Leeds United: Liam Cooper and Jamie Shackleton set to stay
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00:00Moving on then, we've also now looked at other parts of the retained list and we'll look at the club captain, Liam Cooper, who's also in talks over a new deal. We'll come on to him a bit later in the Euros as well.
00:13Presumably, given he's the club captain and there's nothing else that's changed with that situation, you'd want him to stay, wouldn't you?
00:23I think so. The point with this really is, I think it basically comes down to what else is out there available to Liam Cooper and also it comes down to him.
00:34Obviously, you've got things like wage bills to think about and things like that, but there's no doubt whatsoever that he's an extremely useful person to have around.
00:42Both in terms of his leadership qualities have been exemplary. However long he's been here now, getting on to the best part of the decade, he's been an exemplary captain and club captain.
00:52He just totally gets the club. He's a Leeds fan growing up and everything. He just gets it. He just epitomises Leeds United really and he's been through all the promotion and stuff.
01:02His leadership skills are very much there. That said, obviously, there's cause. Would he really want to be here as a cheerleader as such?
01:10I think with that, again, like all these things, it depends on what centre-back options Leeds start the season with.
01:17To a degree, it depends what happens to Joe Roden, obviously, who's gone back on having been on loan from Tottenham.
01:24If Leeds get him back, whether it's on a permanent deal or maybe on another loan deal, as I'm sure they will try to do and hopefully will do, then obviously he's straight away into the team as one of the first-choice centre-backs.
01:35Then it's just a question of whether it's Pascal Stroik partnering him or whether you keep Ampadu as a centre-back, but then Ampadu is probably more of a midfielder really, maybe alongside Archie Gray if he stays.
01:45Realistically, unless something changes in terms of them not getting Roden back or not getting someone similar to Roden, because I'm sure if they don't get Roden they'll try and get something similar, then Cooper's probably talking fourth-choice centre-back.
01:57Then, obviously, you've got Charlie Creswell in the mix if he stays as well. If he stays, it's not difficult to envisage him not getting much game time, as was the case last season.
02:07But then, if Leeds can work out a way to get him a deal and he's happy to do that and, as I say, offer his leadership role with minutes here and there, then maybe that will suit as well.
02:17But like all these things, Daniel, I think it just does come down to what else is available really.
02:22There was talk, obviously, about him. I think he had offers that needed to go out to the Middle East and whatever as part of the big financial boom out there and he wasn't interested and stayed put.
02:33It's hard to know what will happen. I think there probably definitely will be suitors for him. You could see other Championship clubs maybe a bit lower down the pecking order coming in for him.
02:41We'll just have to wait and see. You can't have too many useful people around really and he's definitely in that category.
02:50So, I think as a club and as a team, if he stays, then great. And if not, then you sort of say, well, that's probably better for him because he'll be going somewhere else to get more football and Leeds would probably miss his leadership more than anything else.
03:03But hopefully, we'll still have enough centre-back options. So, it's a time we'll tell one with that.
03:07But I kind of felt like always moving up towards a retained list that he'd probably get offered some sort of new deal and that's not really a surprise. We'll wait and see what happens with it.
03:14You'd imagine if he does stay, then Leeds, if they were to go up this season, that might spell the end of him?
03:22Yeah, that would probably, yeah.
03:24You'd imagine in the Premier League that there'd be no room for him?
03:27I think that's right, yeah. I think a lot of people thought, yeah, I think you're totally right there.
03:31Because obviously, they were literally going for promotion weeks before his contract was about to end.
03:37And I think that was a general consensus. If Leeds go up into the Premier League, then that will be farewell.
03:42But they haven't, have they? And we're in the Championship.
03:47I mean, whether Liam could at 32, whether you could sort of start a season with him as a first-choice centre-back for a team chasing promotion, I mean, people would have the doubts about that.
03:59And I can understand that. But he has always been fairly reliable as well.
04:03But just a good squad player to have around, I would think.
04:06Yeah, I mean, you need to have a really rock-solid defence.
