raveydavey
Eddie Gray
Joined: 12 May 2007
Posts: 3952
Location: Leeds Yorkshire England
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 Posted: Wed Oct 21, 2009 5:39 pm Post subject: Vokes wagon beetles on |
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http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.c...nited-Vokes-delight-at.5751512.jp
This season has been a series of false starts for Sam Vokes, the striker recruited by Leeds United last weekend.
Until the League One club outwitted a collection of Championship teams to confirm his signing on loan from Wolverhampton Wanderers, Vokes had been the repeated victim of transfers which never quite happened.
In August, a projected move to Derby County for the entire season fell though in the final hours of the transfer window. Vokes' transfer was reliant on Rob Hulse leaving Derby for Middlesbrough, and the collapse of that deal left no time for a change of plan.
The 20-year-old was similarly helpless at the start of this month when interest from Coventry City faded amid disagreements over the length of deal he would be offered and Wolves' reported demand for a loan fee. All the while, his involvement at Molineux boiled down to one start in the Carling Cup.
The transfer he secured to Elland Road on Saturday, then, could not have come soon enough. Mick McCarthy, Wolves' manager, was open to the idea of releasing Vokes on loan with sufficient attacking resources available to him, but it took almost three months for the striker to fulfil his plan to leave Molineux temporarily.
"On a couple of occasions, it looked like I was about to go out on loan but it all seemed to go wrong at the last minute," Vokes said.
"You can't complain about that because everything needs to be right for the clubs involved but it was a frustration for me. I haven't played enough football this season and a good loan deal has seemed like the best option for a while. I didn't want to get to Christmas and find that the first half of the season had passed me by.
"To be honest, I've been desperate for a loan move, not because I'm unhappy at Wolves but because I can see that I'm not going to be heavily involved down there at the moment.
"You can either close your eyes to that or be honest about it and accept that an opportunity elsewhere might be in your best interests. But it's been worth the wait."
Leeds were so certain of Vokes' value that they took the unusual step of keeping his arrival quiet until 45 minutes before Monday's League One game against Norwich City at Elland Road. Max Gradel – signed from Leicester City for a month – was also officially unveiled ahead of kick-off, fully two days after completing his move.
Vokes' impending transfer, however, was something of a badly-kept secret, emerging last Friday and effectively confirmed by Doncaster Rovers manager Sean O'Driscoll the following day.
Doncaster had also expressed an interest in signing Vokes but claimed to have been priced out of the deal. United are understood to have paid a loan fee to secure the former Bournemouth player, and manager Simon Grayson was able to compete successfully with several Championship managers to sign the forward until January 1.
Grayson said: "We brought them in on Saturday morning but I tried to keep it all quiet, just to keep the opposition (Norwich) on their toes. I don't think too many people knew about it.
"What it did was give everyone in our camp a lift when they walked through the door to see two good players there. They're quality signings but it is an attraction to come to this football club."
Asked why he had opted to step down to League One when a higher standard of football might have been available to him, Vokes said: "Leeds sell themselves to you, or they did to me anyway.
"I can say that honestly because there were Championship clubs looking at me. I didn't see it as a big decision to turn them down – not when you're getting the chance to come here, play top-of-the-league football and help a club chase promotion or the title.
"There's plenty of pressure here but a lot of ambition and confidence as well, and that's a good environment to play in. It's not always about the division you're being offered. You take the club into consideration as well.
"I've played at Leeds before for Bournemouth and I knew a little bit of what to expect. It's a very good time to be getting involved with the club because they're really onto something this season."
Vokes was not exactly an unknown quantity to those inside Elland Road on Monday night.
Eighteen months ago, the striker produced an accomplished display for Bournemouth in Leeds, the most notable performance in a fixture which United won 2-0. Though part of the losing team, he hassled United's defence incessantly and was a genuine candidate for the man-of-the-match award. Gradel also featured for Bournemouth on that afternoon, on loan with the club from Leicester.
It was no great surprise that Wolves moved to sign Vokes later in the year, by which time he was on the verge of a first international appearance for Wales. Since then, his experience at Molineux has consisted of 40 league appearances, 36 of those as a substitute.
Increasingly, he has felt the need for more regular involvement.
Grayson did not hold him back on Monday, naming Vokes in his starting line-up against Norwich after two days spent training with United's players. He completed 74 minutes and was seated on the bench by the time Jermaine Beckford settled a thrilling fixture with a goal in the third minute of injury time.
Vokes said: "It's been a bit of a whirlwind but a loan deal's always going to be like that. You come in one day and get thrown into the team the next, and you need to take it all in your stride. In truth, it's great to be coming to a club where the manager is happy to give you your debut two days after you arrive.
"Although I was involved with Wolves at the start of the season, the last month or so has been quite quiet for me. I needed to get back into the habit of starting regularly and scoring regularly, and I'll make the most of this chance."
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