The #LUFC Breakfast Debate (Thur 30th May)

[Ellandback1]

Good Morning Everyone


Is there a Witch Hunt at Elland Road to get rid of Pontus Jansson?

Cast your mind back last Summer regarding the Swedish Internationals proposed move to Russian outfit Krasnodar.

ER sources were heavily insinuating that Jansson wanted the move, and it was only after he made it abundantly clear that he didn't want to go through social media, and that Leeds were trying to sell him against his will that suddenly the media reported that Leeds had turned down a 10m offer!

Turning down the 10m offer - That's better then PR Pete and Alistair Campbell combined!

Following dozens of recent reports linking our star centre back to a move to the Premiership, Jansson has once again made his feelings clear:-

"I've always said that taking the step up to the Premier League is my dream and I want to do it with Leeds", Jansson told Aftonbladet.

"It is up to Leeds if there is an interest in negotiating [my exit].

"Until then I am 110 per cent Leeds.

"I will be there until the day they don't want me."

Thoughts?




Ex Leeds star Danny Mills believes the San Francisco 49ers will eventually take over at Elland Road.

“Leeds have had interest from the Middle-East before and it has never materialised,”

“Unless a firm deal was on the table I would be very sceptical. There’s been too many false dawns around potential investors.

“If Leeds start to succeed and get back in the Premier League, I wouldn’t rule out a takeover from the San Francisco 49ers. We know they have the money.

“Radrizzani will be talking to them before anyone else if he is looking to sell.”




One thing I didn't know it according to the above report, they claim the 49ers own 25% of the club for the 11m investment, not 10% as I thought.

That would put the club's value at 44m.

Surely Rad's being short changed!




What kind of impact would you imagine Fulham, Huddersfield and Cardiff will have on the 2019-20 Championship season?

I was astounded that West Brom, Swansea and especially Stoke were not fighting it out for top spot last season. I suppose it shows just how difficult it is to get out of the Championship!

[HarryofOz]

Hi EB

Well it depends when they bought there share and what our financial position was at the time. If we were losing money and were in debt - conflicting stories abound - then you have to look at our net value and likelihood of making a profit.

Anyway Danny Mills is only guessing. I'm pretty sure he was one of those 'experts' saying that they believed that Bielsa would leave if we didn't get promoted.

Didn't see enough of Fulham, Huddersfield or Cardiff to comment.

[herefordbornleedsboy]

Morning EB and all.

Really hope there isnt a witch hunt for Pontus. Unless we have someone very good lined up as replacement he needs to stay. A far better centre half than cooper and i think absolutely needed with the way we play.
Noticed that Mills has been talking heavily about us over the last few days. Hardly an expert on all things Leeds is he?
Who knows about Fulham Hudds and Cardiff. Very rare that a team comes down and storms the league. Fulham particularly have spent big on seemingly a load of dross. Think we are FAR better placed now than any team in the league at the mo. Got continuity with the manager (who also happens to be the best in the league) only lost 1 player (thus far) from last seasons first team.

[The Subhuman]

The interesting thing with Pontus is he was untouchable til Bielsa arrived, if I had to guess I'd say that MB would have preferred to sell PJ over Vierra year, and he didn't start Pontus last season (not buying the WC excuse.) Beradi was his first choice CB with Coop, and there appears to have been issues all season

Sometimes personalities clash...love both but something has to give

[Sara]

Good morning!

If the club wanted a player to leave, why wouldn't they just make him available and give a reason? People read too much into the guff spouted on social media. It hardly seems worth speculating; if he's here next season, then I assume Bielsa wants him, and he'll give his all. If not, then it's not exactly a surprise that one of our sellable players was going to go.

Don't know anything about the clubs coming down, except that money and erstwhile prem players are no guarantee. Relegation does strange things to a club, and it can take big changes to turn the momentum around. With Stoke, it was like the more they spent the worse they got; no one seemed to be arsed to put the effort in. Surely Colin is past his sell by date now anyway.

Don't know anything about the 49ers. Thought it was a beer. £11m doesn't seem like much to give up 25% for, but then again, I can't imagine us being 'worth' over £100m. Who knows?

[Azkal]

Good morning!

If the club wanted a player to leave, why wouldn't they just make him available and give a reason? People read too much into the guff spouted on social media. It hardly seems worth speculating; if he's here next season, then I assume Bielsa wants him, and he'll give his all. If not, then it's not exactly a surprise that one of our sellable players was going to go.

Concur

Don't know anything about the clubs coming down, except that money and erstwhile prem players are no guarantee. Relegation does strange things to a club, and it can take big changes to turn the momentum around. With Stoke, it was like the more they spent the worse they got; no one seemed to be arsed to put the effort in. Surely Colin is past his sell by date now anyway.

