The #LUFC Breakfast Debate (Wednesday 20th May)

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ellandback

ellandback

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Good Morning. It's Wednesday 20th May, and here are the latest headlines from Elland Road...

Leeds to play major role in deciding final relegation spot

The battle to avoid the final Premier League relegation spot has intensified dramatically as the season reaches its climax, with Leeds United positioned to play a decisive role in determining which London club suffers the drop. Chelsea secured their first league victory in eight attempts by edging out Tottenham 2-1 in the crucial London derby last night meaning the fate of the endangered club will go down to the final day of the season.

West Ham United find themselves in the most precarious position, with bookmakers installed as firm favourites for relegation at odds of 1/10. The Hammers' survival hopes rest squarely on their ability to defeat Leeds United on the final day, coupled with an unlikely favour from Everton, who must overcome Spurs at Goodison Park. However, this slender lifeline appears increasingly fragile given the Toffees' alarming form; they have failed to secure victory in their last six league matches, a winless run that has seen them slip to a disappointing 12th position in the table.

David Moyes will want his players to put on a good performance in their final game of the season in front of their own fans, but Spurs only require a draw at the Hill Dickinson Stadium to guarantee their top-flight status. Leeds track record in London is poor, but West Ham will need a mini-miracle if they are to avoid the drop, either that or dress up in a Spurs kit, grab a pair of binoculars, and pay a visit to the Everton training ground. The stage is set for a breathless conclusion to what has been a captivating relegation battle.


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Player revolt at St Marys following play off expulsion

Southampton's players are exploring their options for legal action against the club after the English Football League expelled them from the play-offs following admitted multiple breaches of regulations related to the unauthorised filming of opponents. The governing body's Independent Disciplinary Commission imposed the severe sanctions, which include reinstating semi-final opponent Middlesbrough in Southampton's place and deducting four points from the club's 2026-27 Championship campaign. The club has confirmed its intention to appeal these punishments, setting the stage for a potentially protracted dispute that has already divided opinion at St Mary's Stadium.

A source close to the dressing room, speaking anonymously as they were not authorised to do so, has revealed that head coach Tonda Eckert's squad had largely been kept away from the affair that has consumed the club in recent days. Players received only basic details communicated to them by club officials, leaving many feeling isolated from a scandal that threatens to undermine an entire season's work. The players were said to be particularly livid at the timing and manner of the EFL verdict, having learned of the punishment at the same moment as the general public through media broadcasts rather than through proper channels of communication from either the club or the league.

This anger is compounded significantly by the substantial financial implications for the squad. Players who had accepted forty percent pay cuts following the club's relegation from the top flight were due to have those reductions fully reinstated upon securing promotion back to the Premier League through play-off success. The expulsion now leaves both their immediate financial prospects and long-term contractual expectations in jeopardy, creating a situation where the actions of club officials may have directly harmed the earning potential of professionals who fulfilled their obligations on the pitch.

The squad is scheduled to meet with club officials on Wednesday to discuss the ongoing situation, and sources with knowledge of the players' circumstances have confirmed that they have contacted the Professional Footballers' Association for independent advice regarding their potential legal options. The EFL's official statement indicated that all parties are working diligently to resolve any appeal by today, though many at St Mary's remain uncertain what the coming days will bring.

Southampton admitted to multiple breaches concerning fixtures against Oxford United in December 2025, Ipswich Town in April 2026, and Middlesbrough, demonstrating a pattern of behaviour that ultimately proved fatal to their play-off ambitions. The scandal has cast a shadow over what should have been a celebratory period for the club, with players and supporters alike struggling to come to terms with the severity of the punishment and the manner in which it was delivered.

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Leeds to set out new three-year plan with Daniel Farke, says board member Peter Lowy

Beren Cross
By Beren Cross
May 20, 2026 7:00 am GMT+1

Leeds United director Peter Lowy says the club’s board will imminently sit down with Daniel Farke to set out a fresh three-year vision for the club.

The board member also agreed with the comments Farke made in last week’s press conference about their goals being achieved and the need to set out a fresh challenge.

Lowy was speaking exclusively to The Athletic at UKREiiF, a real estate investment and infrastructure forum being held in Leeds this week. He is the first Elland Road board member to face questions since Farke made a series of ambitious and bold statements about his future last week.

“Once I signed the contract three years ago, we spoke about the goals, what we want to achieve and, I have to say, my mission is fulfilled and my job is done here,” said Farke. “There’s nothing to add anymore.

“We spoke about four years, but after three years, all the boxes are ticked. Right now, it’s important we sit together, in a trustful atmosphere, and speak about new goals because this period is done right now.

“We have to speak about the way we want to achieve them, we have to speak about the processes, and this is quite important. The club has to decide where we want to be in a few years’ time.

“What are the new goals? How are the processes? How do we want to achieve it?”

After laying out his vision for the future of the land around Elland Road in a speech at UKREiiF on Tuesday, Lowy said Farke was right in what he said about the mission being accomplished one year ahead of schedule.

