Leeds release nine players

13 May 2015 08:18 pm, by YorkshireSquare


Leeds United have announced their list of released and retained players and nine players are heading out of the club. They will certainly now have more free time to play our favourite NetEnt slot game.

The players released include three goalkeepers Stuart Taylor, Alex Cairns and Daniel Atkinson, leaving us a bit front in the keeping department. Youth defenders Luke Booker and Afolabi Coker will also not be offered new deals along with academy graduate Zac Thompson. Thompson has eleven appearances under his belt for Leeds but has failed to pin down a regular spot in the team despite many fans clamoring for him to be given his chance.

Veteran Michael Tonge has also not been offered a new deal. Tonge has had limited opportunities at Leeds this season and has been out on loan at Millwall since January. He will be regarded by many as a limited footballer, but he did provide assistance to Neil Redfearn towards the end of last year before Steve Thompson was appointed assistant manager.

The two players that will cause the most discussion will be Rudi Austin and Aidan White. It is sad to see the sun setting on Aidan White’s career at Leeds United, a first team career which started nearly seven years ago but it has also been one plagued by injuries. Knee, back, ankle and foot injuries have prevented him having a consistent run in the team and we have never really seen him meet his potential.

The decision to release White does raise the question regarding who is making these decisions though. Not for the first time has the released and retained list been decided without a first team coaches input, and without a director of football or assistant manager in post either it possibly points to the fact that the decisions have been purely financial rather than football based. After all Redfearn had expressed a desire to give White an opportunity to get back into the team.

I’ll also be sorry to see Rudi Austin leave the club. He was definitely one who divided the fans, he could blow hot and cold but on his day he was a powerful no nonsense midfielder with one hell of a shot. His detractors will point to his lack of consistency but he was something different to the other players in the midfield. A robust, tough tacking player to help out the lightweight but supremely talented youngsters. Austin was rumoured to be heading out of the club during the January window but we held on to him and that was probably the right decision then. The reality is though that we can probably do better.

There are no real surprises in the released list and with space cleared let’s hope we can move forward and bring in some signings to take the team to the next level.