Mighty Leeds Weblog

As Leeds United’s battle to automatically rejoin the Premier League enters its final week, the majority of current top tier clubs have reportedly voted in favour of proposals for a spending cap. By Graham Smyth As Leeds United’s battle to automatically rejoin the Premier League enters its final week, the majority of current top tier clubs have reportedly voted in favour of proposals for a spending cap. According to The Times, top flight clubs have agreed in principle to the spending cap on player wages, amortised transfer sums and agent fees, which would be anchored to a multiple of broadcast and centralised commercial earnings dished out to the league’s bottom side. The Times suggests that Manchester City, Manchester United and Aston Villa voted against the proposal, while Chelsea abstained. A total of 14 votes in favour was needed to take the issue on to the AGM. Concerns over a lack of competitive nature in the Premier League and the gulf in financial might between the top c

Leeds United could be forced into the Championship's end-of-season play-offs this weekend, but despite the club's historic hoodoo, the Whites' record in big games this season could mean they have the edge over potential opponents. By Joe Donnohue Leicester City's promotion was confirmed last Friday as Leeds' defeat by Queens Park Rangers meant the Foxes' 94-point tally could no longer be caught by any side other than Ipswich Town. The Tractor Boys' subsequent draw with Hull City on Saturday evening meant Leeds stayed second in the Championship table, but only by the virtue of a superior goal difference, however automatic promotion hopes dangle by a thread with Kieran McKenna's side set to play again on Tuesday night away to Coventry City. Even if Leeds do win on the final day against Southampton, Ipswich's results against Coventry and Huddersfield Town could render the game at Elland Road obsolete with the Whites guaranteed to finish third if I

Leeds United have conceded eight goals from the opposition’s last 12 shots on target, asking questions of Illan Meslier at the season’s finale for the second year running. By Joe Donnohue The French goalkeeper has been Leeds’ first-choice between the sticks since the last time the club were on the brink of promotion, replacing the banned Kiko Casilla at the end of 2019/20. Then-head coach Marcelo Bielsa did not look back as the Whites took up residency in the Premier League, trusting the young stopper in the division as United finished ninth. Still just 24 years old, Meslier is one of the youngest ‘keepers in whichever division he plays, but the experience he has in English football is vast. He has played under several Leeds bosses: Bielsa, Jesse Marsch, Javi Gracia, Michael Skubala, Sam Allardyce and currently Daniel Farke, but only one has seen fit to drop the ex-Lorient man. That particular instance came following a run of difficult games for Meslier during the back end of

Daniel Farke admitted he could have sworn at and punched his Leeds United players after perhaps their worst performance of his tenure, but he plans to stay calm to stop a drama escalating into a crisis. By Stuart Rayner The German has spoken before about what an "emotional" club the Whites are and their nerves were on full display at Queens Park Rangers. Sloppy in possession, poor in their body language, not tight enough to first-half goalscorers Ilias Chair and Lucas Andersen and not switched on for the second-half set-pieces which allowed Lyndon Dykes and Sam Field to complete a 4-0 win, Leeds were as downbeat as they were dreadful at Loftus Road. But events the next day showed all is not lost. Ipswich Town have two games to Leeds' one to win more points and claim the second automatic promotion spot, but a 3-3 draw at Hull City means the Whites start the final week in the top two. "My fire is also burning," said Farke on Friday. "In such a momen

BY JAMES REEVES Darko Milanic spent an underwhelming 32-day spell in charge of Leeds United in 2014. The Massimo Cellino era is one that Leeds United supporters will be desperate to forget. Cellino arrived Elland Road in chaotic fashion, infamously sacking manager Brian McDermott on transfer deadline day in January 2014 despite not having officially taken over the club, and that would be a sign of things to come. McDermott was reinstated the following day, but it would only be a short reprieve for the former Reading manager, and he was sacked in the summer following a 15th-placed finish. Whites fans were stunned when Cellino appointed Dave Hockaday, who had only previously managed Forest Green Rovers in the National League, as McDermott's replacement, and as expected, he did not last long in the hot seat. Hockaday was sacked in late August after just six games in charge, but that was not the end of the managerial instability at Elland Road, and his replacement, Darko Mi

