Sorry Pontus, brilliant bargain tops list of Leeds best five signings since PL relegation
COMMENT By Editor Wayne Veysey
To say the 14 years since Premier League relegation has been tough for Leeds is something of an understatement.
A near decade-and-a-half has been marked by distress, decay and discord, of perilous hand-to-mouth subsistence and the bleeding of the club’s assets - ground, training complex, staff, players, always players – to foot both running costs and extraordinary expenditure on gratuitous or avoidable litigation.
Off-field machinations have overwhelmed on-field ambitions because investment and long-term planning were replaced by perpetual crisis management caused by inadequate cash-flow and debt.
Leeds have lurched hectically from one owner to the next with some interludes of pluck in 2006, defiance in 2007-08, optimism from 2009-11 and again in 2016-17, plus self-respect in 2014-15.
In those 14 years, the various penny-pinching owners have scrabbled together enough coins and nous to source some very decent signings who have provided hope and excitement to long-suffering supporters.
Taking into account factors such as individual brilliance, impact on the team, overall achievement and staying power, Football Insider ranks the outstanding purchases, in reverse order.
Click below to find out who sits fifth in our list of Leeds' best signings since 2004
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5. Chris Wood
Signed from: Leicester City - Fee of £3million (approx) - Appearances: 88 Goals: 44
No Leeds player has scored as many goals in a single campaign as the New Zealand international's 30 last season, which nearly catapulted a fairly average side to the play-offs. Everything Wood touched turned gold as he shrugged off early season criticism to pilfer goals at a ferocious rate in a team geared to getting the most out of his powerful penalty box presence. What stood out was his conversion rate and Michael Owen-esque ice cool finishing. No centre-back fancied 90 minutes against Wood and it was no surprise when his performances secured a £15million move to the Premier League.
Click below to find out who sits fourth in our list of Leeds' best signings since 2004
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4. Ross McCormack
Signed from: Cardiff City - Fee of £350,000 (approx) - Appearances: 157 Goals: 58
Would have been higher but for his tendency to go missing in action. But when the Scottish forward was good, he was very good. And a shining light in a team that secured a seventh-placed finish under Simon Grayson, the highest since relegation from the Premier League. McCormack shouldered the goalscoring burden during his four years at Leeds, with his sensational 2013-14 campaign yielding a remarkable 28 league goals and 10 assists. Little wonder that it was enough to secure a £12million transfer to Fulham.
Click below to find out who sits third in our list of Leeds' best signings since 2004
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3. Jermaine Beckford
Signed from: Wealdstone - Free transfer - Appearances: 147 Goals: 84
Signed for nothing and sold for nothing. In between, Beckford scored goals at a rate no other Leeds player in the last 14 years has matched for an extended period. Sure, he ripped it up in League One, but it is a measure of how lethal the ex-non-league man was that he netted 20 league goals in three consecutive campaigns. And he scored the two most memorable goals of the doldrum years, the one that knocked Manchester United out of the FA Cup and the one against Bristol Rovers which secured automatic promotion back to the Championship. His departure on a free to Everton left a bitter taste in the mouths of Leeds fans, but his calibre and consistency was undeniable.
Click below to find out who sits second in our list of Leeds' best signings since 2004
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2. Luciano Becchio
Signed from: Merida - Free transfer - Appearances: 219 Goals: 86
By his own admission, he was not the most gifted player. But none tried harder or worked more effectively for the team than the Argentine centre-forward. He hustled, he bustled, and scored at a healthy lick. He was as resilient as he was hard working, and Leeds fans knew that if Becchio was playing, at least the bar was set high in terms of effort. It is hard to recall a player in Leeds' recent history - only perhaps Pontus Jansson last season before his star dimmed somewhat - as loved as the Argentinian.
Click below to find out who sits first in our list of Leeds' best signings since 2004
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1. Robert Snodgrass
Signed from: Livingston - Fee of £35,000 (approx) - Appearances: 187 Goals: 41
Head and shoulders above his teammates, and most opponents, too, Snodgrass tops our list because he was simply Leeds' best of the last 14 years. The best signing, the best pure footballer, you name it. The Scot was the talisman of some pretty average sides during his four years at Elland Road, but he thrived on the responsibility to create and score goals from his wide role. The statistics were impressive and so was the attitude. Snodgrass' standards rarely slipped and Leeds did well to hang on to him for four years before his inevitable £3million transfer to Norwich.
In other Leeds United news, 13 players are fighting for their jobs as behind-the-scenes planned laid for huge cull.