The Super(ish) Leeds United Thread

[Rufus T Firefly]

3-1
Suboptimal

  Suboptimal - I like that.

Not really an awful lot to be said. Poverty stricken performance against a side whose minds were elsewhere. Big Sam in his post match press conference basically alluded to a squad with many flaws.

Someone put up on Twitter that since Bielsa was sacked in February of last year, Leeds have won eleven league matches - absolutely damning stuff and ultimately the responsibility rests with the Board and Orta and Raddrizzani in particular.   

It's unbelievable that with 31 points from 37 games, Leeds go into the last game of the season with a long shot of staying up. It's been death by a thousand cuts. And to be honest, we don't deserve to stay up. I've been resigned to our fate for a couple of months now, so the pressure is off!   

[Rufus T Firefly]

Holy crap Everton might actually be relegated this time.

Very unlikely now. They live to fight again.

[SaffronSports]

Relegation to the Championship was finally confirmed for Leeds United today and it has to be said it was completely deserved.

Those last 10 matches or so are when teams and players have to stand up and be counted so to take 2 points from the last 9 games was a capitulation.

The entire season has been a disaster right from the hierarchy to the majority of the players.

The first thing that needs to be sorted this summer is the ownership. It's either Radrizzani staying or selling to the 49ers in full but the status quo is not good enough.

Once that's sorted the managerial side of things needs to be resolved but I think more than that, some kind of structure needs to be in place to allow the club to make a mid to long term plan as unless you have billions in the bank at that level, you need a very clear structure off the pitch to grow. Brighton and Brentford are fine examples of this.

While relegation hurts, we're definitely going down in a better place than our last top flight relegation. Players will leave but a lot are very sellable assets and I fully expect around £100m in transfer fees to come in over the next few months and we have invested in a lot of young players who have been flourishing with the Premier League 2 team so hopefully a few of them can step in at Championship level and contribute there.

The most important thing is the club put in a platform to ensure that this drop stops here and we start the journey back upwards as soon as possible.

There has always been massive potential with a club like Leeds but this season has been a disaster right through.

The journey back has to start tomorrow, right at the very top of the club. As soon as they sort things out the club can start to work its way back towards the top flight and as always the Leeds fans will be there like they always were despite all the nonsense endured over those years.

Marching on Together
🟡⚪🔵

[Rufus T Firefly]

Relegation to the Championship was finally confirmed for Leeds United today and it has to be said it was completely deserved.....

.....Marching on Together
🟡⚪🔵

Great post and more or less covered everything very succinctly.

Not a lot to add. Went out with a whimper, as was somehow appropriate at the end of what was a terrible season. There are a vast range of key moments that can be considered in terms of where it all went wrong - many supporters will argue that the victory at Liverpool was what sealed our fate, as it kept Marsch in charge for another few months - others will argue that getting rid of him was what cost Leeds in the end. The best line I've seen is that over the last eighteen months, the Board took too long to make the wrong decisions.

Definitely moving into the unknown now, but key of course is the ownership, with most Leeds' fans hoping for a full takeover from the 49ers. That of course will depend on Radrizzani's willingness to sell, which in turn is dependent on what happens with his takeover of Sampdoria. His latest bid was turned down yesterday by Sampdoria's current owners, which led to protests on the streets of Genoa. So still a very fluid situation.

If the ownership situation can be resolved, and in favour of the Yanks, then there is reason to feel optimistic in the medium to longer term, as the resources available, along with what should be a very professional set up, should mean that fully supported, sane decisions, are made that will give supporters hope.   

[seafoid]

Leeds United is an attractive target with an attaching metropolis.  It really should be in the top division. I think that choosing Marsch was Leeds' Aughrim.

[Rufus T Firefly]

Leeds United is an attractive target with an attaching metropolis.  It really should be in the top division.

Yes, and it's why the 49ers have been hooked. They see the potential. They own 44% but now want a full takeover, with one of the conditions being that Radrizzani leaves the building.

News overnight from Italy is that Radrizzani's bid for Sampdoria has now been accepted. He made a triumphant statement following that process, but the statement made no mention of Leeds. The hope is that his acquisition will now prompt the sale of Leeds to the Yanks.

I think that choosing Marsch was Leeds' Aughrim.

Many Leeds' supporters would agree with you.

There are so many 'sliding doors' moments over the last two years. Leeds finished the 2020/21 season absolutely on fire and the opportunity was there to build on a fantastic first season in the Premier League. However that opportunity was spurned, not least by the transfer activity over the Summer of 2021 and it has subsequently spiralled out of control, leading to a litany of poor decisions. 

[Rufus T Firefly]

And so the whole issue gets curioser and curioser.

Overnight, Rarizzani made a public statement of apology to the supporters - an apology written on his company's headed paper - and written in such a manner that gave a strong sense that he is here to stay. It was his first statement concerning Leeds, since relegation on Sunday.

Late yesterday, the Athletic discovered that Radrizzani had offered to use Elland Road as security for a £26 million bank loan, to be used to complete the takeover of Sampdoria. It would appear that leading Board members Angus Kinnear (CEO) and Paraag Marathe (Vice Chair and 49ers representative) were totally blindsided by this move when it was put to them by the Athletic and Radrizzani reacted angrily when asked for comment, accusing the Athletic of looking to turn the fans against him. 

The move has all the hallmarks of his predecessor Cellino, but more importantly is serving to cause great uncertainty at a time when certainty is needed.     

[seafoid]

https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/soccer/2023/06/15/rickie-fowler-hopes-to-invest-in-leeds-united-with-jordan-spieth-and-justin-thomas/

Rickie Fowler has revealed he is one of three top US golfers looking to invest in Leeds as part of the imminent takeover by 49ers Enterprises.

