Ken Bates insists his straight-talking relationship with Neil Warnock will prove a successful one for Leeds United – and has given short shrift to talk of it being a clash of egos.

Warnock’s appointment as Whites boss was confirmed on Saturday after meeting Bates in Monaco the previous day and despite the pair’s forthright nature, the Elland Road chief is confident their chemistry will work.

On his relationship with Warnock, who famously turned down Bates’ offer to take over at Chelsea in 1991, Bates said: “We don’t waste time skirting around matters, we tackle problems in an honest and open way. It’s much better than skirting around situations; that takes much longer and sometimes you have misunderstandings.

“We say what we think. That sort of makes you controversial and it’s (considered) a joke. Most people who are asked their opinion don’t give one.

“We say it as it is. I’ve known Neil for many years and I’ve reminded him of the occasion when Sheffield United won promotion under his managership and I took 12 cases of Dom Perignon champagne into their dressing room for them to celebrate and afterwards it finished in the back of his car boot.

“I reminded him of that on Friday and I said: ‘This time when we win promotion and the Dom Perignon’s in the dressing room, it stays there!’ And Neil burst out laughing and that’s the relationship we’re having.”

Warnock reportedly rebuffed rival interest from five clubs to take on the challenge at United, with Bates stating that the 63-year-old’s motivation to gloss his distinguished managerial career by getting Leeds back to their traditional home of the Premiership and clinching a footballing milestone in the process swayed his decision.

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The veteran Sheffield-born boss was afforded a dream start after a thrilling come-from-behind success over Yorkshire neighbours Doncaster Rovers on Saturday, the hosts snatching victory from two goals down.

And Bates believes the result could yet be a turning point in United’s season.

Bates said: “Neil wasn’t particularly motivated by money. He’s got his ambition – he’s one of three managers who has won promotion seven times and wants to make it an eight.

“He wants to take Leeds back into the Premiership and crown his own personal career, which you can’t blame him for.”

On Saturday’s success, he added: “I think it (the Doncaster win) could prove the turning point of the season. To be fair, we have come back from two goals down before, but I think it was in the spirit it was done. A cause of that was the entry of the gladiator, so to speak, which gave us those three points and kept us within touching distance of the play-offs with just 14 games to go.

“It always happens when you bring a new man in, it’s a breath of fresh air sort of thing and there’s different attitudes and I’m glad to see the team’s responded to him.”

* Meanwhile, Bates has wished Simon Grayson well following his appointment as Huddersfield Town boss on Tuesday, just under three weeks after he was axed as United boss.

He said: “We had him for three years and he did a good job and stabilised the club and got us promotion.

“It’s always difficult when you part company with managers, but things had drifted away this season and that was the reason why it was time for a change.

“But I’d like to place on record my thanks to him and his merry men for what they did and I wish them well in their new job. But of course, since it’s Huddersfield, not too well!”

Check out latest football transfer gossip around the leagues. Is your favourite player tipped for a move?

Zenit St Petersburg claim they are in negotiations with Arsenal to bring Andrey Arshavin back to the club on loan. “We had [initial] talks with them. Let’s see how they respond now,” the Russian club’s general director, Maxim Mitrofanov, was quoted as saying.

Full story: Sovetsky Sport [In Russian]

Frank Lampard could be set to join ex-Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti at Paris Saint-Germain.

Full story: Daily Mirror

Meanwhile, Chelsea left-back Ashley Cole, 31, is set to leave the club after clashing with manager Andre Villas-Boas.

Full story: The Sun

Arsenal are planning to spend £55m on German pair Mario Gotze and Lukas Podolski in the summer as manager Arsene Wenger looks to reinvigorate his attack.

Full story: Bild [In German]

Juventus are understood to have outlined a four-year contract for Manchester United’s 18-year-old midfielder Paul Pogba.

Full story: Daily Mail

Sunderland face competition from Sevilla and Saint Etienne in the race to land Atalanta midfielder Moussa Kone. The Ivorian has impressed this season while on loan at Serie B outfit Pescara.

Full story: talkSPORT

Al Ain have urged Sunderland to make striker Asamoah Gyan’s loan move permanent in the summer. The UAE-based team paid £6m to get Gyan on a temporary deal, and are prepared to pay another £6m.

Full story: Daily Mirror

AC Milan are set to rival Manchester United in the race to snap up Benfica midfielder Javi Garcia. The Spaniard is believed to be valued at £17m by the Portuguese giants.

Full story: talkSPORT

Reading striker Mathieu Manset is set to join fellow Frenchman Nicolas Anelka at Shanghai Shenhua after the Chinese side made a loan bid for his services.

Full story: Daily Mail

]]> 1.4275356 Thu, 23 Feb 2012 07:48:34 +0000 http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/leeds_rhinos_ben_will_fight_to_keep_place_1_4275347

Shooting Star Ben Jones-Bishop is hoping he has done enough to prove he is worth keeping in Leeds Rhinos’ team.

Jones-Bishop scored the game-breaking try in last weekend’s World Club Challenge win over Manly Sea Eagles, after being called up to replace rib injury victim Lee Smith for his first appearance of the year.

The England squad man played in Rhinos under-20s’ pre-season trials and wasn’t selected for the opening two Stobart Super League games.

He admitted that was a “frustrating” experience after his breakthrough campaign in 2011.

But he said he accepts everyone in the squad has to fight for his place and now intends to “make it hard” for anyone else to step in.

Rhinos’ initial squad for Sunday’s trip to Widnes Vikings will be announced tomorrow and Jones-Bishop said: “It was good to be involved last week.

“I wanted to be involved from the start of the season, but we’ve got a big squad and a lot of good players.

“You’ve just got to work hard and when you get your chance you have to try to take it and remain in the side.

“You want to be playing and after how we finished last year – and playing week in and week out – it was frustrating not to be part of it.

“But you have to keep your head high and keep working hard with the team. It is a squad game these days, so it is going to happen.

“Everyone in the squad is competing for places and you try and make it hard for the coach to not put you in the side.”

Jones-Bishop was thrown in at the deep end against Manly, but predicted that he will be better for the hit-out.

“It was tough, especially the first 20 minutes, getting used to the speed of the game,” he reported.

“But after that I thought I went okay. There’s things to build on and obviously the more you play the more fitness you get and you get used to the speed of things.

“It was a good start, but I am hoping to improve on that and try and keep my spot.”

It was the first time Jones-Bishop had played against NRL opposition and he said: “I’ll definitely be better from that.

“They are the Australian champions and a great side, with a lot of international players.

“Playing in those games – Grand Finals and World Club Challenges – can only benefit your game.”

Jones-Bishop is confident that there won’t be a hangover from last Friday’s famous victory when they return to league action in three days’ time.

