Adam Clayton ⭑ From A-Z since '92

This is part of my (crikey, eight year long) attempt to write about every Leeds United player since 1992. For more about why I'm doing this, go back to Aapo Halme. Or you can keep going below, with me and Adam Clayton.

The churning of players on permanent moves and on loan during Simon Grayson's time as manager gave Leeds United a haphazard feel. Adam Clayton, for example, was not a simple signing. In April 2010 he was playing for Carlisle, on loan from Manchester City, against Leeds. In February he had scored for Carlisle against Leeds, and then again in a penalty shoot-out, to knock us out of the Johnstone's Paint Trophy at the Northern Final stage. At the start of August 2010, Clayton joined Leeds - now in the Championship - on loan from Manchester City. Three and a bit weeks later, after a couple of appearances, his move was made permanent. And in November he was loaned to League One Peterborough.

That wasn't even all. After coming back at the end of January, a couple of months later he went to MK Dons and finished the season there. It must have been making sense to someone, and at the start of the next season, it became a bit clearer to everyone else. Now 22 years old, with a top-flight academy education and an assortment of league experiences, the departures of Neil Kilkenny and Bradley Johnson created space in United's midfield that Clayton was ready to fill.

Clayton played 43 league games for Leeds in 2011/12, scoring six goals and attracting Premier League attention as Grayson's almost recklessly attack-minded team, well, fell apart. In the opening eight games of the season, amid a background of protests against owner Ken Bates, Leeds scored sixteen goals. They also conceded fifteen, didn't keep any clean sheets, had four players sent off and won three, drew one, lost three. Significantly, they also sold Max Gradel and replaced him with Danny Pugh, a painful indicator of how the 2010s were starting to turn.