00:00Graeme, it has been quite a while
00:01since a new player came in through the doors
00:04at Thorbarch or on the road.
00:08What does this say about the strategy
00:10around the ownership
00:13and the way that they're dealing with transfers,
00:16particularly at this stage
00:19with promotion and the move up into the Premier League?
00:23What are you taking from this kind of,
00:27I say slow process,
00:28but I think there's probably a better way of putting it.
00:31I would say it's very reminiscent
00:34of how they've worked in the past.
00:35I was actually looking back earlier
00:37at some of my notes
00:39and some of the pieces that I wrote around this time last year
00:41when we were going to Germany for the training camp
00:43and there was a bit of panic in the fan base
00:46because they hadn't done more work.
00:48Bogle hadn't quite got through the door yet.
00:51Tanaka was a very late window signing.
00:54I think they had Rothwell in
00:55and everyone was really underwhelmed by that
00:56because he just seemed like a squad signing.
00:58No one really had any inclination
01:00of how good he was going to be
01:01and everyone was a little bit impatient.
01:04Everything was being done on the quiet
01:05as the 49ers like to do it.
01:07And yeah, there was a bit of panic
01:09and a bit of tension in the air.
01:10Fast forward 12 months,
01:11here we are again.
01:13Leeds have got players through the door so far.
01:15But because of the sheer scale of the work they need to do,
01:20I think people are impatient or worried
01:25or however you want to describe it.
01:27But we know that the 49ers work to a plan
01:30and they don't tend to panic
01:32and they don't tend to be very reactive with stuff.
01:35And I guess they felt like
01:39they were getting close with Longstaff
01:40so that would be one done.
01:42I guess they feel like Stack is still progressing
01:44and there's still life in that
01:45so they thought they'd get that one done.
01:47And you get those two in
01:48and then suddenly the noise dies down a little bit
01:50and the panic dies down.
01:52People are still going to clamour for the striker.
01:54They're going to want the left winger.
01:55They're going to want a 10.
01:57They're definitely going to want a goalkeeper.
01:58That's where I think a lot of the kind of
02:00current worry is externally
02:02that they haven't got that signing in place yet.
02:05What we know of that
02:06is that it has taken Leeds longer
02:09to get everybody on the same page
02:11and to get a consensus on who it is exactly
02:13and what it is exactly they want
02:15from a keeper this summer.
02:16With other positions,
02:18they had targets, I think,
02:19and shortlists that were fully formed
02:22far, far earlier
02:23than when it came to the goalkeeper.
02:26I remember last summer
02:27when Angus Kinnear talked about
02:29the healthy tension, he called it,
02:31about the transfer strategy
02:33and what he was referring to
02:35was suspicions that Daniel Farker
02:36wasn't happy with some of the options
02:38that he'd been given
02:38and there was some back and forth
02:40and he wanted to wait on Emi Buendia
02:42and go back in for Buendia again
02:43and the club weren't altogether keen on that
02:46and et cetera, et cetera.
02:48Kinnear summed it up as healthy tension
02:50that he thinks always exists
02:51between a recruitment department and a manager.
02:54What we're hearing is
02:55there's been a lot less of that this summer.
02:56There's been a lot more agreement,
02:58a lot more in accordance,
03:00but when it comes to a goalkeeper,
03:02there's been a bit more of a spirited debate,
03:04shall we say,
03:04and that's perhaps why
03:05they haven't got one in just yet.
03:07But you can kind of see
03:09the club's point of view
03:09that there's still weeks to go
03:11before the start of the season.
03:12At the same time,
03:14they start the training camp
03:14next week in Germany.
03:16Farker will want the building blocks in place
03:18so that they can really build the foundations
03:19for a survival bid.
03:21Every manager wants the bulk
03:22of their new signings in
03:23for at least the training camp
03:25and the bulk of their friendlies.
03:27So, yeah, there's a bit of work to be done yet.
