Leeds used their official website on May 18 to announce that they had rejected immediately bids of 3.5 million and 5.5 million, describing them as substantially undervaluing the 23-year-old. 
Goes in the pot marked hate him because he plays for Leeds/Man Utd but wish our players were a bit more like him. Alan Smith no middle name, that would be too frivolous is now just 40 years old. That last six and a half years of his career he played in the third and fourth tier, just to be able to be involved in football, even though he couldnt hack it at a higher level, showed humble grit and determination. Alan Smith has been speaking about the long-term effects of a horrific injury he suffered playing for Manchester United at Anfield. Why fans couldnt see and understand this, remains a mystery. His comments are unguarded, as if they dont matter, and he has since said that he regrets the naivety of that interview. With his bruised purple-red lips set in a sulky sort of pout, he was moody and passive aggressive. Knowing that business would be manic before the 2004 summer transfer window had even started, Leeds hired an agent, Philip Morrison of PML Sports Management, to oversee all of their deals and, in essence, sell their players. When he went to Manchester United I remember being excited to see him in red, feeling he would be a great asset for them. It was horrific and its the sort of injury that would have made other players pack it in. I couldnt compete at a level I felt I could easily before. ", "If they can get into the Champions League, that should give them a stronger hand in terms of attracting players. Vidukas switch to Middlesbrough says much about the state Leeds were in. Smith is currently a regular co-commentator and sometime studio pundit for Sky Sports for the Premier League coverage. [7][8][9], His last goal for Arsenal came against Manchester City 12 December 1994 in a 2-1 win at Maine Road, and his last appearance for Arsenal came in the FA-cup third round, 7 January 1995 in a goalless draw against Millwall at The Den. 
National Football Teams without an confederation, Pages with non-numeric formatnum arguments. What strikes you first about Alan Smiths answer is the brevity of it. None of this made any difference to fans, who either didnt know or didnt care and they abused him terribly anyway. It wasnt that he didnt reach his potential; he just didnt get the breaks. The pair were close in that period or as close as players got to Smith and Matteo says Smiths tears in the face of relegation stemmed from genuine regret. 
"I do like him. For a 7 million investment in 2004, it was unusually low key. That summer, with me going to Blackburn and him going to Old Trafford, we both moved over to Manchester and ended up living over the road from each other.
Throwaway, casual, almost innocuous. He looks and sounds young in the video, clean-faced with spiky blond hair. But I didnt want that, because I loved playing football. But Smith would prove his worth in the long term, and topped their scoring charts in four of his first five seasons. But by the final weeks of the term, and as the crowd ran to him up at the end of the draw with Charlton, there was no longer any pretence on his part. He was really straightforward about it. Two of Leeds most influential signings Johnny Giles and Gordon Strachan came from Manchester United at the outset of Leeds greatest eras.
"We were known as stab city, the butt of everything. He left three years ago and is now apparently in Florida coaching at the XL Soccer World Academy, which sounds like nice work, certainly better than being booed by unforgiving Leeds fans. Sheridan (2016). Neither side pretends that there was. Well you cant do that in Leeds, can you? Everyone appreciates that from the financial side, the clubs side and from my point of view its time to move on., Smith kissed the Leeds badge on the day they were relegated from the Premier League in 2004 (Photo: Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images), Matteo and Smith were close at Leeds but the striker could be a loner off the pitch (Photo: Phil Cole/Allsport via Getty Images), Smith finished his career at Notts County as player-coach alongside Derry (Photo: Mike Egerton/Empics via Getty Images). Leeds announced that Smith had waived a signing-on fee, to help with the financial mess at Elland Road. "I knew with the injury it would be touch and go whether I could carry on playing. On the one hand, it would be wrong to say that Leeds United forced Alan to go to Manchester United, Black says, but on the other, it would be wrong to say Alan snubbed everyone else to go there. Smith owned a holiday home in Florida and he and Derry met in a gym at the Reunion resort near Orlando while Derry, Notts Countys manager, was in the States with his family. He broke through the Leeds United youth ranks to the first team at a great time in the clubs history, in the 1998-99 season. Thered be a coaching role involved and he fancied it. And on day one of training, there he was., Derry says Smiths career with Notts County was 95 per cent playing, 5 per cent coaching. They were right. I just dont think he wanted to let the playing side go. He would not be stopped, would not back down and would go in with both feet. In