Billy Paynter is set to leave Leeds United on a emergency loan deal, teaming up with Leeds’ former assistant manager Gus Poyet at Brighton & Hove Albion.

The former Swindon Town striker has failed to find his feet at Elland Road, scoring just once in 26 appearances.

After a strong start to the season, The Seagulls form has dropped off dramatically in recent weeks and Poyet will be hoping that Panyter can rediscover his scoring boots and help fire Brighton back up the table.

Meanwhile, Newcastle United’s announcement that Alan Smith will be released on loan has reignited rumours of his return. For those of you not keeping count, this is Alan Smith return rumour 4,547.

Reports suggest Leeds United and Preston North End are close to agreeing a loan deal that will see the Liverpool-born striker join Phil Brown’s side on loan.

According to reports from Preston North End sites, the deal hinges on what wage percentage Leeds United will accept for a player who is believed to be amongst Elland Road’s highest earners.

Billy Paynter’s time at Elland Road has been a disappointing one for player and fans alike, with the striker managing just one goal in 24 appearances after arriving from Swindon Town in 2010 as League One top goalscorer 2009-10.

Preston are currently 9th in League One and amongst the favourites for promotion following relegation from the Championship last season.

Simon Grayson has dismissed suggestions that Billy Paynter will leave Leeds United on loan to another Championship club.

Whilst unwillingly to let Paynter join another Championship team, the Leeds United manager revealed that a League One club has expressed an interest and that Leeds are currently considering their options.

Billy Paynter joined Leeds United on a free from Swindon Town at the end of the 2009-10 campaign – a season in which he was League One’s highest goalscorer with 26 goals in 44 appearances.

The striker failed to make the step-up to Championship football however and has managed only one goal in his 24 appearances for The Whites. His poor goal return led to Leeds United fans dubbing the Liverpool-born striker “Barn Door Billy”.

In our recent Loan Watch piece we stated that, in a move that slipped under the radar, Mike Grella had returned to Leeds after his loan spell at Swindon Town.

It has now come to light that Grella requested to return to Leeds after feeling he was not been given enough games. Relegation threatened Swindon sacked manager Danny Wilson and replaced him with Paul Hart in an attempt to secure their League One future. Grella had started five of the seven games Hart has been in charge of.

On his Twitter, Grella said:

“I’ve decided to come back to leeds because under the new management I wasn’t getting games. My reason for joining Swindon was to help them…

and to also get games in…I want to say thanks to the Swindon fans for everything and know that I have a great respect for the club and…

all the people involved, I hope they stay up because they have a great group of lads and the club deserves to be up higher”

Paul Hart has hit back, claiming Swindon are “better off without” Grella, also saying “It’s amazing. It’s beyond me. We don’t need people like that.”

Having scored one goal in his seven appearances for Swindon and feeling his opportunities were limited there, it begs the question what he gains from returning to Leeds when he is clearly not a part of Simon Grayson’s plans for the rest of this season. Grella had allegedly refused to move to League Two Bradford City and had a move to Motherwell cancelled because he had already played for both Leeds and Carlisle earlier in the season.

It seems, unless he can find yet another loan move, he will spend the rest of the season in the Leeds reserves (providing he can make the team). I don’t mean to come across as if I’m not in full support of one of our players but you can’t help but think he hasn’t thought this through properly. His first team opportunities are going to be far more limited at Elland Road than they were at Swindon and it’s difficult to see what he will achieve by returning to Leeds at this stage in the season.

Though fighting a relegation battle in League One isn’t the most attractive proposal, surely it’s better for a young professional footballer to be doing that than playing in a Mickey Mouse reserve league. He had the opportunity to put in some real hard graft and try to dig Swindon out of the hole they find themselves in and become, like Davide Somma at Lincoln City last season, somewhat of a club hero. If it was simply a matter of a personality clash with Paul Hart or other Swindon staff, then his desire to leave could be understandable – if not, from certain perspectives, entirely acceptable.

Maybe he just didn’t like Swindon. Maybe he’ll force his way into the first team and be the catalyst for success in our promotion push though, with Somma and McCormack sitting restlessly on the bench, that seems somewhat doubtful.

It was a poor weekend for Leeds but many of our loanees fared better.

Adam Clayton had the biggest impact of all our players – he came on in the 39^th minute for MK Dons and bagged a 94^th minute winner as they beat Carlisle 3-2. He diverted a low cross into the back of the net from a few yards. Given the nature of his goal, he can be forgiven for breaking his promise not to celebrate against his former club.

One of the biggest shock results of the weekend was Scunthorpe’s 4-1 trouncing of top of the table QPR. Ramon Nunez played in the middle of the park and though he didn’t get on the score sheet he did his bit to help Scunthorpe to a fantastic win after going a goal down early on.

Aidy White and Fede Bessone faced off in the only goalless draw in the Football League on Saturday as Charlton travelled up to Boundary Park. Neither player had an outstanding game.

Meanwhile in League Two, Tom Lees played ninety minutes. He was unable to help Bury keep another clean sheet but ended up on the winning side as they beat Northampton 4-2.

Will Hatfield again wasn’t involved for York City and in a move that went under the radar, Mike Grella has returned to Leeds after his loan spell at Swindon Town.

Ramon Nunez made his debut for Scunthorpe after a 16000 mile round trip with Honduras over the international break. He started reasonably brightly and looked dangerous running at the Norwich defence, firing narrowly over from long range early on. That was as exciting as it got for Nunez and Scunthorpe fans though as he was substituted just after half an hour as Scunthorpe went 2-0 down and were reduced to ten men. The day got worse for Nunez and his new club as they were eventually turned over 6-0.

