The #LUFC Breakfast Debate (Friday 14th February) - Leeds are better prepared for promotion this time out

[Ellandback1]

Good Morning. It's Friday 14th February, and here are the latest headlines from Elland Road...


Leeds are better prepared for promotion this time out

Leeds United are clearly better prepared for their bid for promotion, than they were twelve months ago. While the absence of star players like Georginio Rutter and Crysencio Summerville may have caused wide range paic among Whites fans last Summer, the current squad has shown remarkable resilience and unity.

The team is strikingly balanced, with every member stepping up and contributing, demonstrating that they do not rely on a singular talisman to rescue them from tight situations. The numbers don't lie! In their last six league matches, Leeds have netted an impressive 18 goals, showcasing an extraordinary collective effort with nine different scorers and six different creators.

While players like Solomon, James, and Piroe may be in the spotlight, it’s refreshing to see contributions from Ramazani, Tanaka, Brenden Aaronson, Gnonto, Mateo Joseph, and Jayden Bogle, all of whom have played a crucial role in this prolific scoring run, and underlines strength, unity and trust among the players.

Last season, Leeds boasted five players with double-digit goal contributions by the campaign's end. This season, they have reached that milestone with 14 matches still to play. Piroe leads with 20, followed closely by James (16), Solomon (14), Gnonto (10), and Aaronson (10). This depth in goal-scoring ability indicates a well-rounded squad that is better equipped for the challenges ahead. Leeds are primed for promotion, and their collaborative spirit could very well be the key ingredient this time around.





Kinnear condemns Solomon terrace chant

Leeds United Chief Executive Angus Kinnear has condemned the controversial terrace chant surrounding on-loan winger Manor Solomon, encouraging fans to utilize the matchday incident text number, or inform nearby stewards of such behaviour. The Israeli International has quickly endeared himself to fans for his impressive performance—boasting seven goals and seven assists already this season. However, the chorus of admiration has been marred by lyrics referencing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, drawing scrutiny from many, leading to a club statement criticizing its insensitive nature stating...

Discriminatory language or chanting is not acceptable, and supporters could be breaking the law. The club condemns this behaviour and has a zero-tolerance policy towards discrimination of all kinds.

During the latest Supporters Advisory Board (SAB) meeting, Kinnear addressed the matter head-on. According to the minutes from the meeting, he emphasized that the club selects players based on their abilities, rather than any personal or political views. Kinnear acknowledged that while the police do not classify the chant as a hate crime, an alternative, more respectful version is sought!

Leeds' challenges with terrace songs are not new. The club has faced backlash in the past over other chants, including a vulgar tune associated with Wilfred Gnonto, which continues to resonate in the stands. The club have been trying to clean up their act for many years, but if these sections of fans are not breaking any laws, how and should they be stopped?

[1964white]

Morning all.

Indeed, we are more prepared this season, I've been voicing are attacking abilities & the quality of the whole team throughout the season. It would be a travesty if we are not promoted this season. We are the best team & I always prefer sportsmen at the top of their game to be the ultimate winners in the end.

As for the obscene chants, these are sung by the yob element of our club, it's not just a LUFC issue, it's a society problem. I detest the Jimmy Savile songs too, but they still echo around the stadiums.

[White Riot]

Morning all.

Indeed, we are more prepared this season, I've been voicing are attacking abilities & the quality of the whole team throughout the season. It would be a travesty if we are not promoted this season. We are the best team & I always prefer sportsmen at the top of their game to be the ultimate winners in the end.

As for the obscene chants, these are sung by the yob element of our club, it's not just a LUFC issue, it's a society problem. I detest the Jimmy Savile songs too, but they still echo around the stadiums.

Tbh Leon, whether we are at home or away every set of opposition fans start the Jimmy Saville chants and our fans respond. I don't condone it at all, and have no doubt that when we face Scum and Millwall it will be songs about Turks n all that. I just think it's pathetic behaviour, like all the racist stuff in the past.

Yeah, I do think we are better equipped than last season, but still maintain that we should have been promoted. I just felt like some of the players were over used, lost their bottle and Farke played it too safe.

We'll soon see if we have the nerves for the run in. I expect we will get promoted, but it would be unlike Leeds to do this comfortably.

If we get promoted there is major work to be done with our squad. Meslier needs moved on and if we can get cash in the summer before he starts getting peppered I would snap any club's hand off.

If we can get up and survive and maintain our EPL status then we have a chance of building something. Last time we failed badly due to the ineptitude of the board and a woeful financially destructive approach to managing and improving our squad.

I'm still nowhere near convinced that Farke can get it right at EPL level, even if the recruitment is good.

[Sean_Nile]

There once was a lad from Israel,
Whose dribbling was totally unreal.
He'd twist and he'd spin,
With a cheeky wide grin,
His technique was profoundly surreal.

This chant has the approval of the labour government, and PM Starmer endorses this non- discriminatory message.