“We enjoyed it over the weekend, but we started again on Monday,” he said.

“It’s a long week – Friday to Sunday – and we’ve had a lot of time to prepare for Widnes, so it’s straight back into it.”

● St Helens’ Australian back-row forward Chris Flannery is set to hang up his boots at the end of the season.

The former Queensland Origin player, who turns 32 in June, is out of contract at the end of the year and will not seek an extension.

“I think this will be my last year,” he said. “Hopefully, I’ll have a big year this year and finish it off in the right fashion.”

Despite a brave display in testing conditions Leeds Carnegie slipped to their second successive defeat at Nottingham on Wednesday afternoon.

Leeds head coach Diccon Edwards named a much-changed side to the one that lined up against Esher as his team aimed to bounce back from their defeat against bottom-placed Esher, whilst fifth-placed Nottingham were hoping to extend their unbeaten run to four.

Leeds were were boosted by the inclusion of new signing, Ed Williamson, who was handed a place in the starting line up to make his debut for the club.

With the wind at their backs Nottingham made a strong start and took the lead after just three minutes, through their full-back Savage. After a scrum in the Leeds 22, Nottingham played into the visitors’ midfield and Leeds missed a crucial tackle that allowed Savage in for a straightforward try. James Arlidge added the conversion to give his side a 7-0 advantage.

Dominate

Leeds were dealt two early setbacks with Phil Nilsen and Cameron Zeiss both forced to leave the field with injuries.

Nottingham continued to dominate the game for the first 30 minutes and although the Carnegie defence prevented them adding a second try, they did stretch their lead with a successful Arlidge penalty on 25 minutes.

With 10 minutes to go in the first half the visitors found some composure and with increased possession they began to threaten their hosts. Will Cliff made a solid break back towards the ruck but despite this promising period of play they were unable to get the try they deserved and their only score of the first half was a penalty from Jordan Davies in the final minute of the half.

Within three minutes of the restart Leeds narrowed the deficit with a well-worked try. Ollie Richards made the break before finding the supporting Ollie Denton who went over for the try. Davies though was unable to add the conversion but at 10-8 it looked like Leeds were in a strong position to get something from the game.

Minutes later Nottingham extended their lead when Leeds were ruled to have made an infringement at the scrum and the referee awarded the home side a penalty try, which Arlidge converted.

The Carnegie men used the wind to their advantage in the second half but Nottingham regularly won their own line-out ball to prevent Leeds from gaining any momentum.

Davies kept Leeds in the game with another penalty to bring the score to 17-11, but with just over 10 minutes to play Nottingham grabbed a try which ultimately put the game beyond Leeds. Arlidge intercepted a Cliff pass and then ran unopposed to the tryline. He converted his own try to make it 24-11.

Both sides to their credit attempted to play expansive rugby during the course of the second half but neither could break through for a further score and Leeds now head into their final regular league game on the back of two defeats, although they will be more encouraged by their performance in this fixture as they aim to finish in a strong play-off position.

Ten years ago today Leeds Rhinos were reflecting on the previous evening’s 44-4 home win over lower division side Hull KR, which had secured a place in the Challenge Cup quarter-finals.

Aussie Ben Walker – brought in to replace Iestyn Harris following his move to rugby union – had kicked six goals to go with tries by Chev Walker (2), Keith Senior (2), Marcus St Hilaire, Mark Calderwood, Kevin Sinfield and Rob Burrow.

Next up for Leeds were London Broncos – a game in which Andy Hay touched down four times – in their opening Super League fixture on March 3 (the date of this year’s round four).

They were then crushed 38-6 at Hull in their first away game, before a 46-10 home cup success against Wakefield Trinity Wildcats.

After that the season fell into a familiar pattern. Rhinos reached the cup semi-finals, as they usually did and slumped to an humiliating 42-16 defeat to St Helens.

Thrashing

In the league they finished a respectable fourth, behind St Helens, Bradford and Wigan, with a record of 17 wins and 11 defeats.

After beating Hull at home in the opening round of the play-offs, Leeds’ season ended in a 41-18 thrashing at Wigan.

it was a routine season for one of, not just rugby league’s, but British sport’s great under-achievers.

Leeds’ last trophy had been at Wembley three years earlier and it was 30 years since their previous Championship win. Most diehard fans had probably given up hope of seeing Leeds ever crowned champions again.

Anyone a decade ago who had predicted that in 2012 Leeds would be celebrating a record-equalling third World Club Challenge triumph, after five Super League Grand Final wins in the previous eight years would have been whisked away by men in white coats.

The transformation at Headingley Carnegie in the space of 10 years has been truly astonishing, but perhaps, if you look closely enough, there were signs of it back in 2002.

The previous campaign had been an injury-ravaged one, but a number of young players, including Burrow, Danny McGuire, Matt Diskin and Jamie Jones-Buchanan, had begun to emerge as potential first-team stalwarts. They were to become the backbone of the side over the forthcoming successful seasons as Rhinos’ youth policy finally started to pay off.

Burrow, McGuire and Jones-Buchanan – along with Sinfield, another survivor from 2002 – were key men in last Friday’s world title conquering of Manly Sea Eagles.

Ignoring the various Grand Final successes, last weekend was up there with the cup win over Bradford at Valley Parade, the 12-man 1998 cup victory against Wigan and last year’s epic play-off downing of Warrington Wolves as one of Rhinos’ most memorable modern triumphs.

As this column noted last week, there have been more important matches at Headingley over the years, but surely few such passionate and uplifting evenings. It was a vindication of everything Rhinos have done as a club over the past decade.

The decision to stage the tie at Headingley certainly paid off. Judging by the chants of “We hate Rhinos” coming from the South Stand a couple of hours before kick off, not everybody in the 21,000 crowd turned up to support Leeds.

But the atmosphere produced was unique and inspirational and it did visibly lift the players, particularly at times during the second half when they were defending grimly on their own line.

At one stage, when Leeds conceded a series of penalties deep in their territory, the response was not the usual moaning and groaning at the referee, but instead a roar of defiance which did credit to everyone who paid good money to be there.

Rhinos’ win restored credibility to the competition and to Super League and will make an expanded World Club Challenge a real possibility. That would have been a non-starter had Rhinos lost last Friday.

Leeds finished fifth in Super League last year, remember, which suggests England has a number of teams which could compete with the NRL’s best.

Rusty

Leeds played well and – here’s the thing – Manly gave a decent account of themselves, under the circumstances. They were obviously rusty, but there was no question of them not being up for the game.

The visitors gave it their best shot, unlike some Aussie sides in the past and that makes Rhinos’ win all the more creditable.

