Good Morning. It's Wednesday 24th May, and here are the latest headlines from Elland Road...
Could Gnonto return to Serie A for as little as £8.6m?
Italian media outlet 'Calcio Web' claim there is an agreement in place for Wilfred Gnonto to return to Serie A this Summer, with Sassuolo currently leading the race for the Italian International. They further claim that in the event of relegation, his price tag is set to collapse, in the region of £8.6m - £13m.
His performances, prior to the ankle injury he picked up whilst on International duty (in late March), would have caught the eye of many would be suitors, who no doubt are already circling above Elland Road, preparing to pick apart our squad, leaving only the weak and feeble.
Gnonto has four and a half years remaining on his £20,000 a week contract. It has been suggested that Leeds may renegotiate his salary in a desperate bid to keep the 19yo at Elland Road.
Dorigo: I expected a lot more
Tony Dorigo has penned a damning article in the Yorkshire Evening Post, expressing his disappointment and
bewilderment at the lack of passion and resolve Leeds showed last weekend at the London Stadium.
In recent weeks, Everton and Forest claw their way out of the bottom three. The Toffee's thumped Brighton 5-1, then fought for their lives at Wolves, earning a credible 1-1 draw. Nottingham Forest too have played out of their skin. They beat Arsenal last weekend, drew at Stamford Bridge, and also comfortably beat Brighton 3-1. Why haven't we seen the same? The lack of fight the Leeds squad have shown this season astonishes me; how the Leeds faithful haven't turned on them, I'll never know. According to Dorigo...
I think the boys will look back at this season and think they could have done more and done better. The second half performance was hugely disappointing at West Ham United. The first 15 minutes actually went quite well, Patrick Bamford was here there and everywhere and we got the goal to go ahead, but then he limped off injured and West Ham pushed us back.
After conceding we needed to show resolve to come back again and at times I felt West Ham were waiting for us to come at them; they weren't brilliant at it themselves, and we allowed them to play. The second half needed to show what we were about and nothing happened. It was passive. I couldn't believe it. We made changes that didn't do a lot for the game and in the position we are in, I expected a lot more.
I was in the press conference after the game and my ears pricked up when Allardyce said what he said about not having a centre forward. He has had time to see the squad train and play, to assess what we've got. This was his assessment and it's hard to argue with that. You look back then and think how did this happen and it's just one of the things you could look at to say we didn't do the right things or get who we needed in January.
Orta's proposed successor criticised for Women's football jibe
Stuart Webber, the candidate highly tipped to succeed Victor Orta as Leeds next Director of Football, has been widely criticised for publicly stating that women's football is of zero interest to him.
Webber, 39, a life long Leeds fan, currently works as Sporting Director at Carrow Road, a position he's held for six years; yet if the rumours are true, he could be on his way to Elland Road within the next fortnight, as Leeds start their rebuilding process.
As far as ladies football is concerned, the Lionesses are no slouches! They won the Euro's last year, and are ranked fourth in World by FIFA (behind the USA, Germany and Sweden). Whilst it is his choice to watch what he likes, would he have been better off, not saying anything at all? According to Webber...
Women’s football, I do not watch it,' he said. 'It's of zero interest to me in terms of on the telly because I watch enough men's football and if I'm not watching that, I want to watch other sports. It's a choice which I think should be OK.
