Casper Sloth ⭑ From A-Z since '92

This is part of my (eight year long, it'll fly by) attempt to write about every Leeds United player since 1992. For more about why I'm doing this, go back to Aapo Halme, and to read all the players so far, browse the archive here.

Massimo Cellino claimed otherwise, that he was tired, beleaguered and full of regret, but owning Leeds United must have been fun that first summer. He approached it like a fresh save in Championship Manager. He brought sixteen new players to Elland Road, including some he'd been lusting after before he rage-quit at Cagliari and Adryan to build his new team around, and every choice held an invigorating sense of proving himself right. This guy in the hotel bar, watching him move the salt and pepper pots around, confirming all his football ideas about diamonds in midfield? This Dave Hockaday guy, he'll be fun to work with.

Casper Sloth looked fun to work with, the sort of treat everyone playing Champ Man hopes the scouts will come back with from Scandinavia. A 22-year-old one club midfielder, from Aarhus, a Denmark international in every age group from Under-17s right up to ten caps with the full side. His club record showed versatility across the middle throughout 133 games, including a Europa League qualifier. Nine goals, seventeen assists. He'd started for Denmark against England at Wembley at March, hacking down Steven Gerrard as he was about to score: Sloth was a name even the foggiest brains could remember. Aarhus had been relegated, Sloth was in the last year of his contract, Evian in Ligue 1 were interested, the asking price was £600,000. That was United's average that summer: Liam Cooper cost about the same, Nicky Ajose was £150,000, Giuseppe Bellusci was £1.6m. It can't have taken Cellino long to decide, yes, I like him, let's buy him. Hockaday could work out what to do with him later.

Or, somebody. Sloth signed on 26th August 2014. On 27th August, Leeds lost 2-1 in the League Cup to Bradford City. On 28th August, Cellino sacked Dave Hockaday. On 30th August Sloth made his debut as Neil Redfearn took caretaker charge of a 1-0 win over Bolton Wanderers and gave him 78 minutes before Zen Benedicic came on.

Seventy Days of Leeds United

One thing Hockday has done at Elland Road is concentrate all our attention on him and on the football, and to be fair to Dave, dimming Cellino’s limelight for a while was no mean feat. It’s just a shame that what he lit up instead was such a godawful mess.

LeedsistaMoxcowhite • Daniel Chapman

It was a 'debut of delight' according to the Daily Mirror, and Redfearn said, "Casper came in and showed some real class in midfield." In the one training session he'd had, Redfearn said, "He looked bright as a button. He's so sharp and his touches are good. He finds space, he works hard and once he gets his feet under the table, he's going to be a real asset."

Sloth said he was ready for the challenge of playing in England, and described himself as a box-to-box midfielder. "I like to get the ball, set the tempo and set my team-mates up," he said. "In Denmark you see a lot of the Premier League. Not so much of the Championship, but every footballer in Denmark wants to play in England. When I was hearing about Leeds' interest, I looked at it and spoke to people and I felt that it was a really good match for me. I knew the club and their history and I wanted to be part of the project here. They've got a lot of new players and it seemed really interesting."