The former Westfield executive, who joined the board in 2021, two years before 49ers Enterprises completed their takeover of the club, also said Farke’s football department was one of many sectors in the wider club business on an upward curve.

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“Football’s an integrated business, it’s not just Daniel on the football pitch,” he said. “When we bought it, we set goals, we set targets and as Daniel rightly said, we have met all our targets in football.

“We have met all our targets in the finance. We got rid of the £200million-plus player debt, players we didn’t have.

“We refinanced the thing, our revenue was up substantially. Then, from the development side, we got the approval and started building (Elland Road’s redevelopment).

“If you look at the business, Daniel is an executive in one section, (there are other sections and) they’ve all met their goals. Where Daniel is right, is we need to sit down, which we will do now, and set a new set of goals.”

Lowy made it clear Farke’s comments were focused on the strategy the club will employ over the years ahead, how they will get to where they want to be.

“We had a four-year plan that we did in three,” he said. “Now, we need another three-year plan. If you look at how I worked at Westfield and how the 49ers work, there are tactical issues and strategic issues.

“What Daniel was talking about was the strategic issue of the long-term plan, how we do it. We need to sit down and do it again because we got there a little early.”

Lowy, a lifelong fan of the club as well as shareholder, was delighted by the club’s first year back in the Premier League. He talked up the roles Farke, Morrie Eisenberg (chief business officer), Robbie Evans (managing director) and Adam Underwood (sporting director) all played.

“It’s magic,” he said. “This season was three years in the making. We bought the club, we put in the executives, we hired Daniel, he put himself there, we put in the finance guys, Morrie came, Robbie came, and Adam, we promoted up.

“We put everything in place and it’s been a three-year project. We have budgets, we have goals, and Daniel was right the other day, we got there a year early. Thank goodness we got there a year early.”
 
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Afternoon all

I don't get the spying drama, what can you gain watching a training session from a distance compared to studying previous games, Southampton have been made an example of to ensure it never happens again, the 4 points deduction for next season is the EFL having room to give something back at an appeal.

What precedent does this set, what happens if a club is found guilty in November or December, do they get a 4 point deduction the same season or following and do they automatically get told if they finish top 6 they are expelled. If Southampton had been caught earlier does that make a case for Wrexham, it is all very messy

All clubs spy or watch opposition, all clubs cheat, diving, handball, goalkeeper going down for a tactical break, it is utter nonsense and all this in record time whilst Man City continue to go unpunished with their 115 offences

I don't like their captain though and I found it amusing he did the binoculars gesture and also taunted Ayling over his stammer now he is missing out on a play off final spot.

West Ham game, I just can't cheer us to lose and at the same time I want Spurs to go down far more than I want West Ham. We can't control what Spurs do so I would prefer them to win and us to win so there would be no question, also each position is worth around £3m so we have to finish as high as we can.

Well Marcos pointed out the importance of continuity, with that in mind, it is positive that the board are sitting down with Farke.
 
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ristac said:
Afternoon all

I don't get the spying drama, what can you gain watching a training session from a distance compared to studying previous games, Southampton have been made an example of to ensure it never happens again, the 4 points deduction for next season is the EFL having room to give something back at an appeal.

What precedent does this set, what happens if a club is found guilty in November or December, do they get a 4 point deduction the same season or following and do they automatically get told if they finish top 6 they are expelled. If Southampton had been caught earlier does that make a case for Wrexham, it is all very messy

All clubs spy or watch opposition, all clubs cheat, diving, handball, goalkeeper going down for a tactical break, it is utter nonsense and all this in record time whilst Man City continue to go unpunished with their 115 offences

I don't like their captain though and I found it amusing he did the binoculars gesture and also taunted Ayling over his stammer now he is missing out on a play off final spot.

West Ham game, I just can't cheer us to lose and at the same time I want Spurs to go down far more than I want West Ham. We can't control what Spurs do so I would prefer them to win and us to win so there would be no question, also each position is worth around £3m so we have to finish as high as we can.

Well Marcos pointed out the importance of continuity, with that in mind, it is positive that the board are sitting down with Farke.
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What do you gain - very little, BUT there are such small margins in football that perhaps it does make a small difference, otherwise we'd all be be much better off in our bet365 accounts!!!!
 
ellandback said:
What do you gain - very little, BUT there are such small margins in football that perhaps it does make a small difference, otherwise we'd all be be much better off in our bet365 accounts!!!!
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The three times they were caught, they drew one and lost two, one of those games was Oxford. Did they gain more spying on a training session than our opposition did when keepers were going down so that the players could get new instructions from their coach.

Worryingly I would say if they felt the need to watch Oxford, then it was surely three times they were caught, there are probably a host of other games they got away with it.

Just scrap the spying rule, it is not spying, it is scouting the opposition, if they don't want to be watched make sure nobody can see in.

I wanted any of the other top 6 teams to come up ahead of Southampton so I am glad they are out of it, the EFL have set a very strange and hard precedent to follow. They have been expelled from the competition meaning Boro get a bye, thay is surely wrong, they should have to play Wrexham, it really is a shambles.
 
