Leeds United - Back to the top

Position by year
2013/14: Sky Bet Championship (5th, playoff winners)
2014/15: English Premier League (yet to begin)


Welcome to my FM story as I document my journey, attempting to return Leeds United to the heights they were once at.

With Christmas just around the corner, Leeds fans can be quietly confident heading into the new year in regards to the destiny of the club this season. Team cohesion has been at the centre of all that's been successful for the club, as they find themselves 2nd in the Sky Bet Championship at the start of the festive period.

Much of this has been down to the defensive unit, with the second lowest amount of goals conceded in the league. Also noted, much unlike predecessor Leeds sides, is the lack of cards the club has received with the fewest bookings in the league. Player availability has been key to the success so far.

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The most notable performer to date has been centre back Jason Pearce. Bought in last season from Portsmouth for half a million pounds, the 25 year old has established himself as the leader in the heart of the defence, normally complied by younger compatriot Tom Lees. Three goals and three MoM's see him as the standout performer so far this campaign.

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One of the Leeds' fans main concerns following the arrival of Thomas' and Cellino was the clubs ability in the transfer market. Five new first-team faces were added in in the summer and this is how they've fared as we close in on the festive period...

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Beram Kayal (av: 6.60) - Hasn't quite delivered following his 600k switch from Scottish giants Celtic. His slightly below par performances have seen him struggle to hold a permanent place in the squad, with hefty competition from the likes of Rudolph Austin, Luke Murphy and youngster Alex Mowatt who Thomas' is fond of.

Dedrick Boyata (av: 6.47) - Boyata has seen his chances at Leeds severely disturbed, due to the partnership of Pearce & Lee's at the back. The club has already issued a statement in November that Dedrick handed in a transfer request which the board accepted. They will hope to squeeze some profit out of him come January.

Davy Klaassen (av: 6.67) - The youngster from the Netherlands hasn't exactly set the divison a light with his performances, but Thomas' has publicly supported the player and hopes his impact will come later in the season once he's had time to acclimatise.

Albert Riera (av: 6.68) - A Leeds career that's currently been disrupted by injury. Riera has looked an assured purchase when playing, but again is a player that needs to stay at the top his game, with fierce competition at left back with Aidan White, and the impressive Luke Varney on the left wing.

Cristian Gamboa (av: 6.80) - Gamboa has settled in to life at Elland Road quickly. Has spent most games playing right midfield, instead of his more natural right back position and has looked assured, scoring 2 league goals in the process and earning a MoM.


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The middle section of the season see's difficult challenges against promotion contenders such as Nottingham Forest, Blackburn & Leicester, but otherwise mid to lower table sides that Leeds much take advantage of if they want promotion come May.

"Not enough ambition" says Thomas

With fans still in hysteria's following Leeds' dramatic promotion back to the premiership, manager Thomas' has wasted no time in criticising his employers who he believes are showing "a lack of desire to stay in the biggest league in the world". This leak comes swiftly after the board sat down with the manager to discuss operating budgets for the forth-coming season. Sky Sports reports the manager has been handed a sum in the region of £13m to keep the side in the Premier League next season.

Supporter groups have been quick to back the manager amid the news. Wesley Burns, managing director of the "LUFANS" supporter group commented that: "The play-off final is supposedly worth 80 million to the winner however we've seen only a small proportion of this amount handed to Thomas' to craft a team for next season. We are back in the big time once again playing with our fiercest rivals, the board need to ensure we can compete and this news shows a lack of ambition". The club themselves are yet to make any comment on the matter.


Better news today from Elland Road however, as the club announced the arrival of two new players. The first to arrive was Polish International Lukas Fabianski, who completed his move from Arsenal on a free transfer. The 29 year old stopper has agreed terms on a three-year-deal with the club & looks set to displace Paddy Kenny who endured a turbulent season last time around.

Speaking in regards to the move to BBC Yorkshire, Fabianski said he was "happy to join a club with the reputation of Leeds United". "First team football was what I desired and despite offers from numerous clubs in England and abroad, I felt Leeds would be the best move for me and my family."

