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Leeds United: We wouldn’t have got Alan Smith for £2,500 a week! - Grayson UPDATED
Simon Grayson insists Leeds United would never have been able to successfully negotiate the cut-price deal which saw Alan Smith join League One promotion hopefuls MK Dons.
Smith, 31, has signed for the Dons on loan for the rest of the season from Newcastle United, with the Buckinghamshire outfit reportedly paying just £2,500 per week toward his £60,000 weekly wages, with his parent club continuing to fund the rest.
The ex-England international’s lucrative five-year-deal on Tyneside ends in June, but before the Magpies finally get him off their books for good, they still face paying him over £1m in wages.
United boss Grayson, who expressed interest in signing Smith in the summer, confirmed the club will monitor the Whites old boy’s progress in the coming weeks or months after deciding not to resurrect their interest this month.
On Smith, previously linked with Ipswich Town and American side Orlando City this month, Grayson said: “Obviously, there was a lot of speculation about him over the summer. He’s a player that we thought about many times and weighed up the response we’d get.
“But purely from a football reason was it a good decision to do? It was difficult because Alan hasn’t played a lot of football. It was difficult to bring him back knowing he hadn’t played a lot of football.
“He’s probably trained a lot and been very fit. But put that against the financial aspect of it and it would have been a big gamble for us. Because, believe me, we wouldn’t have got Alan Smith for two-and-a-half thousand pounds a week, that is for sure. It would have probably been another nought on the end.
“I saw the MK Dons manager on Saturday and he’s absolutely buzzing he’s got a player of Alan’s quality and experience.
“But our first target this month was Fabian Delph. We discussed it (Smith) more in the summer than we have done recently.
Possibility
“It wasn‘t something we ever went back in for, but is obviously something I’ll keep on eye on over the next few weeks and months.”
Meanwhile, Grayson says that fleeting talk last week linking Jermaine Beckford with a sensational return to United from Leicester City was never a serious possibility.
He added: “I just think it was somebody being a bit mischievous, basically. Jermaine had been sub a little bit for Leicester and not had the best of starts.
“Somebody probably said: ‘Do you want to take him back?’ That happens all the time; we’ve been offered players and you think: ‘There’s no chance of us getting him out.’
“He’s now back in the Leicester team scoring loads of goals and that was never a go-er.”
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Comments
There are 77 comments to this article
Page 1 of 6
white01
Wednesday, February 1, 2012 at 02:39 PMJust as well.He is too old and too injured.We have enough deadwood now.
horseoutside
Tuesday, January 31, 2012 at 10:09 PMAny Leeds fans needing treatment for severe depression will be able to catch one of a huge fleet of coaches that will leave for the treatment centre immediately following each home game. Please present your match day ticket stub to the coach driver. Fee is 35 pounds.
OzTyke
Tuesday, January 31, 2012 at 09:29 PMWe could never have signed Smith, for the same reason we fail to sign anyone else of note, and hang on to any decent promising players: we have complete incompetents in charge of recruitment and contract negotiations and renewals, plus if we can turn a profit on players then EVERYONE is for sale at Leeds United.
gazzapi
Tuesday, January 31, 2012 at 06:19 PMNow all of a sudden people are complaining that we didnt get Smith yet earlier in the season they were saying we dont want him. Im not a Bates lover or hater but find the complaints that he wants to make a profit then sell the club doesnt add up , of course he wants to make a profit and then sell at which point he would have achieved what we all wanted ie a stable club going forward. I agree we need a couple of players in and understand that some fans want Bates out but the best thing for the club now is to forget all that and get behind the players because whether he sells now or not there is nothing that we can do in terms of players until the summer when this window shuts. I think some supporters though need to look at themselves because they complain that Bates wont fund £m signings yet say they are sick of paying £30, if they wont spend £30 for a club they supposedly love why should they expect a man they hate and has no affection for the club to spend money? Just a thought. Lets get behind the team and move on giving the players signed on loan or free's a chance. Gradel , Becchio and others have come that way along with some duds.
