The #LUFC Breakfast Debate (Friday 12th June)

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ellandback

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Good Morning. It's Friday 12th June, and here are the latest headlines from Elland Road

Harrison off to the States?

The New England Revolution are exploring the possibility of signing Jack Harrison, according to 'The Blazing Musket'. Harrison, 29, began his professional career with New York City FC in the MLS, where he recorded 14 goals and 13 assists in 55 appearances. In 2018, he joined Manchester City for £4.25m, and was immediately sent to the Riverside for the remainder of the season. He spent the next three seasons at Leeds, with the Whites shelling out £9m for the privilege (£3m per season), before joining on a permanent basis for £11m in the summer of 2021.

Harrison was loaned out to Everton (for free) following Leeds' relegation from the Premier League and returned two years later a shadow of his former self, and about as popular as Keir Starmer at an anti immigration rally in Belfast. He came extremely close to leaving Leeds during the closing hours of the 2023 January transfer window, only for 49ers Enterprises (minority shareholders at the time with 46%) using their influence to block the deal.

The Elland Road hierarchy are motivated to offload Harrison's substantial wage bill, reported at £90,000 per week. Just like Isaac Schmidt and Max Wober, Leeds will be keen to get rid of the dead wood this summer as they look to strengthen ahead of the 26/27 campaign, and hopefully a top half finish.

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New SCR Regime could hurt Leeds this summer

The 2026 summer transfer window is set to be one of the most tightly‑regulated in Premier League history. The introduction of the Squad Cost Ratio (SCR), a metric that caps player‑related expenditures at a fixed percentage of a club’s revenue has forced top‑flight sides to recalibrate their spending strategies. No longer can clubs simply outspend rivals; they must now demonstrate that every pound laid out on wages and transfer fees is supported by commercial income and compliant profit‑and‑loss statements.

Manchester United and Manchester City are expected to dominate the expenditure charts, each projecting a budget of £200 m‑£250 m. The red side of Manchester operating under the INEOS regime are looking to overhaul their squad, while City, still battling the cloud of 115 financial charges, will look to reinforce key areas while staying within SCR limits. Close behind, Arsenal (£180 m‑£220 m) have signalled their intent to make marquee moves, notably for the highly rated forward Junior Kroupi.

Chelsea (£150 m‑£180 m) remain contingent on the Premier League’s approval of internal asset sales, and Liverpool (£140 m‑£170 m) are actively pursuing high‑profile targets such as Alexander Isak and Marc Guéhi. Newcastle United (£130 m‑£160 m) and Tottenham Hotspur (£120 m‑£150 m) will also be active, albeit navigating stricter PSR (Profitability and Sustainability Regulations) ceilings, while Aston Villa (£110 m‑£140 m) plan to reinvest wisely after a season of squad rotation.

The three newly promoted sides, Coventry City, Ipswich Town, and Hull City, each stand to receive roughly £200 m in additional revenue from Premier League participation. However, the actual summer budgets will diverge sharply. Each club’s owners will weigh the temptation of immediate squad‑building against the need to preserve financial stability and comply with the SCR. Consequently, while the headline figure suggests a historic infusion of capital, the practical spending power of each club will be tempered by risk appetite, existing debt obligations, and the need to shore up infrastructure such as stadium upgrades and youth academies.

Below the elite, clubs are adopting more measured approaches. Sunderland, fresh from a successful campaign, have allocated £80 m‑£100 m, while Brighton & Hove Albion (£70 m‑£100 m) continue to leverage their elite player‑trading model and low‑debt structure. Crystal Palace (£50 m‑£80 m) and Bournemouth (£55 m‑£75 m) are reinvesting capital after modest squad refreshes, whereas Brentford (£45 m‑£65 m) have already begun executing early deals, such as the acquisition of Jannik Schuster. Further down the table, clubs like Leeds United (£40 m‑£60 m), Nottingham Forest (£35 m‑£55 m), and Everton (£35 m‑£55 m) are prioritising survival and financial prudence, keeping budgets tight in order to avoid breaching SCR thresholds.

