Leeds (dirty thugs) discussion

Ekkie Thump

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1 defeat in their last 10 and 3 wins on the spin.

So much for the Bielsa burnout
Think over the past 10 games we've got more points than anyone else in the league. Conceded the fewest goals in the division over that period too. Pretty good!
 

Classical Mechanic

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They're not in Europe and were knocked out of their last cup competition in January. Looks like they're benefitting from a lighter schedule in a long tiring season for many sides.
 

FizzyWomack

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Well if you want to get so defensive of one of United's biggest rivals go ahead but I'm not going to join the Leeds circle Jerk while their faults are ignored.

Some of you lot won't even put in a defence line this when our players start playing well again.
Well said mate. Some of these lot in here need a reality check for slurping up all this Leeds talk. They obviously don’t know any Leeds fans. They’d laugh if they see all the shite in here from so called United fans. They hate us. I know first hand because I work with a lot of them.

Shall we ignore the fact they’ve been beat more than anyone else in the top half?

To anyone who wants to jump to their defence. Yes they’ve done well, but grow a pair and leave all the gloating to the deluded Leeds fans, don’t become one yourself!
 

Ekkie Thump

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How the hell did Leeds get him in the Championship :houllier:.
The first season he was there took them to near playoffs just off playoffs from lower bottom half side with mostly the same team. He’s a great manager
First season he actually took us to 3rd, and we were in the top 2 for most of that season. Honestly his impact was immediate. The first 20 minutes of his first game in charge (v Stoke) was a transformation beyond any fan's expectations. 10 of the team that finished the game today were already Leeds players at the start of that first game.

He completely turned the entire club around in one preseason on a total outlay of +£4m .
 
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432JuanMata

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First season he actually took us to 3rd, and we were in the top 2 for most of that season. Honestly his impact was immediate. The first 20 minutes of his first game in charge (v Stoke) was a transformation beyond any fan's expectations. He completely turned the entire club around in one preseason.
Yeah I got the first mixed up with another season. My dad is a big Leeds fan so while we love the banter and have a hatred for each other’s side I always wanted them back in the PL for him and for the rivalry.
So I watched Leeds a lot over the last few seasons and couldn’t believe how good they were with or without the ball until the penalty area.

This is why pundits on Sky are so happy Bamford is doing well because he got awful stick in the Championship but he deserved it as Leeds created millions of chances and he missed sitters, he even had the worst conversation rate in all 4 leagues at one point.

I went out to watch Leeds-Wigan 2 seasons ago, Leeds we’re going for 2nd in the league, They went 1-0 up at home, Wigan went down to 10 men, Leeds missed a peno had 32 shots to 3 then lost 1-2. Summed yous up in championship under Bielsa. Yous have been so much more clinal this season
 

Ekkie Thump

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Yeah I got the first mixed up with another season. My dad is a big Leeds fan so while we love the banter and have a hatred for each other’s side I always wanted them back in the PL for him and for the rivalry.
So I watched Leeds a lot over the last few seasons and couldn’t believe how good they were with or without the ball until the penalty area.

This is why pundits on Sky are so happy Bamford is doing well because he got awful stick in the Championship but he deserved it as Leeds created millions of chances and he missed sitters, he even had the worst conversation rate in all 4 leagues at one point.

I went out to watch Leeds-Wigan 2 seasons ago, Leeds we’re going for 2nd in the league, They went 1-0 up at home, Wigan went down to 10 men, Leeds missed a peno had 32 shots to 3 then lost 1-2. Summed yous up in championship under Bielsa. Yous have been so much more clinal this season
Yeah, we were in danger of that becoming our defining feature. Whenever the heat was on we'd go to pieces in both boxes. Bamford was the most frustrating guy on the planet. I was really worried before this season started that we wouldn't generate enough chances to make up for his wastefulness. He's been absolutely brilliant (relative to his usual) this year.
 

432JuanMata

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Yeah, we were in danger of that becoming our defining feature. Whenever the heat was on we'd go to pieces in both boxes. Bamford was the most frustrating guy on the planet. I was really worried before this season started that we wouldn't generate enough chances to make up for his wastefulness. He's been absolutely brilliant (relative to his usual) this year.
Yeah he has been very good this season, he was always a good all round player but lacked the goalscoring to become a very good forward. I still feel you can upgrade him especially with the talent yous have around him but either way he will always be a good squad player
 

432JuanMata

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He's done an amazing job there and the players seem to love playing for him.
I might be wrong but I’m sure all the teams he has managed all players always love playing for him. It shows to me that his man management skills is excellent. Then too be fair if you play for Leeds half way down the championship and Bielsa comes in your obviously going to love playing for him
 

Samid

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My mate is a Leeds fan and he’s serious that they will finish above us. On current form I can’t argue with him. At least they play attractive football and the team looks like they put in 100% effort.
Tell your mate to eat shit.
 

