Transfer talk or lack of it?

After the initial flurry of post season transfer speculation things have gone deathly quiet at Elland Road. I suppose that's to be expected given that most players and managers will be sunning themselves on some exotic beach but I just wonder what's going through Jermaine Beckford's mind at this precise time. Having been persuaded by his agent that he can significantly increase his earnings away from ER and therefore refused the increased offer from Capt Birdseye he might just be having second thoughts. As apparently no team has made an offer for the golden booted striker he could be left in limbo if his suitors don't put their money where their mouths are. If you believe the various tabloids Sheff Utd, Coventry and even Sunderland are keen on securing the ex Wealdstone striker's services but their silence is deafening? So I will be watching with interest over the next couple of weeks to see how this situation develops...............If nobody does come in for him he had better be good at repairing the bridges he has burnt with the club and the fans when the pre season friendlies start! Elsewhere the mighty Donny Rovers have tried to entice Kilkenny to make the short trip down the A1 to the Keepmoat. I must be honest this worries me more than the loss of JB as in the 2nd half of the season he was outstanding in the Leeds midfield and instrumental in most of the good things that Leeds did under the tutelage of Mr Grayson. Dougie will be leaving Leeds aswell after his contract ends. Now I've never been a massive fan of Dougies skills as a midfield player, but we always seemed to struggle when he wasn't pulling the strings in centre midfield, but he performed brilliantly as an emergency right back after Frazer's injury so I am sure I speak for the vast majority of whites fans in wishing him every success where ever he goes next. Finally on transfers I hope Larry has been given enough funds to carry out the tweaks to the squad needed to ensure we avoid those god damn awful Play Offs next season.........time will tell.

The bar codes from Toonland are in the news again as their owner Mike Ashley has put them up for sale for £100m after their relegation to the championship. A tad over priced I would suggest given that they are still £69m in debt and have a squad full of overpriced, over rated, under achieving, aging, not so superstars....................oh and a novice temporary manager. I think there are more dark days ahead for the long suffering Toon fans........stop laughing!

England took a giant stride towards qualification for next years World cup in SA with a stuttering win over Kazakstan, their 6th straight win under Cappello. For me watching your national team will always bring out national pride and with it expectation of success but I must admit I am struggling to build up any expectation of anything other than another glorious failure on the horizon when the festivities start in Nelson Mandela's country next year. The simple fact is that we have not got enough technically adept players to compete at the highest level, highlighted by the inclusion of Robert Green, Wright Philips, Walcott & Heskey on Saturday. But that will not stop thousands of fans just like me stopping everything and kicking every ball when we reach the quarter finals/semi finals in SA only to be disappointed when we lose on penalties to the Germans/Argentinians/Brazilians again. The only difference will be that after winning nothing for 44 years we will be watching in hope rather than expectation. (Apologies to the Irish, Scottish, American, Scandinavian and other non English nationality whites fans for my England rant)

One other distraction that has caught my eye is the Twenty 20 Cricket World Cup so after watching in disbelief as Holland beat England?????? who was it who said "Do I not like Orange" I was pleased to see England recover and give the Pakistanis a good thrashing yesterday. Only problem is I will now be thinking we can now go on and win the cup.....................Why do I get the feeling it's all going to end in tears?

Finally with pre season friendlies arranged against Burnley and Blackburn and a short tour to Ireland not forgetting the Dusty Bin cup with York City it will not be long before I am checking the match travel arrangements again for another season of travels............can't wait! MOT