Leeds fan I know can’t wait for it to start, how do you think both teams will fare?

Daniel - I think for Leeds the aim should be more than just surviving in the league this season but this should be a starting point and be used to build on and see where you end up.  A large amount of your points will come from your home games with a passionate home crowd behind you but hopefully gaining confidence and momentum you can use this to pick up valuable points on the road too.

For Derby we’ve got to be looking to build on last seasons 14th place finish and probably aim for the play offs but I expect us to finish somewhere between 7th and 10th with a major promotion push next season.  I believe Leeds will end up in midtable, however I could quite easily see you going on a run late on and making a charge for the play-offs although this could be a season too soon for you.

Ryan - How is the mood amongst Derby fans going into this game. Confident you’re going to turn over the Championships new boys? Or fearing the worst at a packed Elland Road?

Daniel – The general feeling amongst Derby fans is excitement for a brilliant opening game but also fearful of a packed Elland Road with the place and the players bouncing.  As long as we don’t concede an early goal we believe we have enough quality to take something from the game but in some ways you’ve got to wonder if the script is written for a Leeds convincing win.  One thing in Derby’s favour is that all the focus will be on Leeds which may enable us to go about our business and get a result but it’ll be a real test of character for our players.

Familiar face - Rob Hulse

Ryan - Who should we be looking out for in your team? We are all familiar with Rob Hulse at Elland Road but are there any exciting youngsters or new signings we should be keeping an eye on?

Daniel - Obviously you know all about Rob Hulse who is a proven goal scorer at this level and higher.  Kris Commons has had a good pre season and can always produce something out of nothing so he’ll be one to watch.  We’ve also signed a couple of bright young players from Crewe – right back John Brayford who’s looking good so far and likes to get forward and James Bailey a central midfielder who looks comfortable on the ball and is being touted as a replacement for Robbie Savage when he retires.  We’re playing a new formation as of this pre season which seems to be working so far and accommodates the important players in our team better so we should be attractive to watch.

Ryan - During the summer we signed your former captain Paul Connolly. What can he bring to our team? Will he be missed at Pride Park or were you glad to see him go?

Daniel - Paul is a reliable and solid defender who likes to get forward when he can.  He’s an experienced head at this level which will benefit your younger or less experienced players.  You’ll always get 100% from him and he’ll very rarely let you down.  I don’t think he’ll be missed at Pride Park. However he did captain us during our high moments in recent years and was always Mr Consistent.  I think he divided opinion but most fans respected him and agreed it was probably time he moved on.

Ryan - We understand that there is a bit of hatred for us from your lot as there seems to be with most other teams. Is Leeds a fixture that stands out for Derby fans? Do you look forward to coming to Elland Road?

Daniel - I know that Leeds is up there with the teams we look forward to playing like local rivals Nottingham Forest and Leicester City.  There is a big rivalry between the clubs fans  and the Derby fans certainly enjoy coming to Elland Road.  I think it’s fair to say there’s no love lost between the two!  Also for the fans it’s a chance to come to a fantastic ground with a fantastic atmosphere and tradition and enjoy a great game of football – the rivalry is a great bonus!

Ryan - As you will know, the game kicks off at 5.15pm due to live BBC coverage. Do you think this will affect the attendance of travelling Derby fans, and how do Derby usually fair in front of the cameras?

Daniel - Derby fans are extremely loyal and always follow their team no matter how close or far the games are.  Even if the games are on TV I think the fans feel you can’t beat actually being there yourself and we’re always well supported for TV games – another reason for this is to show the watching public what excellent fans we have.  In this way I’d say that Leeds and Derby fans are the same – both passionate and vocal and follow the club in huge numbers up and down the country.  Our recent record is pretty good in front of the cameras so fingers crossed that continues.

The infamous Brian Clough

Ryan - Nigel Clough seems like a promising young manager. Do you think he will be looking to get one over Leeds after his Dad’s infamous 44 day reign in charge at Elland Road and has he got what it takes to follow in his fathers footsteps and become a really successful manager?