As clubs balance the desire to compete with the need to satisfy the SCR, the market is likely to see a blend of high‑profile, financially‑vetted signings and more conservative, sustainability‑focused investments. For Leeds, it looks like they will need to be shrewd negotiators this summer, with both incomings and outgoings. Apart from Kalvin Phillips and Archie Gray, the Whites have struggled to get top dollar for any of their outgoing stars. Raphinha and Summerville was undersold, and they barely made a profit on Rutter, Adams or Sinisterra. Freeing up Struijk should nett £25m - £30m, with Perri, Wober, Harrison, Schmidt, Ramazani, Joseph and possibly Aaronson or Tanaka could raise another £50m

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Hull closing in on Gelhardt deal

Hull City are determined to secure Joe Gelhardt’s long‑term future as they prepare for their return to the Premier League, according to former Premier League scout Mick Brown. Brown, who has monitored the club’s progress, says the newly‑promoted Tigers are “very keen” to keep the forward after his impressive loan spell at the MKM Stadium, while Leeds are looking to offload the former England youth international on a permanent basis to free up funds

In an interview, Brown explained Hull’s situation: “Hull are very keen to keep Joe Gelhardt at the club. It’s difficult when you’re in their position and you win promotion to the Premier League when maybe you weren’t necessarily expecting that just yet. The squad is weaker than maybe anybody else’s at this level, but you also have the problem of what markets you’re going to be able to shop in. You’re competing with other, more established Premier League clubs now, which means clubs with more money and more reasons to attract players. So when somebody like Gelhardt, who has spent a good period at the club, is available, they have to make sure they can get a deal done.”

He also outlined Leeds United’s perspective: “From what I’m told, he’s not going to be part of Leeds plans and they want to sell, so that could mean Hull can get it done at a reasonable price, which is believed to be in region of £7m - £8m. For Leeds, they want to improve their squad in other areas, so if they can move Gelhardt on quickly it could give them the money to invest elsewhere in their side. They’re not going to have the money that other Premier League clubs do, so if they can do a discounted deal, they have to look at it.”

Tigers Chairman Acun Ilicali has claimed that they have a budget well beyond the £200m mark for the upcoming summer transfer window, telling Turkish outlet Buzzsport: “We have a transfer budget of £216m.” Bearing that in mind, Leeds need to make sure they don't get short changed.

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Morning everyone how on earth have leeds spent so much money on Harrison who is cack and should never have been bought. Why did the club not sell him when they had the chance?.
Looking at that list of players still on the books who are deadwood one stands out as my pet hate. Wober was a complete waste of space and like dan dan the running man only ever fit to play for his country. The 49ers have gradually improved the success rate of signings but still have a lot of clearing out to do. Doc used to promote the u23s and state what vast amounts of talent we had. Well apart from the Gray family none have brought in much money so in that respect leeds have failed.
 
Morning everyone how on earth have leeds spent so much money on Harrison who is cack and should never have been bought. Why did the club not sell him when they had the chance?.
Looking at that list of players still on the books who are deadwood one stands out as my pet hate. Wober was a complete waste of space and like dan dan the running man only ever fit to play for his country. The 49ers have gradually improved the success rate of signings but still have a lot of clearing out to do. Doc used to promote the u23s and state what vast amounts of talent we had. Well apart from the Gray family none have brought in much money so in that respect leeds have failed.
At the time we were made to believe that Citeh were doing us a favour by lending Harrison to us for 11m
 
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Where on earth did you copy and paste that SCR article from Ell, because whoever wrote it needs to do some proof reading

Liverpool (£140 m‑£170 m) are actively pursuing high‑profile targets such as Alexander Isak and Marc Guéhi.
 
Good Evening all

I watched the South Korea vs Czech Republic game last night (Yes, I was up at 3 am), then my wife dragged me round Leeds looking for a pair of trainers, so I'm shattered. Best of all, she wants to go to the Haribo shop in Pontefract tomorrow and it plannig on making a fun day out for the kids by going to the Castle.

Harrison, what a bag of ****s he's been for us in the post-Bielsa era.
 
Good Evening all

I watched the South Korea vs Czech Republic game last night (Yes, I was up at 3 am), then my wife dragged me round Leeds looking for a pair of trainers, so I'm shattered. Best of all, she wants to go to the Haribo shop in Pontefract tomorrow and it plannig on making a fun day out for the kids by going to the Castle.