Marching

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Well said mate. Some of these lot in here need a reality check for slurping up all this Leeds talk. They obviously don’t know any Leeds fans. They’d laugh if they see all the shite in here from so called United fans. They hate us. I know first hand because I work with a lot of them.

Shall we ignore the fact they’ve been beat more than anyone else in the top half?

To anyone who wants to jump to their defence. Yes they’ve done well, but grow a pair and leave all the gloating to the deluded Leeds fans, don’t become one yourself!
:lol: I suspect the reason you’re hated has nowt to do with the football club you support.
 

GuybrushThreepwood

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Pre-Bielsa I hated Leeds, but after they hired him I started to develop a soft spot for them and wanted them to get promoted as I knew they'd be an excellent addition to the Premier League. That was instantly clear during their opening match of the season at Anfield. After he leaves the club whenever that is, I imagine I'll go back to disliking them again.

Sure some of the praise that Bielsa was receiving earlier this season from people like Hoddle was over the top and nauseating, but he has deserved a lot of credit. He took over a club that was regularly finishing in the bottom half of the Championship at the time, whose club captain was signed from Chesterfield for 600k and which was struggling badly for form and confidence. Many of the same players who were part of a Leeds team that also ranked in the bottom half of the Championship in terms of possession stats and literally looked like they couldn't string multiple passes together pre-Bielsa, were then part of a team that almost instantly became the best passing team in the Championship after he took over. And quite a few of them are still part of the team which I think has had the 4th best possession stats in the Premier League this season. I think in quite a few matches that they've played this season, 5-6 of the players in their starting line-up were already at the club before he joined, so a lot of players have improved during his time there, and he has given plenty of opportunities to players from their youth academy.

When they lost 6-2 at Old Trafford earlier this season, I thought it was also a crazy overreaction to insist that the heavy defeat proved that Bielsa was overrated. Firstly that was sandwiched in between wins against Newcastle, Burnley and West Brom. If you're a newly promoted team, ultimately who cares if you get hammered at Old Trafford when you win the (probably more important) games against the teams in and around you. And secondly the team have clearly evolved, developed and became 'smarter' at Premier League level since then.
 

kingwaynerooney

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My mate is a Leeds fan and he’s serious that they will finish above us. On current form I can’t argue with him. At least they play attractive football and the team looks like they put in 100% effort.
Leeds will never finish ahead of Bielsa. Bielsa works best with average players. Bigger players will never run themselves to the ground like bielsa will want them to. And Bielsa will never change to fit the players with big ego. And they will never end up winning anything. Maybe cup competitons.

He is great for 4th place to 12th. That's it.
 

weetee

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Will he get another 100 million to spend like last year? Could be a challenger for European spots if he does and spends well.
I read rumors about Cunha (from Berlin) being linked to Leeds. Brilliant footballer if he gets his brain sorted. Bielsa might be the right guy to do that.
 

Schneiderman

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Well said mate. Some of these lot in here need a reality check for slurping up all this Leeds talk. They obviously don’t know any Leeds fans. They’d laugh if they see all the shite in here from so called United fans. They hate us. I know first hand because I work with a lot of them.

Shall we ignore the fact they’ve been beat more than anyone else in the top half?

To anyone who wants to jump to their defence. Yes they’ve done well, but grow a pair and leave all the gloating to the deluded Leeds fans, don’t become one yourself!
Amen. Never stop hating Leeds guys, feck them and their fans I don't care how good the football is (not even that great to watch second half of the season).

Getting downvoted to hell on Reddit making this point. Can't wait till next year and the Leeds love in stops.

they only play 40 games this season. A lot yess than in the previous couple of years. Moving up to the PL has been a lot easier for them physically.
 

Ekkie Thump

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Amen. Never stop hating Leeds guys, feck them and their fans I don't care how good the football is (not even that great to watch second half of the season).

Getting downvoted to hell on Reddit making this point. Can't wait till next year and the Leeds love in stops.
That's the spirit!
 

