The Scratching Shed

19-year-old, Nile Ranger

Newcastle United’s 19-year-old striker, Nile Ranger could be called in to ease our strikers worries with Billy Paynter expected to miss the start of the season, Tribal Football reports.

The Geordies are expected to loan Ranger out this season so he can get some first team experience elsewhere, and after promotion to the Championship, Leeds United could be the ideal choice.

Newcastle will be in no hurry to make a decision however, with more than one Championship club interested, they’ll want to consider their options first and ensure he gets as much first team action as possible. Crystal Palace boss, George Burley confirmed he’d like to take the youngster on loan earlier this week;

“I have spoken to Newcastle about Ranger and he is one we’re looking at”

Whilst Nile Ranger is clearly a talented youngster who would be a good player to have on loan at Elland Road, you have to wonder what this means for the likes of Mike Grella and Davide Somma.

Mike Grella has already found himself lacking in first team options, with Simon Grayson electing to bring in ineffective loan signings rather than give the American youngster a chance last season. It seems a shame that injury to one of our main strikers doesn’t present an opportunity to one of the youngsters waiting on the sidelines.

Alex Bruce is believed to be having a medical at Elland Road this morning, before he completes the switch from Ipswich Town. The defender/midfielder, will become Simon Grayson’s seventh signing of the summer after a last second bid snatched him from the grasp of Sheffield United.

The news of Bruce’s departure drew mixed comments from Ipswich fans on their fan-site, TWTD.co.uk. Of the more positive comments, Ipswich fans said that;

“Losing a good defender here, leeds are going to be strong next season.”

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Whites bound defender?

The Daily Mail claims Alex Bruce is on his way to Elland Road after Sheffield United and Ipswich Town failed to agree terms on how a £200,000 transfer fee should be paid.

The same paper who this morning claimed Luciano Becchio was on his way out of Elland Road after contract talks broke down, is now claiming that a £300,000 offer has been lodged from Simon Grayson in an attempt to hijack the 25 year olds move to Yorkshire rivals, Sheffield United.

Whilst the Becchio claims were easy to dismiss, this particular rumour could have substance. Following yesterdays 3-1 friendly victory over Norwegian side, SK Brann, Simon Grayson told Leeds United fans they could expect a new arrival by Friday. With the Mail claiming that Bruce is set to undertake a medical tomorrow, the timing all seems to line up well.

Alex Bruce has made 115 league appearances in the last four years for Leicester. Despite being born in England, Alex has also played for the Republic of Ireland, qualifying for the team through his grandfather.

Matt Derbyshire

Matt celebrates Greek cup win with Olympiacos

After a quiet few days, Betfair has re-awoken and we’re blessed with yet another transfer link that’s unlikely to ever happen. This time, the online bookmakers have scoured the net in search of a possible player to link and returned to us grateful Leeds United fans with the news that Matt Derbyshire wants to return to England!

Those of you that haven’t already leapt into the air with joy should feel free to do so now.

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The Dubai Whites meet Larry

Partying with Simon Grayson, £800 trips to watch Leeds United fail miserably and a longing for the dreary grey skies of Great Britain. It’s all in a seasons work for the members of one of Leeds United’s newest supporter’s club branches, the Dubai Whites.

As a Leeds United fan lucky enough to attend almost every game, I’ve often wondered how I’d cope if events in my life took me overseas. For me, there’s very little that can rival the buzz of matchdays. Leeds United has become such an integral part of my life that I honestly can’t imagine how I’d fill the time should they (heaven forbid) be torn away from me!

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With Ken Bates keeping the purse strings tightly held together, and Leeds United still in need of a new striker I thought it was time to take a look at who is currently available that meets Ken Bates’ favourite price-tag. (Free)

Jérémie Aliadière

Cost: FREE
Age: 27
Former clubs: Arsenal, Middlesbrough

Jérémie Aliadière

Former Arsenal and Middlesbrough winger/striker, Jérémie Aliadière has never quite managed to make it in the Premier League despite showing some great potential in his youth which won him a place in the French U21 team.

Now 27 years young, Jérémie finds himself unattached and in need of a new club. At his last club Middlesbrough, he only managed 11 goals in 78 appearances during his three year stint, but it should be noted that Jérémie wasn’t commonly played as a centre-forward, so it’s not a bad return all things considered.

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With Billy Paynter missing the friendly games against Bury and Hartlepool, there had been reports that our new summer signing was set to be out for a lengthy spell, leading to further concerns about the strength of our striking options.

Despite the reports however, Simon Grayson insists Billy Paynter’s absence was nothing more than a precaution after picking a knock up in Slovakia.

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With just a couple of weeks remaining before the season gets under way, Leeds United still haven’t signed the long-awaited replacement for Jermaine Beckford.

Whilst it’s always difficult to judge the state of affairs based on friendlies, one goal in three doesn’t suggest Paynter, Grella, Becchio or Somma are going to live up to their predecessors goal-scoring prowess.

The summer has been rife with rumours linking everyone from Leroy Lita to the highly rated Gary Hooper, but with time running out, the noises coming from Elland Road don’t suggest anyone will be joining us soon. With Grayson hinting at a lack of funds, it seems our current list of strikers may be the final line-up.

With all the above in mind, the new TSS poll asks whether you think a new striker will be joining the ranks, or if Billy Paynter will be the only centre-forward we sign this year?

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Not quite the pre-season showing of strength we’d all hoped for last night as Leeds United crumbled away to Bury and left with an embarrassing scoreline of 4-0.

With just one seemingly disastrous result, any optimism the Leeds faithful may have had ahead of the 2010/11 season has vanished and it’s back to the drawing board as the “inadequate” defence, midfield and forwards are scrutinised.

But should we really be all that concerned? After all, this was only a friendly and on display was a team who still aren’t 100% after a lazy summer celebrating promotion. It’s only natural that it’ll take  a few games for Leeds United to get back into gear. We’ve had extremely poor friendly results in seasons past, and it’s had no effect once the real stuff got under way.

Anyone wanting further proof that friendlies give no indication as to how good the team are needs only to look at Newcastle United’s faltering pre-season campaign last year. Most of the country were writing Newcastle off after some terrible pre-season results, including a 6-1 hammering at the hands of Leyton Orient. But the Geordies turned it on when it mattered and stormed back into the Premier League as champions, as the friendly results were quickly forgotten.

To sum up, a 4-0 hammering to Bury wasn’t ideal, but at the same time it means absolutely nothing. Friendlies are for the sole purpose of gaining fitness and working the kinks out. It does seem that Leeds United have plenty of kinks to work out at the moment, but it’s better to find that out now with time to heal before Derby visit Elland Road on opening day.

Keep the faith!

Another day, another rumour courtesy of the tireless editor of Betfair’s football blog. Today it’s back to Leroy Lita and an alledged 500k bid being prepared from Simon Grayson.

With this apparent obsession with Leeds United continuing, I’m starting to think that a day in the life of Betfair’s CEO goes as follows;

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