Our dear chairman has put the record straight over Beckford.

Summer can be a frustrating time for us football obsessives, thanks to the recession and the transfer-window in part the one time flurry of transfer activity has been a bit of a damp squib so far.

Devoid of the funds for a Kaka or even a Gareth Barry, the days of Leeds shelling out big sums for players are a thing of the past. Astonishingly it was 18 years ago since Leeds paid Bates' then club Chelsea £1.3m for the services of Tony Dorigo. Nowadays it seems it would be a micracle if Simon Grayson's entire summer spending tops Dorigo's fee!!!

The majority consensus at ER is there will be departures before new arrivals. Fabian Delph has got the obligatory link with FA Cup final flops Everton and poor Peter Sweeney may be ending up at the less glamorous climes of Grimsby sooner rather than later.

However Jermaine Beckford, now transfer listed in excess of one-week is creating the most speculation. Eager to move on to test his talents at a higher level (or for a better pay packet depending on what camp you are in), the striker who bagged 34 goals last season for Leeds has been linked strongly with Championship clubs Sheffield United and Newcastle United.

It is easy for lazy hacks to link Beckford with Sheffield United, after all the man who brought him from Wealdstone to ER Kevin Blackwell now bosses the Blades - although he seemed to be dithering about his future in the wake of their poor showing against Burnley in the Championship play-off finals.

Beckford hardly got a sniff of the action under Blackwell and initially the same applied to Dennis Wise, in fact Leeds only discovered he could score goals "by accident" when he grabbed a glut on-loan at Scunthorpe.

Similarly the Newcastle link seems a bit bizarre when everything is up in the air on Tyneside just for a change. That cuddly rogue Mike Ashley wants to bail-out, Shearer is hardly rushing to become their permanent manager, so until that is sorted then it is hard to see why Newcastle would be in the race for him.

Ken Bates seems to agree. He is quoted in tonight's Yorkhire Evening Post as saying We have had no inquiries yet, but that is not unusual at this time because the season has just ended and most managers, scouts and coaches are away winding down.

"They come back in the middle of June and start thinking."

Bates also pointed out that Beckford is under contract for another twelve months and Leeds are in no rush to sell and will only do so when a decent offer is tabled.

Back to doing the gardening then folks!

Photo: Action Images

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