I'm not buying any of that. Beckford has scored 27 goals and will definitely score 30+ goals this season if he continues to play after recovery from injury. In short he has done his job and the attempts by some fans to in some way blame Beckford for the current predicament is nothing short of scandalous. Maybe these fans should look at some of the other players - an attacker who can't trap a ball or play a simple pass, a midfielder who offers nothing but is the first name on the tea sheet, defenders who aren't actually defenders but are still first choice .... and the list goes on. Utlimately this is the manager's fault.
May I suggest that rather than replace Beckford with Barnard, Sharp or Hooper maybe we should have replaced Becchio. Blaming it all on Beckford .... tut tut Sam. ----- Original Message ---- From: Sam Gibbard <[email protected]> To: LEEDS LIST <[email protected]> Sent: Wed, 24 March, 2010 2:41:04 Subject: [LU] Beckford: reason for the rot? 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? _________________________________________________________________ Hotmail: Trusted email with Microsoft’s powerful SPAM protection. http://clk.atdmt.com/GBL/go/210850552/direct/01/ _______________________________________________ the Leeds List is an unmoderated mailing list and the list administrators accept no liability for the personal views and opinions of contributors. Leedslist mailing list [email protected] http://list.zetnet.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/leedslist and the hardest time in a sailor's day is to watch the sun as it sails away _______________________________________________ the Leeds List is an unmoderated mailing list and the list administrators accept no liability for the personal views and opinions of contributors. Leedslist mailing list [email protected] http://list.zetnet.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/leedslist and the hardest time in a sailor's day is to watch the sun as it sails away