Harrison, what a bag of ****s he's been for us in the post-Bielsa era.
Ponte castle is the second best place to visit but sadly the Haribo shop is first.
 
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Good Evening all

I watched the South Korea vs Czech Republic game last night (Yes, I was up at 3 am), then my wife dragged me round Leeds looking for a pair of trainers, so I'm shattered. Best of all, she wants to go to the Haribo shop in Pontefract tomorrow and it plannig on making a fun day out for the kids by going to the Castle.

Harrison, what a bag of ****s he's been for us in the post-Bielsa era.
Jesse will be sure to lift the energy levels, enjoy <cheers>
 
Emu junior had an away league game against 2nd in the table this morning. His team sat mid table.

An early start at 9:30 but the sun was out and a light breeze meant it was jumper weather to start with. Good set up with a bar and a cafe in the club house. Coffee and bacon sandwich for a fiver and they made a fortune.

Emu juniors side won the toss and elected to bowl first. A hectic start meant the home side were 18-4 and I had yet to finish my sandwich and coffee. Lad hadn't been put in to the attack yet. Maintained his tidy fielding on the leg side. The sun strengthened and the jumper came off as the home side crawled to 45-4. Lad was told to warm up. A flurry of wickets occurred as he stretched off on the out field leaving the home side 48-7 and looking vulnerable.

Emu junior came on to the attack at 55-7 and it was still early in the game, not even 10 overs deep. First over was solid with 5 dot balls and then a 4. Second over started with him being spanked for another 4 but then another slog ended with the batsman being caught out at square leg. 2 overs, 1 wicket for 8 runs, 1 no ball and 1 wide. Home side were now 66-9 after the lads spell.

Home side were stubbornly building runs as the weaker bowlers had to bowl and they were crawling towards a respectable score on a very green pitch. Soon enough there was only 1 over left and the lad had bowled his 2 overs already. Only 3 players can bowl more than 2 overs so the expectation was that one of the openers would come back on so it was a suprise to see the ball tossed to emu Junior for the final over. Especially after his wide gifted the win midweek in the cup in a final over nail biter.

In he trundled again, went for 4. Next one was a wide. Then another 4. Nightmare as a parent watching him toil away for nothing. I could barely watch as he came in again, faster this time, the ball was quicker, batsman didn't read it and it smashed in to his pads. The home umpire raised his finger and that was his 2nd and their final wicket. All out for 78. Lad had bowled 2.4 overs, 2 wickets and gone for 16 runs.

After another coffee from the cafe, Laddo informed me he was batting at 9. A bit of a fall from grace given he was opening 3 games ago. He went in to bat at 72-6 (some batsmen retired at 25). Again, the instruction was to not give his wicket away cheaply. He did another Geoffrey boycott and defended every ball to let the more fluent scorer at the other end to try and get the 7 needed to win. It never seems to go easy emu junior hung on for 10 balls with zero runs before being clean bowled by a ball that didn't bounce. Team was now on 76 and needed 3 to win from 2 overs with no more wickets left. Couple of wides and then a single from the tiny 10 year old making up the numbers won the game.

Nice to be on the right side of a tight game for once. Lad has bowled really well this season with 7 overs bowled, 4 wickets and gone for 32 runs. His batting has been really poor, he just can't get a run bless him. He is all over the place. He did well with his batting last season but he just can't get going yet. 3 innings and 2 ducks. Other one was only 5 runs.

Training tomorrow night and I will have to get him in the nets before the next game in a couple of weeks.
 
Emu junior had an away league game against 2nd in the table this morning. His team sat mid table.

An early start at 9:30 but the sun was out and a light breeze meant it was jumper weather to start with. Good set up with a bar and a cafe in the club house. Coffee and bacon sandwich for a fiver and they made a fortune.

Emu juniors side won the toss and elected to bowl first. A hectic start meant the home side were 18-4 and I had yet to finish my sandwich and coffee. Lad hadn't been put in to the attack yet. Maintained his tidy fielding on the leg side. The sun strengthened and the jumper came off as the home side crawled to 45-4. Lad was told to warm up. A flurry of wickets occurred as he stretched off on the out field leaving the home side 48-7 and looking vulnerable.

