Macca posts his lucky numbers
Friday, 1st Aug 2008 13:37

The squad numbers for the new season have been announced, which could give us a bit of a guide to the manager’s thoughts.

It’s fair to say that the low numbers are likely to be his first choice players. If we are to take it literally and assume that numbers one to eleven are Mc.Allister’s ideal starting line-up, then it looks as though we’re going to play a 3-5-2 formation, with three central defenders.

Richardson and Sheehan would then provide the width going forward, which would compensate for the lack of wide players amongst the midfield. Up front, most Leeds fans would be happy to see new signing Becchio getting a game ahead of Kandol.

Obviously everbody down as far as number 25 would get a game at some stage, but then a few ominous gaps start to appear in the sequence, and those at the bottom end had better start to think about their post-Leeds career.

Weston and Bayly have already gone on loan, and it’s already been widely reported that Carole and Westlake have been offered to other clubs. Finnish player Sorsa hasn’t appeared since he joined the club in January, so we have to assume that he’s failed to come up to the mark.

With the transfer window still open for another month, we might still be filling some of those gaps in the squad, but to be able to afford any more signings, we might need to get a few of these fringe players off the books. Paul Telfer is still keen to come to Leeds, Gary McAllister told the Yorkshire Post "I've got a decision to make, and it's one I'm keeping close to my chest at the moment. He's an incredibly fit guy and he made the most of his time with us. It's something we're weighing up."

Telfer has played in three of our pre-season games and is available on a free transfer, as he left Bournemouth in December to have an operation on a foot injury. Telfer said "I've worked with Gary before (at Coventry City) and if there was an opportunity to work with him again then I'd have no hesitation in taking it. Leeds have a budget which they need to stick to so a lot will probably depend on that, but I enjoyed my trial and I felt fit. The foot didn't bother me at all."

The Full squad list is as follows:-

1 Casper Ankergren

2 Frazer Richardson

3 Paul Huntington

4 Jonathan Douglas

5 Rui Marques

6 Lubo Michalik

7 David Prutton

8 Neil Kilkenny

9 Jermaine Beckford

10 Luciano Becchio

11 Alan Sheehan

12 David Lucas