Leeds United
The Macca Revoloution-fans view
By James Somers
February 2 2008
As always, we love to hear from the fans. I have recently been contacted by Jamie Somers, Jamie is a Leeds fan studying Sports Journalism at Leeds Trinity and All Saints. The article below is Jamie's first of I'm sure many as he casts his eye over the start of Gary Mac's reign...
Defence Is Key.
New Leeds boss Gary McAllister has certainly moved quickly to strengthen the playing staff at Elland Road, since taking over the reigns at his former club following the departure of Dennis Wise to Newcastle. Since taking over from the departing Wise, on Wednesday, McAllister has strengthened his troops with no less than 4 new signings.
The first of the new recruits was a simple enough capture for the former midfield ace, in a deal that looked in the offing way before 'Macca' arrived at Elland Road, January loan signing Darren Kenton put pen-to-paper on a permanent deal until the end of the season, when the Yorkshire club's backroom staff will no doubt assess the 29-year-old's performances and decide whether to extend the player's contract further.
Then, on 'Deadline Day', and with many fans calling for a new striker, it wasn't long into the day before Leeds announced, via their official website, that they had agreed a fee with Stockport for striker and top goalscorer, Antony Elding. The 25-year-old, whose 15 goals so-far this term, have managed to secure Stockport's top-half position in their push for the play-offs, will no doubt be looking to impress in training in an attempt to worm his way into the Leeds starting XI, and with Flo and Kandol not firing on all cylinders as of late, Elding is certainly in with a chance, possibly even starting with Saturday's visit of play-off rivals Tranmere.
But McAllister wasn't finished there, not even close. The new Leeds boss was to bolster the defence yet again, with the announcement that two more defenders would be making the move to West Yorkshire. 21-year-old Left-back, Alan Sheehan and more perhaps notably Lubomir Michalik, who became a fan favourite whilst on loan with The Whites last season. Despite making only 8 appearances, many Leeds fans had been calling for the signing since the summer, seeing him as a perfect addition to the defence, after putting in some solid performances in his previous spell with the club. Michalik signed from Bolton on a three-and-a-half year deal, for an undisclosed fee. The Slovak was obviously deemed surplus to requirements at the Reebok Stadium, after a succession of defensive signings made by the Lancashire club.
Meanwhile, Young Leicester starlet and Irish under-21 left-back has been brought in on loan until the end of the season.
With these signings, McAllister has no doubt signaled his intentions, and identified the key areas which he felt needed improvement. Once Angolan fan favourite Rui Marques has returned from international duties at the African Cup of Nations, the Yorkshire club will be faced with 7 first-team defenders to choose from, and increasing competition from such youth products as Simon Madden, which will no-doubt leave Gary McAllister with a selection headache ahead of the teams push towards The Championship.
It remains to be seen who the new Leeds boss will favour in his back four, or in any other position for that matter, this is bound to be a subject to keep the Elland Road faithful guessing until around half-two on saturday afternoon, as they congregate at their beloved Elland Road in aticipation of seeing the former midfielder, who made nearly 300 appearances for the club between 1990 and 1996, take control of the team for the first time. But one thing is for sure, the added buzz around Elland Road should make for a magnificent atmosphere on Saturday the 2nd, and hopefully, McAllister's arrival could provide the kind of injection that the 15 point deduction had at the start of the campaign, which would allow the team to ride the final-leg of the season on the crest of a Macca-shaped wave and propel them back into The Championship.
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ELDING is also sure to start !!
SA