Fede Bessone played ninety minutes for Charlton in their 3-1 win over London rivals Leyton Orient. He put in an average shift and was unspectacular as fans continue to question his ability.

Oldham got a much needed win with Aidy White in the side. The Leeds winger played eighty minutes and could have got on the score-sheet in the first half but for a good block. Adam Clayton recently joined MK Dons on loan after having limited opportunities at Elland Road. The young midfielder came on for the last half an hour with his side winning 2-0 at Southampton. However, in the time he was on Southampton scored three goals to win the game. This reflects badly on Clayton but the goals weren’t really his fault though the substitution did seem to be misjudged, inviting Southampton to attack.

Striker Mike Grella came on for the last ten minutes or so for Swindon but the game was already tied at 1-1 and it finished that way.

In League Two, Tom Lees played the full ninety, despite Bury losing their manager to Scunthorpe in the week. He helped his side to another clean sheet as they picked up a 3-0 win.

Will Hatfield was not involved for York City this weekend.

The games are coming thick and fast now as we head towards the end of the season and while the rest of the country was focussed on the international break, League One and Two fixtures went ahead and a few Leeds loanees were in action.

Adam Clayton was named on the bench for MK Dons but didn’t get chance to play his first game for them. Will Hatfield also didn’t feature for his loan club, York City.

Aidy White was an unused sub for Oldham last week and came on as a 68^th minute sub in Tuesday night’s goalless draw with Tranmere.

Fede Bessone made his first appearance back from injury in Charlton’s midweek draw with Southampton and it seems he had a solid game, keeping the highly rated Oxlade-Chamberlain quiet all game. A number of Charlton fans gave him their man of the match. The message boards had very complimentary things to say about him with some hoping he’ll be signed up by the Addicks in the summer.

He played another 90 minutes before getting substituted late in stoppage time at the weekend. However he seemed unable to recapture his midweek form and there were questions surrounding his distribution and defensive play. One particular comment on a Charlton message board may be familiar to Leeds fans: “Bassone [sic] looked awful – long time since I have seen a player as bad as him.”

Tom Lees but in a decent performance for Bury once again, playing a full 90 minutes and helping the League Two side to a clean sheet in a goalless draw away from home.

Mike Grella played 84 minutes for Swindon as they went down to League One leaders, Brighton (a game in which ex-White David Prutton scored a belter). Grella was unable to get on the scoresheet but did rattle the bar with a snapshot from inside the area.

The disappointing weekend extended to our loanees with not one tasting victory. As a result there isn’t too much to report.

Mike Grella played 62 minutes for Swindon in their goalless draw against Huddersfield. It wasn’t as eventful an afternoon as last week for the young American but it seems as if Swindon fans were pretty annoyed at him being dragged off just after the hour mark.

Aidy White also started but lasted not much longer than an hour as Oldham went down 1-0 to League One leaders Brighton. Opinion seems to be that White isn’t imposing himself enough in games.

Tom Lees played ninety minutes but couldn’t stop Bury slumping to 3-2 defeat to Cheltenham.

Fede Bessone remains injured and Will Hatfield was an unused sub for York City.

Mike Grella played 90 minutes in midweek but couldn’t prevent Swindon losing 1-0. On Saturday however he fared better, grabbing his first goal for Swindon with a fantastic lobbed goal. He could have had another but saw his brilliant curling effort palmed away by the ‘keeper. He was also playing his part in creating chances, slipping ex-White David Prutton through on goal with a precise through ball only for Prutton to come out second best to the ‘keeper. Grella later picked up a yellow card and was substituted in the 79^th minute (to the bemusement of many Swindon fans) only to see his goal cancelled out by a late Dagenham and Redbridge equaliser. There seems to have been a mostly positive response to Grella by Swindon fans with many naming him as the stand out player in their recent games.

Aidy White has worked his way back into the starting eleven as Oldham’s slump continues. He played 76 minutes in midweek and 88 minutes on Saturday as they went down to Sheffield Wednesday and Leyton Orient.

Tom Lees continues to impress in League Two, playing ninety minutes and helping Bury to a fourth successive clean sheet. The youngster was popping up at both ends, first clearing well of his own goal line and then missing a golden opportunity at the other end as inexplicably shot wide from close range when he should have scored.

Will Hatfield came off the bench in the 64^th minute for York City in their 1-0 win over Eastbourne Borough. Fede Bessone remains injured and missed both Charlton’s midweek and weekend games.

It was a horrible weekend for Leeds and equally disappointing for some of our players out on loan.

Fede Bessone is still injured so didn’t feature for Charlton. Aidy White came back into the starting line-up, playing 75 minutes as Oldham were hit for five by Peterborough.

Mike Grella made his debut for Swindon and played the full ninety minutes but was unable to get on the score sheet or help Swindon avoid a 4-1 beating by Southampton. The general consensus seems to be that he impressed at first but tired late on, which should be expected with the lack of football he has had recently. It seems his natural tendency to drop deep wasn’t helped by a lack of service from the Swindon midfield.

It seems as if Tom Lees is having the most successful loan spell out of the four players. The youngster again played 90 minutes in the heart of Bury’s defence as they beat Crewe 3-1. Lees has become an important part of the Bury team and seems to be in good form.