the days before the transfer was announced, speculation reached the level where the move was no longer in any doubt. I was gutted to leave the club and he was too. When he left, we were honestly just as concerned about how the Man United fans would react to them signing him. That was the sort of determined ruthless character he was as a youngster. He famously scored on his first start for United following his lengthy lay-off, finding the net against Roma in a 7-1 win at Old Trafford in the Champions League. To say it was unreasonable is an understatement. And thats a shame, Seeing Smithy cleaning out someone was, like seeing David Batty who he played alongside, do likewise, was one of the things worth paying money to see. Alan Smith: Loved in Manchester; forgiven in Leeds. [22], "Leicester have come long way from greasy spoons and post-match pork pies", "Football: FA Cup semi-final: Guy Hodgson meets the men at the sharp end in today's Spurs-Arsenal FA Cup semi-final at Wembley: Alan Smith Arsenal Sport", "Rioch signs Bergkamp to signal new era Sport", "GGM 42: Last-gasp Linighan clinches FA Cup | History", "France striker Olivier Giroud deserves a lot more respect Alan Smith", "Best Arsenal players: the 11 greatest ever", "Wenger - Giroud reminds me of Alan Smith", "Alan Smith: Leicester City career stats", 198889 Football League First Division PFA Team of the Year, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Alan_Smith_(footballer,_born_1962)&oldid=1097570794, England semi-pro international footballers, First Division/Premier League top scorers, English association football commentators, Short description is different from Wikidata, Wikipedia introduction cleanup from July 2021, Articles covered by WikiProject Wikify from July 2021, All articles covered by WikiProject Wikify, Pages using national squad without sport or team link, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, *Club domestic league appearances and goals, This page was last edited on 11 July 2022, at 13:32. One of them was Middlesbroughs insistence that Leeds, in return, sign Michael Ricketts, the one-time England international who had completely lost his way. Though Leeds were repeatedly linked with re-signing him, nothing ever came of the rumours. Everybody LovesJames Milner|David Batty|Ruud van Nistelrooy|Paul Scholes|Roy Keane. Leeds, though, were desperate for it. In the end the decision we had in front of us was go to Man United or stay at Leeds, which couldnt have happened anyway. Smiths Soccer AM interview is a warning to everyone: in football, never say never. Keane spoke highly of Smith in his second autobiography. Is it fair that one of Englands most promising forwards was castigated for shaking the hand of the Premier Leagues most successful club and manager? Manchester United were the club he would never join, a club incompatible with his Leeds United roots. "I loved it at Manchester United though, it was intense and I saw it as a great opportunity to learn from some of the best of the players," Smith said. That he enjoyed such longevity is remarkable considering the terrible injuries he suffered along the way. It was funny, though, because when it came to the Man United move, we didnt broach the subject much. Smith had no interest in returning anyway, for fear of failing to do himself justice. Loads of people would say to me, Why I am bothering? Whether I was earning 500-a-week or nothing, if people felt I could still contribute I wanted to keep playing. Eventually officials from both clubs, including Manchester Uniteds David Gill, met in a hotel in London to thrash out the terms. If he played today as he played the game in 2000 hed not last a minute. Smiths defence of his transfer to Manchester United always relies on one key point: that in the seasons when Leeds were involved in the Champions League and competing at the top end of the Premier League, he did not envisage a time when Leeds would try to sell him. There were no borrowing facilities left to exploit and their only route to serious income was through a fire sale in the dressing room. A proper tenacious, never give up attitude, capable of scoring some great goals. The turmoil there saw him be a player manager on and off for a while and even took charge for a game. Except two years later, Smith did. I think, like many, Id half-forgotten about him after Newcastle and to see him playing for Notts County, now in his mid-30s, the bleached hair now dark and his chin handsomely bearded was a bit of a shock. This is an attitude that anyone born in Yorkshire knows comes with your mothers milk and is worn like a winter overcoat, in order to keep the world at arms length. The one thing you can say about them is they got the debts down and kept Leeds going at a time when the club might otherwise have died because no one else would have touched the books. In those Leeds years, he was one of my favourite players. But I really respect the way he was prepared to prolong his career, post injury, at smaller clubs like Newcastle and Notts County. He never touched it, which is just how he was. Goalkeeper Paul Robinson moved to Tottenham Hotspur for 1.5 million. In effect, the club were penniless. He has talent, he can finish, he has good feet and he likes a tackle.
