Warren Feeney to have Leeds medical

Cardiff City striker Warren Feeney is set to return to Leeds United, the club where his career began as a trainee, after undergoing a medical at Elland Road on Monday, according to sources at Sky Sports News.

The much travelled 28-year-old hails from Belfast and has made 31 international appearances for Northern Ireland, hitting the net on 5 occasions. Feeney bagged the the only goal of the game to hand his country a 1-0 victory over Slovenia in a World Cup Qualifier at Windsor Park in April.

Grayson targets Lee Hendrie

Speculation is growing that Leeds boss Simon Grayson is set to make a move for Sheffield United midfielder Lee Hendrie. The 32-year-old, who picked up an England cap in 1998, previously made over 250 Premiership appearances for Aston Villa.

Grayson signed Hendrie on loan last season whilst still in charge at Blackpool, and is clearly a fan, stating at the time: 'Lee Hendrie is a good player, he is very versatile and can play through the middle or down either side. He is a player I know from my time at Aston Villa.'

Hendrie would add some welcome flair to United's midfield should they be tempted by an offer for the services of Fabian Delph before the start of the new campaign.

Bates to wield axe

As Leeds United today succumbed to their fifth straight defeat, having gone from promotion probables to relegation possibles in record time, it is inevitable that Ken Bates will be planning for 2009 with a new manager at the helm.

Gary McAllister is and always will be a Leeds United legend, but along with the greats such as Billy Bremner, Eddie Gray and Allan Clarke, such status will not deprive him of the sack this Christmas. 

Despite being in charge for less than a year, during which time he steered the club to the play-off final at Wembley, the current run of form is nothing short of disastrous, with the season fast heading for yet another embarrassing low. 

Despite playing some fantastic football at times this season McAllister's job was always about getting the bookies favourites out of League One. This task now seems beyond him. Each week another nail is hammered into the coffin.

To have racked up NINE league defeats in just 21 league games for the biggest and strongest squad in the division is completely unacceptable. The defensive frailties identified many weeks ago have not been addressed, and it seems the January transfer window will arrive to late to spare the Scot the axe.

Ken Bates will be mindful of the fact that the January window will make or break the club's season, and will be wanting to avoid last year's scenario where money was spent on players by a manager whose days were numbered.

Next up for the beleaguered side is a visit from table-topping Leicester City on boxing day, a side currently in a rich vein of form. The Foxes are now 15 points ahead of United, an infamous number for Leeds. This season no blame can be attached to any outside influences, the responsibility lies firmly on the shoulders of Gary McAllister.

Little Histon aiming for the jugular

The romance of the FA Cup sees the footballing world baying for the blood of Leeds United as the Yorkshire giants descend en-mass on a small village in Cambridgeshire tomorrow. Histon, the form team of the Blue Square Premier, who actually play in neighbouring Impington, provide the the David facing up to United's Goliath.

Leeds recent defensive frailties have not gone unnoticed by the non-league minnows who quietly fancy their chances of going down in FA Cup folklore by dumping Gary McAllister's charges out of the competition.

Histon manager Steve Fallon is expecting his side to give a good account of themselves infront of a live ITV audience and a capacity 4,000 crowd, of which 1,800 will be backing the Whites. 'In some ways, it will be like an away game because we expect Leeds to have the majority of possession,' said Fallon. 'We are good on the road, have pace and can counter-attack so that won't be a problem.'

'We have been called a physical team because we prefer a direct approach. That's not true, but let others think that if they want. We just like to play in the final third in our opponents' half.'

Leeds finally turn the corner

What a refreshing change it is to see Leeds United announcing an extremely healthy £4.5m accounting profit for the period ending June 30 2008. After seemingly never-ending years saddled with overwhelming debt that threatened the clubs very existence it is hugely positive to see the club operating in profit once again.

Whatever you may think of chairman Ken Bates he is no fool in the business world, and the history books will show that it was he at the helm when the club finally cast-off the crippling debt which had got the better of several now happily forgotten inept regimes. Off the field the club is now an extremely viable proposition to any investor looking to build on the green shoots of growth currently being witnessed.

It was pleasing to hear club CEO Shaun Harvey confirming that the board of directors are fully focussed on the eternally successful Academy, both in terms of investment and also in re-purchasing the Thorp Arch training facility, along with the longer-term objective of acquiring the Elland Road ground.  

Supporters will no doubt be hoping that funds will be made available to enable Gary McAllister to reshape his suspect defence and help provide a platform for promotion followed by consolidation in the Championship next season.

Wilson fury as Leeds show class

Goal-machine Jermaine Beckford helped himself to another two goals, making his tally five in two games, as Leeds put Hartlepool United to the sword at Elland Road this afternoon.

Joel Porter had cancelled out Beckford's headed opener to send the sides in level at the break. However, the second half was a different story with the White's marauding attack striking three more times without reply. Fabian Delph celebrated his midweek England U21 debut by firing Leeds infront five minutes after the restart.

Argentinian striker Luciano Becchio again showed his worth by firing his 11th goal of an increasingly productive season just past the hour mark. Fittingly Beckford had the final say in added time. It was a performance that left Pool's boss Danny Wilson seething. 

'I've said it before and I'll say it again, as long as we're conceding sloppy goals, there is no way we're going to win football matches,' lamented Wilson. 'The penny hasn't dropped yet clearly but it will do because the third and fourth goals today killed us really and they could have been prevented.'

'Don't get me wrong, Leeds are a quality side with a very very strong squad but we made chances against them as we knew we would and it could have been a lot different today.'

Alan Sugar in pathetic anti-Leeds tirade

Alan Sugar, the business entrepreneur who fronts 'The Apprentice', has made a stinging attack on Leeds United in the wake of the clubs infamous fall from grace. The 61-year-old, who hails from Hackney, East London, believes the Whites should now be playing non-league football as a result of the mistakes of previous stuttering regimes.

'Clubs should not be going bust and starting again the next day,' ranted Sugar. 'It takes your heart away when you see clubs spending millions and millions and millions and millions and going bust, only to start again the following Saturday. It's unfair. They should be thrown out of the league, down to the fourth and fifth divisions and have to work their way back up, playing on Hackney Marshes.'

The former Spurs chairman would be well advised to check his facts before making such rash outbursts, as the last time Leeds spent 'millions and millions' was prior to Peter Ridsdale jumping ship with debts in excess of £100m in March 2003. The club emerged from a prolonged period of decline, culminating in Administration in July 2007. Hardly 'starting again the following Saturday' by anybody's stretch of the imagination.

It seems the lengthy suffering endured by the die-hard supporters will never be enough in some people eyes. But I guess we should expect to hear more ignorant rants as we continue our inevitable climb back to football's top table. Enjoy our forthcoming success Sir Alan, your outburst will make our return all the sweeter.