Good Morning. It's Wednesday 30th March, and here are the latest headlines from Elland Road Orta lays into transfer guru In a recent radio interview, Leeds Director of Football Victor Orta has hit out at Italian Sports Journalist Fabrizio Romano, for repeatedly tweeting false information to millions of Leeds fans relating to a release clause in Raphinha's contract. According to Ramano, the Brazilian ace has two clauses in his contract, one if Leeds were to be relegated, and a buyout provision. It is true, that if Leeds were to return to the Championship, Raphinha could leave ER for as little as 20m, but rumours of a 65m buy out clause have proved to be untrue. Speaking on Radio Marca, Orta was quoted as saying:- “Raphinha doesn’t have a clause if we stay in the Premier League,” “I say this because a transfer guru said the other day that he had a clause for an amount and he doesn’t. “Sometimes the transfer guru is wrong. “He doesn’t have a clause if we stay in the Premier League. “When the player knocked on the door of Leeds, the first thing I said to him was, ‘you’re going to invite me to the World Cup in Qatar’. “And he looked stupid, he didn’t believe it." “We’ve been meeting our goals and the player knows that Leeds and his coaching staff, who have collaborated a lot, and the club has helped his figure grow and has responded with great quality, being a differential player in the league. “He has to continue doing the same and in summer, when the time comes, I’m sure there’s time for everything.” “Fortunately, Raphinha’s career management is carried out by a top-level player who knows how to handle this, which is Deco. “I have had several conversations with Deco. “Deco helps me and I can’t say that everyone helps. “In this case, Deco knows that the current objective of the team that bet on his footballer has only one name: save himself and stay in the Premier League. “Everything that is of the future will come.” please log in to view this image David Villa convinced me to sign Harrison - Orta During his interview with Radio Marca, Victor Orta discussed the 2018 Summer (loan) signing of Jack Harrison. The former Manchester City youngster is fast approaching his 150th appearance for the Whites, but according to Orta, things could have been very different had the top two targets not turned him down. Leeds first choice was Harvey Barnes. Everything was agreed with the winger, but at the 11th hour, he changed his mind, and opted to sign for the Baggies instead. Their second choice was Florian Jozefzoon, but astonishingly, the Suriname International chose Derby County instead. Leeds dodged a bullet there. His spell at Pride Park was unsuccessful, and he was moved on to Rotherham. He now plays his football at Ligue 2 outfit US Quevilly. “With Jack Harrison, for example. Luckily, it’s gone pretty well. We had Harvey Barnes locked down, he decided to go to West Bromwich on loan at the very last moment,” “We had Jozefzoon, but he took the wrong train and He went to Derby. And Jack was the third option. We believed in the method, in decision-making, it must be admitted, David Villa convinced me.” In 63 Premier League appearances, Harrison has netted 13 times, and laid on nine assists! please log in to view this image Leeds linked with Barca flop Several media outlets have linked Leeds with Barcelona winger Trincao. The Portugese International winger, 22, joined the Catalan giants in 2020 for 25 m, but as yet, has not rediscovered the form he showed whilst at Braga. He has spent this season on loan at Wolves, and according to the stats on 'Who Scored', has an average rating of 6.60, ranking him 17th out of 24. His best performance for Bruno Lage's team was against Leeds several weeks ago, where he scored his only goal of the season. Wolves have made it clear that they are not interested in signing Trincao on a permanent basis. please log in to view this image Exciting stat shows Leeds are moving in the right direction Leeds are averaging an xG (expected goals) tally of 2.07 per game in Marsch’s four matches in charge, the most of any side in the Premier League. xG is a metric that measures the quality of a goalscoring opportunity – the higher it is, the better the chance of scoring! Apart from the Villa game, Leeds are looking more like the team of last season. They have ridden their luck at times in the last few games, but with the way the season has gone, they are over due a lucky break! please log in to view this image
Good morning some quality choices from Orta right there. He has signed some right dross in his time here.
So all the bollocks about Deco and Barcelona was just made up then, no doubt with the sole purpose of unsettling the player. This is exactly why bullshit stories like this shouldn't be given any credibilty.
