Barnard snubs Leeds for Saints

Leeds United did go in for Lee Barnard, but were beaten to his signature by Southampton.  Apparently, the reason he chose Southampton over Elland Road is because he didn’t want to move north, which would make sense. Clearly, this was never about climbing the ladder for Lee, or he’d have definitely chose Leeds. No disrespect at all meant to Southampton, who I fully expect to make the play-offs, but promotion is still a dot on the horizon for them. The play-offs are a bit of a lottery that everyone wants to avoid (especially us).

£10m bids for Beckford?

This mornings papers are claiming that Leeds may now receive offers in the region of £10,000,000 for Jermaine Beckford! I was willing to help him pack and drive him where ever when people were quoting £3m, but for £10m I’ll carry him to the next club on my shoulders. Whilst I don’t doubt the FA Cup games have turned a few heads, football will have gone to a whole new level of crazy if we get £10m for Jermaine.

Maximum impact

Max Gradel should become our first permanent signing of the January transfer window today as he undertakes the necessary medical at Elland Road. The Ivorian youngster impressed Leeds United fans immediately after arriving on loan three months ago and there’s been calls for Grayson to ‘sign him up’ ever since.

Max has clearly enjoyed his time at Leeds United and spurred on by the overwhelming love he’s received from the clubs supporters, he almost immediately handed in a transfer request on his return to Leicester.

Return of Rose?

According to The People, Leeds are preparing to make a move for former academy starlet Danny Rose, who currently plays for FA Cup opponents, Tottenham Hotspur.

Rose met his former club in Saturday’s clash and gave a pretty impressive performance throughout. However, the appearence was a rare treat for the youngster who has spent most of his time so far out on loan. It’s believed Bolton (who are coincidentally our opponents in round 5, should we beat Tottenham) are also hoping to get Danny in on loan. Rose is believed to prefer a move to another Premier League club so the chances of him returning to Leeds are slim.

Snoddy here to stay

They say always end on a high and today, that particular high is provided by Robert Snodgrass who hit all the right notes after our draw with Tottenham telling The Times that he didn’t want to leave Leeds United;

“If they don’t want to sell me, I don’t want to leave, there’s no point. This team will be there at some point in the next two years.

“Everything is set up to go right back to the top.

“There’s no point being here if you think it stops when we get to the Championship.”

Reading between the lines, that statement could be taken as a bit of a dig at Jermaine Beckford, but in another interview Snoddy defended our “lazy” wantaway striker;

“Becks is just a clinical finisher and he’s rapid. Sometimes people say he doesn’t work too hard but you have to pick and choose.

“What do you want? Do you want the goals or do you want a striker who works hard? I think I prefer the goals, to be fair.”

Goals vs work rate? Where have I heard that argument before…