BusbyMalone

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Bielsa manager of the season for me. Moyes has done a decent job at West Ham, but for a promoted team to play the way they play and very comfortably stay up is pretty impressive.
 

GE

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Starting to really love Leeds and Marcelo like a 2nd club. They’ve done incredible this season and think they’ll only get better as time goes on. They can become a real force and start challenging for the Top 6 within a couple years.

They deserve to bring back the glory days having missed out for a couple decades!
 

Ekkie Thump

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So I just got linked to this article in The Athletic: Revealed: The staggering amount by which Leeds United outrun the rest of the Premier League

It's so ridiculous I can't bring myself to quite believe it's true. The amount of mind and body buggering effort required must be huge. No idea how we keep it up.
This has forced most other teams to also work their tits off when they face us; making for more intense, faster paced, exciting games. Interestingly though, many of the teams that haven't responded by upping their intensity actually faired better against us (on average). Leicester and Palace both stuffed us the first time round; Burnley should have got a draw and Brighton whopped us twice. Of course the team that worked the hardest against us (compared to their norm) also spanked us the hardest. I shall leave them nameless.
 
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Ekkie Thump

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I *think* we've finished the season with the most points of any promoted team for 20 years (Ipswich, 2001) and scored more goals than any other promoted team in the 38 game era.

Christ I hope we crack on in August.
 

Ludens the Red

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I *think* we've finished the season with the most points of any promoted team for 20 years (Ipswich, 2001) and scored more goals than any other promoted team in the 38 game era.

Christ I hope we crack on in August.
Yup, hopefully Bielsa leaves and you crack on with relegation.
 

Ekkie Thump

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Looks like Leeds might be on the hook for £18 million for a player we claim was never ours.

Basically season before last we loaned Jean-Kevin Augustin (JKA) from RB Leipzig. It contained a compulsory purchase clause should we be promoted by 30th June (usually beyond the season's end). Augustin was absolute shite. Totally unfit and unavailable to play - we were, in essence, sold a pup. Some might say that's entirely our lookout. Anyway, Covid threw a spanner in the works and we thought we had a way out. Since all other loan agreements also tended to end on June 30th and they all seem to have needed renegotiating in order to cover the extended season it was Leeds' position that the same must be true for the JKA loan. Since we weren't promoted by 30th June we asserted that the terms overseeing compulsory purchase weren't met, sent him back to his parent club and absolved ourselves of all future responsibility regarding him.

RB Leipzig disagreed and took it to FIFA. JKA was stuck in limbo until both clubs declared that he was not their player and he was free to feck up at Nantes. Anyway today FIFA announced its verdict - Leeds are on the hook for the fee. This can, of course, be appealed. In my opinion we tried to pull a fast one and are definitely in breach of the spirit of the contract. Not sure how much this ultimately matters in a court of law though where (I guess) the letter of the law might be more important.

If we lose the appeal though, we paid £18m for a player who never played for us and released him for free. Not the finest bit of business ever undertaken by a football club.
 

dannyrhinos89

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I hope they don't lose raphina that guy is pure class.

If they don't recruit right and lose him I think they'll drop off. Not relegation but near enough.
 

Flying_Heckfish

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Looks like Leeds might be on the hook for £18 million for a player we claim was never ours.

Basically season before last we loaned Jean-Kevin Augustin (JKA) from RB Leipzig. It contained a compulsory purchase clause should we be promoted by 30th June (usually beyond the season's end). Augustin was absolute shite. Totally unfit and unavailable to play - we were, in essence, sold a pup. Some might say that's entirely our lookout. Anyway, Covid threw a spanner in the works and we thought we had a way out. Since all other loan agreements also tended to end on June 30th and they all seem to have needed renegotiating in order to cover the extended season it was Leeds' position that the same must be true for the JKA loan. Since we weren't promoted by 30th June we asserted that the terms overseeing compulsory purchase weren't met, sent him back to his parent club and absolved ourselves of all future responsibility regarding him.

RB Leipzig disagreed and took it to FIFA. JKA was stuck in limbo until both clubs declared that he was not their player and he was free to feck up at Nantes. Anyway today FIFA announced its verdict - Leeds are on the hook for the fee. This can, of course, be appealed. In my opinion we tried to pull a fast one and are definitely in breach of the spirit of the contract. Not sure how much this ultimately matters in a court of law though where (I guess) the letter of the law might be more important.

