Leeds still have real pulling power
DARRYL FLAHAVAN says Leeds United's big-club aura remains intact ahead of a third season in League One and insists he would not see a transfer to Elland Road from Crystal Palace as a backwards step.
The experienced goalkeeper is waiting to see whether United's interest in signing him will translate into a summer bid with Palace ready to consider offers for Flahavan.
And he is not troubled by the idea of leaving the Coca-Cola Championship to drop down a division, provided the right club come forward.
Flahavan saw a transfer from Southend United to Palace last summer as "natural progression", coming after eight successful years in Essex.
But he has been unable to make a serious impact at Selhurst Park in the face of fierce competition from the Eagles' first-choice keeper, Julian Speroni, and now looks set for another move.
Selhurst Park manager Neil Warnock has already confirmed that he is willing to sell the 30-year-old to help him find first-team football elsewhere and Flahavan could return to Elland Road on a permanent basis after his loan spell at the end of last term.
The keeper is certainly open to that option and would seriously consider any offer from Leeds. And he has no concerns about the implications of returning to League One with a club of United's stature.
Flahavan said: "On a very basic level, you can look at where Leeds are and where Palace are and say that going to Leeds would be dropping down a level. Personally, I wouldn't see it like that.
"I got some idea of what a huge club Leeds are when I went there on loan last season, and they've still got that aura about them.
"They're in League One but they're not a League One club, and the same could be said about the likes of Southampton, Norwich and Charlton. Those sort of teams have got something about them.
"Whatever division Leeds are in, getting the chance to go there was a fantastic opportunity for me and one that's very difficult for most players to turn down.
"That's a big part of the reason why I went – even though I knew the chances of me getting a run of games weren't particularly high – I just wanted to take the opportunity to be involved with a club like that.
"I don't know whether something more might come of it now but I certainly don't think that going to Leeds would be a backwards step."
Flahavan was Simon Grayson's final signing of the 2008-09 season, joining Leeds in the closing minutes of the Football League's emergency loan market, and every one of Grayson's recruits was brought in from a level above League One.
Flahavan, Richard Naylor, Lee Trundle, Liam Dickinson and Sam Sodje were all captured from the Championship, while Carl Dickinson left Premier League club Stoke City to complete a month-long loan at Elland Road during January and February.
Naylor and Sodje made particularly telling contributions during Leeds' run to the play-offs and although Flahavan ultimately played no part in the club's League One campaign he gained enough from his short period with United to know that a return to Elland Road this summer would be an appealing option.
"I had a bit of a frustrating time before going to Leeds and the little spell up there really got my enthusiasm going again," he said.
"I wasn't playing many games for Palace and I'd picked up a nasty injury to my face in February so there was a danger that my season was going to peter out.
"The worst-case scenario for me was having a few inactive weeks at Palace, finishing up on May 2 and disappearing on holiday without feeling that I'd got my sharpness back.
"When Leeds came in for me, I accepted it was pretty unlikely I'd jump straight into the first team but it was a change of scene, a chance to train with new players and to try to put the other keepers under pressure.
It would have been a massive surprise to me if I'd been thrown into the first team, because Casper (Ankergren) is well established up there, but the fact that Leeds took me in meant there was at least a slight chance that I'd be needed.
"That really helps to focus your mind.
"I'm out of the picture at Palace and I'm behind a very good player in Julian. He's well worth his place – and I have to hold my hands up to that – but if there was an option to go back to Leeds and seriously fight for a shirt then of course I'd be interested. We'll see what happens."
Flahavan saw enough of Grayson's squad to convince himself that the club would win League One's play-offs last month and was genuinely surprised to see United fall short during a two-legged defeat to semi-final opponents Millwall.
Three seasons in their current division was not what Leeds expected or hoped for when they fell from the Championship in 2007, but Flahavan said: "They're still a fantastic club with the potential they've always had.
"Everything about the place was superb – the stadium, the training ground, the crowds they pulled in – and whatever happens over the next couple of months, I'm just pleased that I had the chance to see it all close up.
"They're not going to be at that level for ever."
YEP