There have been the usual complaints from Australia: Manly are still in pre-season, they hadn’t played a warm-up match, were on the wrong end of some dubious decisions and had to concede home advantage.

All valid, but Manly had known about the fixture since last October and it was their choice to arrive late and not have a practice game, so that’s no excuse.

Rhinos were perfectly willing – keen even – to play in Australia and as for the referee, Ashley Klein is an Aussie. Warrington Wolves beat South Sydney on the Aussies’ home patch in a pre-season game a few weeks ago, so it can be done.

Rhinos’ third world title win was achieved with a team including only three overseas players. Nine were from Leeds, two from the Wakefield district and one each from Oldham, Manchester and Oxford.

And it is a side with the potential to get better. Thought will soon have to be given to replacing the irreplaceable Jamie Peacock, Kylie Leuluai is in his final season and Brent Webb has also reached the veteran stage.

But there’s a few years left in the likes of Sinfield, Burrow, McGuire and Jones-Buchanan and others – including Carl Ablett and Chris Clarkson – are now vastly experienced, but still improving.

Leeds’ young outside-backs should be the envy of clubs in both hemispheres. It has been obvious for a while that Ryan Hall is a special talent, Ben Jones-Bishop is already an England squad member and Zak Hardaker and Kallum Watkins have the potential to achieve anything they want.

And there’s others coming through. Brad Singleton has made one substitute appearance in Super League, while Stevie Ward and Liam Hood have yet to feature. All three have a very big future.

And watch out for Jordan Baldwinson and Liam Sutcliffe in a few seasons’ time.

In the shorter term, the World Club Challenge victory will stand Rhinos in good stead for the season, though Sunday’s trip to Widnes Vikings will be an interesting test of their professionalism.

Back in 2008, Leeds lost at rock-bottom Castleford Tigers in their first Super League game after the World Club Challenge win over Melbourne Storm.

The difference this time is that Leeds have more than a full week to prepare and are hungry to prove a point after last year’s fifth place league finish.

Now the Manly game is out of the way, the focus is very much on a top-two finish in Super League. The unfortunate thing from the English club’s point of view is that they will face very few matches this year which will equal the intensity of last Friday’s clash, while Manly will have to be at that level most weeks.

Rhinos deserve to bask in the glory, but there is a warning from a decade ago. In 2002 Bradford Bulls beat Newcastle Knights to win their first world title – and look where they are now.

It’s just 19 days to go until day one of the Cheltenham Festival – and I’m guessing my VIP invite is still in the post.

Or not, but on a serious note, the news that Paul Nicholls has horses coughing in his yard must be a concern and here’s hoping the champ has his string back in rude health for Tuesday, March 13.

Nicholls, a regular user of Twitter, admitted that Saturday was one of his worst days ever as a trainer with even the fact that the Ditcheat handler had not had a single winner from 16 runners failing to tell the full tale.

That fact alone is staggering and worrying –- Nicholls usually has around a 23 per cent strike rate and we must also remember that eight of his weekend runners were favourite or second favourite.

But it got worse with one of those – the likeable The Minack – suffering a nasty fall at Ascot with Nicholls revealing afterwards to his near 40,000 followers on Twitter that the eight-year-old had suffered a “serious career- threatening injury”.

“Not a great day,” the champion trainer added, though one of the Channel 4 Racing presenters said that Nicholls had said that it was one of his worst days ever.

Ironic

There can’t be many days where he has drawn a blank from so many runners and while terrible timing, the news emerging on Monday that several horses in his yard were coughing came as no surprise, not when you consider that over the weekend as a whole the Ditcheat handler had just one winner from 31 runners.

How ironic that that particular winner was last week’s big Horses For Courses fancy Zarkandar and how good he must be is another tale altogether.

How much you make of the news that Nicholls admitted that several of his horses are coughing is open to debate but it’s certainly not a positive with the Festival so near.

It is the four days of racing that every trainer gears their big hopes towards and obviously the aim is to approach the Festival on the crest of a wave and not on a downer.

It must be stressed that Nicholls also revealed that only “around a dozen” were coughing but given the desperate results at the weekend it seems that more than that, to a degree, are under the weather.

Nicholls still has a whole host of horses entered over the next few days so is far from shutting up shop temporarily but it will be fascinating to monitor the Nicholls runners over the next week or so because there is no doubting the significance if his yard is out of form at Cheltenham.

Of the ante-post betting races, Nicholls trains eight runners that are either very well fancied favourites or second favourites.

Big Buck’s is clearly the main biggy and the awesome hurdler would probably still win if he had a devastating cold, never mind a cough.

That’s not to say that Big Buck’s is one of the dozen or so that are coughing but, nonetheless, he can now be backed at 8-13 with SportingBet.

Assuming the champion trainer gets his team over this little stumbling block that could look an absolute steal.

the other main Nicholls hope is Kauto Star –- 7-2 second favourite for the Gold Cup behind Long Run–- but other ante-post market leaders are Harry The Viking (8-1 fav for National Hunt Challenge Cup), Prospect Wells (14-1 fav for County Hurdle) and Ted Spread (12-1 for Conditionals Handicap Hurdle).

They might seem juicy prices for favourites but they will be a lot shorter than that on the day.

then there are the likes of Al Ferof (11-2 for the Arkle), Zarkandar (6-1 for the Champion Hurdle) and the fascinating Rocky Creek (10-1 for the Albert Bartlett).

In light of the coughing issue, Nicholls, who has been leading trainer at the Festival six times, was pushed out by every bookmaker to a best-priced 5-2 to scoop that gong behind Willie Mullins (11-8) and Nicky Henderson (9-4), but the cool-as-ice Ditcheat man said on Tuesday that there was “no need to panic”.

My money is on him bouncing back in style and let’s just hope so.

After all, the Festival is hard enough without having that quandary to size up as well.

It’s that time of the year when the very best in the county manage to reach that little bit further than the rest of us as they secure their spot in the English Indoor Bowling Association national finals at Nottingham.

With nine major competitions available to the male bowler, with age limits in play for some of those, February proves to be a busy time that leads into a lull before the season finally explodes into life with the start of the outdoor season in April.

Featherstone, as is their way, have dominated the roll call of national finals qualifiers once again this year. The names might have changed in some cases, yet they have proven once more that there really isn’t the class in the county to match them in the knockout, individual or smaller rink games.

John Webster is the club’s qualifier through the district in the singles event at Nottingham.

Webster, who plays alongside brother Nathan and team-mates John Whiteley and Jeff Normanton for Alverthorpe outdoors, saw off the challenge of county under-25 bowler Adam Liddell (21-19) in the final qualifying round of area four.

He beat fellow nationals qualifier Stan Thompson in the early stages before taking out the old stager, Eddie Howcroft and Whiteley.

