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One in, one out and one in France

Jul-3-2008 By Chris Hudson

There has been some movement on the transfer front at Elland Road, though nothing earth-shaking.

Firstly, Alan Sheehan has returned to Elland Road on a permanent deal from Leicester City. Although he is out of contract, the age of the Irish U-21 international means a fee is payable, and it will go to tribunal if no agreement is agreed.

Alan played ten times on loan at Leeds United last season but missed the play-offs due to a red card ban.

Leaving Elland Road for the last time is Leon Constantine - he has accepted a deal at fellow League One club, Northampton Town.

Constantine was Port Vale’s top scorer in the 2006-07 season and when he joined Dennis Wise he was earmarked for the starting place in the team - Beckford was returning from loan at Scunthorpe and at the time he was an unknown quantity in a Leeds shirt.

However, Leon was injured during the pre-season game against Energie Cottbus last year and injury plagued his remaining time at Leeds. Beckford made the most of the opportunity.

When Wise left Leeds the writing was on the wall and Constantine was loaned out to Oldham Athletic after recovering from the injuries. Constantine can fairly say that he wasn’t given a chance at Leeds with just 2 starts and 5 sub appearances during which he scored 2 goals.

But unlike Elding he has accepted the situation with grace and moved on - expect at least goal from him against Leeds next season!

Finally from La Belle France comes the news that Frenchman Seb Carole is training with La Havre with a view to making a permanent move.

Carole celebrates two years at Elland Road on Saturday but despite having much to offer he has made almost an equal number of starts as sub appearances - which indicates that neither Dennis Wise or Gary McAllister could make up their minds about how best to use him.

Given the lack of penetration and service to the strikers at Wembley many believe Carole still has something to offer Leeds but the player’s patience seems to have run out.

Left-back crisis for McAllister

Apr-28-2008 By Autolycus

Leeds United today received confirmation that Irishman Alan Sheehan is banned for three matches following his straight red card for a challenge on Lee Peltier of Yeovil Town on Friday evening.

Consequently, Sheehan misses the game against Gillingham on Saturday and the Play-Off semi-finals.

“I can’t defend him,” commented Gary McAllister on the official Leeds site. ”It’s a poor challenge, especially in today’s game. You can’t put two feet off the ground in a tackle.

“He knows it and it’s very disappointing. He’s worked himself back into the side and done well. He’s very disappointed.

“He’s already had a suspension for 10 bookings and we’ll miss him for three games now.”

Sheehan is on loan from Leicester City and these substantial suspensions will harm his prospects of earning a full-time move to Elland Road in the summer. Sheehan is relatively young and hopefully will grow out of “youthful” indescretions.

His dismissal presents more immediate problems for McAllister who must choose between Andrew Hughes or Darren Kenton for the left-back berth against Gillingham and the Play-Offs. Ben Parker is not available for the Gillingham match due to suspension but is unlikely to be recalled from a loan spell Darlington for the Play-Off semi-finals - logically if you’re not good enough for the team during the regular season you’re certainly not good enough for the Play-Offs!

10 man Leeds reach play-offs

Apr-25-2008 By Chris Hudson

Full-time: Yeovil Town 0 v 1 Leeds United

Despite the second-half dismissal of left-back Alan Sheehan, Leeds United created history at Huish Park tonight in front of a record crowd.

Although the Football League colluded with the police and Yeovil Town to try and prevent Leeds United bringing its usual contingent of thousands of supporters, more than 9500 fans packed the ground to see the League One fixture and beat the previous record set in 2004 for an FA Cup tie against Liverpool.

The ten man victory was well deserved with Leeds missing a hat full of chances and Yeovil limited to a couple of good attempts on the night. The three points means that Brighton cannot catch Leeds and United are, therefore, in the League One play-offs. Leeds are the only team to escape relegation in a season where they have been deducted ten points - a fact that was not lost on the Football League or the fellow League clubs when they voted to impose a 15 point penalty on Leeds at the start of the season. Humble pie anyone?

Gary McAllister’s masterstroke, the signing of Dougie Freedman, paid an early dividend at Huish Park this evening when the Scottish striker gave Leeds an early goal. It took just four minutes for Leeds to go ahead of Yeovil.

The win guarantees Leeds United a play-off place, irrespective of the outcome of the arbitration hearing. It also means Swansea City cannot be certain of being League One Champions by winning tomorrow - in the unlikely event of Leeds getting all 15 points back Swansea would need to win all their final games to be Champions. Swansea have spent much of the week bleating about how unfair the 15 point arbitration hearing is and with their stuttering home form one begins to wonder whether their squad have bottled it and will have to rely on Leeds not getting the 15 points back to be crowned champions? No wonder the Football League chose not to present them with the League One trophy tomorrow - possibly the first thing Mawhinney has got right all season.

Now the Leeds players can deservedly look forward to a congratulatory final home game of the season against Gillingham in front of a sell-out 39,000 crowd at Elland Road. Gillingham have never played in front of a league crowd of over 35000 in their history - so they should enjoy their day with the Leeds fans in full hue and cry celebrating the achievements of their players on the pitch. I wonder if Mawhinney will be there to congratulate Leeds United on their remarkable season? 

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