Daniel - Nigel always makes the point that him and his dad are two different people and have different styles and I think the fans would agree.  He’ll always get compared to his father and the Leeds game will throw up more talk of this sort but he’ll just be focused on trying to win the game.  He’ll say it’s nothing special and just another game but inside he’ll definitely want to get one over on Leeds.  He’s a good manager with a big future ahead of him but will always get compared to his father and only time will tell how successful he can become.

Ryan - The general consensus amongst Leeds fans at the minute is that our squad is still looking a little threadbare and lacking in real quality since the departure of Jermaine Beckford. If you could sign anyone from our current squad for Derby, who would it be?

Daniel – Obviously Beckford will be a loss, he was linked with a move to Derby at one point in a previous season which would have been a good signing for us but obviously now Leeds need to replace his goals.  Jonny Howson has always impressed me when I’ve seen Leeds play so I’d sign him if we could.  Your new goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel would also be a great buy as he looks a promising young keeper.

Ryan - What’s your best memory of Derby playing Leeds? Mine would have to be Frazer Richardson’s screamer on the opening day of the 2004/05 season when we beat you 1-0 at Elland Road.

Daniel – My best memory would have to be the win for Derby 1-0 at Elland Road during our promotion season.  After many heavy defeats at Elland Road I thought that day was going to be our best chance of winning there for many years and was a chance we took.  It was an amazing feeling to win there and a massive 3 points for us and something we’d love to repeat on the opening day.

Ryan - Finally, predictions for the game? I’m going with 2-1 to Leeds.

Daniel – As long as we can keep Leeds out for the opening 20 minutes when it’ll be attack after attack and lots of noise and pressure then I believe we can take a point.  Opening day always throws up lots of goals and incident – my prediction is for an entertaining 2-2 draw and a good season for both Leeds and Derby.

Ryan - Thanks for taking part and best wishes for the rest of the season.

It would appear that Leeds United and Sheffield United are chasing the same players. Today’s first link is Paul Connoly of Derby County, who, alongside Billy Sharp is an alleged priority for both us and the Blades (with them hoping to extend Sharp’s deal).

The Billy Sharp link comes as no real surprise. With Jermaine Beckford all but gone, Leeds are in need of a replacement who can fill the void and Sharp seems to tick all the boxes. It’s an ongoing rumour that’s persisted for two seasons now, but with Doncaster’s £600k bid being turned down, Leeds will have to dig deep.

Sharp, who has been away on holiday, said the following;

“I’ve not heard anything from Leeds. I’ve just got back from my holiday but I heard Donny’s offer was turned down. I’ll speak to Sheffield United and we’ll take it from there.”

The prospect of us stealing Billy Sharp from under the Blades noses before the season even starts has my mouth watering. The 2010/11 fixture list throws up a few derbies, none of which will need much to spark them off, but the Sheffield one has the potential to be an epic grudge match.

As well as the battle for Paul Connoly and Billy Sharp’s signature, Leeds have also been linked with another Sheffield United player, Neil Montgomery who is currently out of contract and could sign for us on a free (Ken Bates’ favourite price).

There’s also the small matter of Sheffield United’s manager, who is none other than former Leeds boss, Kevin Blackwell. I can just see the look on his face now as Montgomery crosses from the wing to find Billy Sharp in an acre of space (Blackwell’s defence are running around like headless chickens), Sharp picks the ball up, dances around a bit and slams home to give Leeds a 1-0 lead in front of the Kop.

In other news, Andy Hughes has secured an extension to his current contract, whilst Rob Hulse has been linked with a return to Elland Road. The latter would appear to be the papers clutching at straws for even the most thread-bare links, but even at 30-years old, I’d welcome him back.