Trincoa 4th best winger at Barcelona will never replace Raphinha, so forget it. Part exchange deals maybe but for a midfielder like Riqui Puig + cash which Barcelona dont have any ash though We’ve just had a a fortnight of no football and a bunch if made up clickbait media stories. The real stories will kick off at the presser tomoz, when we hope to find out that only Bamford, Roberts and Firpo ar out injured and all the rest are playing a part. That would mean a full team and a strong bench
where do we have proof of that? The release clause might be bollox… doesn’t mean deco isn’t speaking to Barca. It would be a major surprise if he wasn’t speaking to loads of clubs..it’s his job. unsettling the player? You think players get their information from the press? Deco will update Raphinha on what clubs are interested in him on a regular basis. If anything has unsettled the player it’s playing for a team that hasn’t delivered this year. Speculation is triggered by our relegation fight and that talks on Raphinha’s contract extension have stalled … though you would expect contract talks to stall when what division we will be in, is still not clear.
EXCLUSIVE: Leeds were RIGHT to axe Marcelo Bielsa, says Eddie Gray - as club legend speaks about the Elland Road hotseat, Don Revie, Brian Clough... and how the family name is set to be continued The sign above his front door reads 'Nobody gets out sober' and Eddie Gray has had every reason to enjoy a drink of late. The first cause for celebration came with Leeds' 94th-minute victory against Norwich, when Gray was housebound because of Covid but went 'crazy' in his living room instead. Then it was that stoppage-time comeback win over Wolves, which had the 74-year-old 'jumping up and down' in the directors' box at Molineux. 'That passion never leaves you,' the Leeds legend tells Sportsmail from his home in the picturesque village of Kirkby Overblow near Harrogate. 'It was such an important moment for our position in the league. 'At 2-0 down at half-time, you are thinking this puts us in real trouble. There is no hope. But a win like that changes everything. It is so crucial we stay up.' Gray knows this the hard way having been at Leeds - as player and then manager - the last two times they dropped out of the top flight. Of course, the Scot is remembered by fans for his successes, the two League titles and FA Cup won under Don Revie in the 1960s and 70s, and he has been voted the club's third greatest player of all time. 'I played for the youth team, the reserve team, the first team. I coached the youth team, the reserve team, the first team. It's not bad, you know?' grins the man they call Mr Leeds United. But despite all of that, Gray admits that, to this day, he reflects on the disappointments he suffered at Leeds more than his many notable achievements. 'People talk about me winning the FA Cup, but the games that stick in my mind are the finals I lost - against Sunderland and Chelsea,' says Gray. 'It's the same with relegation. It hurts everybody terribly and it takes a long time to get back. When we went down in 1982, it took us eight years, then after 2004 it was 16 years. 'There is no guarantee that any team will come back up. That's why it's so important now that the club maintains its position in the Premier League.' Jesse Marsch's men, who now sit seven points clear of the drop zone, are certainly in a better position to do so than Gray's side were 18 years ago. Having previously managed Leeds from 1982 to 1985, Gray was placed in temporary charge again in November 2003 after Peter Reid was sacked with the Whites bottom of the table. But he could not turn things round and a team who had reached a Champions League semi-final only three years earlier - when he was an assistant to David O'Leary - went down following a 4-1 defeat at Bolton 'That was one of my saddest days,' he admits. 'I was disappointed in myself and I always will be. You always think you should have done better and about what you could have done differently. 'But the circumstances weren't great. The club had no money and our best players were gone or were going. Players would come in to training and say, "The club tried to sell me last night". 'Because of that, they had lost that bit of desire. They were just waiting to find out when they were going to leave the club. 'It was still disappointing and it plays on your mind, but time moves on. I never regret taking it on. I am just pleased to see the club back in the big league. You saw the other night at Wolves that the current group have the desire and passion for the club to stay in the Premier League.' Gray's medal haul may be the envy of his peers, but you would never know it sitting in his home of 50 years. 'They are in a box under the ground somewhere, they are not on show,' he says in his distinctive Glaswegian drawl. 