BREAKING NEWS: The Salvador Dali foundation object to the use of the word surreal in this chant, since it is an affront to the literary and artistic movement of the 1900s that attempts to express the workings of the subconscious and is characterized by fantastic imagery and incongruous juxtaposition of subject matter... and finds that Leeds history in recent decades, though it might be classed as surreal, the performance of one player, however brilliant, can not fall into this category of artistic expression.

[Chilli D]

There's no doubt we have the squad to get promotion but they just need to go out and get it done now.
I'm sure there will be loads of twists and turn between now and May just as here was last season. I honestly thought last season was a freak occurrence but once again we have four teams miles clear of the rest.

Obscene chanting has been going on for over 40 years and I have no idea how you stop it. If there's around 500 or so singing it, what are clubs supposed to do, ban all 500?
If all the fans not signing it booed the others it might help but I doubt it.

[Tom the Cat]

There's no doubt we have the squad to get promotion but they just need to go out and get it done now.
I'm sure there will be loads of twists and turn between now and May just as here was last season. I honestly thought last season was a freak occurrence but once again we have four teams miles clear of the rest.

Obscene chanting has been going on for over 40 years and I have no idea how you stop it. If there's around 500 or so singing it, what are clubs supposed to do, ban all 500?
If all the fans not signing it booed the others it might help but I doubt it.

As you say it is not possible to identify and ban 500 for the obscene chanting but if say half a dozen were arrested and locked up for say six months it might just be a message to the others.

[1964white]

Obscene chanting has been going on for over 40 years and I have no idea how you stop it. If there's around 500 or so singing it, what are clubs supposed to do, ban all 500?
If all the fans not signing it booed the others it might help but I doubt it.

Booing would probably incite a fight amongst our own fans, madness I know, but I've witnessed our fans fighting each other many times.

[1964white]

Tbh Leon, whether we are at home or away every set of opposition fans start the Jimmy Saville chants and our fans respond.

Still happening at many of our games.

How are you, James?

[ruttermania]

I agree that this squad ,while lacking some of the individual brilliance, is collectively superior to last years and barring something totally unforeseen or freakish should secure promotion .Given everything that happened in the 23 close season it was a tremendous achievement to get to 90 points last season but that came at the cost of overreliance on Summerville and Rutter so when they went off the boil or teams found out how to stop them there was a huge gap particularly in the Playoff Final. DF will (assuming for 0ne moment that promotion is secured) have earned the right to a proper crack at the Premiership with a Board that will have backed him as Norwich refused to do. The recruitment since the 49ers have been in control has largely been excellent and I see no reason why with a Premiership budget and the painful experience gained through relegation etc. that with a bit of luck we can't establish ourselves over a couple of years. There's a solid core of players in our squad who are Premiership quality and the overall club structures have been upgraded to ensure that this time around there will be a more professional approach .

[Irish Ian]

Better prepared, better prepared?

Just wait until we drop a few points.

Re the Solomon chanting etc, it isnt quite a societal problem as Leon suggest ( although he isnt too far off) there is also a cultural element to it which surrounds football.

Some of the same fans who come off with those would attend a rugby league game for example and wouldnt dare come off with the same abuse.

Can the clubs do anything against it?

With security cameras and mics everywhere surely a few swift evictions from the ground might help

[Orange Box]

The obsession with needing promotion to happen NOW makes me smile. Who would trade 3 months of their own lives to wake up tomorrow to find out it was May 4th, just to see Leeds with that old tin pot in the trophy cabinet? Not many, I would guess.
Just enjoy the next weeks, enjoy the football with all its twists and turns. Enjoy the drama, the nail biting, the watching between closed fingers. Enjoy the ride this season because next season will be bumpy.

[Ellandback1]

Elland Road's security system is state of the art. It had a complete overhaul by Gough and Kelly who took over the contract in 2010. Trouble is

a) Not easy turning against the bullies
b) Offence is public order at the worst
c) I question whether LUFC actually care. They could identify them sooooooooo easily if they wanted to. All their security systems are digital and state of the art and ER Police station yards away. We have 15000 on the waiting list, ejecting 500 wouldn't be difficult.

[GreennWhite]

The obsession with needing promotion to happen NOW makes me smile. Who would trade 3 months of their own lives to wake up tomorrow to find out it was May 4th, just to see Leeds with that old tin pot in the trophy cabinet? Not many, I would guess.
Just enjoy the next weeks, enjoy the football with all its twists and turns. Enjoy the drama, the nail biting, the watching between closed fingers. Enjoy the ride this season because next season will be bumpy.

[White Riot]

Still happening at many of our games.

How are you, James?

Doing ok thanks Leon

How are you and Jill doing these days?

I'm working long days, six days a week, as there's lots of OT and tbh it's been a very cold winter here. So not really conducive to trips off and walking about.

We've bought a new apartment in Plovdiv, so plenty of expenditure to come getting that finished and furnished. We should move there next summer.

Savings my days off for when the weather gets hot here, which will start in May and keep above 30c until October. We will probably get a holiday in Turkey or Greece, as the beaches are a bit grotty here.

Haven't had time to get on here, but will return when work gets quieter. Tbh I find football at this level drab and would rather watch the Premier.