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Closely following the announcement of the Fabianski' move, the club also confirmed that they had agreed terms with Udinese for the transfer of Czech' striker, Matej Vydra. The move is again a free transfer however inclusive of agent fees is around £400,000. Matej endured a difficult campaign last season with West Brom, scoring on five occasions for the Baggies' last year. Leeds fans however are excited by the signing and are looking forward to seeing Vydra in a Leeds shirt.

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Leeds United have also confirmed that trio Stephen Warnock, Luke Varney & David Norris would not be offered new deals with the club. Dedrick Boyata is also deep into discussions in regards to a £450k switch to relegated West Ham and this transfer is all but done according to various sources.

Leeds announce squad for tour of Holland

Leeds United today announced the squad that would jet off for the pre-season tour of the Netherlands'. Leeds are involved in four fixtures in the country over a fort-night. They start off against third division outfit Noordwijk, before encounters with Eredivisie sides NAC Breda and FC Gronigen. The tour finishes with a low key friendly against second division Volendam.

The announcement of the tour squad, co-incided with the unveiling of three new signings for the the Yorkshire club, all of whom will travel with the squad for the pre-season tour of Holland.




Goalkeeper Declan Rudd will also join the tour on a trial basis, following his contract expiring at Norwich. He is expected to sign a deal with the club in the next few days to under-study Fabianski, with Paddy Kenny parting ways with the club.

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Full Team: Lukas Fabianski, Tom Lees, Jason Pearce, Marko Basa, Scott Wootton, Sam Byram, Aidan White, Cristian Gamboa, Rudolph Austin, Alex Mowatt, Jordon Mutch, Luke Murphy, Jason Holt, Tom Ince, Ross McCormack, Matej Vydra, Noel Hunt, Matt Smith, Declan Rudd, Lee Pletier, Charlie Taylor, Dominic Poleon, Chris Dawson.


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Thomas happy with testing Dutch tour

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Leeds United tonight completed a challenging pre-season tour under the floodlights in Northern Holland as they edged out a battling Volendam side. The tour was largely a successful one for the Whites, remaining undefeated and averaging plenty over three goals a game. New signings Thomas Ince (3) and Matej Vydra (2) have made goal scoring starts in their Leeds careers, coupled with a very impressive Aidan White at left-back, with Thomas' admitting he's played his way into possibly being first choice for the Yorkshire club.

Speaking to LUTV, Thomas responded to a question in regards to the tour that it had been "The necessary challenge required from a pre-season tour. We've remained unbeaten which was important as we have faced some decent opposition and the younger lads have had a chance to put an impression on me. The hospitality has been fantastic and tours like this will only increase the profile of the club."

"It's good to see the new lads settling in quickly to Leeds colours, which is important as much like the other promoted clubs, there needs to be an influx of players to survive in such a difficult division. We will continue to spend wisely and ensure we have a squad capable of competing next season". Leeds' pre-season now continues with games against Sherbourne and AJ Auxerre before they compete in the 'PaddyPower Cup' alongside Celtic, CSKA Moscow and Sporting Lisbon at Elland Road.

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As the final match of the tour was completed, Leeds' also announced that the final details were going through in regards to a double signing, from Serie B outfit Sampdoria whom finished bottom of the top division in Italy last year. Spanish midfielder Pedro Obiang has put pen-to-paper on a four year deal for a fee just over £5million pounds. Team-mate Shkodran Mustafi is also in advance talks to finalise a £3million pound move to Elland Road. The double-switch is a signal of intent from the club, with Leeds battling off interest from the likes of Udinese, Parma & Everton for the 22 year olds services.

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Transfer Window slams shut, Leeds confirm 14/15 team

415 Million Pounds was spent in a hectic transfer window in the Premier League this season, Leeds only contributing towards 14 million of that total. Transfer deadline day itself was quiet, noteably the arrivals of Ruben Garcia (Levante to Arsenal) and Adriano (Barca to Liverpool), as well as the swap deal involved AC Milan's Abate and Liverpool's Fabio Borini.

