Morris - Leeds can bounce back

Leeds’ new midfielder Jody Morris is convinced the club can shrug off last season’s bottom-of-the-table blues and mount a European resurgence.

Morris was yesterday unveiled as manager Peter Reid’s first recruit of the summer on a Bosman free transfer after signing a two-year contract on Friday following his release from Chelsea in May.

The 24-year-old has joined a club in limbo for Reid is attempting to pick up the pieces in the wake of a shocking 12 months which saw the departures of two managers, eight star players, a chairman, as well as a number of directors and backroom staff.

The situation could have been worse for Leeds, still nearly £80m (€112.5m) in debt, but Reid’s arrival with eight matches of last season remaining helped the Elland Road club hang onto their top-flight status.

The critics are expecting another season of struggle for Leeds, and at best a mid-table finish, but Morris has witnessed confidence and character in the United camp over the last few days and feels the club could claim a UEFA Cup spot.

“I don’t see why not,” assessed Morris on a Leeds squad which will not be playing on the continent this season for the first time since 1998.

“With the players they’ve got here, there is definitely the ingredients to get back up there or thereabouts. I think Leeds can do very well.

“They didn’t finish as high as they would expect last season, and they’ve sold a couple of big-name players since then.

“But there’s still some great players here and watching training, there’s quality and a big improvement to be made on last year.

“The players here know they should up there, and I’m sure they’ll do that. They’ve the character in the dressing room and the backroom staff to bounce back.

“The talk on the training ground is they can’t wait to get started and get back to where they should be, which is up at the top.

“They certainly did well at the end of the season, so if they can build on that then you never know what can happen.”

Morris is also looking for personal atonement and is confident he can shake off his “bad-boy image” and resurrect his career at Elland Road.

The former England Under-21 international was embroiled in two unsavoury episodes during his days at Chelsea, one of which saw him cleared of affray after an incident with a bouncer at a Knightsbridge nightclub.

“There’s been a few things that have happened in my career, but hopefully they are behind me now,” reflected Morris.

“I want to shake off my bad-boy image which comes with the fact I’ve been in trouble before and it sticks.

“The only way I can shake it off is by making headlines for the right reasons rather than bad stuff and the only way I’m going to do that is by playing regularly.

“Hopefully I’ll get a chance to do that because I don’t want it for the rest of my career. I want to knuckle down and get on with playing my football. This is a clean slate.”

Morris misses tonight’s friendly at York with an ankle knock, but should be fit to play in Sunday’s game at Burnley along with centre-back Zoumana Camara, who joins the Whites on a one-year loan from Lens.

Reid is hoping Camara can make as big an impression on the Barclaycard Premiership as a number of French defenders have done in the past.

“Other French defenders who have come over to the Premiership have done really well,” said Reid.

“We all know (Marcel) Desailly, but the likes of (William) Gallas have come in and done fantastically well, as has (Sylvain) Distin.

“I’m hoping Camara will fit into that mould and he will do well for us. Certainly the way the modern game is today you need pace at the back and he is quick and has great spring.”