Unlike many people featured in this column, no-one could pretend Alan was a football genius or had a stellar career. He then signed professional forms with Leicester City in June 1982. [21], He scored in a number of important games for Arsenal, including the 199394 European Cup Winners' Cup final and scored one goal in Arsenal's decisive victory at Anfield in 1989. Such a talented player, his move from Leeds to Man Utd was quite naughty but he did okay, that awful injury he suffered was just harrowing, so glad he made the comeback, one of those players who deserved to win much more than he did. 
He moved from being a striker to playing in midfield. As Smith said very publicly: If I have to leave, then itll be to a club of my choice, not theirs.. His last of his 13 caps came when he replaced Lineker in the 2-1 defeat by Sweden in the 1992 European Championship.[16]. This is what we lost when he was put into midfield, Not hard to think he couldve been a great United striker when you see this. When Leeds were relegated from the Championship in 2007, three years after Smith was sold, fans invaded the pitch in protest and pelted Elland Roads away end with coins. When you get to know him on a different level, its obvious that hes got other interests, he says. He thought it was important and he thought it would help Leeds. Alan Martin Smith (born 21 November 1962) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker. His finest in a United shirt. "I was probably a bit of annoyance to them because I wanted to learn and put myself against them in training. You might expect such a thing in a defender, but the forward who is gnarly and fearless is an imposing figure and even though he was young, his was an easy art to enjoy. He was great to have around.. Not my business.. There was a lot of interest but nobody else agreed a deal, says Black. The first season ended with a Littlewoods Cup final appearance at Wembley where he scored in a 3-2 defeat by Luton. "The manager might have been looking at him as an eventual replacement of me, but I never felt my place was under threat from him. For his first Premier League game, he came off the bench and scored with his first touch within three minutes. In February 2006, Smith broke his leg and dislocated his ankle in an FA Cup tie against Liverpool. I think he was struggling to get a startingposition as a striker. People didnt think of him as being quick but he was quite deceptive. That Leeds squad loved a drink but he wasnt into alcohol at all. He broke his leg, dislocated an ankle and was driven away from the ground in an ambulance. It made it easy for the crowd to warm to him. In short, Tell me hes not signing for Celtic. He stood alongside Black and took in the game, keeping out of the way with a cap pulled over his eyes. Yeah. From a young age, Smith possessed drive and a single-minded attitude. Id watched him butcher Paolo Maldini in the Champions League. We were getting called by clubs all the time but people forget that it wasnt just about clubs wanting Alan or having an interest in him. Sir Alex Ferguson later told him: I never thought youd be brave enough to take that decision. But for Smith, it was business. The Adulant Force consortium had taken control of Leeds through a 22 million takeover in late March but between the five new directors, headed by local insolvency practitioner Gerald Krasner, there was precious little knowledge of football and plenty of infighting. But thats hypothetical. Hard to believe hes already 40, but time passes quickly. Did tribal expectations of him miss the point? He was barracked before kick-off as he tried to applaud the away end and smiled like someone who knew it was coming. That he kept on playing for years when it was obvious that he wasnt capable of meeting higher level standards was typical for a man who had more than the usual share of bloody-mindedness. As a source close to the group told The Athletic: It was a mishmash of people. It was as simple as that, says Derry. When he answered that question on Soccer AM, he believed he was talking hypothetically. Why the love? The demise of the team for financial reasons and the subsequent complicated broken leg injury meant that he never really achieved his potentual. Hated him at Leeds.
Some old class-mates remember a very young Smith having a soft spot for Liverpool and think the relationship he developed with Leeds would not have stopped him seeing the value in other opportunities. Smith retired at the end of last season after four years with Notts County. No, he says. Really talented player with just enough rough and tumble to get the fans going without getting himself sent off..usually. Hes on Soccer AM in 2002, answering questions for the shows Changing Rooms feature. Even if the Krasner board had wanted to keep Smith, they had a big contractual hurdle in front of them. Feisty little fellow wasnt he! He liked what he liked, he kept himself to himself quite a lot and he seemed pretty happy in his own world. ", "Having the points on the board is massive.". A former school friend of his, who asked not to be named, said he remembered Smith oozing self-confidence, someone who wanted to play for the best regardless of who that team was. But at the same time he was being recognised as one of the best forwards in the league by one of the best club managers of all time, Sir Alex Ferguson. He and Leeds support came face to face during a friendly there in 2009, the only time Smith played against his old club. In his first season at United, he scored ten goals but boss Sir Alex Ferguson wanted to turn him into the next Roy Keane, prowling the midfield, seeing the same fierce determination in Smith as in the Cork man. Your love of it makes you go through the pain barrier. Its always hard not to love a player who is hard and will not back down no matter what, perhaps especially a striker. The local boy, the Leeds hero who promised never to join Manchester United and then sold everyone out.