Don't know anything about the 49ers. Thought it was a beer. £11m doesn't seem like much to give up 25% for, but then again, I can't imagine us being 'worth' over £100m. Who knows?

[Irish Ian]

Good Day my friends!

Agree with Sara re Jannson. If the club want him out they will list him ( please no more loans we need hard coin these days) Also I am glad he is prepared to go on record as wanting to be around the club next season.

My only concern with the cashed up newbies to the Championship is erm. their cash. Along with the three from last year and their parachute payments there could be the challenge of attracting the right type of player to Leeds at a price we could afford. As the TM could get overheated due to the amount of cash available. Somewhere over £200M paid into their coffers this summer.

We didn't even have the luxury of a £4M payout for losing at Wembley to ease the pain...

Re the value of the 49ers share... the YEP article did claim £11m for 25% but I wonder if that is entirely accurate. Whatever the case we will still be on a shoestring and the pressure will mount as the season gets under way.

Please please Leeds try for a cup run next season.

[weasel]

Is there a Witch Hunt at Elland Road to get rid of Pontus Jansson?

It just seems that he doesn't fit with Bielsa. Not every player will buy into a new manager and their new ways of doing things, not saying this is the case but sometimes it happens. PJ just comes across as an individual rather than a team player, have a look at the celebration of the last gasp winner v Blackburn and PJ runs off on his own to celebrate whereas the rest of the team celebrate with Roofe, the goal scorer. I cast my mind back to when he had a go at TC for dropping Cibicki, now that is fair enough sticking up for Cibicki but at the same time it is basically saying the guy who replaced Cibicki was sh*t. That sort of thing can cause fractions in the changing room and Bielsa needs a team that plays for each other because it is all very much about working for each other. It is little things about PJ that just keep cropping up.
For all PJ is individually the best centreback at the club I think we can be better without him if we get a settled back four. For all people knock Berardi he has been pretty impressive when playing at centreback.


Ex Leeds star Danny Mills believes the San Francisco 49ers will eventually take over at Elland Road.

I doubt Mills knows anything, hardly like Radrizanni has had him round to tea to discuss his plans with him. Just another ex-player that has made a fortune out of the game but still wants to make more by being a pundit.

One thing I didn't know it according to the above report, they claim the 49ers own 25% of the club for the 11m investment, not 10% as I thought.

That would put the club's value at 44m.

Surely Rad's being short changed!

£44m for a club without a stadium (the stadium is likely not included in the deal), training complex or really any decent players at the point when the 49ers invested. When the 49ers invested we were a team that had finished 13th and had just 2 players worth anything, Vieira and Jannson.


What kind of impact would you imagine Fulham, Huddersfield and Cardiff will have on the 2019-20 Championship season?


I look at how much of a fight a team put up when they got relegated, that usually tells a story. Sunderland went down without any fight and then got relegated again. They were a group of players used to losing. If you don't have the fight to compete in the premiership then you certainly will struggle in the championship where it is far more physical. Last season Stoke went down without a fight and carried that on. WBA and Swansea had put up a fight to the end and it showed in that they weren't bad teams. Swansea underperformed but at times played really well.

This season and Huddersfield surrendered very meekly. The players brought to the club were poor and I can see them struggling next season. The new manager hasn't really achieved anything and is very inexperienced.

Fulham went up and then spent a fortune and didn't seem to make the team better. Chances are a lot of those players they will try to sell which would then leave them with the players who the club deemed to not be good enough for the premiership. I can see a very divided squad and they will probably be midtable at best.

Cardiff put up a real fight. They seemed to lack star quality and whilst on paper they would look to be the best bet to go straight back up you have to wonder how much more a team full of journeymen can give. They had a hard season and a lot of their players may be running on empty next season. Warnock will have them up for the fight but I feel he needs 3 or 4 top class (for this division) players in - but they will likely have the money to be able to get them.

[mothbanquet]

People read too much into the guff spouted on social media.

Words to encapsulate our times, my friend.

[The Subhuman]

Is there a Witch Hunt at Elland Road to get rid of Pontus Jansson?

It just seems that he doesn't fit with Bielsa. Not every player will buy into a new manager and their new ways of doing things, not saying this is the case but sometimes it happens. PJ just comes across as an individual rather than a team player, have a look at the celebration of the last gasp winner v Blackburn and PJ runs off on his own to celebrate whereas the rest of the team celebrate with Roofe, the goal scorer. I cast my mind back to when he had a go at TC for dropping Cibicki, now that is fair enough sticking up for Cibicki but at the same time it is basically saying the guy who replaced Cibicki was sh*t. That sort of thing can cause fractions in the changing room and Bielsa needs a team that plays for each other because it is all very much about working for each other. It is little things about PJ that just keep cropping up.
For all PJ is individually the best centreback at the club I think we can be better without him if we get a settled back four. For all people knock Berardi he has been pretty impressive when playing at centreback.

