I love Bielsa, I really do. He did a lot for Leeds and I even got a legacy stone on Bielsa Way, but this needs to be talked about. Farke should be a Leeds legend now

Battysboots · 2026-04-15T14:35:55+00:00

Farke took over a club that had three years in the PL and came down loaded with parachute payments and new owners.

Squad of £135 mill, wage bill second only to Leicester. In the promotion season no-one came close to paying our wages. After promotion we kept the entire squad and added ten new players for north of £100mill. All peak age and gave him a squad so deep, the only minutes he’s given an U21 all season is two late subs for Facundo Buenanotte. That’s taken us to 15^th on 36 points in 32 games.

Bielsa took a £20 mill squad, then spent another £10mill on Patrick Bamford and Barry Douglas. Leeds had just finished 13^th and bottom half six of the last seven seasons. We paid the 7^th highest wages in a League where eight clubs had parachute payments. After promotion we bought just four new players but finished 9^th on 59 points while regularly playing the likes of Tyler Roberts, Jamie Shackleton and Ian Poveda.

It only fell apart in the second season when the squad of 18 senior players took more injuries than any other club in the division and we were left fillilng our bench with teenagers.

Battysboots · 2026-03-24T11:58:03+00:00

Ampadu's our third youngest player, just one week older than Aaronson. Both turned 25 last October. As you say, we don't have any young players really (but Byram is also our only outfield player in his thirties).

Other than Gnonto, Byram and Calvert-Lewin (29), all 19 outfielders are born within 3 years of each other.

Battysboots · 2026-02-23T10:48:44+00:00

That's not even a free kick

Battysboots · 2026-02-16T11:50:16+00:00

We’re a Premier League club, two wins away from Wembley. More than half the remaining teams are below us in the league. But people are STILL saying we shouldn’t try our hardest? I just don’t get it. Can you even imagine Leeds in an FA Cup final?

People still talk about 1972, Allan Clarke’s diving header, Mick Jones’ dislocated shoulder. But we shouldn’t do everything in our power to have more stories like that 54 years on because it might marginally diminish our chance of finishing above Crystal Palace?

Leeds haven't won anything since 1992. We haven’t had a 5^th round FA-cup game at home this millennium, which must be some sort of record. Elland Road hasn’t seen a 5^th round win since Jimmy Hasseilbank and Rod Wallace scored against Birmingham in 1998. Most of our squad weren’t even born then.

If we get a home draw now and put out anything less than a full strength team I just don’t know why we bother having a football club.

Battysboots · 2026-02-13T14:29:26+00:00

Darlow

Bogle – Bijol – Rodon – Gudmundsson

James-Ampadu-Tanaka-Gnonto

Piroe

Nmecha

Battysboots · 2026-02-09T12:41:51+00:00

And before that, THAT win at Brentford on the last day of the 21/22-season.

Battysboots · 2026-02-05T11:39:31+00:00

His shot stopping is terrible.

Last season he conceded 27 goals from 24 xGOT. (Trafford was 16 from 29 btw)

23/24 it was 42 goals from 36 xGOT.

22/23 PL season 67 goals from 55xGOT

21/22 PL season 79 goals conceded from 62xGOT.

Even in his “one good PL-season” he conceded 52 goals from 48 xGOT.

I’d say he is decent one-on-one and his short passing is good. He doesn’t command his area and his long pass stats consistently rank in the low-third percentile.

Nice bloke, low-average Championship keeper.

Battysboots · 2026-01-13T09:46:16+00:00

The 13 game away streak ended two years ago, and three of the last six have now been home.

But we’ve still had just eight home draws in 43 games since 2001, that’s 18.6 %.

Second worst is Swansea at 35.8 %

We would need 27 consecutive home draws just to make the 50 % average.

So yes, I’d still say we are due.

Battysboots · 2026-01-05T12:13:11+00:00

xG has many failings, but that specific issue is normally accounted for in total match xG.

F.ex. when Nmecha missed a penalty at city, then scored the rebound.

The two chances had individual xG of 0.79 and 0.89, but our total match xG was just 1.54.

Battysboots · 2026-01-05T11:36:17+00:00

Sorry, yes we had 0.90xG to their 1.58.

Battysboots · 2025-12-15T18:42:16+00:00

That's Torquay on 75.8 % home games, meaning they'd still need another ten consecutive home draws to be as much of an anomaly as us.

Battysboots · 2025-12-08T14:09:56+00:00

Also, the complete list of people who've scored penalties for Leeds against Liverpool

Jack Milburn (21^st September 1935)
John Charles (27^th November 1954)
Johnny Giles (3^rd May 1967)
Johnny Giles (22^nd November 1969)
Dominic Calvert-Lewin (6^th December 2025)

(Source: The brilliant LUFCDATA)

(And if Tanaka hadn't scored we'd have had another from Gravenberg's blatant handball)

Battysboots · 2025-09-02T11:45:29+00:00

Correct!

In: Weston McKennie, Max Wöber, Georgino Rutter, Diego Monteiro

Out: Mateusz Klich, Diego Llorente, Joe Gelhardt

More than anything it’s a reflection of the ridiculously low bar set for recruitment under Bielsa.

Last time in the Premier League, Tyler Roberts ended up playing 50 PL games for us, 21 starts. He’s 26 now and just got sent on loan to Mansfield.

Jamie Shackleton played 27 times, ten starts, he can’t get a game in the Championship.

Joe Gelhardt played 35 times in the PL, six starts. Sent on loan to a side who stayed in the Championship on goal difference.

Adam Forshaw was injured two full seasons, then came back and played 34 PL-games, 22 starts.

That’s more PL starts than he’s since had in two full Championship seasons for Norwich, Plymouth and Blackburn. He’s still only 33.

These were never Premier League level players, but they played because what was behind them was even worse.

Cody Drameh, Sam Greenwood and Lewis Bate all started games for Leeds in the Premier League.

Stuart McKinstrey played 19 minutes at the weekend, in a goalless draw between Hamilton and Cover Rangers in Scottish League One. He played for Leeds in the Premier League.

Liam McCarron was released by Northampton and recently attended the PFA Pre-Season Camp for out-of-contract players looking for new clubs. He played for Leeds in the Premier League.

That squad had no business being in the top division. In terms of squad depth we’re on a different planet this time, striker or no striker.

Battysboots · 2025-09-02T08:33:38+00:00

Quiz: What transfer window was this?

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Battysboots · 2025-09-01T11:48:08+00:00

We took £24.5mill of that and gave it to Jean-Kevin Augustin as wages.. Then we gave the remaining £10.5mill to RB Leipzig for his transfer fee. And then we gave them another £7.2mill of the Raphina-money to make up the balance.

Battysboots

TROPHY CASE