New Leeds striker McDaid – massive potential
In among all the angst and uncertainty that seems to make up the entire public profile of Leeds United these days, there has been one ray of hope in the shape of a young Irish footballer of immense potential arriving at the club. Robbie McDaid, snapped up from Glenavon in an uncharacteristically sane and far-sighted move, looks to be a genuine striking prospect. The selling club has had the good sense to insert a clause entitling them to 10% of any sell-on fee – the sure sign that a player is expected to go far and rise high.
To be fair, this has the hallmark of McDermott the scout firmly stamped on it. The manager has previous for recruiting quality Irish talent from his Reading days, and there is plenty of evidence to suggest that our Brian may well have unearthed another real diamond in McDaid. His manager at Glenavon, Gary Hamilton, says of his former charge:
It’s a fantastic deal, foremost for Robbie to give him the chance to go full-time.
“He was to sign on a YTS deal, but after he scored twice in an Under-17 game while on trial a few weeks ago they ripped that up and offered him a two year pro contract. I’m delighted for Robbie. He is a great lad. He has bags of skill, he can score goals, but his biggest quality is that he listens.
“It is rewarding when you have a young player getting a move like this. I thought he would have gone at the start of the season, but it has all gone through now.”
The fact that Leeds have been impressed enough to change tack so sharply, signing the lad on full pro terms instead of YTS, speaks volumes for the regard United have for their new acquisition. McDermott observed ““He’s a young player with great potential. I met him and his parents and he’s a lovely lad.”
Glenavon will also play United in July as part of the McDaid deal. Manager Hamilton is thrilled at the prospect of a meeting between the two clubs. “Leeds United are a massive club and have a huge support here,” said Gary, who played against Leeds in a friendly when with Glentoran. “It will be a great day for us and hopefully we can get a big turnout for it.”
No date has yet been set for the July friendly; doubtless it will be confirmed as part of Leeds United’s pre-season plans. McDaid is doubtless one for the future – but the future is where the real focus is now for United with the current season all but dead apart from pessimistic worries over getting dragged into the relegation fight. Thankfully, whatever parlous form Leeds are currently showing, we can rely upon the likes of Millwall, Barnsley, Yeovil and Charlton to be even worse. We’ll be back at this level next year – and who knows what kind of impact young Robbie might make in his new environment?
All Whites fans will wish him well. Welcome to Leeds United, Robbie McDaid.
Life, Leeds United, the Universe & Everything 
Is he actually here mate? Keep reading about the lad but as of yet I have not heard anything from the club? Hope it’s true – fingers crossed….
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My understanding is that there is an agreement for the lad to sign a two year deal, with a 10% sell-on clause and a friendly at Glenavon in July.
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Great news , and as you’ve said rob , this season looks like its a write off so in a few games time why not give him and a few more young lads valuable experience in the first team , after all were all used to a good thrashing this season so doubt if it could get any worse with them in the team
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I’d certainly like to see how this McDaid shapes up.
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Might get an anti-post bet on 4-1 to Glenavon. What happened to the young lad we signed earlier in the season,anyone?
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If you mean Gboly Ariyibi from Southampton, Mick, he has squad number 27
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I meant why isn’t he getting a game? It’s not like there’s stiff competition on the wing.
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I’m sure Brian would confirm that with class like Kebe and Stewart available, the lad’s just got to wait his turn. Wibble.
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Hang on a min Rob. I expect us to beat Burnley tomorrow and go on a run. It’s not all over yet – this is Leeds we are talking about! Maybe, just maybe we can come good when all about us start to falter. Keep the faith as there are still 36 points to play for.
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Well said, Tim – and may I have a pint of whatever it is you’re drinking?
That said, if we beat the Dingles, you will be name-checked as this week’s #LLUUE Mystic Meg in the subsequent amazed match article 😉
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Well I went to the burnley game at home rob and Leeds were unlucky in my humble opinion, so it would supprise me if they turned things around tommorrow, the trouble is we’d then go on another run of thrashings
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Correction ,, it wouldn’t supprise me if they turned it around ,,, I think you knew what I meant and you’re used to my f**k ups by now lol
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All part of the fabric of this site, Mr O – wouldn’t be the same without you, and we wouldn’t be Leeds without the f**k ups 😉
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The play offs are still in reach with a win tomorrow! a “loss” was factored in for this match, so it could well negate the Bolton result.
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Unless we bring in a no nonsense coach like Di Canio (wearing a pair of steel toe capped arse kickers)until the end of the season,they’d better get factoring several more losses in before the month is out.
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Well done Rob, you’ve put a bit of positivity into my life just as I was about to abandon all hope.
COME ON YOU WHITES
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You’re welcome and thanks for such rewarding feedback – MOT
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hi rob.has he signed then?
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“Imminent” 😉
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Great. We need hungry players who will at least be dead-set on proving themselves. Hope this lad does well.
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Optimism is the eternal mistress of despair.
However, the logic of a Burnley win accounting for the Bolton loss must mean that Reading was never part of the equation. Knew I should have paid more attention during Maths.
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Just took a look at pictures of billy bremner +gorden Strachan , now thats what we could do with in midfield, someone who can control it…mot
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It’s always great to run an eye over the prospects coming through, wondering whether the next crop of youngsters could be a future team of greats in the white shirt.
Anything less than victory at Burnley will see our season dead and buried but we will not be relegated so this could give Brian licence to give some of the youth a chance on the big stage. Don Revie understood this and wasn’t scared to throw the likes of Reaney, Lorimer, Gray, Sprake etc in at a very tender age.
The likes of Kebe, Stewart, Butland and Wickham won’t be here for long, so wouldn’t it be better to have a look at Cairns, Walters, McDaid, Killock, Lenighan, Thompson, Smith, Poleon, Byram, Dawson, Mowatt etc?