03:31We very often in the summer
03:33kind of not try to play down
03:36or pour water on people's worries
03:39or tensions around transfers.
03:41You know, we sometimes kind of
03:43will often do a story saying,
03:45you know, this is a process
03:47that things have to go through
03:48from the recruitment,
03:50you know, identifying players
03:52before you get to the point
03:54where, you know,
03:55they're holding up the shirt
03:56on the Elm Road pitch.
03:59But it's fair to say
04:01this time around
04:02there probably should be genuine concerns
04:05compared to last year
04:07where, you know,
04:08they've got close to promotion.
04:09There was only really a couple of tweaks
04:11that were needed.
04:13Obviously, you know,
04:14a few players left
04:16because of the contracts that were on
04:19and a few came back in.
04:21So there was a bit of difference
04:24between last season.
04:25This year,
04:27it's very, very obvious
04:28that they need to recruit
04:30and they need to recruit really well
04:32before they end up being,
04:35you know,
04:35Sheffield United
04:36or Ipswich
04:37or any of those other teams
04:39who have come straight back down
04:41over the past few years.
04:43Yeah, absolutely.
04:44I mean,
04:44a balanced view is that
04:46you don't want to rush into anything
04:48and you want to make sure
04:49you get the right players.
04:51But at the same time,
04:52you cannot afford
04:52to get off to a bad start
04:53in the Premier League,
04:54not as a team that is,
04:56and let's make no bones about it,
04:58no one at Leeds United
04:59is talking about anything
05:00other than 15th, 16th
05:02being an absolute triumph
05:04of a season,
05:05you know, next season.
05:05And it would buck the trend recently
05:07of newly promoted sides
05:09being fish out of water,
05:11floundering all season
05:12and just getting smacked
05:14about the place
05:14left, right and centre.
05:16Leeds are trying to be realistic
05:18and they're trying to sign players
05:21that they think will help them dig in
05:23and be difficult to beat,
05:25be good in the air,
05:26be good at defending set pieces,
05:27good at attacking set pieces
05:28that will actually lay a glove
05:30on opposition teams
05:31when the opposition has the ball,
05:32which a lot of times last season
05:34the bottom three did not do that.
05:37You know, they weren't intense enough,
05:38they didn't press enough,
05:39they weren't nasty enough.
05:40Russell Martins talked about it.
05:41He says that one of his mistakes
05:42was not getting that kind of nastiness
05:44and physicality in
05:45into the summer
05:46or into the tactics,
05:48making first contact quicker.
05:50Leeds are being realistic
05:51and trying to put a team together
05:52to do that.
05:54But I completely understand
05:55why supporters are concerned
05:57when you don't have
05:57your goalkeeper in yet.
05:58Now, a goalkeeper
06:00I don't think
06:02needs as much adaptation time
06:04to a team's tactical setup
06:05as a number 10 would
06:07or as a number 8 would.
06:09You know, his positioning
06:10is almost entirely game dependent,
06:13you know,
06:13depending on where the ball is
06:14on the pitch.
06:15That's where he's going to be
06:16positioning himself
06:17to be prepared for.
06:18There's two types of goalkeepers now.
06:20Yeah, if they're going to play the ball
06:21and they play it from the back,
06:23you want a player who's,
06:25you want a goalkeeper
06:25who can do that.
06:26And if you're not,
06:28it doesn't matter.
06:29So that's your two real options
06:32there really, isn't it?
06:33I mean, yeah,
06:34it'd be nice to get an all-rounder
06:35who can actually,
06:36who can spray a pass,
06:37but ultimately Leeds need
06:39a shot stopper.
06:40They need someone
06:41who's very, very good
06:42at dealing with crosses.
06:44Someone who's going to give
06:45the back four
06:45a lot of confidence.
06:47He's going to face
06:48high quality shots,
06:49high quality chances.
06:51So he needs to be,
06:51the shot stopping
06:52is the number one thing
06:53I think for me
06:53that they need from a keeper
06:55this summer.