His best season for goals at Leeds was 2000-2001 when he netted 18 times, the only time he got into double figures for the club. Houllier was sacked on May 24, two days before Smith completed his move to Manchester United. Id watched him get stuck into Martin Keown quite happily. The personalities involved meant the consortium was virtually unworkable. When the club were relegated from the Premier League in 2004, they carried Smith from the pitch on their shoulders. Leeds were convinced for a while that Liverpool would table an offer in the region of 10 million for Smith. His six seasons and 228 games for Leeds United cemented a reputation as a fierce and fearless player. Smiths intention, according to Black, was to find a club playing in the Champions League, in which he had played under David OLeary. Administration was one option but the board were not sure if they would be able to fund the process so they took to flogging anything of value from their senior squad. It remains to be seen if professional coaching sucks him back in. He also played 17 times for England between 2001 and 2007. Blink and its gone. If I were at home, Id ask Dad to dig out the photo of us down at Windy Hill watching Leeds train prior to the match at Colonial Stadium against Colo Colo. Alan Smith (and all the players) signed jerseys and football cards and kicked the ball around with the kids in the park. In the end, they agreed to take Danny Pugh. But I dont think hed want anyone feeling sorry for him over the reaction to it. That was the level he thought he should be playing and he wasnt going to play for anyone who couldnt make him that offer. I know this for sure: going to Man United wouldnt have been about money or not for him. Black says the figure ran to hundreds of thousands of pounds. We spoke about it, he says. 2007. I tried not to get into it with him because I could tell how difficult it was going to be. And in the cases of Jordan and Ferdinand, leaving for record transfer fees. I believe that. Its genuinely the easiest deal Ive ever done: an hours conversation on the treadmill and then a shake of hands. That he only scored five goals in the last 10 years of his career is a peculiar anomaly for a player who scored 68 in his first 10. At his peak for Leeds he could be a bit of a liability, clattering into tackles and wiping people out with jaw jutting and what I used to call his f*ck off face in full effect. Gerard Houllier was keen but the Frenchman was on thin ice at Anfield. Everything would go through one intermediary, rather than a cast of thousands. He is homemade too, a kid from the academy, and the complete package. Theres a lot of contact and things are said but until something happens, its hard to know what to believe and whats actually serious. Smith started his career at non-league Alvechurch in north-east Worcestershire. The thinking behind the appointment was that Morrison could help to lower the amount of money lost to agents in different transactions. A lot of stuff flies around and some of it can be a figment of peoples imagination. Is there a club he would never join? Players would be sold. Hed stay to the bitter end. What is undeniably true is that none of the other sides in Champions League-qualification positions champions Arsenal, Chelsea or Liverpool came forward with a bid. But Leeds were in financial trouble and were relegated in 2004. He was introduced at the same time as Liam Miller, who had come south from Celtic. Hes a bums off seats kind of player but the idea is to create a bigger squad. These days hes doing coaching work with male and female youngsters at the XL Soccer World Academy which sounds like a blameless way to pass your days. I was there and he was devastated, basically inconsolable. I remember playing against him in a few practice games, and thinking, Yeah, he has a chance. But he never quite kicked on. At Old Trafford, he went from playing as a centre-forward to playing in central midfield and was touted as a long-term replacement for Roy Keane. "It would have been easier to walk away and people remember you as a top Premier League player. A versatile player, manager David OLeary pushed him out to the right wing. Anyone who watched him could tell by the way he played and the aggression in his game that he was in it for the football. A spell at MK Dons followed before a chance meeting with Shaun Derry saw him link up with Notts County, his final club, in 2014. Leeds barely had the money to fund his existing wage and were in no position to increase it in the aftermath of relegation. Leeds wanted a deal done and wanted as much money as possible up front.. Briefly that looked like it would be the case with a cracking goal scored against Arsenal in the Community Shield and against Norwich City in the league. He was looking for a team and a manager who satisfied his own sense of ambition. He was a unifying force. It was obvious what the reaction would be. Smith, who had been on the field for 13 minutes as a substitute, attempted to charge down a free-kick from John Arne Riise but caught the studs of his left boot in the turf as the ball struck him. Hed still have a late night with us, and a crack and a laugh.