Liddell had a storming run to the final round, beating fellow York bowlers Mark Clarke and David Attwood before having the narrowest of wins, 21-20, against Mark Hughes.

The pairs competition was settled with an all-Featherstone regional tie, with Tony Horobin, and Thompson seeing off Whiteley and Normanton 18-15.

Horobin and Thompson had to come from the first round back in October to secure their place in the finals in April and also saw off the pair skipped by Hughes, 21-20.

Whiteley and Normanton beat David Attwood and Paul Humphreys in their semi-final.

The triples competition is still in progress with the final qualifier once again to be decided by two Featherstone rinks.

Whiteley will be keen to secure his place in the nationals once more, this time as he comes up against the rink of Craig Newton.

Both had a single-shot victory en route to the final qualifier. Newton’s team beat Hughes’ trio 19-18 while Whiteley’s team overcame J Moulds’ threesome by the same score.

Newton is also in the running to qualify in the Area Fours, facing York’s David Stroughair’s quartet in the final section.

Newton’s rink has enjoyed fair passage to the final two – winning their games 26-15, 17-8 (against Howcroft) and 19-7 (against John Walker’s York rink).

Stroughair’s quartet survived one close game, a 21-20 win against the quartet of A Cook.

Flush

A win for Newton will make for the full flush for Featherstone in the top four national competitions this winter.

Hughes will undoubtedly be disappointed with the way his national campaign has gone this season.

Having moved from Leeds to Featherstone, he will have been looking to build on his under-25 performances at national and area level to get to Nottingham in the senior events.

His record in the big four ended up as a 21-20 loss in the singles, 21-20 in the pairs, 19-18 in the triples and 18-15 in the fours.

However, it is only a matter of time before Hughes shows he can dominate the national qualifiers in the way that Whiteley – the only Yorkshire bowler in the top 100 ranked national final qualifiers – has.

All it will take is that one game, one reversal of a one-shot loss and he’ll be booking a fair amount of accommodation in Nottingham in the years to come.

There have already been three national competitions played out to this stage.

Hughes lost both sets in the under-25 finals at the end of last month. He went down in the first round in a competition that also saw England Commonwealth Games bowler Sam Tolchard miss out after losing in the semi-final.

In the over 50/60 age groups, both the over-60 fours and over-50 triples reached a conclusion last week.

The Featherstone four of Ken Griffiths, Andy Lockwood, David Colbourne and Horobin bowed out 18-17 in the first round.

At the same time the over-50 triples of Graham Brooke, Paul Mooring and Stroughair had a great run in their competition before losing in the final to a triple from Beccles, Suffolk.

The main action gets under way in Nottingham from Thursday March 29. By that time we will be reporting on the first action in the West Riding cup, but we’ll still find time to tie up all the loose ends – to hopefully celebrate our winners as they return from Nottingham, just in time for the start of the new crown season.

* The picture is still no clearer in terms of the Yorkshire County league, with a couple of results still outstanding from the last round of action.

The league still has Leeds at the foot of the table without registering their recent 12-6 win over Doncaster.

The victory would only be enough to edge the side above Ryedale, who would themselves only need no worse than a 12-6 defeat to keep Leeds below them.

Leeds play North Cave this weekend.

The side from the eastern half of the county need to beat Leeds 14-4 to go above Harrogate as the league moves towards its final weekend of action.

English clubs are facing up to their worst season in the Champions League since 1996.

Not since that year, when Blackburn was the Premier League’s sole representative in Europe’s top club competition, has an English club failed to make the quarter-finals.

The disastrous first legs suffered by Arsenal and Chelsea in Italy, combined with the Manchester clubs’ failure to make the knock-out stages, means that there is now every likelihood of a last-eight made up purely of continental sides.

It is in stark contrast to the years from 2007 to 2009, when in each of the three seasons, three of the four semi-finalists were English: either Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool.

For David O’Leary, who managed Leeds to the Champions League semi-final in 2001, the change is down to a simple reason: the quality of the top Premier League sides has slumped.

United boss Sir Alex Ferguson disagrees, insisting the English clubs will be dominant again, but O’Leary is concerned that the need to keep the Premier League established as the most exciting brand of football in the world has made the values of simple defending expendable.

O’Leary told Press Association Sport: “The quality of the Premier League has not improved - if anything it has gone backwards.

“Chelsea have gone backwards, Arsenal have gone backwards, Liverpool are not a challenge any more.

“I think even Sir Alex would not view his current United side as his best crop so it was a fantastic achievement to get to the Champions League final and win the league last year.

“Manchester City have had an unbelievable amount of money to spend but they are still emerging.

“We have got carried away with it - I’ve just come back from Dubai and the only football they really get excited about is the Premier League. Defending-wise the top teams are conceding too many goals and that really hurts them in Europe.

“Think of the Chelsea side under Jose Mourinho with a young John Terry and Frank Lampard - a really strong team; think of the Arsenal side of a few years ago or Manchester United when Cristiano Ronaldo was there. Are they as good [now]? No way.”

Raymond Verheijen, the experienced Dutch coach who worked under Guus Hiddink for many years before becoming assistant to the late Wales manager Gary Speed, was blunt in his assessment after Arsenal’s 4-0 humbling by AC Milan last week, saying: “Milan just needed 45 minutes to once again prove the point that the quality of football in the Premier League is getting lower and lower.”

Ferguson, however, disagrees and believes that English sides are merely at the bottom of a cycle that sees particular countries dominate in Europe at different times and that the Premier League clubs are not “on the slide”.

The United manager said: “First of all, success in Europe can sometimes go in cycles. Spain had a great cycle about 10 years ago when Valencia, Deportivo, Villarreal, Real Madrid and Barcelona were all dominant. There were three of them in the semi-final one year.

“We have had a great cycle in the Premier League for the last eight years with teams getting to the semi-finals and finals. I don’t see that subsiding. I think the English teams will still be dominant.

“We have had a bad year this year. We have in particular - I can only judge myself. We are disappointed with how we have done. Arsenal and Chelsea have had disappointing results but both clubs have had injury problems and you can’t expect them to get the best results without their best teams.

“It is maybe a little bit disappointing season but to my mind, it is not definite that we are on the slide.”

The longer-term issue for English clubs is the UEFA co-efficient which governs the number of clubs they have in the Champions League group stage.

If Premier League clubs repeat the failure next year and Italian Serie A sides continue to improve then England could face a real threat of their allocation being cut from four places to three.

One off-season is manageable, but the warning signs are there.

Leeds Rhinos star Jamie Peacock has told of his pride after receiving the MBE from the Queen at Buckingham Palace today.

The 34-year-old headed to London to pick up the award, given in recognition of his services to rugby league.