"Well I suppose technically I am a tax exile, yes." said Santa

We all know the results are coming good on the pitch and the table proves we’re doing something right. I have no idea what the current financial statements might be, but I should imagine that off the pitch, we should be doing quite well too. We can look to a few facts that we know to give us a clue. In Summer, we sold Delph. Surely we must have at least part of the transfer fee in our account by now and we didn’t buy anybody for significant money to reduce it. We have been on television or the internet (same fee,) more times than just about any club other than Newcastle. Linked to the TV appearances are our decent Cup runs, indeed the clash against Glazer brothers’ Manchester Disunited is worth about £750 000 alone according to our own chairman. I would guess the fact that the Boxing Day match was a home game must have been worth a few quid too. It certainly looked busy. Finally we might just have found the winning formula after so many years in a downward spiral. So why, oh why are we even considering letting our top scoring striker go? You don’t have to like him to see that he scores goals. Just read the statistics.

Logic dictates it’s not about money. The points above surely re-inforce this. I doubt even that it could be about disharmony in the team. I was quietly impressed that Beckford gave a Hartlepool player a shove when he clattered into Bradley Johnson. It’s the same principle as sticking up for your mates. Is it about attitude? The mark of disrespect when Simon Grayson subbed him isn’t a big deal. An apology and perhaps a bit of a grilling and things like that should be forgotten. I did a lot worse at his age and Simon Grayson is not Peter Reid. So for those fans that don’t like Beckford, I say enjoy the goals, just don’t invite him round for dinner. What about the Millwall penalty and other big occasions when he apparently fails to shine? Well I would just say that there are two teams on the pitch and Beckford has a reputation big enough to justify man-marking him. Even in this league, there are defenders good enough to keep him quiet.

Maybe this is a time when we the fans have been caught bang to rights. It’s us that could be the difference between our best striker staying or leaving. I’ve been reading blogs pointing out a fact that had escaped me, which is that if Beckford scores 100 goals he becomes one of our most prolific strikers relative to the time he’s been here. (Sorry I can’t find the exact details again, but you get the idea.) Surely this should make the lad a legend and yet a sizeable number of fans want him to leave because he throws his teddy out occasionally. It’s not our fault directly if Beckford leaves because we’re not the ones signing the paperwork but if our board thought that selling Becks would make gate receipts suffer, he would already have the most lucrative contract since Seth Johnson. We should be getting behind his performances because for every quiet patch or miss, he bounces back with goals at some point. I’ve even seen him work his socks off in a few games recently. But soon it seems it’s going to be too late to sing his name.

Personally, I wouldn’t be quite as bothered about Becks going if I thought there was a plan B. I’m sure Simon Grayson has got one, because he’s obviously a very smart fellow to have got us this far, but we just don’t know if he has one because nobody talks to the fans anymore. It’s fair to say that Leeds United’s PR is even worse than Eurostar. Over a hundred thousand fans worldwide have to wait for the South Shields Gazette to find out anything about the most important thing to happen to the team for two seasons. Grayson has already said that only a silly money offer would tempt the club, it’s true, but that was October. It’s now December and a hundred thousand people want to know if you have changed your mind.

So never mind Maria, how do you solve a problem like Beckford? Who could replace him? I think he’s irreplaceable at our kind of money. It won’t be Ricky Lambert, under contract to Southampton who have more financial clout than us with their new chairman. I can’t imagine our chairman making them an offer they can’t refuse so we can forget that idea straight away. If you were in charge of Norwich would you sell Holt either? A weakened Leeds United means a player like him could help them lift the title. They have a good enough team. We could look to higher leagues but then we have that problem of money. We would have to pay decent money for someone such as a Cresswell, Healy, Hulse or Blake like we used to have last time in the CCC and Healy’s best tally was only 14 goals in the 05-06 season. More money for fewer goals? That’s not good business. But the fact that Leeds have even talked to Newcastle speaks volumes. It’s probably now just a question of money and then I guess we unearth a stop-gap player from the loan market or lower leagues. So if he is going to go, how much is the right price?

If Chris Hughton is reading, let me save you some time. I can give you the mathematical equation for the correct transfer fee (F) to offer for Beckford:

F = (T*W)+P

To the rest of us, that’s the total of this years’ court costs (T), add 20% for Wealdstone’s sell on clause (W) and then add the cost of a private return jet flight to Monaco to sign the paperwork (P). Our board doesn’t factor in anything for the future good of the club (FA)

Happy New Year.