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Richard Sutcliffe: Why Smith was right to make move to Manchester United
I LIKE Alan Smith. There, I’ve said it. I do.
In Leeds, admitting such a thing can be tantamount to self-imposed social quarantine due to many Elland Road regulars simply refusing to look beyond the one-time England international’s move to Manchester United in 2004.
At the time, the Leeds fans vented their anger by chanting ‘If you sign for scum, you don’t come back’ during the final game of the season at Chelsea and, almost eight years down the line, it seems little has changed.
That much was brought home to this correspondent last season when then Leeds manager Simon Grayson confirmed attempts were under way to bring Smith back to the club where it had all begun as a teenager with ‘that’ debut goal against Liverpool.
Not only was my e-mail inbox quickly jammed to overflowing with messages stating in no uncertain terms that Smith was not welcome back at Elland Road but a couple of supporters even rang up to vent their fury.
Time had clearly not been a good healer.
What those hard-core critics refuse to acknowledge, however, is that without the £6m fee that Sir Alex Ferguson paid for Smith there is every chance Leeds would not have been able to limp on to the following January when Ken Bates came in to take charge.
Other clubs were interested in the striker, including Newcastle United and Everton plus a couple from abroad.
But no-one apart from Ferguson was willing to pay the entire fee in one instalment, which, at a time when Leeds were living a hand-to-mouth existence, was crucial.
The chance to join a title-challenging club playing Champions League football every year must also have been one that was hard to pass up, a point that Dominic Matteo acknowledged last year in his autobiography, In My Defence.
I was Dom’s ghost-writer and during our sessions for the book we discussed at length the way Leeds supporters had turned against his former team-mate, the most pertinent point made by the Leeds defender being: “If Manchester United come knocking after you have just been relegated then there is only one decision to make. You have to go.
“I know to this day some supporters won’t accept that but, for what it’s worth, I don’t think any of the other lads would have made a different decision to Smithy’s when he signed for Manchester United.”
Another point that many choose to overlook when it comes to Smith is that there was no prouder player during his time in a white shirt.
He also cared, which was definitely not something that could be said about too many at Elland Road during the season that ended in relegation from the Premier League.
This much was evident not only in his displays on the field, but also on one trip away with England when he chose the mixed zone after a game in Sweden to rip into his team-mates.
“There have been too many games this season when we’ve just rolled over and accepted defeat,” was Smith’s verdict to the English press. “We’ve lost by four goals to Everton and Birmingham and by six at Portsmouth.
“There’s no way we should be losing to those teams like that.”
The comments may not have pleased the dressing room but they certainly struck a chord with the Elland Road faithful back home, underlining that, deep down, Smith really was one of them after all.
It is why I, for one, hope the move to MK Dons works out as Smith deserves a change of luck following the broken leg that effectively brought an end to his time at Old Trafford.
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Comments
There are 6 comments to this article
Page 1 of 1
orangina17
Friday, February 3, 2012 at 04:39 PMto the person who said he can't be one of us and go to man u the next, well he had his career to think about and we did nicely out of that deal it was sink or swim for both parties! It was a business decision unfortunately and I'm certain hand on heart if he doesn't return for us as a player he'd make a fantastic coach in some capacity. Nothing like his on pitch persona and have nothing but respect and admiration for someone who had a shocking leg break and fought his way back. Goid luck at MK Dons fella, not sure if it's too late for him to come back to us as a player but I'm not fickle enough to forget the Smith that did everything to try and keep us up. People like Ridsdale, Bates and Krasner deserve more stick than this lad! they forced his position and that of other players too. For me all I want is pride and passion back in the side and we lack that, if he got fit and played one more season to kick a few backsides before retirement good on him, if he doesn't, I seriously don't blame him for there's a vociferous few who really should look at the bigger picture. Yes age is not on his side and yes it's divisive but yes we need experience and belief, and is he any worse than some of the sights we've seen lately??? A thought... Thank goodness I'm not the only one who supports Lufc through and through but is not afraid to support Smithy too. Thanks for this article!
Harry Grey
Friday, February 3, 2012 at 01:39 PMWe will see if he is good enough or fit enough for league 1 over the next 6 months by which time he will be pushing 32, that and that alone should be the reason he doesn't return. We don't want another Brown who we got 4-5 years too late, although 4-5 years ago neither would have entertained us.
lowfields71
Friday, February 3, 2012 at 12:15 PMyour pathetic Mr sutcliffe, why jump on the band wagon and bash lufc support just to make a point. if you want to wish the lad well then phone him, im sure a bum lick ghost has his number (see insults are not nice hey), for what its worth i dont care either way about his move, unfortunatly he doesnt seem good enough for us anymore.
belfastwhite
Friday, February 3, 2012 at 11:05 AMAgree had enough
Weve all had enough
Friday, February 3, 2012 at 10:27 AMThis was back in 2004...water under the bridge. There are several issues at the club that we, the fans, want answers for. Please concentrate on those and do some valubale reporting.
drizzlybear
Friday, February 3, 2012 at 10:01 AM'The comments may not have pleased the dressing room but they certainly struck a chord with the Elland Road faithful back home, underlining that, deep down, Smith really was one of them after all.' but that is the reason why so many people dislike him. you cannot be 'one of us' one minute, then go and play for them it seems. even though it may or may not have helped us out financially.
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