Leeds-born Peacock’s visit to the capital came just five days after he helped Rhinos to their World Club Challenge victory over Australian side Manly Sea Eagles.

The veteran front-rower and England captain said: “Coming down here is the greatest honour so far in my career.

“This is great exposure for myself but it’s humbling to realise there are people from outside the sport looking in and thinking I’m doing good things within the sport.

“I’m also pleased for the sport itself, it gets some recognition through the fact I’ve received the MBE.”

Yorkshire have posted a loss of £460,000 for 2011 - their second consecutive deficit.

The figures are more encouraging than in 2010, when the county’s costly experiment with hosting the neutral Test between Australia and Pakistan contributed to a loss of £1.8million.

Yorkshire said the figures were in line with expectations due to there being no Test at Headingley last year and predicted an improvement in the 2012 accounts due two England matches at the ground this summer - a Test against South Africa and a one-day international versus the West Indies.

A club statement read: “Yorkshire County Cricket Club will inform its members at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Saturday 24 March 2012 that it has generated turnover of £5.4m and a post-tax deficit of £460,000.

“These results are in line with expectation and are significantly improved over 2010, where a £1.8m deficit was reported. Although the club is disappointed to be reporting a second consecutive loss, the results are consistent with forecast and reflect the club not staging a Test match in 2011.

“2011 attendances were hugely encouraging, with over 12,000 people attending the Friends Life T20 match against Lancashire, and a sell-out for the one-day international against Sri Lanka.

“2012 will be a much better year for the club financially with the return of a full international match schedule. Advance ticket sales for both the England v South Africa Test match and the England v West Indies ODI are higher than hoped for at this stage and, with international cricket guaranteed at Headingley Carnegie Cricket Ground until 2019, the club is now far more confident about its financial future.”

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Check out a special edition of The Boot Room which discusses the appointment of Neil Warnock as Leeds United’s new manager.

The show is presented by Andrew Hutchinson with YEP chief football writer Phil Hay.

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Leeds United’s chance of promotion this season is alive and well with Neil Warnock as manager, according to former vice-captain Shaun Derry.

In an interview with the Yorkshire Evening Post, Derry described Warnock’s appointment as “the best possible decision” and warned Championship clubs against writing Leeds out of the fight for a play-off position.

Derry, 34, was a central figure in the Queens Park Rangers squad who won the Championship title during Warnock’s one full season as manager at Loftus Road, and he said the 63-year-old’s track record in England’s second tier made him an obvious target for Leeds chairman Ken Bates in the aftermath of Simon Grayson’s sacking.

“It’s the best possible decision Ken Bates could have made,” Derry told the YEP. “Not just in the long-term but for this season as well.

“He’ll do big things over time but don’t underestimate the difference he’ll make here and now. His ability to lift a flat dressing room and do it overnight is amazing. Sometimes that’s all you need.”

Derry worked under Warnock at Sheffield United and Crystal Palace, and he followed him to Loftus Road after Warnock left Palace to become QPR boss in 2010.

The midfielder was ever-present in Championship fixtures last season as QPR won the division by four points and he claimed Warnock would be “tailor-made” for the job at Elland Road, where Derry played between 2005 and 2008.

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“Leeds are more than just a football club,” Derry said. “There’s the history and the expectation of the supporters, which is more than just a cliche.

“How well you do at Leeds depends on how well you deal with the pressure of wearing the white shirt.

“I’ve gone on record as saying that many players have played exceptional football before and after going to Leeds but struggled for as long as they’ve been there. It’s not the right club for everybody and it’s easy to underestimate the pressure involved.

“The same is probably true of managers. A lot of guys who succeed elsewhere would struggle at Elland Road and that’s the way it’ll always be.

“You need the right man for the situation as it stands and right now Leeds need someone with Neil’s experience and authority. Whenever I see a manager going into Leeds, I’d always ask ‘is the job too big for him?’ With Neil, that thought doesn’t even cross my mind.”

QPR’s run to the Championship title was dominant and comprehensive but not without its complications. Unbeaten until December and permanently clear of the rest of the field, their season was threatened in the closing stages by allegations that the signing of Argentine midfielder Alejandro Faurlin had breached rules on third-party ownership.

The club were threatened with a points deduction and their fate remained in doubt until the morning of their last league game at home to Leeds when the Football Association limited their punishment to a fine. After weeks of rumour and speculation, Warnock said: “When I looked at the coverage, it destroyed us. The place was like a morgue.”

“It was a strange time,” Derry said. “On paper you thought the title was in the bag but we were all waiting to see what the FA would do.

“You need good management at times like that and Neil was brilliant. He basically said it was someone else’s responsibility, not ours. Don’t worry about it and don’t think about it. That wasn’t easy but he shielded us from the attention. He was the one answering the questions and defending the club. It’s one of the reasons we were able to hold it together.

“Obviously there are problems that need sorting at Leeds. If there weren’t problems then they wouldn’t have gone looking for a new manager.

“But the last thing they needed was an average joe. Neil’s track record in the Championship speaks for himself and, to be honest, I’d have been amazed if they hadn’t gone for him. He was the obvious choice.”

Warnock watched Leeds beat Doncaster Rovers at Elland Road on Saturday afternoon and, with that performance to ponder, admitted that there were “areas (of the squad) we have to improve if we’re not to write this season off.”

He is looking to make one emergency loan signing before Saturday’s game against Portsmouth and claimed more were required to give Leeds a realistic chance of raising themselves up from 10th and into the play-offs.

As a player who Warnock has relied on many times in the past, and someone whose pride in representing Leeds has never been a secret, Derry was bound to be viewed as a possible target. But he has played 21 times for QPR this season and does not appear to be peripheral in the plans of current Rangers manager Mark Hughes.

“My full attention is on QPR,” said Derry, who along with Rangers’ squad spent last week training in Portugal. “We’re in a dog fight and we’re all determined to get out of it.

“But Neil will do big things at Leeds. I’m certain of that. I was really pleased to hear he’d got the job because I’ve always said that pulling on the Leeds United shirt was one of the proudest moments of my career. I want them to have bigger and better days ahead and I’d fancy him to give them that.

“Neil’s a Marmite character, the old love-him or hate-him routine, but I think that’s only because you don’t really get to know his true character until he’s at your club. He’s insightful and very open.

“The fans will get a good understanding of what he’s doing and why he’s doing it. They’ll see loads of passion in him too. As for the players, they’ll get structure and discipline.

“If there are divisions up there then you’ll find that they become a strong unit in no time.

“You need unity at Leeds because people are always looking to get at you and beat you. They look for problems and weaknesses. But Neil’s record in the Championship shows that his squads don’t have many. You’d be crazy to write Leeds off now.”