If we lose the appeal though, we paid £18m for a player who never played for us and released him for free. Not the finest bit of business ever undertaken by a football club.
Surely no way that can be upheld if the date was in the contract.
 

Ekkie Thump

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Surely no way that can be upheld if the date was in the contract.
I think it might depend to a large extent on which legal system has jurisdiction. If it was English law I think you'd be correct - the terms of the contract are strictly bound by the exact wording contained therein. Unfortunately (for Leeds) I think this was overseen by Swiss judges (where FIFA is based). My understanding is that under Swiss law intention plays a greater role. Under such a system you could argue that both parties intended the loan to cover the whole season - hence choosing a date far beyond when a season would ordinarily finish. In fact it wouldn't have entered either party's head that the season wouldn't be over by then. The intent behind the contract is therefore easy to derive and also very clear. So while strictly speaking Leeds didn't violate the wording of the agreement they undermined their own, freely given intentions and it is those intentions which are ultimately the more important.
 
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I think it might depend to a large extent on which legal system has jurisdiction. If it was English law I think you'd be correct - the terms of the contract are strictly bound by the exact wording contained therein. Unfortunately (for Leeds) I think this was overseen by Swiss judges (where FIFA is based). My understanding is that under Swiss law intention plays a greater role. Under such a system you could argue that both parties intended the loan to cover the whole season - hence choosing a date far beyond when a season would ordinarily finish. In fact it wouldn't have entered either party's head that the season wouldn't be over by then. The intent behind the contract is therefore easy to derive and also very clear. So while strictly speaking Leeds didn't violate the wording of the agreement they undermined their own, freely given intentions and it is those intentions which are ultimately the more important.
interesting.

you would hope that Leeds took extensive legal advice before going down this route.

however we know the reality that football clubs are run off the back of a fag packet (not Leeds exclusive by any means - most clubs).

worst thing is that it’s taken a year. I’ve never heard of this lad, but it’s unfair for it to have taken so long - and clearly it’s not over, with presumably an appeal, and then escalate to CAS.
 

Ekkie Thump

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interesting.

you would hope that Leeds took extensive legal advice before going down this route.

however we know the reality that football clubs are run off the back of a fag packet (not Leeds exclusive by any means - most clubs).

worst thing is that it’s taken a year. I’ve never heard of this lad, but it’s unfair for it to have taken so long - and clearly it’s not over, with presumably an appeal, and then escalate to CAS.
I think we did, but we also might have seen it as a free hit so long as there aren't punitive damages. If it turns out we have to pay the transfer fee then we've only added lawyer costs to what we'd have had to paid to begin with (and some degree of reputational damage I guess). If we come to some sort of settlement we still might save a few million quid.

I agree it is harsh on the player. Leeds and RB Leipzig did belatedly signed an agreement forfeiting all rights to the player thereby allowing him to sign a contract with Nantes as a free agent in October, but I don't think anyone paid him over the summer. His fortunes haven't really increased at Nantes though. I think there might be something medically wrong with him that hadn't come to light before this year. Bloke managed to contract covid too.
 

Ludens the Red

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Looks like Leeds might be on the hook for £18 million for a player we claim was never ours.

Basically season before last we loaned Jean-Kevin Augustin (JKA) from RB Leipzig. It contained a compulsory purchase clause should we be promoted by 30th June (usually beyond the season's end). Augustin was absolute shite. Totally unfit and unavailable to play - we were, in essence, sold a pup. Some might say that's entirely our lookout. Anyway, Covid threw a spanner in the works and we thought we had a way out. Since all other loan agreements also tended to end on June 30th and they all seem to have needed renegotiating in order to cover the extended season it was Leeds' position that the same must be true for the JKA loan. Since we weren't promoted by 30th June we asserted that the terms overseeing compulsory purchase weren't met, sent him back to his parent club and absolved ourselves of all future responsibility regarding him.

RB Leipzig disagreed and took it to FIFA. JKA was stuck in limbo until both clubs declared that he was not their player and he was free to feck up at Nantes. Anyway today FIFA announced its verdict - Leeds are on the hook for the fee. This can, of course, be appealed. In my opinion we tried to pull a fast one and are definitely in breach of the spirit of the contract. Not sure how much this ultimately matters in a court of law though where (I guess) the letter of the law might be more important.

If we lose the appeal though, we paid £18m for a player who never played for us and released him for free. Not the finest bit of business ever undertaken by a football club.
Very unlike Leeds to get involved in this kind of tomfoolery :smirk: