Did Leeds have better players in League One?

Article by Gwyn Hughes

The recent woeful performances by the players of Leeds United has made me wonder whether we had a better calibre of player whilst ensconced in the maelstrom of those dark times in League 1. I started reeling off the names in my mind, Snodgrass, Gradel, Bechio, Beckford, Delph, Howson, Kandol, Somma and Sanchez Watt. There were others that I thought would come good for Leeds. Mike Grella I really had high hopes for and Gary McSheffrey was a big disappointment but highly rated before he joined us. I'm thinking, hang on, where would we be if all or some of those players had stayed with us? In the promotion season of 2009-2010, we had a midfield comprising of Snodgrass, Howson, Doyle and Johnson and I wouldn't be unhappy with that in the current team. And add the passing skills of Kilkenny in the mix just makes it even stronger.

Follow e-Leeds on Twitter here!

It also shows to me what a great scouting system we must have had in those days. Since we've returned to the Championship we have continued to sell or let these players go for presumably financial reasons, but didn't replace them with players that in my opinion were good enough to carry on the good work. Accusations from fans that ex-chairman Ken Bates was profiting from these sales started to go viral but an important knock on effect was the negativity it had on the fans as we realised that we had become a selling club and that no good player was safe to continue his career at Leeds United It was only fairly recently that it was announced that a scouting programme was re-installed. I had assumed all this time that we always had one in place and perhaps explains why we have not found the decent players that we needed after losing the cream of our playing staff.

The fact that we failed to keep these players instills a sadness and a certain anger as to how a club as big as ours got to be in such a state that it had to sell to survive. If Bates sold them to make ends meet then they were the collateral that had to be sacrificed resulting from the excesses of the O'Leary and Ridsdale years, which still lingers like a bad smell today. The financial calamity that befell the club just over 10 years ago was bound to take some time to correct, but even an optimistic fan as myself never dreamt that we would still struggle to recapture the status of "a big club" again and had no idea that the task of rebuilding Leeds' reputation would be so difficult and long. It is fair to say that the players that we found and subsequently sold probably saved us from further humiliation and dropping into League 2. Journeymen such as Andy Hughes, David Prutton and Jonathan Douglas must also be mentioned as influential players who contributed in steadying the good ship Leeds.

The sale of this talented group is lamented by every fan but there is no point dwelling on our losses because we will never (probably) see them in a Leeds shirt again. Since they left our club they have experienced mixed fortunes, which further irritates the hell out me because they could have been better off staying with us and secure their status as Leeds legends. The admiration for them is clearly still in existence, with a sizable section of the fans wanting one or two of them back at the club. Jermaine Beckford has moved around a bit since he left Leeds and with each move there was always rumours that there were deals in place to return him to Leeds. Lately there has been speculation that Max Gradel would once again grace his direct wing-play at Elland Road again with divided opinion from fans on whether the Ivorian would do a job for the current squad. Lucciano Bechio is another who may come back having had his career stalled on an increasingly warm bench at Norwich City.

Although generally I am not in favour of ex-players coming back to try and recapture past glories, in Beckford, Bechio and Gradel's case I think they would be the exception. They left on good terms and I believe that with the positive affection the Elland Road crowd has for these players, I have a feeling that it would work out. I'm sure they would be carrying on where they left off especially in Bechio's case! The mere fact that a sizeable section of Leeds United fans have spoken out that they would like them to return indicates that they were pretty special to us when they were here.

It seems to me that Leeds United would do well to get a similar crop of players. The ones mentioned were acquired on the cheap, or in Fabian Delph's case from within our youth system. Delph's fortunes have been typical of promising youngsters in the modern game. Too many move to bigger clubs and better contracts, but fail to make an impact as big as they initially made with their home club. Although he is getting a decent run with Aston Villa this season, his team are among the poorest sides in the Premiership. Last Saturday Beckford achieved the amazing record of having scored for the 5th successive season, with different clubs, in the 3rd round of the FA Cup scoring Bolton's winner against Blackpool. Could it be that he finds it difficult to settle at one club for any significant amount of time because he has not been as happiest as he was whilst he played for Leeds for 4 seasons? I still have a sneaking suspicion that one day he will rejoin Leeds though he is running out of playing time.

I hope that the current transfer window will turn out to be an opportunity for Leeds to acquire the services of players with at least the same magnitude and impact as Beckford et al. Time will tell whether we will. If Brian McDermott gets a few million pounds to spend will he splash out on a couple of excellent players of pedigree that would make a significant difference to the style of football we have seen recently, or a few more bargain basement signings purely for the purpose of boosting the size of the squad?

© e-Football 2013 All rights reserved no part of this document or this website may be reproduced without consent of e-Football