Good Morning. It's Monday 14th September, and here are the latest headlines from Elland Road...
Robbie Evans talks Farke, the transfer window and numbers
Leeds Utd Managing Director Robbie Evans sat down with Beren Cross, Isaac Johnson and Adam Pope on Friday for his annual gruelling. He went through Daniel Farke’s contract, the summer business, and how the Squad Cost Ratio rules are effecting the Whites. For a fanbase that has spent the last twelve months watching the drop zone from uncomfortably close range, this was the briefing that mattered. As we know, Daniel Farke is in the final year of his contract. Evans’ message was calmer than the rumour mill. The club and the manager are “on the same page.” Talks have been going on for about three months . Evans wants Farke here long-term. He does not accept that the lack of a signed deal means the relationship is drifting.“Unlike when he joined in 2023, or doing a deadline day deal, the time pressure is far reduced,” Evans said. “We have time to get it right as far as what he wants and what we want. I don’t feel it is taking a long time.” That is the key line. Extensions look simple from the outside because both parties already work together. Evans’ point is the opposite: without a hard deadline, every clause gets argued properly. Length, control, staff, ambition. He would rather take months and get it right than rush a document that unravels later. For Leeds fans, the practical reading is this: there is no public row, no hint that Farke wants out, and no suggestion the board are shopping for a replacement.
There is also no signed contract. Until there is, the noise will keep coming. Last year Evans called it “a good window and a bad deadline.” This time he flipped it. “A good window and a good deadline.” The priorities were set early: a left-footed centre-back, an inverted right winger, and a goalkeeper. Those boxes were ticked first, Nico Elvedi, Harry Wilson, James Trafford, which then freed Leeds to add around the squad. Tarik Muharemovic arrived as part of the defensive refresh after Pascal Struijk’s sale. Melvin Bard and Jean-Matteo Bahoya came later. Evans’ argument is that getting the top targets done early changed the whole window. They were not scrambling on the final day as we have seen in the past. He was also clear on what they did not chase.
There was no plan to sign a centre-forward to take Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s place. Backup options, maybe. A new number nine, no. That will frustrate anyone who wanted another body up top, but Evans framed it as a deliberate choice rather than a missed target. Leeds still missed some bigger names. Evans did not pretend otherwise. The difference from last summer, is that the misses did not leave the squad looking unfinished. The Leeds Utd Managing Director then addressed spending. The old PSR world is giving way to Squad Cost Ratio. Clubs are supposed to keep squad costs within 85 per cent of relevant revenue.
This is a phase-in season: even if a club goes over, there is no levy this year and a points deduction is not the live threat. Evans’ position was blunt. Leeds set out to spend everything they could under the rules. He believes they have done that. They will not know the exact figure until the season ends, because prize money, cup runs, commercial income and matchday sales all move the calculation. He was “thankful” they only needed to sell one senior player, Struijk to Brighton, completed before 30 June, to stay inside the financial lines. The FA Cup run last season and a quiet January helped keep it to one departure rather than a fire sale. Evans is saying Leeds are not sitting on a hidden war chest.
If you want another starter in January, someone probably has to go, or revenue has to outperform the model. Second, he is telling fans not to panic about an 85 per cent line that may be a shade over or under. This year’s rules are built for a soft landing: a fine later, not a deduction now. SCR, he argued, should help a club with Leeds’ support and commercial base more than PSR did in the long run. In all honesty the club is being run like a well oiled machine. Money has been spent wisely, and the pedigree of the players has improved from twelve months ago. We have a way to go before we compete for Europe, but the foundations being laid are deep.
Hull City and Ipswich bucking the trend
Tonight's game against Newcastle Utd is a chance to put more daylight between the Whites and the mess forming below them. After four matches of the 2026-27 campaign, the drop zone already has a shape, and it is close enough that Elland Road cannot afford to look the other way. Coventry City are the warning everyone can see. Four games, four defeats, no goals, no points, a 5-0 home hiding by Brighton on Sunday and a red card for Taiwo Awoniyi to complete the afternoon. Frank Lampard’s side have returned to the Premier League after 25 years and immediately look like a team that may not last the winter.Leeds do not want to drift anywhere near it. Aston Villa and Fulham have one point each. Palace have three and a leaking defence. Big spending Spurs have two points and no goals. Sunderland, so impressive last season, already look like a club finding the second year harder than the first. Those are the names Leeds fans should be watching as much as the ones above them. The old rule said the three clubs who come up go straight back down. Last season Leeds and Sunderland broke it. This season two of the newcomers are trying to break it again. Hull City were supposed to finish last. They beat Manchester United on the opening weekend, won at Coventry, and have since taken points off Villa and Chelsea.
Eight points, unbeaten, third in the table; Mohamed Belloumi’s double at Stamford Bridge turned a losing position into a lead before João Pedro equalised. That is not a side rolling over. That is a side making life uncomfortable for everyone around them. Ipswich have spent £189.5 million on 14 players, more than Bayern, Barcelona and PSG, and already have wins over Sunderland and Crystal Palace. Six points, messy at the back, dangerous enough in attack. They will get better as the new signings settle. Leeds know that kind of squad can sneak points off anyone if you give them the invitation. So the relegation picture is not a neat little trio of promoted clubs. It is Coventry plus a fight involving Hull, Ipswich, Fulham, Villa, Palace and anyone who goes on a bad run.
That list is why five points from three games is not a reason to relax. Leeds stand eleventh, five points, and a plus one goal difference. A win against Newcastle Utd tonight and the conversation changes. A flat performance and the shoulders start to tighten. Last season Leeds survived by staying clear of the panic months. The betting market still has Leeds around 12/1 for the drop, a lot longer than Coventry, Hull and Ipswich, shorter than the clubs who are supposed to be untouchable. Hull have shown that a promoted team with a bit of steel can take points off big clubs. Ipswich have shown that money can buy an early foothold. Coventry have shown what happens when the jump is too big and the goals dry up. Leeds have already lived the first version of that story.