It's great we're having a good season, but we're not at the level of football where we should be and are frequently not tested. If we go up then next season will be a challenge.

I hope Farke succeeds and it's encouraging that he's largely let the hand brake off this season. We're not gonna know whether he or these players are up the demands of the EPL until we get there.

Recruitment will be essential in the summer, and recruits like Bogle and Tanaka have been outstanding, but that's against inferior footballers and coaches.

I seriously hope we are not thinking of relying on players like Meslier, Byram, Firpo and Bamford if we go up, cos that's gonna be blood in the water for these EPL teams.

We need a quality goalkeeper, attacking central midfielder and striker at the bare minimum. I wouldn't make the assumption that any of the players we have are good enough to change matches in the EPL.

If we choose to wing it then we're in for a brutal lesson in football.

[ruttermania]

To me nothing that the 49ers have done indicates that they are in the business of 'winging it' but rather that they have a plan which will maximise their return and they will ruthlessly pursue it . It's a plan that has very little to do with the romance of football although they will exploit that as much as is needed for their plan to work . We have had a lot of owners over the years who have been winging it including Radrizzani whose reign was rescued to a certain extent by some inspired decisions eg bringing in Bielsa, buying Raphinha . Clubs like Villa and Forest have gone up in recent seasons and having skirted with relegation have established themselves and built decent squads despite gaining promotion with weaker squads than we have at present. Looking at the quality of recruitment over the last two summers leads me to believe that if we are successful there will be plans in place for a careful and selective rebuild and I believe Farke's painful one and a half painful seasons with Norwich will feed into identifying what's needed .

[John in Louisiana]

Obscene chanting has been going on for over 40 years and I have no idea how you stop it. If there's around 500 or so singing it, what are clubs supposed to do, ban all 500?

Absolutely. Yes.

There are many thousands of decent people waiting to snap those tickets up.

[1964white]

Doing ok thanks Leon

How are you and Jill doing these days?

I'm working long days, six days a week, as there's lots of OT and tbh it's been a very cold winter here. So not really conducive to trips off and walking about.

We've bought a new apartment in Plovdiv, so plenty of expenditure to come getting that finished and furnished. We should move there next summer.

Savings my days off for when the weather gets hot here, which will start in May and keep above 30c until October. We will probably get a holiday in Turkey or Greece, as the beaches are a bit grotty here.

Haven't had time to get on here, but will return when work gets quieter. Tbh I find football at this level drab and would rather watch the Premier.

It's great we're having a good season, but we're not at the level of football where we should be and are frequently not tested. If we go up then next season will be a challenge.

I hope Farke succeeds and it's encouraging that he's largely let the hand brake off this season. We're not gonna know whether he or these players are up the demands of the EPL until we get there.

Recruitment will be essential in the summer, and recruits like Bogle and Tanaka have been outstanding, but that's against inferior footballers and coaches.

I seriously hope we are not thinking of relying on players like Meslier, Byram, Firpo and Bamford if we go up, cos that's gonna be blood in the water for these EPL teams.

We need a quality goalkeeper, attacking central midfielder and striker at the bare minimum. I wouldn't make the assumption that any of the players we have are good enough to change matches in the EPL.

If we choose to wing it then we're in for a brutal lesson in football.

We're fine mate, Jill sends her best wishes. x

Good luck with your move into your new apartment, next summer.

Agree, with much of your comments on LUFC. I'm a Farke fan, however I have reservations whether he can crack it at the highest level, only time will tell.

[CUSSIE01]

The obsession with needing promotion to happen NOW makes me smile. Who would trade 3 months of their own lives to wake up tomorrow to find out it was May 4th, just to see Leeds with that old tin pot in the trophy cabinet? Not many, I would guess.
Just enjoy the next weeks, enjoy the football with all its twists and turns. Enjoy the drama, the nail biting, the watching between closed fingers. Enjoy the ride this season because next season will be bumpy.

Loving this season OB, winning games, getting to matches, playing exciting football and in a forum which is relatively calm, what’s not to love.

[1964white]

Loving this season OB, winning games, getting to matches, playing exciting football and in a forum which is relatively calm, what’s not to love.

Indeed, what's not to enjoy?

[White Riot]

To me nothing that the 49ers have done indicates that they are in the business of 'winging it' but rather that they have a plan which will maximise their return and they will ruthlessly pursue it . It's a plan that has very little to do with the romance of football although they will exploit that as much as is needed for their plan to work . We have had a lot of owners over the years who have been winging it including Radrizzani whose reign was rescued to a certain extent by some inspired decisions eg bringing in Bielsa, buying Raphinha . Clubs like Villa and Forest have gone up in recent seasons and having skirted with relegation have established themselves and built decent squads despite gaining promotion with weaker squads than we have at present. Looking at the quality of recruitment over the last two summers leads me to believe that if we are successful there will be plans in place for a careful and selective rebuild and I believe Farke's painful one and a half painful seasons with Norwich will feed into identifying what's needed .

good post mate