Warnock eager to avoid another United exodus

The Yorkshire club has lost a number of key players in recent years with Max Gradel and captain Jonny Howson the latest to leave this season after having entered the final 12 months of their contracts.

United were understandably reluctant to allow either to leave on a free come June after losing both Neil Kilkenny and Bradley Johnson for nothing last summer.

Jermaine Beckford also left on a free transfer in 2010 just a few weeks after firing Leeds into the Championship.

With the likes of Robert Snodgrass and Ross McCormack heading the list of players about to enter the final year of their Elland Road contracts and Aidy White just three months away from potentially being able to leave, Warnock wants clarity in terms of whether the players and their agents are open to talks over a possible new deal or are intent on leaving.

He said: “I haven’t had time to make much headway (over new contracts). But I will get round to it over the next 10 days. I would like to get an initial reaction from all of them.

“Not just the players but the agents concerned as well. I don’t like leaving stuff like that until the summer. There are certain things that should be put to bed as soon as possible.”

United fans who have been critical of the club for failing to hold on to their better players will no doubt welcome Warnock’s stance.

Whether the Leeds manager is able to make any headway, however, remains to be seen with unreasonable agent demands being cited in the past by the club hierarchy as to why agreement over new contracts has proved impossible.

What can, though, perhaps be taken from Warnock’s determination to start negotiations is that he plans to stick around.

On taking the United job a little under a month ago, the 63-year-old stressed that any decision on whether he remained beyond the summer would largely rest with supporters.

Since then, the Elland Road faithful have answered Warnock’s call with a 30,000-plus crowd expected for tomorrow’s visit of West Ham United.

The welcome afforded the Sheffield United manager has also been warm, a response that he admits to having found touching.

“The fans have given me the impression they’d like me to stay,” said the Leeds chief. “Right from the day, my first day, I said to the chairman, ‘I want to make it my mission to get a 30,000 crowd against West Ham’.

“I knew they’d bring 3,000 because they always do. I wanted the fans to bring a friend or someone who has not been for a while. Let’s get the crowd up, forget the negativity and be positive about the situation.

“Having a crowd like that will show everyone what sort of club it is, not just round here but all over the country.

“We have got to make that work for us. The noise levels have got to be lifted and the negativity forgotten.

“I need the fans to give everything in these six homes games. I promise that I will, and my players and staff. Away from home you don’t even have to mention it.”

Warnock was appointed United manager on February 18, just a few hours before watching his new charges claim a dramatic 3-2 victory at home to Doncaster Rovers after initially being two goals behind.

Asked if the progress made since then had left him more optimistic for the task that lies ahead, Warnock replied: “I think I am about 100 times more optimistic. If I had watched Doncaster on video without seeing it then I might not be here now.

“We should have been turned over by four or five that day. But since then the response has been great. The back lads have really worked hard.

“And apart from one mistake against the best player in the Championship (Ricky Lambert, who scored in Southampton’s 1-0 win at Elland Road), we would have had four clean sheets from four games instead of three. As a manager, you can’t ask any more than that.

“The defending comes from (Luciano) Becchio on the halfway line. Same with Snodgrass, White, McCormack and so on. You don’t have clean sheets just because of the back four.

“It is the entire team. Our front lads have been our best defenders. They may not have had the glory of scoring goals, but it is a team game and the Championship is for the best teams.”

United’s 2-0 win at Middlesbrough together with other results largely going their way means another three points tomorrow at home to West Ham is likely to fire further belief among supporters that Warnock’s men are capable of gatecrashing the play-offs.

The Leeds manager is, however, preaching caution, even if he admits to relishing the new-found belief among supporters.

Asked if the fans were getting ahead of themselves, he said: “I think so. Leeds United fans do get a bit carried away and rightly so. But I’d be a bit more level-headed because we have played extra games and got less points.

“It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to work out that we need to win all of our home games. Or five out of six. We are going to have to have the best run of the season to get anywhere near.

“The lads are capable but it is all about whether they can keep the consistency I want to see and keep it going until the end of the season.”