Good Morning. It's Friday 2nd April, and here are the latest headlines from Elland Road. TalkSport host rips into Leeds TalkSport host and Soccer pundit Jim White has named and shamed Leeds, Newcastle and Sheffield Utd for taking advantage of the Governments furlough scheme to pay staff during the Corona pandemic. The truth of the matter is, when Leeds took advantage of the program (last Summer); they were still in the Championship. Very different to lucrative funds available in the top flight. The Glaswegian went on to rip into Premier league clubs for spending 250m for agents fees between 2020 -21 whilst EFL clubs are finding it difficult to keep their clubs afloat. “These figures are absolutely astounding,” White said. “This was brought to my attention last night. “FA figures have revealed that despite football’s year of restraint due to Coronavirus, Premier League fees paid to agents and intermediaries has risen, it’s risen, totalling over a quarter of a billion pounds… It is utterly incredible at this particular time… Scandalous. “We have seen in the last 12 months and more, football has hounded the government to use taxpayers’ money to fund itself. “This is the insult. At the same time as the Premier League saying they can’t afford to bail out the EFL they’re forking out a quarter of a billion quid for agents and intermediaries. “Is it not an insult, almost immoral that they spent a quarter of a million and some of the clubs used furlough schemes to pay their staff? “This is what we know. Newcastle, Sheffield United and Leeds all utilised the furlough scheme to pay their employees during the pandemic.” Should more be done to help lower league teams? If so, how? please log in to view this image Bielsa - Leeds fans will 'immediately see the best of Rodrigo' Marcelo Bielsa has claimed that Leeds fans will 'immediately see the best of Rodrigo' The comment came during an interview with 'Leeds Live' asking whether the Spanish striker will only be playing a starring role from next season? The Argentine added that Rodrigo was ‘at his best’ before picking up an injury against Leicester in January! “No, immediately he will be able to show all the resources that he has,” “He arrived in his best version. He was at his best level prior to injuring himself at Leicester. The level he was at during that period was a very good one. What he was giving to the team with the way he can unbalance an opponent was all very positive.” “For me, Rodrigo has already shown how important he can be to Leeds. He has also justified with the conditions, the abilities he has, his transfer fee. We hope to have him healthy for a considerable amount of time. If this happens then he will be able to show his conditions, his abilities very quickly. For me, it’s very difficult to obtain a player of his qualities in the scenario of football at the moment. What happens is that when a player goes a period without playing, it’s difficult to absorb,” please log in to view this image Is 8th place finish a realistic target this season Should Leeds win tomorrow, as expected, they will have amassed 42 point, with a further 24 points up for grabs until the season ends. A daunting away trip to the Etihad followed by home games against Liverpool, Manchester Utd and Spurs (with Brighton sandwiched in between) isn't ideal, but how many points can Leeds expect against the top sides? They also face Brighton, Burley, Southampton and West Brom in quick succession. Assuming the Whites lose against the top 6 but beat the teams below them, they would finish the season on 54 points. Taking into account previous seasons, this would mean Leeds would finish in 8th place. Is this possible? please log in to view this image
Morning all I never comment on what idiots say so Jim who? With regard to points total I have said before we are not able to cruise or use some matches to blood Gelhardt etc, simply because too much money at stake. This season almost £3m if we move up place, £6m if we can move up 2 places, but we can also lose £3m if Palace orWolves move above us. We may not get a point from any of those top 6 teams but thats on paper and we will do some damage I think and we may even win a match? The others are all fighting for survival so not going to be easy, but we should pick up some points, and I expect we will be on 42 points Saturday tea time so expect us to achieve at least 50 points in total.
