Good Morning. It's Thursday 13th July, and here are the latest headlines from Elland Road Leeds kick off pre-season with loss Leeds kicked off their pre-season tour of Norway with a 2-0 defeat against Manchester Utd in Oslo. It was almost a completely unrecognisable line-up, when compared to the dross of last season. Many familiar names (or should I say wage thieves) stayed at home, no doubt, never to be seen in a Leeds shirt again. The only players who travelled but were not part of the match day squad were Max Wober and Helder Costa, who only returned to training at Thorp Arch on Monday. Farke did well to make the match competitive, given their lack of preparation, and mass exodus of players. The red side of Manchester were always in control, but it took them 67 minutes to break down a stubborn Leeds defence. Once breached, Erik ten Hag's team could have grabbed a hat-full, but a combination of last ditch defending and wasteful finishing kept the scoreline respectable. Earlier in the day, Daniel Farke had deliberately put his players through a debilitating training session, to see how they would perform when tired. Cody Drameh was Leeds only player to register 90 minutes. please log in to view this image That was a solid start - Farke Speaking after the game, a philosophical Daniel Farke admitted that despite the loss, there was plenty to be pleased about. Failing to prepare for relegation has seriously hampered Leeds pre-season preparations, but in just six days (of training), the former Norwich City gaffer can already see signs of improvement. Farke saw glimpses of what he wants to bring to the pitch, and expressed his delight at keeping a clean sheet in the first half, not allowing the opponents too many big opportunities, and looking sharp on the counter-attack. "I'm always struggling when you lose a football game. I will always struggle during my whole life to accept a loss, but if you're really honest, we also knew this game, and this opponent, came a bit too early in pre-season and just after being together for five days." "For that, I have to say the lads were there with a really solid start and I liked in the first half we accepted Man United’s a really good side. They had lots of possession and tried to put pressure on us, but it was important to dig in and also to be really, really compact and solid in defending." "I was proud the lads were able to return back to the dressing room at half-time with a clean sheet. We also looked sharp on the counter-attack, apart from two or three individual errors, we didn't allow them to have too many big chances." "Second half I liked also our attitude to bring the game more and more into their half. We had good scenes in our pressing, good intensity and it felt a bit [like] the momentum changes and we could even win this game." "You have to be also clinical and then play without any mistakes in the back and sadly we had one or two individual errors in the situation [and] conceded out of this. I’m not too annoyed with the goals because, in the last six days, we have just worked on our possession and how we want to work with the ball and not at all on what we want to do against the ball." "To come out against such a strong side like Man United, that was a solid start. I saw many glimpses of what we want to bring on the pitch." please log in to view this image Galatasaray keen on Firpo Turkish media outlet 'Fotospor' have reported that Galatasaray have opened communication with Leeds Utd regarding the services of Junior Firpo. The modern day 'Tom Lees' has frustrated the Leeds faithful his his inconsistent performances since his £12m move from Barcelona two years ago. On his day, he can be brilliant, but for whatever reason, the finger of blame is never far away. He was tipped to join Olympique de Marseille, but the Ligue 1 outfit have now lost interest in the 26yo, opening up an opportunity to potentially mend bridges with Galatasaray. It is believed that Leeds have refused to do business with their Turkish counterparts ever since that fateful night in Taksim Square, 23 years ago, where Kevin Speight and Christopher Loftus were brutally murdered. Galatasaray are interested in taking Firpo on loan, with an option to buy. Media sources closer to home indicate Leeds are only interested in loan deals, as former club Barcelona have a 20% sell on clause. please log in to view this image
Breaking news: not 606 Leeds site goes down due to extremely high volumes of traffic.....moderators bring in tech expertise to assist with unexplained surge ...... meanwhile firpo insists it's a 40% sell on clause
Afternoon all I would imagine Farke would have loved to call off yesterdays friendly, at least he managed to get a closer look at the players. Biggest enjoyment of yesterday, knowing Sinisterra is fit enough to start and that possibly our best two CBs were not available but are fully committed to staying, Wober and Cresswell
Some might have returned late due to internationals others injury. There is ZERO chance that we will start the season with any 11 from those who played yesterday, we couldn't possibly have put out a weaker squad so I wouldn't read anything into that result or performance
Elia Caprile looks to be going to Seria A champions Napoli, who will then loan him straight out to another Seria A team. Leeds will be due 50% of the fee Napoli pay for him. Seems to be more loan shyt going on in the Roca deal as Spanish media saying there is no buy option, it’s just a straight season long loan. Betis will pay €500k loan fee and cover all his wages. Phil Hay quiet again today then……. Any players imminent arrival?
Since the EFL changed the rules in june no club is allowed to announce a takeover until the EFL do it. Break this rule and it's a fine for the club
Wonder who these loan targets are that this tempoary guy is lining up. At this point would any decent player want to join us. Make bad start in August and maybe some won't come.
Yes as we still have a CEO in Kinnear as well as other board members of which Marathe is still a director and so is Peter Lowey. Deals are done between clubs, not individuals
Everton fans slagging off greedy Rodrigo the greed shown by Everton fans and the way they have cheated for the last 3 seasons. The only players they can afford are freebies and when they asked Rodrigo to come he said ok but you need to match the offers I have on the table. Nothing wrong with that as hes 32yo and if a club wants to pay him £200k per week,m fair play to him. Everton cant afford him so carry on signing freebies like old Young
Another 16yo signed today for the academy. OP updated but season starts shortly and we have no idea what’s going on yet
Rodrigo gave Everton the chance to match his salary at Qatari outfit Al-Rayyan, but couldn't come close to £200,000 a week.
Why would we want any of these players back if we go up? We know that they’re not good enough for the premier league.
In my not so humble opinion the EFL should be taken to task over the way they introduced these changes(over night) And should be held accountable for the way/time it is taking without any updates for the fans, but as usual they are a law unto themselves
I know it's not but it feels like the old days with Cellino a shambles. To be honest I wasn't expecting this at this stage. Obviously can't sign players till we get official owners and the ones who are supposedly waiting in the wings will eventually get itchy feet and go elsewhere. We could be well going into the start of the season with who we have and yet we still don't know who that is.
What gets me is we paid loads of decent loan fees for harrison yet let ours go on the cheap.... Mugs.
Good point. £6m in loan fees to Man City for Harrison over three seasons. We’re getting £500,000 per season for our lot going out on loan. Maybe Diane Abbott’s taken charge of things