The American investment group are set to take charge of the club after agreeing a deal to buy out chairman Andrea Radrizzani's controlling stake.

Fowler, along with Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas, all of whom have been converted to the Elland Road cause by Matt Fitzpatrick's Leeds-supporting caddie Billy Foster, is confident of being part of the deal.

Fowler told Sky Sports News: "There's the group that's moving forward with being involved with Leeds – myself, JT [Justin Thomas] and Jordan [Spieth], so potentially we'll be a part of it.

[Mourne Rover]

Leeds fans are pretty well used to upheaval and disaster but it usually happens a few months into a new season. This time around, we are in a full blown crisis after two championship games and supporters are already suggesting that a second successive relegation is fully possible. Coming from two behind to get a draw at home to a limited Cardiff side was not a disaster and there was probably something inevitable about the 90th minute penalty which did for us at Birmingham today. However, the combination of losing so many squad members who were contractually entitled to loans after dropping out of the premiership, a horrendous injury list and then two forwards disgracefully insisting that they were unavailable for selection unless granted transfers, probably at knockdown prices, has left the new coach Farke in a horrendous position. Gnonto, given a five year contract at 18, managed two goals in 25 appearances last year, and thinks he has been hard done by. Sinisterra, who cost £20m before scoring five in 20 matches during an injury hit season, is in the same boat. There would be a strong case for sending them to the reserves until their contracts are up, but, in modern football, they will probably get their moves shortly. The new owners, the SF 49ers, are in serious danger of seeing their investment implode in record time, and it may be too late to get the cheque book out. However, this is Leeds so perhaps we will beat West Brom live on Sky on Friday night.

[Rufus T Firefly]

Leeds fans are pretty well used to upheaval and disaster but it usually happens a few months into a new season. This time around, we are in a full blown crisis after two championship games......

Great summation. The hope would have been that with a lot of Premier League standard players and parachute payments, and an excellent manager in place, it would have been possible to make a serious challenge to bounce back at the first time of asking. Unbelievably though, after just two matches, many would settle for retention of our place in the Championship. Thoughts now that this could be at least a two year project to return to the Premier League. To be fair to Farke, he has flagged this up, and underlined several times that we were in for bumpy times.

I'd have to say the previous Board - and in particular Orta - have a lot to answer for. Their recruitment was absolutely terrible and relegation meant that the Club was very vulnerable to what is now happening, with many players leaving. The situation was not helped in anyway by the change of ownership, which was a very long process, as the EFL had to go through a very long process of establishing that the new owners were fit and proper, and as a consequence we could not operate effectively in the transfer market.

Time is now of the absolute essence to get reinforcements in - a centre forward, midfielder, a number ten and a left back are the priorities. But with FFP, there is a need to generate funds to get new players in, and the outgoings situation remains very fluid. It's likely to be September 1st before we know for sure who and what we have in terms of playing staff.

However, this is Leeds so perhaps we will beat West Brom live on Sky on Friday night.

Friday night, live, at home to West Brom, will bring back memories of happier times when we destroyed West Brom 4-0 in a Friday Night live game,  after Pablo scored a first minute goal, in our promotion season. Let's hope that's an omen.

[seafoid]

Leeds are 3-2 up just after HT at Ipswich.

[Mourne Rover]

It was an amazing game at Ipswich who had started with three wins on the bounce, and may well have been the best Leeds performance since Bielsa left. Farke could easily have sold or suspended Gnonto and Sinisterra so getting them to apologise and then reinstating them was a masterstroke. He has also managed to dramatically improve Rutter and make a key purchase in Piroe, and seeing all four of them score was quite an achievement. However, there's no doubt that more recruits are urgently needed at the back after a series of blunders yesterday. There's also a danger that a late bid could come in for Sinisterra so it's looking like another white knuckle ride for Leeds fans - in other words, business as usual.

[Rufus T Firefly]

The win at Ipswich - who were unbeaten at Portman Road since last Autumn - was our first league win since April and incredibly only our twelfth league win since Bielsa was sacked 18 months ago. The nature of what has been happening was never better illustrated than the changes to the starting eleven from the West Brom game, which saw Sinisterra and Gnonto back in the fold and Piroe starting, after his transfer from Swansea. Suddenly things are looking up again, with an attacking line up that must be as good as any in the Championship.

On the flip side, we shipped three goals - one an OG, a second an intercepted back pass and the third a deflection, so there are areas that need strengthening.

There are an absolute maze of transfer stories on going, and the situation remains fluid. It appears we have missed out on the chance to get Nadiem Amiri. The player was in Leeds yesterday, but rumours suggesting the player wanted a sell on clause if we were still in the Championship next season. Farke has made it clear that such contracts will not be approved, going forward.

The move for Genk's Joe Paintsil also looks like running aground, with issues around loyalty payments for Paintsil, from Genk, if he leaves, being the issue.

Leeds currently after Glen Kamara from Rangers and Lewis O'Brien from Forest.

As for defenders, being linked with Luke Thomas of Leicester, and at the time of writing, a loan deal for Djed Spence looks almost done, which would be a great acquisition. Whole thing going down to the wire!!   

[Mourne Rover]

Something is stirring at Elland Road. Today's 3-0 win over Watford was our sixth game without defeat and our fourth clean sheet in a row. The defence has improved beyond recognition, we have a very effective midfield and the goals are flying in up front. We remain eight points from an automatic promotion place, which is a big gap, and we still have a significant injury list, but Farke is doing an outstanding job as manager. Getting Piroe in as the first reliable striker we have recruited in many seasons was a masterstroke, and, if he stays fit, we are capable of pushing on.

[seafoid]

5th is very impressive given the slow start.
It's all about sure and unambiguous momentum.