Killock is hoping to be the next graduate, great article by Phil Hay

http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co....k-is-hoping-to-be-the-next-graduate-1-6127655

Defender Ross Killock is happy to go out on loan if it eventually earns him a first team place at United. Phil Hay reports.

With ambition heightened by the rapid development of Alex Mowatt and others before him, the burning question among Leeds United’s young professionals is “who’s next?”

Ross Killock hopes the answer will be him and most of his team-mates take the same attitude. It would be wrong to say that impatience is a by-product of Brian McDermott’s engagement with the academy but anticipation of first-team debuts runs riot within United’s development squad. All of Mowatt’s peers watch, wait and cross their fingers.

Killock can feel a change in the wind and an ethos of encouragement which hasn’t always existed at Thorp Arch. The centre-back is willing to leave Leeds on loan this season if the door to the senior squad remains closed to him but he will be ready too if McDermott taps him on the shoulder and tells him to shirt-up. “If I could have a chance then I’d love to get into the first team,” Killock said.

He has already had an opportunity of sorts. On the final day of last season a late reshuffle of United’s line-up and bench saw Killock named among their substitutes. His inclusion in the pre-season tour to Slovenia was another vote of confidence, offering him a taste of senior friendlies.

His competitive club appearances have taken him no higher than development-squad level and on Monday night he was in the thick of a 1-1 draw with Sheffield United’s Under-21s at Elland Road but there is expectation of better among many of Neil Redfearn’s kids. McDermott has them on tenterhooks.

“You look at Sam Byram last year and Alex this year and it gives you a pathway,” Killock said. “You think to yourself ‘if they’re getting in then if I play well, I might get a chance too.’

“It’s a lot better for us than it was and everyone’s striving to be in the first team. We’re all in it together it’s a really good place for young lads at the moment. When you get a chance you need to take it with both hands.”

Killock has watched Mowatt’s ascension with a healthy amount of envy. Several development squad players travelled to Doncaster to watch the midfielder’s full debut in a League Cup win over Doncaster Rovers and a number have attended his subsequent first team appearances.

Mowatt’s comfortable demeanour in the centre of the pitch has fostered the belief that the bridge between the academy and the first team is there to be crossed, rather than presenting an impassable obstacle to the teenagers on one side.

“What happens is that the players see their mates getting in,” Redfearn said. “It flattens them for a bit but then they come back fighting and work harder. It’s really refreshing. There’s an infectious attitude of wanting to go out and do well.”

Killock said Mowatt’s emergence had drawn admiration from United’s other young professionals. “We’re all pleased for Alex,” the 19-year-old said. “We’ve been to a few of his games and he’s looked like one of the best players on the pitch, so calm.

“We’re chuffed for him and there’s no bad feeling towards anyone for getting in the team before you. It’s what we’re all trying to do. We’re all trying to get in.

“The manager comes to watch us on a regular basis and that’s brilliant. He gives us words of advice and he speaks to you around the training ground. It’s just a really good place to be.”

The best role model for a defender like Killock is arguably Tom Lees, United’s England Under-21 international.

Lees took his own route into United’s senior team, breaking the door down with loans at Accrington Stanley and Bury. Those spells compelled Leeds to examine him properly. His Football League appearances numbered more than 100 by the time he turned 21 and his commitment to pushing himself has rewarded him heavily.

He won promotion at Bury and was well enough established as an England Under-21 player to travel to the European Championships earlier this year. Lees never makes any secret of the value he found in temporarily spells down the English pyramid. Killock has already moved out on loan himself, playing for non-league Alfreton Town last season, and would not object to another transfer in the short term if McDermott opts not to use him.

Monday’s Under-21 match against Sheffield United was watched by numerous managers and scouts, Bury’s Kevin Blackwell among them. Plymouth boss John Sheridan was also present. Asked if he favoured the idea of leaving Elland Road on loan again, Killock said: “That’s the gaffer’s decision and Redders’ too.

“If they think I’m on the verge of getting into the squad then they might want me to stay but if a few people are watching and I’ve impressed them then there might be someone who wants to take me out.

“Getting out and playing against experienced players in lower leagues, like Tom Lees did, could be good. We all want to play regular football and we all want to play regular football at Elland Road every week but if you’re not going to get in then it might be best to get out on loan, do well and see where that takes you.”

McDermott’s answer to the issue of five defeats from seven Championship games – the form which brought United limping into the international break – is unlikely to be a flood of junior players into his line-up, despite a flowing display from Redfearn’s Under-21s at the start of the week.

Killock got a close-up view of the pace and intensity of England’s second division during 90 minutes on the bench at Watford in May and he did not fail to see the difference between senior football and youth-team competition.

“I was in the Watford squad at the end of last season,” he said, “and watching for the sidelines is a bit different to playing but the tempo’s much quicker and the players are much better.

“They punish your mistakes so there is a difference. But all you can do is do your thing on the pitch.”

Whats your thoughts?

 

Another bonus is more kids will pick Leeds academy if they think there's a reasonably chance they can progress. It's a no lose intubation with the kids, I just hope McD gets time like I said elsewhere but find it worrying that only nine managers have currently spent three years in the four divisions with their present clubs. It seems it's not just Leeds fans that have no patience

 

Is there a message in there saying give McDermott time and dont expect money to be spent this season but relying more on the blooding the youngsters and seeing where we stand next season? It would tie in with what the chairman has said about not expecting promotion sometime soon. I trust McDermott to build the club up from bottom upwards, he's a breath of fresh air with a hint of wilko in there, but he needs to get results now and install a belief in the team. His results must be on par with Warnocks at the moment and that has got to change. Austin needs to be his Vinny Jones and were still missing a Strachan.

 

Rather the kids than loans,
Lets give the bloke a chance.
Bucks see yer point,but vinnies and gordons don't turn up too often.