Lert’s face it they couldn’t be any worse and they are “our own”.
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We’ve put our faith in youth in the past and reaped rich dividends.
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Strewart will be here for the next 3 seasons, his loan to us until the summer is a technicality. Cairns and Thompson obviously haven’t made the grade. Byram obviously isn’t fully fit, I expect an operation in the summer or at least a lot of stuff about getting a full pre-season next time. Killock, Walters, McDaid and Lenighan aren’t considered ready and Smith is getting games, but you’d expect Wickham and McCormack to get the nod ahead of him until there’s mathematically nothing to play for. Dawson was injured and said to be not fit enough. He’s now captaining the development team and will obviously figure next year if not this. They don’t want to play Mowatt in every game as that might be a bit too much.
As for Revie, this is a MYTH. Revie did NOT chuck loads of kids in all the time. The players you mention (as examples) were no younger – on average – than Byram and Mowatt.They were, however, good enough, and ready, after (in most cases) being at the club for a couple of years. Most of them were signed by Revie’s predecessor and didn’t play much until Revie’s second full season as manager; they’d all made their debuts in his first full season. Revie DID NOT produce a team out of nowhere, he put several of them in at once and they did well and stayed in. It wasn’t 11 young players at once, it was a bit like BM suddenly saying ‘Right, I’ve had enough of this’ and picking a team of Cairns, Byram, Killock, Zaliukas, Warnock, Lenighan, Mowatt, a modern Bobby Collins produced from nowhere, Aribyi, McCormack and Poleon.
To be completely clear about this, Revie’s new young team included the ageing Grenville Hair at left back, Peacock, who was also knocking on, Collins, and Charlton, who’d been at the club for more than 10 years and wasn’t considered to be a good player in either attitude or ability.
And I think we know how well that team would do, don’t we? Today’s Leeds kids aren’t as good as the ones Revie had. Only Byram and Mowatt might be in that class.
OK it’s ages since I read up on this and I didn’t start watching Leeds until 1969, but the situation was at least similar to what I’ve described. Revie’s first season as manager was spent using the first team players he didn’t sign, and he didn’t do very well. If we follow the reasoning of many current Leeds fans he should have been sacked. Even worse, he only finished fifth in the 2nd division is his 2nd full season! A DISGRACEFUL example of a manager being given FAR TOO MUCH TIME TO CHANGE AND DEVELOP his squad at the expense of the poor fans who had to sit through 2 YEARS of a new manager not winning promotion. Why, the NICE BUT DIM HALFWIT didn’t even have the excuse of transfer window problems and he HADN’T EVEN WON THE DIVISION 2 YEARS EARLIER. It’s obvious he had NO TACTICAL ABILITIES whatsoever and failed to shout at his players enough. All that taking them aside one by one for little motivational chats, all that modern management bs, telling rubbish players like Charlton that they could play for England, IT WAS UTTERLY STUPID.
I’m sure most of you would have agreed with those statements – at the time, without the benefit of hindsight. If I had time, I’d take them out and just paste in stuff about McDermott from other people’s comments. There’s enough of it.
McDermott has had no chance. ‘What can I do?’ as he said himself. He can only keep going through the permutations until the summer. We were always going to suffer in the 2nd half of this season – he signed 4 rather than 7 or 8 in the summer, he got 1 plus a loanee in January and 2 loanees since, and most of them are kids. He deserves at least the whole of next season.
Sorry, but if anything annoys me more than about 12 of our players, it’s a lot of my fellow fans. If Cellino gets in I’m off, but if he doesn’t I want to sit through McDermott changing and building, yes, building, not waving a magic wand and making Walters and Lenighan world beaters or living the dream by spening 15 billion on transfers, but actual building. Something we haven’t had for many years, not properly, not even under Grayson, whose plans were always being altered for him by Bates. I want to watch him using limited cash and a free hand for as long as it takes – the same 2 more years it took Revie, I reckon.
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This is how bad things at Leeds are when signing some pup from Irish non-league football is ‘a statement of future intent’. Michael Woods, the NEXT big thing, left Leeds at 16 to join Chelski for approx £2M. 7 years later I now watch him playing for Harrogate Town, in front of 500 people, in the Conference North.
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Is this the new Best here’s hoping what a coup that would be
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Clyde Best? T’other bugger was over-rated, Reaney had him on toast.
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Di Canio?
Sunderland.
‘Nuff said.
Season has been dead for weeks.
So let’s give some of the kids a go. By kids I don’t mean Poleon – very quick headless chicken, but the likes of Dawson, Cook, Lenighan et al.
Matt Smith. Scored his 10th goal of the season on Tuesday from very few starts. I know he has his limitations, but he is very effective and NOT phased by playing for Leeds, unlike many others. So what if it encourages ‘hoofball’. As long as we win I don’t care about style. It’s not like we’re playing the ‘beautiful game’ right now, is it?
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Not saying i like or rate di canio,i’d just love to see those idle, useless ponces tortured until may.
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I hate Di Canio and wouldn’t tolerate his presence, but despite what I said, I wouldn’t mind if McDermott was sent on holiday until the summer and someone like George Graham came in for 2 months and made them do 8 hours of hard fitness work every day. Serve them right.
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A pint of Blackwoods gin rob!. I think we could finish with 76 points. Will that be enough to see us 5th or 6th do you think? It’s not over until it’s over. We may lose at Wigan and draw at Watford. The rest are all winnable!! If we start playing like we did in the last half hour against Reading it can be done.
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Wotever happens we have to sort out financial side of team, still Leeds will be OK ,👍👍👍👍👍j
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