Rosler stakes his claim.

Last updated : 15 August 2001 By Christian Kelly
If you judge Uwe Rosler's time at the club purely on goalscoring he would be considered quite a flop. Although Uwe is the first to state that he only started in six games he did come on as a sub in over a dozen other games. Uwe said: "I started only five games last season and the way I was used was for five or ten minutes at the end of the game made it impossible for me to prove my worth to the club."

Uwe always gives 100% and his arrival at the club has given several players a much needed kick in the rear. The likes of Beattie and Davies could learn a lot from him although they would hopefully score more goals.

Uwe is looking forward to a more successful season this year saying: "I have had a good pre-season and that game (against Espanyol) reflected my pre-season form."

"It was nice to get the last one at The Dell against Brighton and one of the first two at the new stadium."

"Hopefully with that I can convince the manager to use me more."

On merit, Uwe may well get his chance as Beattie and Davies remain unimpressive at the moment.

However Rosler is doubtful of this, telling the Echo: "I would love to play for this club and prove one or two people wrong.

"I have never had a year like the last one - it was a really bad experience.

"But I feel really sharp and good and this was a good game for me.

"It reflected my pre-season because I have worked extremely hard all the way through and it was nice to get a couple of goals to boost my confidence.

"But I don't expect it will put me in the reckoning for Leeds. The manager has said I am not in his first 11 and I don't think I am in his plans.

"I have an agreement with the club but I don't want to talk about it or go into details.

"I have not started in the last three friendlies and I don't think these goals will make a difference, though I'd be delighted if they did."

This highlights the lack of consistant goalscorers at the club. Pahars is probably the best of the bunch but his form suffered when he was played in midfield last season.

Both Beattie and Davies have had purple patches, Davies getting a lucrative transfer from his. However both have yet to prove themselves consistently. Although a model pro, Rosler has yet to convert that into goals. That leaves youngsters such as McDonald, Caceres, Rodrigues and Jacinto who may not be quite ready for the first team. All are talented but more damage than good could be done by trusting them into first team action too early.

Having just typed the above, here's hoping Bierhoff makes his mind up soon.