Warnock Begins Leeds Clear-out

Leeds United manager Neil Warnock has said that he intends to release those players that are not part of his plans for next season sooner rather than later to give them the opportunity to sort out their own future.Warnock has promised a clear out of those players who are not part of his long-term plans and he started on Monday by terminating the contracts of Ben Parker and Mika Vayrynen who were both out of contract in the summer.Speaking on Yorkshire Radio, Warnock said, "There is going to be quite a lot of movement over the next few weeks and in the summer."We might as well do things now, when I know they will not form part of my plans. It is going to be the same over the next few weeks. I am going to try to give everybody the opportunity to get themselves fixed up with another club if I am not going to keep them. I have always tried to do that."

The Leeds boss has a number of players out of contract in the summer including Maik Taylor and Lloyd Sam who are currently out on loan with Millwall and Notts County respectively.

There are also a number of players with first team experience this season who are also coming to the end of their current deals at Elland Road.

Aidy White, Michael Brown, Mikael Forssell, Danny Webber and Alex Bruce are out of contract whilst Darren O`Dea and Paul Robinson will come to the end of their loan deals.

Young twins Nathan and Lewis Turner who have yet to feature in the first team for Leeds will also be out of contract after signing their first professional deals last summer.

Ben Parker set for Loan Move

Simon Grayson has confirmed that Leeds United plan to send Ben Parker out on loan next month, allowing the left-back to step up his comeback after two-and-a-half years of injury problems.
Parker will be made available on a temporary basis in the January transfer window amid fresh hope that the worst of his fitness concerns are behind him.The 24-year-old was forced to consider quitting the game earlier this season after suffering a set-back during his appearance in United’s Carling Cup win over Bradford City in August.Parker has endured a series of injuries and operations since straining a hamstring far back in 2009, but he is training with Leeds’ senior squad again and has taken part in a number of reserve and youth-team fixtures.His prospects of a swift first-team recall are slim, however, with his match fitness in need of improvement and Aidan White firmly established as United’s regular left-back, and Grayson will intends to loan him to another Football League club in the coming weeks.The United manager said: “I’d have thought that would be a good option for him and for us.“He’s had such a long time out and it was good to see him come through another reserve game last week. If he can maintain his training before the window opens, there might be a couple of options for him to go out on loan.

“It’s important – vital really – that he starts playing football again, for his benefit and our benefit.”

Speaking last week, Parker, who made his senior debut for Leeds more than four years ago, said: I’d be stupid to think I’ll sit around and bide my time at Leeds or that the manager’s going to throw me in.

“I know he’s not going to throw me in – it’s too much of a risk for him.

“I need to go out on loan and prove myself, to show him that I can play games without getting injured and prove to the footballing world that I haven’t disappeared.

“Hopefully it’ll be a possibility to go out on loan for a month in January, to get some games played and then take it from there.”

Leeds set to shuffle the Pack

Leeds United will be without four players due to international commitments for tonight’s Carling Cup first-round derby with Bradford City at Elland Road.Robert Snodgrass and Max Gradel are missing, with the former part of the Scotland squad due to take on Denmark at Hampden Park in a friendly tomorrow.
Gradel, handed his senior bow by the Ivory Coast in early June – coming on as a sub in the African Cup of Nations qualifiying win against Benin – will be hoping to claim his second full cap in the Elephants’ friendly against Israel at the Ivorian capital of Abidjan, also tomorrow.
Darren O’Dea, who joined the club late last week on a season-long loan from Glasgow Celtic, is unavailable with the defender in the Republic of Ireland squad for their clash with Croatia in Dublin tomorrow evening.
Another who has been called up by the boys in green is United teenager Aidy White, with the Horsforth lad handed a call-up last week ahead of Ireland U21s’ clash with their Austrian counterparts, which takes place in Sligo this evening (6pm).It’s White’s first call-up to the squad with the 19-year-old recently switching allegiance to Ireland after previously making his England U19 debut as a sub against the Czech Republic in March 2009.

Ben Parker is tipped to start at left-back, while Ramon Nunez, Lloyd Sam, Billy Paynter and Leigh Bromby could also be handed starts, with Alex Bruce and Mike Grella also in contention.

City could again be without full-back and former captain Simon Ramsden, who missed Saturday’s 2-1 home loss to Aldershot because of a calf strain, tonight.

Centre-half Steve Williams is expected to feature after shrugging off a thigh injury and could replace Lee Bullock, injured at the weekend. Ritchie Jones is also in the reckoning following injury for City, set to hand a debut to Spurs loan keeper Oscar Jansson.

United will make a decision on trialists Felix Luz – who scored a hat-trick for a United XI against Farsley on Saturday – Dennis Grote and Ibrahim Maaroufi shortly, possibly at some point today or tomorrow.