22 Sep 2026 12:18:40
Following on from my post yesterday (name the players you would like Leeds to have signed over the years - simple rules: must be realistic, you can only sign people we could have afforded at the time and, must be in the time period you've been following Leeds) .

You are allowed to choose players we were linked with, on the verge of signing but didn't or simply someone you wish we'd signed.

Here's my X1:

1- Peter Shilton (if Cloughie had remained, he would have signed him)

2 - John Gidman (we should have signed him around 77/78, excellent full back at the Villa at the time)

3 - Ben Chilwell (a lot of us were calling for cover at left back - he's an excellent player. Wages would be an issue though)

Centre backs - Bobby Moore (wanted to sign for Leeds according to his wife Tina) and Kevin Beattie (not aware of him being linked with us but he would have made a brilliant replacement for Norman Hunter)

Midfield -
Graeme Souness (we were in discussions in the mid 70s - direct replacement for King Billy)

James Garner (we should have beaten Everton for his signature!)

Gerrie Muhren (a bit left field this one - Arnold Muhren's older brother. Ipswich went for Arnold in the late 70s. Pity we didn't go for this brilliant playmaker a couple of years earlier)

Upfront -
Andy Gray (Villa took the chance on the Scot and he proved to be an out and out goalscorer - if only we had gone for him when big Joe Jordan went)

Trevor Francis (another we would have got had Cloughie remained - Francis always said that he wanted to play for Leeds)

Jared Bowen (could/should have signed him during Bielsa's reign, and should have had another go this summer)


Your turn guys - Baz mentioned Pat Jennings yesterday, an excellent choice.

JR also suggested 'your worst X1', those we should never have signed!

I'm going to add Roque Junior to his list!

Fire away with your choices guys - you've got a couple of weeks to kill before we play again: (.

1.) 22 Sep 2026
22 Sep 2026 12:35:38
Great selection choices there Cleggy

My list so far.

Pat Jennings 1967
Frank Lampard 2000
Alan Shearer 1992

Be interested Cleggy if you have any suggestions for a pacy supreme defender LB in the DOL era 1997 to 2002.

Although Ian Harte was supreme on free kicks.against good teams he was a weak defensive link imo

Ashley Cole comes to mind but he was firmly a Gooner in that period.

2.) 22 Sep 2026
22 Sep 2026 12:58:38
Glenn Hoddle 1979.

When our creative talisman Tony Currie very regettably left.I would have loved Leeds to have signed Glenn Hoddle from Spuds.

Leeds unwisely failed to sign a creative midfielder in any of the next 3 seasons and it played a huge part in their eventual relegation in 82.

3.) 22 Sep 2026
22 Sep 2026 20:39:25
Ooof a full XL or as close as I can get (I'm 32 for the era context) .

GK - Dominik Livakovic. He's come up a few times over the years before we finally signed Trafford. Was always very cheap in the rumours weirdly for a class keeper.

LB - Josko Gvardiol. We were linked with him the summer before he moved to City. Not sure how close we were genuinely for him or was it one of Victor's long shots. Nevertheless it was reported.

CB - Joel Ward. Was a swiss army knife for Portsmouth right around the time we came up from the Championship and signed for Palace. They went up that same season. We got Jason Pearce instead. Safe to say who won that pick of Pompey defenders. They paid 400k for him and got a decade. Sure he came up as linked with us once or twice.

CB - Help!

RB - Resigning Denis Irwin - apparently we tried to, Ferguson turned the same phone call into asking the price for Cantona. if that had turned into Irwin for Cantona would have been more palatable than what actually transpired. Cheating slightly as before I was born but i've read enough about this story.

Midfield. Lampard and Rodrigo De Paul. Honourable mention for CAM for Charles De Ketelaere.

Wing - Cody Gakpo, Again it was the year before Liverpool signed him I think and he was rumoured to be the marquee signing of the window.

Wing - Kharavetskhalia when he was at Rubin Kazan as we were looking to replace Raphinha.

Forwards - Jonas Wind from the most recent window. He was a free agent target man who moved from Wolfsburg to Braga. Don't know if we were ever strictly linked but I'll maintain we should have done that one.

Erling Haaland - toured the club so I guess we had a shot when he was still at Molde in 2018.

11 I wish we hadn't signed. Imposed rule - its a combo of in some cases because they were terrible full stop or terrible for the money spent, context to the season.

Paul Rachubka - His mistakes vs Blackpool saw Alex Cairns get a debut.

Lb - Federico Bessone

CB - yeah Roque Junior gets the nod here.

CB - Max Wober.

RB - ermm.

LM - Cameron Stewart

CDM - Michael Brown - useless If you want a CAM instead, Adryan.

CM - Seth Johnson - if we dont sign him its because we signed Lampard.

RM - Jimmy Kebe (gosh that was a good window)

RS - Noel Hunt - Just didn't deliver and was a marquee free agent who took a hefty wage for nothing.

LS - Billy Paynter - see above. Between him and Bessone if just one of them had panned out we'd have made the play-offs first year back instead of 7th.

Honourable mentions for: Steve Morison in exchange for Becchio, Weston McKennie, Luke Varney, Robbie Fowler, Lonergan (second spell - first was decent) , Higgs, Casilla, Buononotte.

4.) 23 Sep 2026
22 Sep 2026 23:58:04
Pretty good selections young Ealing

Very good picks on gk Livakovic ( much prefer we signed him this summer than the high budget Trafford and spent wedge in forward positions )

and Gvardiol ( if only)

As for the waste of moneys. no way Robbie Fowler ( say instead of the humungous waste of money JKA lol ) .Fowler was class his goals got Leeds into Europe.

5.) 23 Sep 2026
23 Sep 2026 07:36:04
Good shouts there, Ealing!
Add Paul Okon as the replacement for
Olivier Dacourt!
Peter Barnes never delivered on his hype and price.
Ian Rush, Mark Hateley, and Lee Sharpe.
I'd add a question mark over Michael Brown; at least he got stuck in and battled, when that tenacity was severely lacking in the team.

6.) 23 Sep 2026
23 Sep 2026 10:35:05
Brown I just remember as being a half step slow every game.

Fowler I thought was one of the hall marks of the overspend. We got half a good season for £12m that delivered uefa cup. It's not his fault but we didn't need another forward with smith viduka and Keane at the time. I can't remember if bridges was fit too or if the injuries had started. So less reflection on his abilities but I just wish we hadn't signed him.

7.) 23 Sep 2026
23 Sep 2026 10:49:15
Leeds spent a sizeable whack on Lee Sharpe £4.5 million but Ian Rush was a free transfer and Mark Hateley merely a short term loan

The caveats to all three perfomances were that they all played in just the 1996/97 seez where George Graham perhaps rightly focused on Leeds being just uber defensive thst seez

conceding very few goals to defo avoid a R battle. but hardly scoring any either

most of our matches were nil nil or 1 nil in 96/97.

8.) 23 Sep 2026
23 Sep 2026 10:57:09
Ealing.Bridges picked up what became a career ending injury in 2000.way before Fowler was signed.

Contrary to some peeps mistaken opinions we actually needed Fowler because we continually had lenghty injuries to not just Bridges who never played again.but also to Smith, Keane and Kewell

Fowler scored 1 goal every 2 games. a goodish signing imo

JKA and others on the list but not Fowler.