Emu junior came on to the attack at 55-7 and it was still early in the game, not even 10 overs deep. First over was solid with 5 dot balls and then a 4. Second over started with him being spanked for another 4 but then another slog ended with the batsman being caught out at square leg. 2 overs, 1 wicket for 8 runs, 1 no ball and 1 wide. Home side were now 66-9 after the lads spell.

Home side were stubbornly building runs as the weaker bowlers had to bowl and they were crawling towards a respectable score on a very green pitch. Soon enough there was only 1 over left and the lad had bowled his 2 overs already. Only 3 players can bowl more than 2 overs so the expectation was that one of the openers would come back on so it was a suprise to see the ball tossed to emu Junior for the final over. Especially after his wide gifted the win midweek in the cup in a final over nail biter.

In he trundled again, went for 4. Next one was a wide. Then another 4. Nightmare as a parent watching him toil away for nothing. I could barely watch as he came in again, faster this time, the ball was quicker, batsman didn't read it and it smashed in to his pads. The home umpire raised his finger and that was his 2nd and their final wicket. All out for 78. Lad had bowled 2.4 overs, 2 wickets and gone for 16 runs.

After another coffee from the cafe, Laddo informed me he was batting at 9. A bit of a fall from grace given he was opening 3 games ago. He went in to bat at 72-6 (some batsmen retired at 25). Again, the instruction was to not give his wicket away cheaply. He did another Geoffrey boycott and defended every ball to let the more fluent scorer at the other end to try and get the 7 needed to win. It never seems to go easy emu junior hung on for 10 balls with zero runs before being clean bowled by a ball that didn't bounce. Team was now on 76 and needed 3 to win from 2 overs with no more wickets left. Couple of wides and then a single from the tiny 10 year old making up the numbers won the game.

Nice to be on the right side of a tight game for once. Lad has bowled really well this season with 7 overs bowled, 4 wickets and gone for 32 runs. His batting has been really poor, he just can't get a run bless him. He is all over the place. He did well with his batting last season but he just can't get going yet. 3 innings and 2 ducks. Other one was only 5 runs.

Training tomorrow night and I will have to get him in the nets before the next game in a couple of weeks.
Great report emu,
Was the lad playing more attack minded batting last year?
Can’t be easy going in to flat bat everything in T 20 style cricket.
 
Great report emu,
Was the lad playing more attack minded batting last year?
Can’t be easy going in to flat bat everything in T 20 style cricket.
Last year he wasn't worried about losing his wicket as it didn't mean he was out. He just lost 5 runs and continued until the 3 overs were done for that pair.

This year, when he is out, he is out. Bowlers are faster this year, he hasn't got the timing right. He is working on defending when the ball is on target and having a swing when the ball is missing his wickets. He is just missing his swings. He swings too late imo. Last year he was hitting 4's fairly regular but this year he is just not connecting. I've offered him a fiver for every boundary to try and get him going forward a bit more. He also seems to be the 'one' that seems to face the best balls. Every single one seems to be on target for his wicket, so he defends. Lacks a bit of confidence. His bowling is much much better this year. Its almost flipped.

I need to get him in the nets more.
 
Last year he wasn't worried about losing his wicket as it didn't mean he was out. He just lost 5 runs and continued until the 3 overs were done for that pair.

This year, when he is out, he is out. Bowlers are faster this year, he hasn't got the timing right. He is working on defending when the ball is on target and having a swing when the ball is missing his wickets. He is just missing his swings. He swings too late imo. Last year he was hitting 4's fairly regular but this year he is just not connecting. I've offered him a fiver for every boundary to try and get him going forward a bit more. He also seems to be the 'one' that seems to face the best balls. Every single one seems to be on target for his wicket, so he defends. Lacks a bit of confidence. His bowling is much much better this year. Its almost flipped.

I need to get him in the nets more.
As you say he swings too late, because the bowlers are faster. So the ball is on him quicker.
He has not adapted his reaction time, apart from nets maybe try something like table tennis to get his reaction time up or even bat tennis ball close up to a wall, just keep hitting it.
Anyway what do I know but I do like your updates.
Give the lad my support from Spain.
 
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