CHOICES Written by: Moxcowhite • Daniel Chapman It’s hard to get mad at a manager who has guided Leeds United to 90 Championship points, doing enough for promotion in almost any other season. But if I snapped at Marcelo Bielsa, I can snap at anyone, and using the same words. Daniel Farke, what the fuck was that? The circumstances are similar, although it wasn’t until Bielsa’s second season in charge that I lost my temper with him. The occasion was losing, again, to Wigan Athletic at home, and the core of my frustration sounds familiar to the frustration now: wishing Bielsa would change things, even though it was too late to change things, and even though things, as they were, were not actually bad. Leeds were 2nd in the Championship, as they are now. They had the fourth best attack, as they do now, and the second best defence, as they do now. And they were on the way to promotion. We’ll see how that part goes this time. Bielsa’s insistence on sticking with the plan turned out,

Leeds United’s automatic promotion hopes are dangling by a thread after losing 4-0 to Queens Park Rangers By Charlie Bennett Leeds United supporters are still coming to terms with their Championship failure. Barring a miracle, the Whites must force their Premier League return via the play-offs following a disastrous showing in West London. Daniel Farke’s men were humiliated 4-0 by Queens Park Rangers in a game they had to win to keep the automatic promotion dream alive. Ipswich Town now boast two games in hand - with Leicester City already promoted - to all but guarantee condemn Leeds to third place. On paper, the play-offs appear the toughest in many years - hardly music to United’s ears. The four-team showdown will feature clubs that, until recently, were synonymous with the Premier League. But were Leeds doomed from the start? Many backed Leicester as favourites to win the title given their strength in depth. However, the history books also appear to have been on their sid

Leeds United need to rediscover their form quickly or risk the season being a failure despite huge points total The scoreline on Friday night was a surprise, the manner in which Leeds United offered so little fight was a surprise, but should the inability to win the game at QPR really be a surprise? Leeds United have bookended the season with form not befitting promotion hopefuls. A campaign which started poorly in terms of promotion aspirations kicked into gear come the Autumn and by the time Winter had taken hold, the Whites looked impregnable and untouchable in their march towards a potential record points total. But with the arrival of Spring the bounce has left Leeds and recent results should have left enough warning signs to at least suggest the QPR result was a distinct possibility. Whether you want to call it one win in the last five games or just two victories from the last seven Championship matches, whichever statistic you want to pick it doesn't make good reading.

Leeds United remain second as Ipswich Town were held to a 3-3 draw by Hull City on Saturday night By Will Jackson Ipswich Town missed the chance to knock Leeds United out of the Championship's top two as they drew 3-3 with Hull City on Saturday night. The Whites' disappointing loss at QPR on Friday night left the door open for Ipswich to re-enter the automatic promotion spots and push Leeds down to third, but the point they picked up at the MKM Stadium wasn't enough for the Tractor Boys to take advantage. Ipswich remain third in the Championship, behind Leeds on goal difference alone, and that means Daniel Farke's side are now guaranteed to enter the final weekend of regular Championship season with something to play for, regardless of the Tractor Boys' result in their game in hand at Coventry City on Tuesday night. A win for Ipswich at the CBS Arena would ensure Ipswich remain firmly in the driving seat going into the final round of Championship fixtures wi

Callum O'Connell Leeds United held an inquest at Thorp Arch on 27 April following their 4-0 defeat to Queens Park Rangers at Loftus Road, according to Beren Cross. The Leeds Live journalist reported via his X account that the players were kept in meetings at the training ground for a long day to pick through the disappointment. With automatic promotion seemingly slipping away from Daniel Farke’s side, longer hours at the training ground will be the minimum fans expect after what was an awful defeat. The heavy 4-0 defeat to QPR may be the final nail in the coffin of Leeds’ automatic promotion push after a run of terrible form in recent weeks, coming on top of defeats to Blackburn Rovers and Coventry as well as a draw against Sunderland at Elland Road. With four points separating Leeds from Leicester in top spot, the latter celebrated long into the night at Leeds’ expense as their promotion was confirmed, while Ipswich would also have been excited by the opportunity handed