'If you've played at the highest level and won things, you know you've won them. You don't need a medal to prove it.' The only one on display is from the Fairs Cup and only because Gray likes the way it looks, coming in the form of a mini replica of the trophy. Other than that, hanging up in the same corner of the kitchen is his first Scotland cap, while on a cabinet is a framed black-and-white photo of Revie racing his player Jack Charlton in training as Gray watches on. 'What I am most proud of about my career is having the privilege of playing with great players,' he reflects. 'A lot of the boys are no longer with us but I made some great friendships. They were terrific times and that was all down to one man - Don.' Gray, as you would expect, speaks glowingly of Revie, in particular the personal touch he had with his players. 'He brought the group together like a family,' he says. 'When I was still an Under 15, I remember he would come out and set up a five-a-side match with us in the car park at lunchtime and join in. Don would do anything for you and your family. He used to come up to my house in Glasgow just to make sure my mum and dad were all right. If anyone was ill, he'd send flowers. He also loved nothing more than a sing-song after the game. Everybody had to sing their own song.' The unique bond Revie shared with his squad was something Brian Clough could never come to terms with when he replaced him as manager in 1974 - an ill-fated spell lasting just 44 days. Clough certainly got off on the wrong foot with Gray, telling the injury-plagued winger that if he had been a horse, he would have been shot. 'That was just how Cloughie was, but I don't think the club gave him long enough,' says Gray surprisingly. 'He came in like a bull in a china shop and he did it wrong. He admitted that to me later in life. But I'd still have given him longer. He proved himself to be one of the greatest managers this country has ever produced. Talk of great managers past brings us to the modern day and Marcelo Bielsa. When he was sacked last month, the club revealed plans for a permanent tribute at Elland Road, leading to speculation of a statue to match those of Revie and Billy Bremner. 'If that was the case, I would go along with that,' admits club ambassador Gray. 'I don't think any Leeds United fan - me included - will ever forget what he did for the club. 'His legacy will last a long time. He brought us out of the doldrums and the club can't thank him enough.' That said, Gray still believes Leeds were correct to call time on the Argentine's four-year reign. 'The club did the right thing,' he says. 'You couldn't see the run of defeats coming to an end. Marcelo never really showed any emotion. I never saw him pat a player on the back when he was substituted. That's just how he was and he was successful with it. The players responded to him. 'But when you are struggling and you don't have that personal affinity with the players, it becomes difficult. When things start going wrong, you need an arm around you and that wasn't his nature.' It is, though, very much the nature of Bielsa's touchy-feely American successor Marsch. 'So far Jesse has done very well,' says Gray. 'If you come in and communicate with the players, you get their respect and everything runs smoothly. Don was like that. 'Jesse is a completely different type of personality to Marcelo but he shows the type of passion and enthusiasm that Leeds fans like. 'He's bought into the club. I met him at a fundraiser at Elland Road and he really appreciates the opportunity and realises what it means to the people of Leeds for the club to be in the Premier League. 'In recent times, the atmosphere at Elland Road is the best it's ever been. They need to make the stadium bigger as 38,000 is not enough. They could fill double that. 'This season is all about survival but Jesse is clever enough to know Leeds fans are a different breed and don't settle for mid-table. 'We have to strive to be in the top six, challenging for places in Europe. If West Ham can do it, so can we.' As Gray finishes by pondering a brighter future for the club he first joined almost 60 years ago, he notes the role his wider family may have to play in it. His great nephew Archie Gray - grandson of Frank and son of Andy, both ex-Leeds players - has made the first-team bench twice this season and has captained England Under 16s. Archie's 13-year-old brother Harry is also in the Leeds academy, as are two of Gray's 17 grandchildren - Jacob and Charlie - who play Under 10s. 'Archie is still at school so you don't want to get carried away, but he is doing very well,' adds Gray. 'There could be a few Grays at Leeds for a few years yet!' please log in to view this image
well it would be k3 if barcelona were tapping him up as described and k5 if raph had instructed deco to get him a deal with Barcelona. But back in the real world....