Fabian Delph’s time at Leeds United appears to be over, with an ankle injury threatening to end the midfielder’s season.

Delph is facing a minimum recovery period of six to eight weeks after straining ligaments in Leeds’ recent defeat to Coventry City, and the injury has cut short his month-long loan from Aston Villa.

The 22-year-old was scheduled to make the final appearance of his initial deal against Portsmouth this weekend, but Villa expect him to miss the remainder of the term and have not ruled out the possibility of Delph undergoing surgery.

Leeds sent him back to Villa for treatment last week, and he is understood to have visited a specialist in London yesterday for further assessments of the damage.

Villa manager Alex McLeish said: “He’s not fit and I don’t know if he’ll play again this season.

“I think he’s rolled his ankle enough to rule him out. It’s a shame.”

Delph is fighting to avoid an operation having seen his career at Villa Park hindered by fitness problems, but his latest injury has effectively ended the option of United extending his loan through the closing stages of their Championship term.

Former manager Simon Grayson signed Delph on an emergency basis midway through January, and Neil Redfearn – United’s caretaker in the wake of Grayson’s sacking – admitted last week that the Elland Road club would be keen to retain him.

It is not clear whether new Leeds boss Neil Warnock intended to pursue an extension but the loss of Delph, above, has weakened United’s resources in the centre of midfield.

The England Under-21 international was hurt during the second half of Leeds’ 2-1 defeat to Coventry on February 14, the last five Championship appearances made by Delph.

He left the Ricoh Arena on crutches and was immediately sent back to his parent club for assessment by Villa’s medical staff.

The Premier League were already questioning whether to extend Delph’s loan after rejecting an original attempt by Leeds to sign him until the end of the season.

McLeish recently indicated that Delph would be recalled following the conclusion of his initial deal, saying: “If he’s playing well then he might see there’s an opportunity for him here.”

* Warnock, meanwhile, took the chance to assess the wider reaches of United’s squad during a behind-closed-doors friendly against Hull City at Thorp Arch yesterday afternoon.

Nathan Turner, Lloyd Sam and Billy Paynter all found the net but Hull struck four times in return to claim a 4-3 win.

United: M Taylor, Smith, Connolly, Bromby, C Taylor, N Turner, Thompson, Nunez, Sam, Paynter, Forssell.

New Notts County manager Keith Curle has revealed that he turned down the chance to join Neil Warnock’s backroom team at Leeds United.

Curle rejected an offer to be part of United’s coaching staff in order to make a return to frontline management at Meadow Lane.

The former Mansfield Town, Chester City and Torquay United boss coached under Warnock at Crystal Palace and Queens Park Rangers but he took charge of Notts County on Monday after the League One club sacked Martin Allen.

Curle said: “Neil wanted me with him but I told him there was a possibility of me going for the job (at Notts County).

“I’ve been successful with Neil but I’ve always had the desire to be a number one again.

“In my first two jobs I made mistakes and I knew that I needed to learn the finer points of management again.

“I assisted Neil, used every day as a learning day from his day-to-day involvement in and around the football club. This ranged from how he deals with the press, his media image, but ultimately winning football matches.”

Former Notts County defender Mick Jones has been named as Warnock’s assistant at Leeds having occupied the same position at QPR.

Jones and Curle both left Loftus Road after Warnock was sacked by Rangers midway through the January transfer window.

United’s new boss plans to make further additions to his backroom team in preparation for the rest of the season.

Warnock said: “Mick will be with me as assistant and I’ll be making a couple of appointments.”

Leeds Rhinos have got back down to business as they bid to avoid becoming world club chumps.

Rhinos were thrashed 38-20 at newly-promoted Castleford Tigers a week after their previous world title win – against Melbourne Storm four years ago – and back-rower Carl Ablett insisted they were desperate to prevent a repeat under similar circumstances this weekend.

Ablett said the players have returned to training fully focused on Sunday’s trip to another newly-promoted team Widnes Vikings.

And he believes the nine-day turnaround from last Friday’s Heinz Big Soup World Club Challenge win over Manly Sea Eagles could prove crucial.

Leeds – with a game in hand – are already three points adrift of leaders Warrington Wolves and St Helens in the Stobart Super League table and Ablett stressed they can’t afford to go into Sunday’s game at anything less than full pace.

“We’ve got nine days, so we could enjoy the win over the weekend, but then come Monday morning everybody was back into work,” said the loose-forward, who scored Rhinos’ final try against Manly.

“We are all professional enough to know that we’ve got to continue to build and hopefully stay in touch with the top teams.

“We were up and down last year, but we’ve got to be consistent and try and finish in the top-two.”

Widnes have lost their three Super League games so far, but Ablett is aware they will fancy their chances of causing an upset this weekend.

“Whoever we play, we never seem to get an easy game,” he said. “Widnes might be expecting us to be a little bit down, but the long turnaround helps us.

“We will be ready to go come Sunday and we’ll be looking to put in a performance. We’ve got the World Club out of the way, we have been crowned world champions and that’s great.

“We can look forward to Super League now and concentrate on that.”

The victory last week will give Rhinos’ league campaign a major boost, according to Ablett, pictured below.

Rhinos struggled after losing to Manly in 2009 and Melbourne the following year and the back-rower said: “It’s tough when they come over here and give you a bit of a hiding.

“It is hard to take, but it’s a totally different feeling when you win. We can be happy with our performance last week and I think we did ourselves justice.

“Thinking back to the Challenge Cup final against Warrington a couple of years ago, if you don’t do yourself justice in a big game you end up kicking yourselves.

“That’s tough, but it was good to come out of the game and think ‘we did all right there’. We performed, we weren’t perfect by any means, but it was a decent performance.

“We won by 14 points and that is a pretty good effort.”

Last week’s victory completed a remarkable treble for Ablett, who was a scorer in the Challenge Cup final, Grand Final and World Club Challenge, within the space of six months.

Ablett’s Old Trafford try came from a few metres out and he admitted he had even less running to do for his score against Manly, touching down after the defence had failed to deal with Kevin Sinfield’s kick.

“It’s a good job,” he said. “I wouldn’t have got over otherwise. With Bails (Ryan Bailey) and Jonesy (Jamie Jones-Buchanan) going down, we were running out of players.

“I had to do 80 minutes and it felt like we were defending for the whole game, so to sneak a try at the end was very pleasing.”

Check out latest football transfer gossip around the leagues. Is your favourite player tipped for a move?

Chelsea are targeting Arsenal and England winger Theo Walcott and could be willing to swap him for Stamford Bridge striker Daniel Sturridge.

Full story: the Sun

Manchester City may make a summer move for 24-year-old Real Madrid striker Gonzalo Higuain, who is also a target for Chelsea.