I think MB wants Beradi as his right sided centre back, and I also think he's a very good player there. Had he not gotten injured I reckon PJ wouldn't have got a look in. That start of the season choice may have a lot to do with the MB/PJ RoS relationship.

Really hope they can bury the hatchet if one needs to be buried and we get a full go PJ next season back to his 17/18 best. We have yet to try PJ/GB centre back partnership IIRC. But that cannot happen while Coop is fit and captain

[Cjay]

Radz owns 74.9% of the shares.

49ers own 25.1%

But the 49ers voting powers only amount to 13% so Radz has 87% of the control.

The 49ers voting power rises to a maximum of 17% .

The 49ers get more return value through more control if we are NOT promoted (which seems odd).

From Mike Thornton.

So it was £11mil for 25% of the club just with less voting power (seems very cheap that).

[Ellandback1]

These are the new rules which the FA are putting into place ready for next season

Accidental handball

From next season, any goal scored with the arm - accidental or deliberate - will not count. Similarly if an advantage is gained in the build-up to any attack by the use of an arm, a free-kick will be given.

Crucially, this does not apply to defenders inside their own box, meaning incidents will still be left to the interpretation of the match officials over accidental or deliberate use.

Remember Kemar Roofe's controversial goal against Nottingham Forest last November? That would have be chalked off regardless of whether it was an accidental or deliberate handball if spotted by the referee.



Penalties

Goalkeepers, as things stand, are supposed to remain on their line during a penalty kick.

This rule, though, has been altered so that now they must have one boot on the line when the ball is struck. Whether this will be enforced correctly remains to be seen.

Keepers will not be allowed to touch the frame of the goal (i.e making the crossbar shake) and are also forbidden from 'feigning movement one way' in an attempt to bluff the taker.



Goal-kicks
This one may help Bielsa-ball...

From next season, players will be allowed to receive goal-kicks from inside the penalty area. The old rule stated that the ball couldn't be touched by a team-mate until the ball had left the box but this one makes a lot of sense.

Opposition players, though, still won't be permitted to enter the penalty area until the ball is 'live' (touched by a second player).



Substitutions

Perhaps the most intriguing new rule.

In a bid to stop time-wasting, players will now be permitted to leave the pitch at the nearest point when being substituted. This is instead of making the long walk across the field of play talking up vital seconds, normally in the closing stages of a game.



Drop balls

Are a thing of the past...

Instead of a drop-ball situation going forward, referees will now give the ball back to the team who last had possession before play was halted. Whether they will return the ball to the opposition if the situation dictates is entirely up to them, as the referees cannot enforce this.



Defensive wall

Another interesting one.

If there are more than three defensive players in a wall at any free-kick - so, more often than not, any time a shot at goal will be struck - no opposition players will be permitted to join in.

The attacking side must remain at least one yard away from the wall, meaning an end to any pushing and shoving when the free-kick is taken between the two teams.



Coin toss

Instead of just picking ends, the winning captain of the coin toss will now also be permitted to choose whether to kick-off or not.

Coaches booked (EFL already use this)

As we have seen over the course of the Championship campaign, head coaches and their staff can now be cautioned with yellow and red cards if their behaviour deems it.

The EFL put this rule into play at the start of the 2018-19 campaign, but this will now be used across the game.

[Ellandback1]

Radz owns 74.9% of the shares.

49ers own 25.1%

But the 49ers voting powers only amount to 13% so Radz has 87% of the control.

The 49ers voting power rises to a maximum of 17% .

The 49ers get more return value through more control if we are NOT promoted (which seems odd).

From Mike Thornton.

So it was £11mil for 25% of the club just with less voting power (seems very cheap that).

Indeed.

49ers have only bought once, in May last year. They bought 11m which would be 25% but currently only 13% are active leaving the rest as "dummies". Each year we do not get promoted more "dummy" shares get activated, up to a max of 17% active. That leaves spare shares that stay dummies unless club issues NEW shares,they get activated to restore the % & prevent any normal dilution Any NEW shares must be approved by 49ers

[Cjay]

Indeed.

49ers have only bought once, in May last year. They bought 11m which would be 25% but currently only 13% are active leaving the rest as "dummies". Each year we do not get promoted more "dummy" shares get activated, up to a max of 17% active. That leaves spare shares that stay dummies unless club issues NEW shares,they get activated to restore the % & prevent any normal dilution Any NEW shares must be approved by 49ers

That doesnt seem a very good deal from our point of view.

In theory does that mean Radz cant seek new investment or sell the club unless the 49ers agree?