Leeds United will give their three trialists another run-out at Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday with Simon Grayson planning to rule on their fate after the weekend.
Leeds included Jlloyd Samuel, Isaiah Osbourne and French winger Alexandre Mendy in their squad for Tuesday’s pre-season friendly against Rochdale, and Grayson is planning to assess them again at Hillsborough on Saturday.
Thirty-year-old Samuel is a free agent and the most experienced of the three players after long spells in the Premier League with Aston Villa and Bolton Wanderers.
The left-back completed 45 minutes of United’s 1-0 win over Rochdale while former Villa trainee Osbourne played out the final half-hour in the centre of midfield.
Mendy, meanwhile, caught the eye with a lively performance in the first half and is set for a second outing with Leeds in Sheffield.
United declined to name the Frenchman on Tuesday night, preferring to keep his identity secret.
The 27-year-old winger played in the Czech Republic with FK Mlada Boleslav last season but left the club at the end of his contract.
He arrived at Thorp Arch on Monday and was given an immediate opportunity to impress at Spotland.
Grayson said: “He’s been recommended to us and hasn’t trained too much since the end of last season so we thought it would be a good opportunity to have a look at him.
“To be fair to him, I thought he did well. He was positive when he had the ball and he knew the shape of the team.”
Samuel and Osbourne linked up with Grayson’s squad on the morning of the Rochdale game and are continuing to train at Thorp Arch.
Osbourne left Villa in May after 30 appearances for the Birmingham club.
“They’ve both got Premier League experience, especially Jlloyd, and they’re going to be keen to impress and get contracts,” Grayson said.
“We can wait as long as we like before making offers but if they do particularly well then it’s something we might do quicker.
“All three will be with us until the weekend and they’ll play some part at Sheffield Wednesday. We’ll move things on from there.”
Showing posts with label jloyd samuel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label jloyd samuel. Show all posts
Thursday, 21 July 2011
Tuesday, 19 July 2011
Gradel on Target for Leeds
Leeds included three trialists in their squad at Rochdale tonight but it was the club’s Player of the Year Max Gradel whose first-half goal made it three pre-season wins out of three.
An unnamed left winger (Believed to be Alexandre Mendy) made the starting line-up, and included among the substitutes were free agents JLoyd Samuel and Isaiah Osbourne.
Former Bolton and Aston Villa left back Samuel, 30, spent the final month of last season on loan at Cardiff, while defensive midfielder Osbourne, 23, has been released by Villa and has been on loan at Sheffield Wednesday, Nottingham Forest and Middlesbrough.
United opened the scoring on the half hour. Rochdale lost possession, enabling Billy Paynter to set up Gradel, who switched the ball from right foot to left and shot past keeper Matt Duke into the bottom corner of the net.
Missing from the Leeds squad were Robert Snodgrass, Lloyd Sam and Patrick Kisnorbo, who collected knocks last week in Scotland, while Luciano Becchio, Davide Somma and Andy O’Brien, who missed the Scotland games through injury, were again absent.
Gradel and former Portsmouth midfielder Michael Brown were to the fore as United bossed the first half and were well worth their half-time lead, though Leeds keeper Paul Rachubka had to palm a smart shot from Andrew Tuttle over the bar.
JLoyd Samuel was among a clutch of substitutions made by manager Simon Grayson at the start of the second half, the unnamed trialist being one of the players taken off. Osbourne had to wait until just after the hour to take over from Jonny Howson in central midfield.
Brown took the captain’s arm band from Howson and the pair are set to be rivals for the skipper’s role in the new season. Then, when Brown was substituted, Leigh Bromby became Leeds’ third player to undertake the captain’s duties.
With both sides making regular substitutions, there was little pattern to the game and United comfortably kept a clean sheet.
An unnamed left winger (Believed to be Alexandre Mendy) made the starting line-up, and included among the substitutes were free agents JLoyd Samuel and Isaiah Osbourne.
Former Bolton and Aston Villa left back Samuel, 30, spent the final month of last season on loan at Cardiff, while defensive midfielder Osbourne, 23, has been released by Villa and has been on loan at Sheffield Wednesday, Nottingham Forest and Middlesbrough.
United opened the scoring on the half hour. Rochdale lost possession, enabling Billy Paynter to set up Gradel, who switched the ball from right foot to left and shot past keeper Matt Duke into the bottom corner of the net.
Missing from the Leeds squad were Robert Snodgrass, Lloyd Sam and Patrick Kisnorbo, who collected knocks last week in Scotland, while Luciano Becchio, Davide Somma and Andy O’Brien, who missed the Scotland games through injury, were again absent.
Gradel and former Portsmouth midfielder Michael Brown were to the fore as United bossed the first half and were well worth their half-time lead, though Leeds keeper Paul Rachubka had to palm a smart shot from Andrew Tuttle over the bar.
JLoyd Samuel was among a clutch of substitutions made by manager Simon Grayson at the start of the second half, the unnamed trialist being one of the players taken off. Osbourne had to wait until just after the hour to take over from Jonny Howson in central midfield.
Brown took the captain’s arm band from Howson and the pair are set to be rivals for the skipper’s role in the new season. Then, when Brown was substituted, Leigh Bromby became Leeds’ third player to undertake the captain’s duties.
With both sides making regular substitutions, there was little pattern to the game and United comfortably kept a clean sheet.
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