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I dont really mind who goes down.. Isnt Spurs at home to Everton though? Its not at their ground. I think it would be asuming though purely for ****s and giggles to see Spurs's stadium in the championship. Hilarious..
 
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Have boro been training just in case? What about tickets and travel with both teams coming from yorkshire.
Why have Southampton not been fined like we were on top of a points deduction. No way should they be allowed to win an appeal. Surely the final will be in hulls favour now.
 
Wakey said:
Have boro been training just in case? What about tickets and travel with both teams coming from yorkshire.
Why have Southampton not been fined like we were on top of a points deduction. No way should they be allowed to win an appeal. Surely the final will be in hulls favour now.
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Boro have been training and unlike Hull... know who they were training for
 
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ristac said:
The three times they were caught, they drew one and lost two, one of those games was Oxford. Did they gain more spying on a training session than our opposition did when keepers were going down so that the players could get new instructions from their coach.

Worryingly I would say if they felt the need to watch Oxford, then it was surely three times they were caught, there are probably a host of other games they got away with it.

Just scrap the spying rule, it is not spying, it is scouting the opposition, if they don't want to be watched make sure nobody can see in.

I wanted any of the other top 6 teams to come up ahead of Southampton so I am glad they are out of it, the EFL have set a very strange and hard precedent to follow. They have been expelled from the competition meaning Boro get a bye, thay is surely wrong, they should have to play Wrexham, it really is a shambles.
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Harry Redknapp thinks you gain nothing from watching training. Another professional manager who spoke with a friend of mine said depending on what session you watch you can learn plenty.

My view is different to yours. Not everyone can afford 'spy safe' training facilities... so why should they have to train on their indoor facilities (i've been to leeds, newcastles and boro's indoor facilities and you could get by but astro's not really ideal for full field training sessions.

Whether they gained anything or not, they obviously thought they would/could or they wouldn't have done it. The rules are there, they've surely done it any match they can and only fessed up where they've been spotted... and also games where they can claim they didn't get an advantage because of the results. But the impact doesn't really matter to me. They chose to flaunt the rules to try get an advantage and that has potential for sporting and financial impact on other teams.

Don't really agree with the Wrexham point either. I think there's an argument to make Boro play Wrexham in a new semi-final. Even then the idea you throw Southampton out and redo the play-offs is flawed because Boro would have played hull and millwall played wrexham. So i think (will have to wait to see judgment) that they've taken the cheating against Boro to be sufficent to reverse that semi-final result. The cheating in the other league games - they've admitted to - is giving them the penalties for next season.
 
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Clubs must think they gain something from spying, or otherwise why send a bloke all the way to Middlesbrough from Southampton. One thing they definitely can gain an advantage with is watching the opposition take penalties, with which play off games can he decided on.
The EFL have set a precedent now, let's see if theyre consistent if it happens again.
 
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milkyboy said:
Harry Redknapp thinks you gain nothing from watching training. Another professional manager who spoke with a friend of mine said depending on what session you watch you can learn plenty.

My view is different to yours. Not everyone can afford 'spy safe' training facilities... so why should they have to train on their indoor facilities (i've been to leeds, newcastles and boro's indoor facilities and you could get by but astro's not really ideal for full field training sessions.

Whether they gained anything or not, they obviously thought they would/could or they wouldn't have done it. The rules are there, they've surely done it any match they can and only fessed up where they've been spotted... and also games where they can claim they didn't get an advantage because of the results. But the impact doesn't really matter to me. They chose to flaunt the rules to try get an advantage and that has potential for sporting and financial impact on other teams.

Don't really agree with the Wrexham point either. I think there's an argument to make Boro play Wrexham in a new semi-final. Even then the idea you throw Southampton out and redo the play-offs is flawed because Boro would have played hull and millwall played wrexham. So i think (will have to wait to see judgment) that they've taken the cheating against Boro to be sufficent to reverse that semi-final result. The cheating in the other league games - they've admitted to - is giving them the penalties for next season.
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Wrexham v Boro is the point I was trying to make but I agree, a mess as different fixtures
 
Gessa said:
Clubs must think they gain something from spying, or otherwise why send a bloke all the way to Middlesbrough from Southampton. One thing they definitely can gain an advantage with is watching the opposition take penalties, with which play off games can he decided on.
The EFL have set a precedent now, let's see if theyre consistent if it happens again.
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Penalties? Don’t you see goalkeepers look at water bottles, the coaches looking at iPads with a keeper before the shootout. I agree that some coaches think there is some advantage gained but as Bielsa pointed out he had all the information he needed, just completely OCD where football is concerned.
 
Leedsoflondon said:
Penalties? Don’t you see goalkeepers look at water bottles, the coaches looking at iPads with a keeper before the shootout. I agree that some coaches think there is some advantage gained but as Bielsa pointed out he had all the information he needed, just completely OCD where football is concerned.
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Where does that info come from, they dont guess it
 
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