Morning all Jim White and Gary Lineker, I am not sure which one I detest the most. White sets himself on the pedestal and loves to name drop, I think he edges it. What the club did with Furlough was legal, some might argue about morals but it is a business. As for agent fee's, you either pay and get the player or you don't pay and the player goes elsewhere, yes they are wrong but unless they are capped and clamped down on by a governing body then that is just the way it is. I'm glad Rodrigo has spoken out, hopefully he can stay injury free, get a few more PL games under his belt and come out firing next season
I posted yesterday on the 23s sticky that Bryce Hosannah was back being looked after at TA after his operation. Bradford actually want him back next season as long as he recovers. This is yet another tricky situation for Leeds as young Bryce who I have to say has been one of the clubs best football talents for years, up to last season. Awesome pace and skill but has been suffering non stop injuries so stop start for a couple of years. Bryce went to Bradford for the season but as been suffering with a hamstring problem since November so only played 11 games. The games he played however he was man of the match almost every time and the fans loved him. He is a special talent, but I fear his career is in jeopardy now and his contract with Leeds runs until June 2022. I suspect if he can get back fit he may be sent out on loan until Xmas as a decision will need making about either allowing him to walk in the Summer of 22 or extending his contract so we can sell him. So much talent but so much time out injured...
I see Jim 'tosspot' White didn't mention Arsenal, who actually laid staff off, staff who would have been better off furloughed. Rodrigo as with most foreign signings will take the year to settle in before you see the best of them, with his injuries and Covud plus the lack of pre season, it's no wonder he's struggled, same with Koch and Llorente, I expect to see better things from them next season too. At the start of the season Diego came on here and asked what we want from the season, I said to be safe with 5 games to go, would be a great achievement, well it looks like we've done that with games to spare, OK not mathematically but we're as good as. I hoped for a 10th - 14th place finish, we're not consistent enough yet for that 8th spot but 11th which is where I think we'll finish is still brilliant.
Edmondson starts for Northampton Stevens on the bench again for Bradford Gotts on the bench for Salford McCalmont starts for Oldham
That fkr White wants to save government money I suggest he packs some of his jobs in and shrinks the dole queue the greedy Scottish ****.
Jim ****e is tolerated, yet embarrassed by half of Scotland - and hated by the other half. He not only supports Rangers, but is a member of the Orange Lodge & has been photographed with Rangers players in full Orange regalia. I cannot stand him, personally, & would gladly chip in for a hit man. The thing is, a quick Google tells me that his beloved Rangers did exactly the same, furlough-wise, but it seems to have escaped his notice, somehow. And if Rangers have managed to sign players without agent fees, then they're the first for many years. As mentioned before, we were in the Championship with limited income, whilst Rangers were coining it in in Europe. Btw, is there anyone who agrees with the agents set-up, other than the agents themselves? So why does FIFA not act? Seems FIFA would prefer to curry favour with pillow biters et al, rather than kill off the cancer that is killing football. Did I hear someone suggest that the hierarchy might be getting bungs from agents? Wouldn't surprise me with their track record. Final league position? Don't care. Survival is my top priority, hastily followed by blooding some youngsters. Next season might be a different story.
Diego Llorente’ on Bielsa: Bielsa’s unconventional methods are well known, but Llorente says nothing could have prepared him for his first day of training under the former Argentina and Chile boss. “To be honest, people had spoken to me about Bielsa but until you are actually playing for him you don’t realise just how different he is in so many facets of training,” he told the Guardian. “At first, it’s a shock because his methodology is so different. There are certain drills that are very analytical, that describe certain specific moments in games that, because of our style of play, are repeated often. Movements you should be making off the ball, the way you support the free man, the help you give teammates. It’s very specific. “That methodology is striking compared with the more general approaches you’ve been used to, but when you do these exercises and then you see that in 90 minutes that exact situation is repeated 10 or 20 times, you realise why we work that way. "You understand why we do things differently, that every drill has a meaning, and can be directly transferred on to the pitch. You start to understand that, which is when you realise how special he is. You watch the video analysis, individually and as a team, and you can see how it improves the team.”
I’ve never understood why the player doesn’t pay the agent fees, they work for them, that would regulate their payments soon enough. Probably because WJ is right, that money gets “spread around” between several people involved.
The annoying thing for me is that our players from the U23s who sign a contract extension means their agent gets a payment WTF. Ian Harte explain please
