Good Morning. It's Wednesday 21st February, and here are the latest headlines from Elland Road Leeds made right choice with Rodon Leeds considered Nat Phillips and Taylor Harwood-Bellis before finalising a deal with Spurs to bring Joe Rodon to Elland Road last Summer, according to Leeds Utd journalist Phil Hay. The 26yo is enjoying the time of his life at Leeds, and has been instrumental to their success this season. Leeds have only conceded 26 times in 33 games, the joint highest in the Championship (along with Leicester City), and have kept 14 clean sheets! "Recruitment of centre-backs in particular has long since changed from the days when basic defensive attributes were a priority, and that was demonstrated by the options Leeds took an interest in during the summer window: Liverpool’s Nat Phillips, Manchester City’s Taylor Harwood-Bellis and Joe Rodon of Tottenham Hotspur. "Rodon was the loanee they moved to secure but it was no coincidence that promotion-race rivals Southampton signed Harwood-Bellis. These are central defenders who fit a certain type. Rodon has been pivotal to Farke’s approach and Leeds’ good form, but allied to his comfort in possession are traits that are helping make Leeds very sturdy — not least the pace required to hold a high line. "Though Leeds do not concede often, the first problem for opponents is that they do not make it easy for you to even get the chance to score. Like Bielsa’s machine in 2019-20, Farke’s second-placed team limit shots on target massively, with a mere 79 against this season (or 2.5 per 90)". please log in to view this image Saints crash at home to Hull Hull City mended relations (temporarily of course) with bitter rivals Leeds by winning at St Mary's last night; a game which on paper, looked odds on for the hosts! First half goals from Anass Zaroury and Fabio Carvalho were enough to give the Tigers victory over the Saints, and although Aribo pulled one back just before injury time, Hull hung on for all three points, propelling them back into the play off places. Rotherham too, almost came to Leeds assistance after a valiant fight back at Portman Road. With four minutes of extra time on the clock, the Millers equalised from 12 yards to make the scoreline 3-3. Unfortunately, Ipswich went straight up the other end, and grabbed the winner with the last kick of the game, elevating them to third. Only goal difference separates them from Leeds in second, though at least they have played the same number of games now! please log in to view this image Odds slashed on Leeds auto promotion Leading bookmakers Bet365 have slashed the odds of Leeds finishing their 23/24 season in style, to 5/6. The betting giant believe Leeds will join Leicester City in the Premier League next season, by way of automatic promotion, following Southampton's unexpected loss last night. Southampton are 2/1, whilst third placed Ipswich are fourth favourites at 5/2. please log in to view this image £925m windfall for clubs outside the top flight The Premier League have called an emergency meeting to thrash out a financial deal that could see as much as £925m filtered through the Championship, League One and League Two. The Premier League are under pressure to share some of their wealth, whether it be by agreement, or imposed by a regulator! The gulf in riches between the Premier League, and the rest of the Football league has always been vast, with many clubs falling foul of their financial limitations to try and reach the promised land. It's not great timing for Leeds. They are likely to be contributing to it, rather than receiving part of it, but it's a small price to pay if they get promoted. please log in to view this image
Morning all. Friday becomes huge. Bookies odd? Don't bother me Only reflect betting trends. Farke made right decision to play that rearranged Norwich game as early as possible. Last night proves games in hand aren't all they're cracked up to be
Can the team please sort out auto promotion before the final game of the season, otherwise I'll have to watch the Soton game from my phone in the local A&E waiting room.
Good morning you ecstatic Leeds fans. What a great result last night, Southampton losing at home to Hull, and Rotherham almost pulling a rabbit out of the hat at Ipswich, now that would have made it a perfect night of football. Beat Leicester and i will truly start to believe.
We have to hope this doesn't hurt us. Wales host Finland in their Euro 2024 play-off semi-final on 21 March, with a potential final at home to Poland or Estonia five days later.
Good spot OG. Although it's an international break and we have no fixtures for them to miss, obviously there's still potential for injuries to some of our lads.
Afternoon all, The above article is a bit misleading. Bitter rivals Hull? Another one sided rivalry me thinks
Long way to go yet. there will be more ups and downs for sure but we have the right Manager in this situation and we still have a few players in the dressing room that know the score on going up and can help and guide some of the lads who don't through to the end. Getting really exciting now because one bad result can swing everything around for any of us. Not even looking at the fixtures ahead and will go along with the good old saying the next game is the most important one. but we have to keep key players fit now. I want to be back in the Premier League but I'm loving this championship for excitement. All I know its going to be a big kick in the teeth for the 2 that end up in the playoffs because they could end up playing someone and losing they finished 20 pts ahead of in the league which I find totally unfair. Playoffs are not for me because I find them so wrong they are just a way to generate extra money and TV figures. bring back 3 up 3 down as a team finishing 20pts behind another rival should never have a chance of taking away all the hard work done in a season.
Hard to disagree but when you have a 23 team division the play offs are a necessity to keep the season alive for as long as possible. That said it does seem to be coming down to being between the top 8 this season and we're still only in February. Going to be galling though if we miss out and someone like Norwich or Hull go up.
I see Millwall have given Harris the managers job again,let's hope he gets the new manager bounce at Southampton on Sat.
I do think the 3rd placed team should go straight to the final. 5th play 6th, winner plays 4th, winner plays 3rd in the final
Similar to how National Leagues do their playoffs, with the ties and rounds being weighted in favour of the teams finishing in the higher play off places. They have 6 play off places, the teams in the 1st and 2nd play off places automatically qualify for the semi final played at the corresponding home grounds, whilst the teams finishing in 3rd and 4th play off positions, get home advantage in a one off tie against the teams that finished in 6th and 5th play off places respectively.
Third and fourth last in pl plying third and fourth in championship would be fairest in my opinion. Overall winner goes up/stays up
I do like this idea. When it’s close and there is just a point or two separating teams 3rd to 6th it’s one thing, when it’s 10 points or more it’s another matter. Although saying that the top 4 are on course for a huge difference over 5th and 6th
I don't know if it's just the minds, but what simple fantastic idea's someone should forward this to the EFL.
