But your not playing the blame game???????????????????????????????????? You fooled me. Thirkers
On 24 Mar 2010, at 02:41, Sam Gibbard wrote: > > 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