06:58But there's maybe
06:59not the same panic
07:00and rush
07:00to get that player in
07:02as there would be
07:03a 10
07:05or a striker
07:06or these midfielders
07:07that they're trying to get.
07:08They feel like
07:09really important ones
07:10to do.
07:12And, you know,
07:13when it comes to a striker,
07:13they still think that
07:14Rodrigo Meniz
07:15of Fulham
07:16is a deal
07:17that will be there
07:18to be done.
07:19You know,
07:19Fulham have been,
07:20they've been quite clear
07:23that they wouldn't sell
07:24or they wouldn't sell
07:25for any amount of money.
07:26But I think
07:28there's a feeling
07:28at Leeds
07:29that things might change
07:30and that there will be
07:31an opportunity there.
07:33And you can read
07:35between the lines often
07:36in transfer situations,
07:38a club like Leeds
07:39would not still be
07:40going after this
07:41sign-in
07:42if they didn't think
07:43or hadn't had
07:44some encouragement
07:45that the player
07:45would be open to it.
07:47So there's maybe
07:48a bit of wiggle room
07:48there as well.
07:49There's maybe
07:49a little bit of pressure
07:50that can be exerted
07:51on the other end
07:51of the deal.
07:53That's one that you'd
07:54like to see
07:54a little bit more
07:55movement on,
07:56a bit more noise
07:57about in the coming days
07:59because in a week's time
08:01they'll be almost
08:04midway through
08:04their training camp
08:05and heading towards
08:06the second friendly.
08:09They'll play three
08:10friendlies in total
08:11by the end of
08:12the Germany trip
08:13and then they're
08:14looking at Villarreal
08:14at home.
08:15At some point
08:16you really want to
08:17have your starters
08:18in place
08:19so that they can
08:19actually gel
08:20a little bit
08:21before they play
08:22Everton at Ellen Road.
08:24I have a theory
08:25on that deal
08:27with Fulham
08:28that is
08:29completely without
08:31any
08:32credence
08:33apart from
08:34my own thoughts
08:35on it.
08:35They're
08:36in the market
08:37for another striker
08:38and my
08:39feeling is
08:40that they're
08:41potentially concerned
08:42that
08:43when they go in
08:44for
08:44any of those strikers
08:46players
08:46that the opposing
08:47team
08:48know that
08:50they've got
08:50Ā£20 million
08:51extra in their
08:52back pocket
08:53having sold
08:54or 30
08:55or 35
08:57or whatever
08:58it may be.
09:00So I think
09:01there's a possibility
09:02that they want to
09:02get somebody
09:03through the door
09:03first so that
09:04they don't have
09:04so they don't
09:08get ripped off
09:08themselves
09:09in trying to
09:09bring somebody
09:10in.
09:10So we'll wait
09:11and see what
09:11happens there.
09:13I absolutely
09:13think that is a
09:14factor.
09:15You quite often
09:15hear when you
09:17talk to people
09:17at football clubs
09:18during the summer
09:18there's a reticence
09:20to discuss fees
09:21quite a lot of
09:21the time when it
09:22comes to the
09:23money coming in
09:24because they're
09:25worried that
09:26everyone thinks
09:26well Leeds have
09:27got loads of
09:28money we can
09:28hike the price
09:29up.
09:30It often feels
09:31like there's a
09:31little bit of
09:32a Leeds tax
09:32going on in
09:33the market
09:33or there has
09:34been in recent
09:35years when
09:36they've been
09:36quoted for
09:37certain players.
09:38So I could
09:40well see a
09:40situation where
09:41Fulham want to
09:41make sure they've
09:42got a replacement
09:43in.
09:43First of all
09:44for their squad
09:45to make sure
09:46they're covered
09:46but also so that
09:47they don't end up
09:48paying over the
09:48odds.
09:48I could well
09:49see that.
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