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Liverpool are one of three clubs believed to be monitoring the form of 26-year-old Hertha Berlin midfielder Raffael.

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Leeds Rhinos star Danny McGuire provides his view from the pitch.

It is great feeling being on top of the world, but we have got to get our feet back on the ground this week.

We enjoyed the weekend and we celebrated what was a really good performance against Manly in the World Club Challenge.

It’s not often you get an opportunity to play in a massive game like that and call yourselves world champions, so you have to make the most of it, but that was then.

We all came in on Monday and started focusing on the week and the season ahead, beginning with Sunday’s game at Widnes.

Super League’s our bread and butter and we’ve got 25 rounds, plus the Challenge Cup, to come. Our aim is to find some form and play consistently well for the rest of the year. It’s no good being world champions if you play poorly in your own competition.

When we beat Melbourne in 2008 we lost at Castleford in our next game. It is always difficult to back up after such a big effort, but we’ve got a longer week this time with us not playing until Sunday and I think that’ll benefit us.

It will give us a couple of extra days for our bodies to rest up and there’ll be no excuses. We are all focused on Widnes now, which we need to be because they have got some good players.

Judgement

Their 4g pitch has been a big talking point this season, but I will reserve judgement until I’ve played on it.

We have a 3g surface at Kirkstall, which we train on, so it’s nothing new, though we haven’t played a match on one before. The field at Kirkstall has been really good for us and it’s allowed us to get some quality sessions in, despite the bad weather.

There’s been a few injuries at Widnes this year and Richie Mathers’ elbows and knees were in a pretty bad state after Wakefield played there, but every time you play there’s a chance you could get hurt, so it’s not something we are going to worry about.

If you think about it you’ll take your eye off the ball and not do what you need to do, which is go there and play well and get the win. We’ll see how it goes at the weekend and decide what we think about it after that.

Today’s a big day for Jamie Peacock, who’s off to the Palace to visit the Queen. Believe it or not, the boys haven’t been giving him much stick since his MBE was announced, though we’ve come up with a few ideas of what the initials might stand for.

We’re all pleased for him and he really deserves his award. It’ll be a great day for JP and his family and something they’ll remember for the rest of their lives.Congratulations also to my old amateur club, East Leeds, for getting through to the first round of the Challenge Cup. They had a good win at Warrington Wizards last weekend in the preliminary round and good luck to them for the game against Blackbrook on Saturday.

As a Leeds United fan I was pretty pleased to see Neil Warnock unveiled as the new manager. I think he is probably the right man for the job. All his career he has had the knack of getting teams promoted; he did a really good job at Sheffield United and QPR and this is a big opportunity to take one of the biggest clubs in the country back where they belong.

I think he’ll do a good job. They’ve got some decent players there, enough to maybe sneak into the play-offs this year.

Finally, on behalf of all the players at Leeds, I’d like to send sympathies to Ian Millward and his family following the death of his son Robbie last weekend.

Rugby league is a tight-knit game and I think everybody was deeply shocked when they heard the news. I didn’t know Robbie, but he was only 19 and it’s difficult to imagine what his friends and family are going through. I am sure the whole sport will rally round them at this difficult time.

Check out a picture slideshow of match action from Colton v Wykebeck in the Leeds and District Cup

PICTURES: Steve Riding

Diccon Edwards has thrown down the gauntlet to his Leeds Carnegie squad players – and has urged them to nail down a play-off starting spot with some sterling performances this week.

Carnegie, seeking to get back in Edwards’ good books in today’s rearranged clash at Nottingham, have a busy week which culminates in Saturday’s final regular Championship game of the season at play-off rivals London Welsh.

With an arduous schedule of three games in six days, it’s not rocket science to deduce that the Carnegie head coach has taken the opportunity to rotate his side with fringe players given the opportunity to impress ahead of the business end of the season.

Critical

A stony-faced Edwards was critical of his players’ discipline and decision-making following Sunday’s desperately disappointing home loss to Esher on Sunday and insists that places are still up for grabs for those wishing to firmly gatecrash their way into his starting plans.

To that effect, the games against Nottingham and Welsh will represent unofficial ‘trial’ runs for some with Edwards seeking some recompense and a strong reaction from his troops after last weekend’s poor showing.

Edwards said: “Some players have an opportunity to step up and show they want to be in the starting team for the play-offs.

“It’s a great chance to show they deserve their spot in the team for the play-offs and I am sure we will see a strong performance from them. We have a squad and we need to manage our players carefully.

“What we need and endeavour to create is an environment where we are pushing each other to get the best out of each other.

”I was bitterly disappointed (on Sunday). We lost because of our discipline and didn’t pay much attention to detail.

“At times, it was almost too easy (for Esher), which sounds condescending, but it isn’t meant to be.

“If we play like we train, we look a decent side. But it was a lack of personal discipline which killed us.

“I said it would be our most difficult home game because all the expectation would be on us and it proved to be the case.

“The key now is that we don’t lose confidence. There’s opportunities to get things right and areas we obviously have to improve on. We haven’t become a Championship winning team or a poor team overnight.

“We will take our medicine after Esher and move forward. We know where we need to be; we aren’t there yet, but not many teams are.”

Carnegie are without the services of Sean Hohneck this week, with the Kiwi lock having picked up a knee injury, while hooker Scott Freer is also in the treatment room after having a minor clear-up knee operation which will keep him out of action for three weeks.

The talented trio of Dominic Barrow, Chris Walker and Tommy Bell are on England Under-20s duty this week, with Mike MacDonald, Lachlan Mackay, Danny Paul and Stevie McColl also still missing.

While Edwards was largely non-plussed with the loss to rock-bottom Esher last time out, he did single out some praise in the direction of newcomer Halani Aulika, with the powerhouse Tongan international prop making an encouraging debut against the men from Surrey.

And Edwards feels there is more to come from the South Sea Islander, once his match sharpness improves.

He added: “Halani was better for the game, although he was blowing a bit.

“You can have as much training as you can, but it doesn’t quite prepare you for a match. But he will have benefited (from Sunday).

“As a tighthead (prop), he gave us a more solid look and as he gets more games and gets up to speed, he’ll only get better.

“I was pleased with his input.”

Carnegie’s weekend opponents Welsh were also in action today against Doncaster Knights at Old Deer Park.

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New boss Barry Eaton has hailed his Hunslet Hawks players’ fitness and strength of character.

Hawks are top of Northern Rail Cup Group B after winning their opening two matches in the space of five days.

They followed the midweek 34-18 victory over Whitehaven by winning 24-18 at Swinton Lions two days ago and Eaton said: “We dug in there.

“We got a win on Wednesday and then to go away four days later against a Swinton side who’d had a full week to prepare and who were fresh, hungry and determined and win left me really pleased overall.

