Now the Leeds cull begins

He cancelled the contracts of loan signings Camara, Domi and Roque Junior with immediate effect, an extreme measure aimed at saving £1.5m in wages to the end of the season.

That signalled the end of Leeds' French Connection, a legacy of former manager Peter Reid's need to strengthen his squad last summer with loan signings because there was no cash for home talent. But it was understood that their deals would stand for a year and Camara, from Lens, and Domi, of Paris Saint-Germain, angrily refused to sign their release papers at Thorp Arch training complex.

In addition the players' agent Willie Mackay threatened to retaliate by arranging moves for two more of his Leeds clients, Salomon Olembe and Lamine Sakho. The latter pair are seen as crucial to Leeds' hopes of climbing out of trouble.

AC Milan centre half Roque, Reid's most controversial loan signing despite being a World Cup winner with Brazil, was more philosophical and was last night ready to join Hamburg. Italian clubs Siena and Perugia are also interested.

He had arrived in a blaze of publicity but despite scoring twice against Manchester United in the Carling Cup became known as Roque Horror among fans as he featured in humiliating 4-0 defeats at Leicester and Everton.

Domi has made only one start for Leeds. Camara was a regular under Reid but has been largely ignored by caretaker manager Eddie Gray, who has turned to the old guard in an effort to beat relegation.

Camara returned against Southampton last Saturday because of injuries but his error led to the second goal in a 2-1 defeat that left Gray's side at the foot of the table.

Birch is also ready to put the block on outstanding payments believed to be due to former Elland Road players Robbie Fowler, Robbie Keane, Olivier Dacourt, Cyril Chapuis and Paul Okon.

Fowler, who joined Manchester City a year ago, is still due around £3m over the length of his Leeds contract, which runs until June 2006, an admission that stunned last month's annual meeting.

Australia skipper Okon, a Terry Venables signing, agreed a settlement when he left last year. Chapuis, another of Reid's loan Frenchmen from Marseille, is now playing at Strasbourg.

Birch is also appealing to Leeds' former managers for some leeway, although David O'Leary, sacked 18 months ago and now at Aston Villa, has already agreed to take the rest of his near-£4m compensation in staged payments of £500,000 every six months.

Venables, who was fired by former chairman Peter Ridsdale as Leeds slid towards trouble last March, is due a total settlement of £2m on his contract and Reid, who had an £850,000-a-year rolling contract, has still to agree a deal. Leeds are also trying to push through property deals for a part of Thorp Arch no longer in use and offices opposite Elland Road that could bring in about £3m.

But Birch's increasingly desperate measures to keep Leeds afloat were not helped by the players' decision to delay any deferral of their wages.

Stung by criticism from the fans and media, the players issued a statement through the club that read: 'We wish to make it clear that we are fully behind the club and are working with Trevor Birch and the Professional Footballers' Association in the hope of solving the problems. We are together as a team and no decision has yet been made one way or the other on whether to defer a percentage of our wages.'

All very well but on the day the Scottish Premier League decided that clubs falling into administration will be docked 10 points and banned from signing players, Birch will have glanced at the ticking clock.