Good Morning. It's Thursday 13th April, and here are the latest headlines from Elland Road Can Leeds keep hold of Gnonto Since arriving at Elland Road on transfer deadline day last September, Wilfred Gnonto has proved to be arguably one of Leeds best signings of all time, pound for pound. His creativity, close ball control, and attacking prowess has handed the Whites a fighting chance of staying up this season. His accomplishments on the pitch have not gone unnoticed. Juventus, Manchester United and Chelsea have all been strongly linked with the Italian International, and now, Arsenal too, have thrown their hat into the ring. Leeds are a million miles away from European football. Whilst the lure of a big pay rise may appeal in the short term, we all know that nothing lasts forever. Latest reports suggest he may be worth up to £40m, which when you consider he was bought for £4m, is quite a mark up. Even if Leeds stay up, they face a massive task to keep hold of Gnonto over the Summer. please log in to view this image Orta continuous to divide opinion Since arriving as Andrea Radrizzani's right hand man in May 2017, Victor Orta has endured a somewhat turbulent relationship with the Elland Road faithful. The 44yo is a well respected footballing figure all over Europe. He even persuaded RB Leipzig to sell Tyler Adams to Leeds, whilst the JKA fiasco was still going on, such is his reputation Nobody can fault his passion or commitment either. He is the apophony of someone who wears his heart on his sleeve, sometimes to his own detriment. The club has bought a lot of below par during his tenure, and although the Managers have to take some responsibility, it is ultimately down to the Director of Football. All the good work Leeds have done with Raphinha, Kalvin Phillips, Illan Meslier, Tyler Adams, Max Wober, Jack Harrison and Wilfred Gnonto have been cancelled out by the likes of Helder Costa, Laurens De Bock, Barry Douglas, JKA and Daniel James, and dozens of others. Does Orta deserve the stick he gets? Would you like to see him continue in his role, once the 49ers take over? please log in to view this image
Morning all. The longer we spend in the PL the more I detest it. Total waste of time when the Man cities can buy who they like. FFP is a laughing stock, pure and simple. They'll probably buy Gnonto and stick him in the reserves with Philips. They are now in pole position to sign Bellingham for 110m. What a surprise. How do we break away from this bottom six nonsense every season? Answer, we won't. Our near two decades of exile followed by a succession of idiot owners and boards has done irreparable damage. Fans deserve so much more but I suspect its not just Leeds fans saying that
Morning all. Not getting into the Orta debate until the end of the season as everyone at the club will be judged on which division we're in. Regarding player sales, then any and all of them are available if the price is right.
Orta has more misses than hits, his biggest hit was Bielsa and without him we'd most likely still be in the Championship, so he gets bonus points for that. True he has found a few gems but the number of them for the years he's been here,isnt great, and as its his job, it's the least you can expect. He has bought in many duds too and we keep hearing about the Leicester model of buying cheap and selling big and swiping up young talent to do the same but there's little evidence of that happening. So imo, he's done OK but should have done much better, as we keep hearing how highly regarded he is
What's the alternative though Kev ? Competing in a lower division whilst striving to get somewhere we don't want to be sounds even more hellish.
Salary caps anyone ? What's the point sitting on the bench at Man City earning the same as somehwere else where you're starting every match. Not perfect of course but something will likely need to be done at some point.
Yeah, I've said for a while that salary caps should be a thing but how do you implement them regarding European football? There would have to be a global salary cap and that would need a massive reduction by PL clubs to allow even Italian clubs an even playing field.
Helder Costa did his job perfectly well Ell. He was signed to get us up. He scored and assisted plenty of key goals in the season. He did his job so not a disaster.
The operative word being competing Jammy. In a lower division we can compete and fans at home and at game can enjoy most of it. We are not competing in the pl and won’t be in my lifetime as things stand. Facing Liverpool Monday and hoping we don’t get another trouncing. I was offered a spare ticket for Liverpool game yesterday. Mrs Eire said look up flights and go. I’m giving it a miss as I couldn’t stand another result like Sunday so so soon after
Whatever his hits and misses have been with player signings, after the JKA saga, there’s not many people who could lose their company £40 million pounds and not be sacked.
40 million for Meslier has been said today. 40 million for Gnonto also reported today. Newcastle want Koch. It will be more than the 13 million we paid for him.
No one likes spelling and grammar police Ell, especially a typo king like myself, but one here made me chuckle.... Orta might have an epiphany or be the epitome but I doubt he's an apophony. ...must be a slow news day