Leeds United's automatic promotion hopes hang in the balance after a shock 4-0 defeat at Queens Park Rangers on Friday night. By Graham Smyth The Whites went into the game knowing it could transfer all the pressure onto Ipswich Town, and yet they themselves crumbled under the weight of the occasion and a fine performance from the hosts. Here's the YEP take as the fate of the top two was passed into the hands of others. Good day Queens Park Rangers, Leicester City and Ipswich Town. There wasn't anyone of a Leeds United association who could stick their hand in the air and say they'd done all they could or even done themselves justice as QPR eased to safety, Leicester eased to automatic promotion with their feet up and Ipswich were presented with a great big opportunity instead of a daunting challenge. Bad day Daniel Farke Whether or not the players did what was asked of them, Farke's plan simply did not work against a QPR side who played with greater

Leeds fell to the ground at Loftus Road losing 4-0 to QPR. Ilias Chair scored the first goal after just 8 minutes, and from then on Leeds looked a defeated unit. Khun Top will of course be pleased with the way Leicester have managed to turn around their fortunes and the result at Loftus Road yesterday, made it possible to celebrate a return to Premier League, two games before the season is finally over. The results from February until the West Brom game was relegation form. This will of course be a major topic to discuss, when the analysis and results of this season will be evaluated. According to related sources there was a special players only meeting before the West Brom game, arranged by Jamie Vardy. It certainly worked and explains a number of questions, as we could see a major change in play. Leicester came out more open and direct, had less possession and with a faster counter attacking approach. This was even more present again against Southampton, using all tools in the

Leeds United lost 4-0 to Queens Park Rangers at Loftus Road in the Championship on Friday night and here are some of the moments you may have missed By Beren Cross Early in the match, Queens Park Rangers supporters were heard to be singing the same chant which has been more popular than ever along the Leeds United terraces this season. Sky Sports doesn’t appear to be particularly popular in this part of the world either. Long before the real weight of the evening’s pain would hit home, there was an inquest of sorts after the first goal went in. Junior Firpo and Joe Rodon would be the pair discussing what had gone on around Ilias Chair’s opener, before Ethan Ampadu and Crysencio Summerville were seen to be rallying the troops at 1-0 down. The second goal would produce less discussion and more outright anger from Rodon, who raged at the team en masse as they reset for the restart. By the 34th minute, frustration was starting to boil over as United attacks increasingly amounted

By Phil Hay There’s a compilation to be made — and presumably one exists somewhere — of Leeds United’s play-off ghosts; a video nasty for brave souls only. Start with Peter Shirtliff in 1987, negating the most delicious goal John Sheridan ever scored. Move onto Kevin Blackwell’s team in 2006, dying with fright as fireworks blew up behind them; shortly before they did likewise. James Hayter, Jimmy Abdou, Liam Cooper and Kiko Casilla crossing wires, sending the Ming Vase of Marcelo Bielsa’s football across black ice. Those are the bits you see. Sometimes the worst of it is what happens when the cameras aren’t looking. Few events in Leeds’ history better demonstrate the emptiness of play-off defeat than Angus Kinnear, their CEO, hauling tickets for the 2019 Championship final out of his boot and into the car of a waiting Derby County official, an hour or so after Derby turned the semi-final between the clubs into The Wild Bunch. Kinnear had possession of the tickets because Leeds

It's a brutal fact but still a fact that automatic promotion from the Championship is earned over 10 gruelling months and can be lost in a matter of minutes. It's equally brutal to say, of a team with 90 points, that 20 minutes of uncharacteristically woeful football might just have lost it for Leeds United. By Graham Smyth You don't hit the 90 point mark in a league this treacherous by playing as badly all over the pitch as Leeds did for large parts of their penultimate game of the season at QPR. You don't concede fewer goals than almost everyone else in the division by gifting the time and space that QPR had en route to a 2-0 22 minute lead, or the set-piece freedom that made it a 4-0 rout later on. You don't score 80 goals by misplacing passes or replacing dynamic movement with the kind of static inertia we saw at Loftus Road. And you don't finish in the top two by crumbling at this point in the season. Daniel Farke's fire was raging at full-time, h

