I will start by saying that I defended Beckford all through his petulant career
at Leeds, and was staunchly against him leaving in January.
But after 24 hours thought, a few things have started to dawn on me. You know,
in hindsight, that moment when you can go back to when you see the start of
something bad. You can always trace things back to a pivitol moment.
FA Cup loss to Cardiff for example, and more recently, losing Poyet.
But what has changed Leeds from the certs for the League One title to fast
becoming play-off fodder? Well, I go back to the few days after we knocked off
the champions of England in the FA Cup and stood miles in front of every other
team in League One. Then Jermaine "What Shirt am I wearing Bruv?" Beckford
hands in a transfer request.
>From that moment, we have lost that togetherness in the dressing room. That
>"Us against the league", the sence in the team that they were all in it
>together. Suddenly, we have a player who openly says he doesn't want to be a
>part of the squad anymore, that he is better than this level, that he is
>better than his teammates.
We fight tooth and nail to keep him, even going as far as to risk losing almost
2 million, just to keep him around till promotion was secured. It was a gamble,
in hindsight, and one I was happy to take. And so were the management at Leeds.
But looking back, I really have to say I think Grayson might have gotten this
wrong. If we had instead sold Beckford, and replaced him with a Billy Sharp or
other player of this ilk, I do not think we would be worse off. In fact, I
think we would now be laughing happilly, as Norwich are, carefree, and already
planning our Championship season for next year. Add to that, we would also have
a player for next season, whereas Beckford is leaving us for nothing now.
As we are now, we have a player who is already thinking to next season with a
new team, bigger wages, and does not care what happens to Leeds. He wanted to
go in January, and the only reason he is still here, is we forced him to stay.
Now is this really the type of player we need in the team? For all his goals
since that day, well, I should say a few of his goals, could we not have
invested in a player that wanted to be here, that is fighting tooth and nail
for promotion, rather than a player that is clearly not fighting 100% for the
cause? I cannot help think that he is not wanting to give his all because why
would you risk injury, when a lucrative contract is on the horizon?
Rumours are floating around (on Waccoe) that Beckford missed a training session
on Saturday to head up to Everton for "talks" and a bust up with Grayson, not
an injury, was the reason for his absence on Monday night. How true these are,
I don't know, but look back to before the transfer request, and look again now.
Is Beckford the same player? So much of our play and spirit of the team flows
through Beckford, and it is really no surprise that since he has decieded he no
longer wants to be a part of Leeds United, we have looked a shadow of our
former selves.
Beckford was the reason we got to where we were in January. Make no mistake.
But is it also possible now, that the position we find ourselves in, is also
down to Beckford? Our morale, our spirit, our desire, all seem shattered. I am
not playing the blame game, I am just trying to find the reason for this. I
just can't help but think that Beckford and his transfer request are really
coming home to haunt us now, in this last crucial phase of the season.
Think back to Billy Bremner and his "Side before self. Everytime." maxim, and
then ask yourself, is Beckford putting his team's best interests first? Or his
own?
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