Daniel Farke did his best to hide his frustration at this week’s pre-match media briefing, and while he urged everyone connected with the club to pull together, he acknowledged that although we continue to be linked with a large number of different players in the media, it’s approaching the time when we have to get some of these deals over the line.
He said "We have had many exits and lost key players. The best player in the league (Crysencio Summerville), the next best player in Georginio Rutter. Our club captain Liam Cooper. We have had some good signings, but we definitely need to bring some new players in.” And not for the first time, this led to invoke the spirit of the last number one single by the great Elvis Presley.
"We can't replace Summerville and Rutter, we can't spend that much on one player. I like less conversation and more action. It is important we will have some incomings sooner rather than later. We know to be competitive for the top positions we need some additions because the group is too small. We have to rebuild right now, but I trust our owners and board to come through with good decisions.”
"I am optimistic and confident, but nobody wants to hear that right now, it's time to do some business. We have a very young group and one of the smallest numbers in the whole league. We have 19 first team players but some have played not many games. We have a young side, but I am grateful for the experience players we have like Bamford and Rothwell. We need quality and we need personality and we need experience."
But despite the growing discontent among the fanbase, the manager refused to blame the 49ers for the situation we face, even offering himself up as a sacrificial shield to deflect some of the brickbats heading the owners’ way. "I am the face of the club and it is my job to speak for the club and defend the club," he said. "We have to stick as Leeds United all together, it is us against the world.”
"I am here to bring the stability. Nobody is to be blamed from our key people. Nobody was there when these exit clauses were signed. We all would have preferred to keep our best players. It is better to build a squad step by step, but we have a new reality. I am here to answer those questions."
That said, he acknowledged that it’s now too late for any new players to be signed in time to be eligible for the trip to Sheffield Wednesday on Friday night. So the next opportunity for any additions to take to the field will be the game after that, the home game with Hull the day after the transfer window has shut. And if there haven’t been any significant incomings by then, that’s when the 49ers really will hear the wrath of the Elland Road crowd.
One bit of news today is that we won’t be signing Johnathan Rowe after we failed to match Norwich’s asking price of £15m, so the winger is now on his way to Marseille to start a season-long loan. Apart from that there is nothing concrete, so for now we’ll just have to hope that there is indeed some action going on behind the scenes, and that the squad will look a lot stronger in nine days time.