With spending finished until at least January, the club today confirmed the registration of their team for the season. The target for the players most definitely being to stay in the league.












So, Dimitar Berbatov completed a six-month loan move to Elland Road on transfer deadline day. The move lasts until Janaury, with it being expected that Leeds can extend the loan to the end of the season if they wish. The fee for the loan is around £250k with Leeds subsidising 40% of his 62k a week contract during his stay. With Lacina Traore's return to the club from Everton, as well as Riviere, Martial and Falcao, Berbatov was frozen out at the start of the campaign and wanted the move to play first-team football.

We will be reporting live from his first press conference with the Whites' shortly...

Berbatov Signs - The Interview

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Shortly after completing his deadline day move to Leeds United from French Club Monaco on a six-month-loan deal, lufc.co.uk had the oppourtunity to sit down with the Bulgarian forward just after he'd signed the formalities of his move to the Whites'. Leeds have paid a loan fee of £250k to the French club for Berbatov's services until the end of January.


Reporter: So here we are at Elland Road in whats been a quickly organised transfer. Did it feel as quick and as hectic for you as it did for us reporting on it Dimitar?

DB: Yes it did! Obviously with Monaco making me avaliable for loan this morning, its all had to happen very quickly. Leeds were in contact with my agent at around 5pm and we immediately flew over to finalise terms and i'm happy to be part of the club until at least January.

Reporter: And obviously a return to the Premier League too where you've had success'es with multiple clubs in the past. What was it that made Leeds a move you couldnt refuse?

DB: I'm somebody that wants to be playing football. Monaco made it clear I wasnt going to be figuring there which surprised me, but Leeds have offered me a new challenge back in a league I love playing in and im grateful for that.

Reporter: Obviously chairman Massimo Cellino dealt with the transfer, but did you know much about the club and the manager before you finalised your move?

DB: Leeds are a very big club but not when I was previously playing in the English League. They've done fantasticly well getting promoted and the atmosphere at the stadium is brilliant and is something I look forward to be involved with.

Reporter: And obviously looking towards the future, the deal is six months but would you like to stay for the season?

DB: I think its best to cross that bridge when we come to it. Im extremely pleased to join the club and want to make an immediate impact and help the team as much as possible.

Leeds 14'15 Review - 1/3

The review so far as Leeds United return to the Premier League for the first time in nine years in the 2014/15 season.

Beginning of Premier League Season

Positives

Matt Smith picking up where he left off from last season with 3 goals along-side Berbatov and McCormack. New signings Obiang & Basa are also playing well and gelling in with the squad.

The squad is able to grind out results in games where we don't necessarily have the ascendency which could prove important come the end of the season.

Negatives

Only Hull City (28) have conceded more goals than Leeds, which is disappointing following the arrivals of Basa, Fabianski & Mustafi.

Matej Vydra is yet to open his account for the club in the Premier League after 9 appearances (3 from the bench). Mustafi has also endured a torrid run of form following his summer move.

Despite his talent, youngster Sam Byram at times does look out of depth at this level. Alex Mowatt, again young, has found it really hard to adapt to the demands of the premier league.

The club are just inside the relegation zone with the second worst goal difference in the league.

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Thomas' backs out-of-form striker

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Despite fans continually calling for the dropping of Czech striker Matej Vydra, Thomas' has moved quickly to show supporter for the striker who moved to Elland Road this summer from Udinese. Several sources were even reporting that Vydra was set to leave the club in January but the manager has come out quickly to dispell any rumours in the press.

Thomas:: "Matej is a fantastic player who unfortunately at the moment is struggling to hit the heights that myself and the backroom staff know he can. He a professional who's motivated and is still training very hard and it's only a matter of time until he starts to come back on to form. Matej is definitely part of my long-term vision with the club."

Vydra' has struggled since his switch to Leeds in the summer. Despite playing 908 minutes of Premiership football, he's yet to open his account in the league. His only competitve goal came in the 4-2 win over Oldham in the Carling Cup.