Daniel Farke blamed Leeds United's failure to do the basics right in the first 20 minutes in a humbling 4-0 defeat at QPR but he isn't giving up on the automatic play-off race yet. By Graham Smyth Farke watched his Leeds side put in their worst performance of the season at the worst possible time. Sloppy play on and off the ball cost them dearly as QPR raced to a 2-0 lead before the midway point of the first half. Nothing Farke did to try and change the course of the game worked and two goals in the final 17 minutes confirmed the chastening defeat. A half empty away end demanded answers from Farke and the players as they approached at full-time. The result gives Ipswich Town the chance to leapfrog the Whites with a win tomorrow against Hull City and then they have a game in hand against Coventry City on Tuesday night, while leaders Leicester cannot now be caught by Leeds. "First of all I think it's important to say congratulations to QPR for a well deserved win

On the night they were supposed to ramp up the pressure on Ipswich Town, Leeds United handed them a huge advantage. By Stuart Rayner A 4-0 win which keeps Queens Park Rangers in next season's Championship secured Leicester City's promotion but the most significant thing for a Leeds perspective is that it hands the Tractor Boys all the initiative in what has been a wonderfully tight Championship promotion race. They have two games – at Hull City on Saturday and Coventry City on Tuesday – to build a lead ahead of the final matches of the season. Only one point behind at the moment, they could even render Southampton's trip to Elland Road a dead rubber. Leeds have shown a strong jaw in this promotion race but since March's international break they have been nothing like their old selves, giving QPR players too much room for all four goals they scored. "We want five!" sang the gleeful Rs fans, scarcely able to believe their eyes. Momentum is all-import

Leeds United’s heaviest defeat of the season arrived at the worst possible time. By Lee Sobot Leeds United’s quest for automatic promotion has been dealt a hammer blow, an awful 4-0 defeat at Queens Park Rangers handing a place in the Premier League to Leicester City and a golden opportunity for Ipswich Town to join them. Daniel Farke's Whites could have moved four points clear of Ipswich in the Championship's second automatic promotion place with a victory at Friday night’s hosts yet have now given Ipswich the chance to seal promotion before Leeds even play again. Friday night's reverse has left Leeds just one point ahead of Ipswich but having played two games more, Ipswich now able to pull an unassailable five points clear of United if winning Saturday night's clash at Hill City and Tuesday evening's visit to Coventry City. Leaders Leicester, meanwhile, have now sealed promotion whilst victory for QPR also ensured they are safe from the drop. QPR began

A look at the stats from the Leeds United star's breakthrough season After winning Young Player of the Year at club and league level in recent weeks, Opta statistician and Leeds United fan Jonny Cooper takes a look at some of the numbers behind Archie Gray's breakthrough season and how it compares to others who have worn the Leeds United shirt at an early age. When Archie Gray made his Leeds United debut in August against Cardiff, he wasn’t just following in the footsteps of a long line of academy graduates to play for the Leeds first team – much more than that, he was the fourth member of his own family to pull on the white shirt, continuing an association with the club that stems back to New Year’s Day in 1966 when his great uncle Eddie made his debut for the club. Following Eddie was his brother and Archie’s grandfather Frank in 1973 and then Frank’s son and Archie’s father Andy in 1995. Andy’s final game – in his second spell – was 47 years to the day after Eddie’s firs

By Nancy Froston and Phil Hay The golden rule for guaranteeing the maverick, game-changing performances that Leeds United have seen from Crysencio Summerville this season is simple: “Don’t kill him with a plan.” Summerville is an unscripted genius with the ball at his feet. In 44 games and on the way to 20 goals, the freshly crowned Championship Player of the Season has dribbled, dummied and delivered performances worthy of making him the star of Daniel Farke’s side. The scariest thing for opponents? He still has more to learn. The 22-year-old Dutchman cannot be bound by defensive blocks or dispirited by cynical fouls and has the potential to be world-class. Summerville’s story is one of belief that started in the youth teams of RVV Noorderkwartier and has taken him from the south of Rotterdam to the raucous surrounds of Elland Road. Certain conditions are needed to create a player like Summerville. An absence of pressure, a focus on finding joy in the sport and coaches smart e