Mixed Fortunes for Leeds’ Forgotten Men

Article by Leeds Correspondent Alex Schroeter

Both Ryan Hall and Danny Pugh were two names in the Leeds squad who were widely expected to leave or to play next to no part for us this season; however in the past couple of weeks they have come to the forefront of our minds, though for differing reasons.

On Sunday, it was announced that Hall’s contract had been mutually terminated by mutual consent after an eventful 13-month stint at Elland Road. He was initially suspended after breaching the club’s social media policy, after a numerous tweets expressing his displeasure at being left out of the first team frame. Ryan came into the club with rave reviews and a fee of £150,000 after some impressive performances in League Two with Southend, after an initial loan spell. However, since his switch to Yorkshire, he had made little impact, predominantly featuring as an impact substitute, if at all and resulted in a loan spell to Sheffield United earlier in the season in which he again failed to impress.

Ryan Hall has now started to focus on reigniting his career after losing his way, somewhat, over the last year but despite his, arguably, regrettable time at Leeds he insisted on departing on a more positive note. Aptly enough, he tweeted his farewell, saying: “Just wanna wish Leeds all the best in the future I enjoyed my time there and met so many nice people”.

The other forgotten man on our minds is Danny Pugh, who has been reflecting on an impressive upturn in fortune, both on and off the field. On Thursday, his wife gave birth to his second child which he said was a “nice way to round off a special week”. Last weekend, Pugh ended a year long absence from Leeds’ starting eleven, which also consisted of being on the transfer list and a loan spell at Sheffield Wednesday for much of the period, by starting in the 4-2 win at Charlton, although McCormack stole the headlines with his four goal haul. A week on and Pugh has increased his claim for a starting slot with another good, solid performance at left-back against ten-man Middlesbrough, which was his 100th appearance for the club.

After helping Leeds to a third consecutive victory and a return to the Championship play-offs, in front of an unusually content 30,000 crowd at Elland Road, Danny spoke of his second spell at Leeds since his £500,000 move from Stoke City in January 2012.

He said, “It’s been difficult for me not playing football but you have to stay as positive as possible”, adding, “There’s been talk of loans, little sniffs and things like that, but nothing materialised” and “I’ll train and when needed, I’ll do the best I can. It’s been a perfect week for me.”

Despite the exit of Ryan Hall, there have been increasingly promising signs for the season head, with our form, McCormack (7 goals in past 3 games) and the re-emergence of forgotten men, notably Danny Pugh.

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