Is Brighton's Poyet Leeds bound after rejecting Reading?

The fact that he even considered moving to Reading shows that Gus is getting itchy feet at Brighton. It would have been a stupid move with Reading favourites to slip out of the Premiership and the Seagulls an outside bet to replace them, so the decision not to swap the south coast for the M4 corridor was unsurprising.

Leeds, however, are a different kettle of woollen socks. Poyet was a popular figure with the fans when serving his time as assistant to Dennis not so Wise and, given the history of the club, would represent a step up on both Brighton and Reading.

The big questions centre on the nature of the present squad and the availability of funds to renew the playing personnel. Warnock has clogged up the squad with a sludge of mediocrity suited to playing in a crude, physical style; Poyet, on the other hand, likes his team to play with more poise, more grace, more sophistication, words likely to provoke a Warnock tirade of ridicule.

Without squad renewal, Poyet would be trying to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. Morison, McCormack and Byram would fit his style of play, and he might be brave enough to bring through some of the promising kids, but he would almost certainly want half a dozen new players to turn the Warnock grimace into the Poyet smile; and would GFC Capital be willing and able to fund the acquisitions?

There may also be an issue with paying compensation to Brighton of course. If the Arab bank built on sand are really looking for a way out, they may see any expenditure as an erosion of profit or a deepening of debt.

Leeds fans should also be wary. Warnock is going because, for two consecutive seasons, he has failed to negotiate a way into the Play Offs and, come the end of the season, Poyet's record at Brighton may well look very similar to Old Big Gob's at Leeds. The Seagulls are a nearly team who often flatter to deceive.

So Poyet might fancy it and Leeds fans would welcome him but the stumbling block may be GFC Capital and the fact that Warnock may be given a say on who replaces him. After all, he doesn't want a seagull to shit all over his statue!