00:00So, Graeme, later on this week, you will be leaving behind your family
00:04for what will feel like an age, I'm sure,
00:08as you head on the pre-season tour, which really kicks off.
00:14Pre-season really kicks off this week as they head out for that friendly
00:19against Man United and then away to their trip to Germany.
00:25What is happening?
00:27What can we expect from all of that over the coming almost two weeks?
00:33I wouldn't expect a great deal from the friendly against Manchester United.
00:37I know it's only Manchester United,
00:39but Leeds aren't exactly going to be in tip-top shape themselves.
00:42They haven't got in a lot of the quality that they still want to buy.
00:46It makes me think a little bit of that game in Oslo
00:49when they played Man United in the starting 11.
00:52Of that starting 11, there's maybe only one player,
00:55maybe two players left on Leeds books.
00:57So, it's no way to judge anything that's going to come from this point on.
01:06But it is just a game that is handy for Leeds to play for commercial reasons
01:11because they have a lot of fans in Scandinavia.
01:14And also, they're playing a team that is considered an old enemy
01:18and kind of brings a certain commercial element and a certain number of eyeballs to it.
01:22So, I certainly wouldn't judge a great deal on Saturday.
01:27Then, they head to Germany straight from Stockholm
01:30and they will be training their training base that Daniel Farka so loves.
01:35Once again, courtesy of the German authorities saying nine,
01:40there will be no Leeds supporters there at the games.
01:44They didn't get permits to hold games in front of spectators
01:46for what the German police have told us,
01:49or at least hinted at, were safety issues, safety concerns.
01:53They didn't go into specifics, but that's how they left it.
01:56Leeds United supporters groups did try and make some headway
01:59into getting an explanation that made sense
02:02or to get permission to have 500 Leeds fans maximum
02:06bust into the game, staying at a town two hours away,
02:09all very policed, all very sober.
02:12And they got precisely nowhere with that.
02:15So, as it stands, we're not expecting Leeds fans to be there and to be involved.
02:20We'll be there like we were last year,
02:21so we'll be able to at least give some insight
02:23into what's going on behind the scenes,
02:25who's training well, who's there, who might arrive.
02:28Who might even depart.
02:31And then what happens in the games.
02:32But the feeling is at the minute that the game coverage will,
02:36like last year, not be live, but reported after the fact under embargo.
02:40And we'll try our best not to spoil the results
02:44as we did last summer to the chagrin of quite a few.
02:48We'll try and make sure that the first few paragraphs of our reports
02:51don't give away the scoreline or the result.
02:54It's an awkward situation again for Leeds,
02:56particularly to find yourself here for a second time,
02:59having sought and given assurances that it would be a different case.
03:04But it's considered highly unlikely, I think,
03:07that Leeds will find themselves back here a third time.
03:09A third time would be unforgivable.
03:11Yeah, it should be made clear that Leeds as a club did everything they could possibly
03:18to make sure that fans could be there this time,
03:21having been a little bit surprised and caught out by what had happened last year
03:25from that perspective.
03:28And as you say, that trip to Germany won't be happening again next year.
03:34Maybe they could go to Belfast and play.
03:38Again, it would be better.
03:41Yeah, we will have full coverage from yourself across all of the matches.
03:49I guess Man United and then two games in Germany.
03:52You can keep up with all that on Yorkshire EveningPost.co.uk forward slash Leeds United.
04:00And Graeme will have his exclusive newsletter exclusively for subscribers.
04:07Again, you can subscribe to that on Yorkshire EveningPost.co.uk forward slash newsletter slash premium.
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