Leeds have issued a statement this morning to confirm the story in the Sun that we have accepted an offer from Norwich City for club captain Johnny Howson. This news has hit the fans much harder than departure of any of the other players, and on the messageboards many long standing fans are saying that it’s no longer worth the bother of coming to matches.
Ok, so my headline was wrong yesterday, as Adam Clayton wasn’t the next player to leave the club, as Howson has beaten him to it. The statement from the club reads “The club has reluctantly accepted the offer on the basis that the player only has six months of his current contract remaining and has expressed a desire that he would like to play Premier League football at the earliest opportunity.
The club has been in discussions with the player about a new contract at Elland Road for more than 12 months, but he has been steadfast in his position that he would like the opportunity to play Premier League football and on that basis Jonny hasn't felt in a position to commit himself to Leeds United at this moment in time.
The player would be able to leave on a free transfer at the end of his current contract. While accepting the offer on Tuesday the player has still to agree terms with Norwich and we are disappointed the matter has become public at this stage”.
In other words, Howson didn’t think much of our chances of winning promotion this season, which doesn’t say a lot for the spirit of the players in the squad. Once the players start to see their colleagues leaving and cut price replacements coming in, our better players will start to feel that the club isn’t going to match their ambitions, so they decide to join the exodus as soon as they get the chance.
Howson’s next contract will take him into the peak years of his career, and we can’t blame him for not wanting to spend his best seasons at a club treading water in mid-table in the Championship. But he grew up in Leeds and was a supporter for several years before he joined the club as a teenager, so if he can’t be persuaded to remain at Elland Road, what hope is there of the club keeping hold of any of our other top players?
It’s significant that Howson is going to Norwich, the club that many Leeds fans regard as an example of what we could have achieved over the last couple of years. After the two clubs were promoted from League One together, they won a second promotion while we faltered last season, and have gone on to establish themselves in the Premiership by improving their squad. They have already signed Bradley Johnson on a free, as well as keeping hold of the key players they already had, like Grant Holt.
None of us want a return to the Ridsdale days of spending huge sums of money we didn’t have, but with Leeds being one of the biggest clubs in the Championship we should at least be able to set a budget to compete for promotion. You have to wonder where all the money is going, when we have some of the highest ticket prices in the division and have received some decent transfer fees in the last few years. Remember the £6million we got for Fabian Delph?
We can expect a lot more anti-Bates chanting on Saturday when we face Ipswich, and maybe another full scale demonstration. One thing is becoming ever more obvious. Leeds United will not move forward again until Ken Bates has gone.