Alan Sheehan has decided to convert his loan move to Leeds into a permanent transfer. 

Sheehan made 10 appearances for Leeds while on loan at Elland Road last season, and though Leicester decided to offer him a new contract once they had dropped down to join us in League One, the left back decided to throw in his lot with us for the new season. He may well feel that we’re the better bet for promotion, and who could blame him? The Republic of Ireland at under-21 international is out of contract, but Leeds will still have to pay Leicester a fee as the player is under 24, and if the clubs cannot agree on a fee then it will go to a tribunal.  Gary McAllister was delighted to have signed Sheehan when he spoke to the official website.

"I'm pleased, when we first brought him in he struggled a bit but he was the first to admit that. The jump from reserve team to first team may have been a bit too much but he worked very hard, came back and did ever so well. One of the things that struck me was how hard he was prepared to work, he was determined to win a contract here and I was impressed by his attitude." 

Sheehan missed the end of the season after being sent off in the win at Yeovil which sealed our play-off place. Although his suspension was finished before the final, he was overlooked for Wembley, as Macca decided to stick with a winning team. Arguably this was the wrong decision, as Sheehan showed in the league game at Doncaster that he can hit a mean free kick, and during the final Leeds wasted a couple of free kicks in promising positions.

McAllister said that Sheehan's arrival on a permanent deal would give him options in both full-back positions for the new season.  "We know Alan is going to be here and with Ben Parker back with us, hopefully he will be pushing him on the left."  Speaking of Parker, he looked OK against League Two opposition in various cup competitions, but struggled in the league, mainly due his habit of straying infield and leaving too much space on the flanks.

I’m not sure that Mc.Allister rates Parker all that highly (as he didn’t bother to recall him from Darlington during our play-off campaign) but if he’s able to iron out the faults in his game, it should be an interesting battle for the left-back shirt over the season to come.

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