“The scoreline was close all the way, but the fitness and determination they showed towards the back end of the game was very encouraging.”

Forward Ryan Benjafield suffered a whiplash injury and is a doubt for Sunday’s tough trip to Leigh Centurions.

Versatile Rob Spicer suffered a rib injury in Dewsbury Rams’ 38-6 Northern Rail Cup defeat at Featherstone Rovers on Sunday which could keep him out for up to six weeks.

Spicer was switched into the centres from his usual back-row role due to other injuries in the Rams camp.

Coach Warren Jowitt said: “We don’t know if it’s broken ribs or a rib cartilage.

“He went to hospital after the game, but they didn’t x-ray him so we are none the wiser.

“We’re hoping the injury is just rib cartilage. If it’s broken it could be four to six weeks, but it’s only two to three if it’s cartilage, depending on the player.

“Rob Spicer being Rob Spicer, he will be ready for the start of the league season.”

Rams’ defeat at Featherstone followed a 36-6 home loss to Halifax, but Jowitt felt the score on Sunday flattered the hosts.

“We have things to work on, but I was really pleased,” he said.

“Defensively, for the majority of the game against Featherstone, we were very good.”

Batley Bulldogs have fended off moves by the taxman at London’s High Court to wind the club up.

Mr Registrar Nicholls formally dismissed a winding-up petition brought by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs against the club’s parent company, Batley Football Club Ltd, on request by HMRC’s lawyers.

The move almost certainly means the club has paid its undisclosed tax debt in full.

Had the company been compulsorily wound up, this would have effectively handed over the club’s affairs to an Official Receiver.

His job would then have been to do his best to ensure that debts were paid off by selling any assets available and then bringing business to a close.

Meanwhile, Batley Bulldogs coach John Kear was far from satisfied with his side’s latest Northern Rail Cup win.

Batley made it two wins from two with a 50-16 home drubbing of London Skolars two days ago.

Kear said: “The first half against Skolars was excellent, but I was disappointed with the second half – we let our standards slip and our intensity dropped.”

Featherstone Rovers came through their second game in five days with no major injury concerns.

Boss Daryl Powell was happy with the level of fitness Rovers showed in the 38-6 victory over Dewsbury Rams two days ago, backing up Wednesday’s 68-0 romp at Oldham.

“It was a bit scratchy in the first half,” Powell said of his team’s latest Northern Rail Cup victory.

“It was always going to be tough, but we finished pretty strongly.

“We finished on top and scored a lot of our points in the last 20 to 25 minutes which shows how fit we are.

“We worked hard defensively, but made too many errors.”

Stuart McCall has identified Neil Warnock’s man-management skills as his greatest strength in his quest to bring back the good times to Elland Road.

Leeds-born McCall, currently managing Scottish Premier League side Motherwell, was handed his first start in coaching under Warnock at Sheffield United in 2002, with the pair helping to mastermind the Blades’ promotion to the Premier League in 2005-06.

And the former Bradford City boss insists Warnock’s motivational skills in inspiring the best out of his charges when it matters – on a match-day – is second to none.

The 63-year-old’s ability to create a vibrant atmosphere among the playing staff at any club he manages is another of his assets.

McCall, initially signed as a player, at the age of 38, by Warnock in 2002, said: “Speaking to people prior to me coming across Neil, it seems he’s mellowed to what he was as a young manager. But for me his man-management, and getting the best out of his players, is his real strength.

“Neil always said his most important part (of being a manager) is the 10 minutes before a game and at half-time. For him, it’s about getting the best out of what he’s got to work with.

“He’s done that wherever he’s been, doing it his way really. That’s what has brought him his success. He never over-complicates things.

“He’s passionate about the game and wants to succeed, like we all do. His experience and knowledge of getting promotion is second to none.”

McCall feels the lure of taking over at a genuine footballing giant in Leeds would have been impossible to turn down for Warnock.

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And with his former gaffer’s big personality and background in orchestrating successful promotion campaigns, he feels United and Warnock are a perfect fit.

Warnock is something of a promotion king with seven currently under his belt – the same number as Graham Taylor and Dave Bassett – and if he helps Leeds reach the Premiership Promised Land again, he will earn a place in the record books.

McCall said: “It’s a good appointment, definitely.

“With all respect to Sheffield United, QPR and Crystal Palace, where he’s been previously, Leeds is the biggest club he’s managed in terms of the size and history of the club and crowds it can attract. And the expectations as well, really.

“I’m sure it’s a challenge Neil will be looking to get his teeth into.

“I texted him after his sacking at QPR and I didn’t think it would be long before he would be back in the game.

“You only have to look at his record of promotions to see the success at the clubs he’s been at.

“Earlier on in his career, it was at a lower level, though he had great success in bringing Notts County up to Division One.

“He’s also obviously taken Sheffield United and QPR up to the Premiership, and he’s got such a wealth of experience at doing what Leeds need him to do, which is get them up a league.

“If you look at the Leeds side there are certainly goals in there and I think it will be at the other end of the park that he will be looking to go in and sort out because Leeds defitnitely have firepower up front.

“Defensively, he’ll have to go in there and maybe wheel and deal and make a mark and get players he wants in.

“He obviously got a good boost on Saturday and was in the dressing room at half-time and got a response.

“When you go into a club you want to hit the ground running and that result will fire everybody up, including the fans as well.

“Obviously when it comes down to a Saturday it’s a serious business, but during the week, though he’ll get the players to work hard, all their work will be done with a smile on their face and a bit of enjoyment and the atmosphere will be good.

“The players will be able to go out there and relax and show the ability they have got.”

Leeds United striker Ross McCormack has questioned Craig Levein’s selection policy after being left of the Scotland squad for next week’s friendly in Slovenia.

McCormack, 25, last turned out for his country in the Carling Nations Cup last May.

The former Rangers player has scored 16 times in 35 games for his club this season but has again been left frustrated.

“I don’t feel as if I will be in a squad no matter if I score goals or not,” he told the Scottish Sun.

“It is hard to take as people keep telling me I am going to be in the next squad or should be in it.

“Meanwhile, you have Craig Mackail-Smith who is not playing for his club, Jamie Mackie is not playing for his club and David Goodwillie is not playing for his club.

“The only striker in the squad who is playing for his club is Kenny Miller.

“I’d understand if they’d scored a lot more goals than me, but they haven’t. I have no idea why I am not in the squad.”

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McCormack claims he has tried unsuccessfully to contact national team scout Michael Oliver.

“I don’t have a problem with Craig, I am just gutted I am not in his squad,” said the Elland Road player.

“I have been trying to phone Mick Oliver but he hasn’t answered the phone to me.

“No-one will tell me why I haven’t been in the last few squads.”