gingerstreak
Tuesday, January 31, 2012 at 05:24 PMJust heard that Fleetwood have turned down MILLION pound bids from both Southampton and Leicester for their star striker.... Both clubs have very strong squads and they are still looking to buy (and more importantly, buy potential) - Does that mean we might get Lambert and Beckford then ??? I suspect not ... Wonder if we will turn down West Ham later tonight when they offer 6Mill for Snoddy - I suspect not also !!!!! Dont understand the support for Bates by certain contributors - This man bought Chelsea for Peanuts, invested very little personally (The major stakeholder if we remember was the Late Matthew Harding) and struck gold with the biggest slice of luck ever by selling to Roman for Millions a WEEK before administration - Thats not the sign of a successful Businessman, that's the blueprint of a chancer who struck lucky... Looking at the last few years, it seems to me that Bates' is determined to re-coup all of his outlay (Plus a sizeable chunk of profit) as soon as he can before finally selling the club... As for running within our means - we are doing that AND THEN SOME, cos Bates is creaming off the profit..... I am not a fan who wants to see BIG signings - We dont need them, but we do need to stop this bizarre dependance on 'Cast-Off's' and Loans, and define a Plan for the future not feed Loyal supporters the same Party Political Broadcast EVERY TRANSFER WINDOW - Fill the squad from the Academy, and scour the lower leagues for Potential Talent - Matt Tubbs' springs to mind ------ If we had taken this approach when Grayson took over, then 3 years down the line we would have some serious young potential in the team...
DIRTBOY
Tuesday, January 31, 2012 at 12:27 PMKoppite - If Bates didn't sell Chelsea when he did they would have gone into administration, they had massive debts. He was the only one to make any serious money out of it, ring any bells??
Yeadonwhite
Tuesday, January 31, 2012 at 11:40 AMSo our top target was a 1 month loan for a player who's been injured for nearly 12 months, you couldn't make it up could you!!
armchairtd
Tuesday, January 31, 2012 at 11:34 AMNice contract if you can get it £60K per week for not doing too much. Rumour has it that his contract expires with Newcasrle in June and up to then the player will cost NUFC a further £1M. LUFC compete with that - I don't think so!!!!
graftez1
Tuesday, January 31, 2012 at 11:33 AMShaun Derrys free to leave. Yes please!!!
steven742
Tuesday, January 31, 2012 at 11:33 AMWe all know that smithy would have been better than any of the fringe midfielders we have currently at the club, maybe if grayson would have used the money for michael brown and rubuka, we would have got simthy in the summer
armchairtd
Tuesday, January 31, 2012 at 11:28 AMVery pleased we didn't get him and hope we don't bother. Much as I admired Smith in his days at ER, I don't believe he's the player he was and I also think we'd all be very disappointed.
50p in the boys pen
Tuesday, January 31, 2012 at 11:06 AMALAN WHO?
pattaya tyke
Tuesday, January 31, 2012 at 11:06 AMLets face it, United are not going to make any decent signings this window. Bates has told Grayson that he's 25% over budget and Bates has put the block on. That's why SG has not made any serious attempts to sign the type of player we need to progress. Both Beckford and Smith were discarded out of hand. We know that Beckford can cut it at this level and Smithy, in spite of not playing many games, would be able to put himself about and be the combative Smithy we all used to love. Remember that evening Arsenal game when he gave Adams and Keogh the run-a-round and a right good roughing up.So much so that A and K moaned about it for days aferwards. A combative midfielder is desperately needed right now at ER, but unfortunately we've missed the boat with Smithy. I personally don't give a Tinkers Cuss about his going to Man U. He did what everyboy posting on here would have done, he looked after his own welfare. He's on £60000 a week. which is less than he was on at O.T. Who in their right mind would turn down an opportunity like that.
Headingleywhites
Tuesday, January 31, 2012 at 11:04 AMSomething is very wrong at a club where you have no light at the end of the tunnel. What all the fans need is something, however small, that this time next year we will be in a better position. I don't see how this is possible with the current possible given the current lack of ambition. I would be surprised if SG is content with the behind the scenes moribund stance of Messrs Bates and Harvey when he see Brighton, S'ton and even our old friends Milwall making progress in attracting players. We are becoming the Rover car maker of football. No idea how to attract new customers with a product that people do not want. Time for change and with people voting with their feet in larger numbers than ever I expect things to gradually get worse until the situation gets desperate.
Marti
Tuesday, January 31, 2012 at 11:00 AMWhether you like or despise Smith, he gave a very eloquent interview on Radio 5 last night which showed he clearly thinks about the game. I'm not fussed either way, but it is bizarre of Grayson to say he'll monitor the situation in the summer. Does he really think he'll be in a job by then?
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