04:09And Roden, whether it's Roden and Stroik or Roden and Ampadu, that was, apart from the odd hiccup towards the end of the season, that was pretty solid, wasn't it?
04:18So, we shall see what happens with that.
04:20Yes. And then another one on the retainer's list, the final one we'll mention, Jimmy Shackleton.
04:26So, Lee, again, take it away. It's over to you.
04:30Yeah, well, he's in the same boat, really, I would say, as Liam Cooper, in the sense of, like, he'd just be someone who's very, very useful to have around.
04:36I mean, obviously, Liam's club captain and stuff, so that's a totally different ballgame with him in terms of his leadership skills.
04:41But Shackleton's one of the, you can't have enough players that can play in different positions, really.
04:45And Shackleton, I mean, when he was sort of like at his best, you know, I've seen people sort of refer to him as like a mini Stuart Dallas, if you like, you know, like someone who can sort of like play lots of different positions and stuff.
04:57And, I mean, you know, obviously, awful with Stuart Dallas, he's had to retire and stuff.
05:01But what a player he was to have around when Leeds had him, you know.
05:04I mean, he literally could play left-back, right-back, you know, centre midfield, either wing.
05:08And Shackleton is kind of like a similar sort of idea to that.
05:11I mean, whenever you're writing about him, I never know what to call him anymore.
05:16You know, I don't know whether to call him a full-back, a right-back, a midfielder.
05:19I mean, just call him, you know, versatile Leeds player, basically, I think, utility man or whatever.
05:23But he can play all those positions.
05:25And probably similar to Cooper in the sense that you can see him playing all-in positions and you can see him for the in-all-in positions.
05:32But you'd maybe think it's a bit of a stretch for him to be first choice week in, week out.
05:37So, yeah, again, with him, I think it just depends on, you know, what else there is available out there and stuff.
05:41And again, if someone comes in for him and sort of says to him, you know, you're going to be week in, week out as a right-back, left-back, midfielder or whatever, you know, then obviously then that might change things.
05:49But, I mean, as things stand, yeah, Leeds have obviously, you know, offered him an extension to his contract, same as with Cooper.
05:55And I can see why, basically.
05:57Daniel Farke has always spoken very highly of him as a great person to have around.
06:00But, you know, he didn't have many minutes at all last season.
06:03So, yeah, again, it's one of these things, isn't it, where it's always hard to marry up because you've got, obviously, the club to think about and the team and you want lots of options.
06:12But obviously, you know, the players who are on the bench, like Shackleton, would definitely be, you know, they also have to think about their own careers.
06:18They have to think about their own careers and getting minutes and stuff.
06:20And Shackleton is quite similar to Joe Gelhart, really, I think, as well.
06:24It would be interesting to see what happens with him.
06:26You know, no doubt about the talent.
06:28I mean, Gelhart, when he burst onto the scene, was superb and the Bielsa.
06:31And it's just sort of stalled a little bit since.
06:33But these are the players that need football, really.
06:35So, it's hard to know what will happen with that one.
06:37But I don't think it's sort of, like, difficult to understand why both of those players have been offered contracts, extensions, because they're just both useful to have around.
06:46But again, where they fit into it just depends on what else happens this summer in terms of the options that there are when it comes to kicking the first ball of the season.
06:55Yeah, it sort of feels to me as if, as I said previously, a lot of this wouldn't perhaps be the conversation we'd be having right now if Leeds had gone up.
07:04But because they haven't, we're having this conversation.
07:08And these players who are, let's be honest, at this stage of their career, especially with Liam Cooper in mind, it's probably their level.
07:16And as I say, if Leeds were to go up this season, they might move on.
07:20So, for now at least, I think it's perhaps the right decision for Leeds.
07:25And you can understand why they're offering them new deals.
07:27Because, again, around the squad and a team that's wanting to get promoted, they're good people to have around, aren't they?
07:34They're good personalities.
07:35Their leadership, their talent, of course.
07:37And they can come into the team, if called upon, and do all right as well.
07:44But if they make the step up, it perhaps won't be for them.