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Leeds United promoted: I will have to be ruthless - Grayson
Simon Grayson said today that a large number of his Leeds United players will go with him to the Championship – but he warned of "ruthless" decisions as he prepares for next season.
United's manager insisted that sentimentality would have no bearing on the future make-up of his squad as he began the complex task of restructuring it for the club's first term in the Championship since 2007.
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Leeds are expected to announce their retained list this week, confirming their intentions for the small group of players who are out of contract at Elland Road.
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Jermaine Beckford heads a list which includes Andrew Hughes, Casper Ankergren and Rui Marques, and Paul Dickov is also at the end of a short stint with Leeds which saw him start only one game.
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United, meanwhile, finished the season in possession of several loanees, all of whom will now return to their parent clubs while Grayson considers their longer-term potential.
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Over the past nine months, he has stated repeatedly that many of his players would be capable of stepping from League One into the Championship and contributing to a competitive campaign, and they will have that opportunity next season after sealing automatic promotion in frantic fashion against Bristol Rovers on Saturday.
But Grayson said additions to his squad were essential after vowing to make a serious attempt to win promotion to the Premier League at the first attempt.
"I'll give the players here the opportunity to take us on," he said. "But sometimes you have to make ruthless decisions and that's what I'll do. I want this club to be successful.
"I've got a group who in large parts can cope with the Championship but we will need strengthening. There's no question about that.
"The players here were brought in to get us out of League One. I brought them in last summer to get us promoted and then move on from there. That's no different now.
"Every level you step up to, the squad has to be improved. If players do leave the club then I'll thank them for what they've done and bring in lads who can take us to the next level. A lot of those here can cope with the Championship but we still need new players, that's for sure."
A large proportion of United's squad are under contract, though several players are approaching the final year of their contracts.
Patrick Kisnorbo, Luciano Becchio, Neil Kilkenny and Richard Naylor are among those whose existing deals will expire in 12 months' time and Leeds chief executive Shaun Harvey said prior to the end of the season that the club would reassess the contractual positions of their entire squad once the campaign finished.
United's squad are beginning a two-month holiday with pre-season training expected to begin at the start of July but Grayson's respite will be less substantial, dictated entirely by his success in the transfer market and the speed with which his plans come together.
Leeds completed 60 competitive games during the 2009-10 term, a fixture list swollen by their run to the fourth round of the FA Cup and their appearance in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy's northern area final.
"It's been a long season for everybody," Grayson said. "The players will disappear for seven or eight weeks.
"As a manager, you get a holiday somewhere down the line but I've got to start planning for next year. You start planning straight away.
"My next objective is to try and get the club out of the Championship. It won't be easy but it's something the club are capable of doing. I've seen two of my former clubs, Blackpool and Leicester City, get into the (Championship) play-offs when nobody expected them to.
"We'll have a retained list out soon saying who we're going to keep and there might well be players under contract who'll move on. It's all about deciding who we think will be good enough and seeing what sort of budget I've got available.
"But the results from the first half of the season were proof that we've got good players here. We went to Old Trafford and won (against Manchester United) with more or less the same group who played against Bristol Rovers.
"We also went to Tottenham and gave a good account of ourselves and we got to the Johnstone's Paint northern final as well. We've had a fantastic year."
Beyond his own players, Grayson is likely to give some consideration to the men who contributed to United's season while on loan at Elland Road.
Michael Doyle started 42 league fixtures, more than any other member of Grayson's squad, and the Irish midfielder has made no secret of his wish for a permanent transfer from Coventry City, a club where he is his still under contract.
Gary McSheffrey and Shane Lowry are at the end of their deals with Birmingham City and Aston Villa respectively, though McSheffrey in particular made less of an impact in Leeds than Grayson anticipated.
Teenager winger Sanchez Watt is returning to Arsenal with the intention of playing some role with the Premier League club's first team next season.
Neill Collins, meanwhile, nailed his colours to the mast by insisting that he would "walk from Preston" to take up a long-term deal with Leeds having joined the club from Preston North End at a time of crisis in March.
Collins was signed in the wake of a serious injury to influential centre-back Kisnorbo, and the Scot played nine times to help United close out their League One campaign.
Preston manager Darren Ferguson appears to have deemed surplus to requirements a defender who was signed by his predecessor, Alan Irvine, in January for a six-figure sum.
Collins, 26, said: "Leeds are a club you fall in love with because it's everything you want in a football club. I'd love to stay.
"Preston have made it known in the media that they want to sell me. If Leeds United want me, I'd walk from Preston to come here.
"I've got such a good feeling about this club and I'd like to think that in the short time I've been here I've showed how much I've wanted to play for them."
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Thursday 24 May 2012
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