THERE is a cracking chippy opposite Elland Road called Graveley’s.
Leeds fans flock to it in their droves before and after matches tucking into the nation’s favourite supper.
And there were plenty of grumbles coming from those queuing about how things have been going across the road since relegation to the Championship before Friday night’s clash with West Brom.
“This is going to be a long nine months,” said one before drenching his chips in gravy and scoffing a humongous fish cake.
Leeds players have not been queuing to leave but stampeding out of the Elland Road gates as quickly as you can say “Billy Bremner”.
What happened last season in the Premier League is now fish ’n chip paper.
READ MORE FOOTBALL NEWS
But Daniel Farke, just six weeks in as Leeds boss, must sometimes feel like he has been placed in one of those huge fryers.
Still without a win in the Championship after three games, barely any significant movement into the club — Ethan Ampadu from Chelsea aside — and even after a hard-fought 1-1 draw on Friday, he had to field questions about one player leaving and another wanting out.
The club have now let 11 players go — six of them on loan.
USA captain Tyler Adams is the latest exit — with Leeds agreeing to his £20million move to Bournemouth.
Most read in Championship
And then just one hour before kick-off, news broke that talented Italy winger Wilfried Gnonto, 19, had handed in a written transfer request — providing yet another unwelcome distraction as Leeds try to get their season up and running.
This comes one week after he REFUSED to travel with the squad as they took on Birmingham.
FREE BETS AND SIGN UP DEALS – BEST NEW CUSTOMER OFFERS
And regardless of what Leeds say about not allowing Gnonto to leave — and rejecting four bids from Everton for good measure — he will almost certainly not be in Farke’s plans on September 2.
Good riddance.
Of course his representatives are advising him to act up.
But does he not have a mind of his own or the intelligence to understand his actions are out of order?
Not only has his behaviour been a slap in the face to the loyal fans who have cheered his name from the terraces and bought shirts with his name on it.
But also the young kids who have been queuing before and after games through rain and shine for the last year for his autograph.
He is a role model and should be showing them that knuckling down, showing humility and dignity when things aren’t going your way sets a better example.
Understandably, he is worried about the chances of adding to his 11 Italy caps and playing at next summer’s Euros if he spends a season in the Championship — especially now Luciano Spalletti has replaced Roberto Mancini as Azzurri boss.
But he must also realise the world doesn’t revolve around his own personal ambitions and wishes. He signed a contract with Leeds, they pay his wages, gave him a chance in the Premier League and a platform to develop.
They want him to stay but if he does leave they will want to be paid a fee worthy of a 19-year-old Italy international. That is not too much to ask.
Gnonto should be peeved with Everton, not Leeds. Clearly he is worth at least the £30million wanted — so why don’t they just stop playing silly buggers and pay it?
The problems at Elland Road have been laid bare this summer — they had a squad littered with players who cared mostly about themselves and not the club that paid them huge amounts of money.
Farke unfortunately inherited a squad packed with footballers who also had break clauses in their contracts.
It is no wonder they got relegated. Most of them knew they would not be dropping into the Championship, regardless if Leeds ended in the bottom three.
How can anyone be motivated to the maximum when they know there is not going to be any personal consequence?
Farke told me the other night he has never known anything like it in his managerial career.
But he also promised me the club, now under the ownership of the San Francisco 49ers — will no longer be allowing such contracts to be signed on his watch.
It causes too much chaos.
Leeds will likely have a far stronger squad in two weeks. On Friday, they looked like a side that certainly had good foundations to challenge for promotion.
But they need a No10, another decent winger and strength in depth to cope with a 46-game Championship season.
Address that and Farke can nab his third consecutive promotion from the Championship after two previous successes with Norwich.
Come September 2 the German will sleep easier — and Leeds might just start BATTERING the Championship.
Ipswich’s Ed Sheeran is a guitar hero
IPSWICH are trying to coax celebrity fan Ed Sheeran on to their new matchday streaming show.
And he might even end up performing a tune or two for good measure by the looks of their plush studio set.
There is a very nifty-looking guitar that is subtly placed in the backdrop belonging to .. Ed Sheeran.
I can just see it now … you watch the Tractor Boys on your laptop, get some post-match reaction from Kieran McKenna and then a bit of Ed Sheeran as an encore.
Come clean at Swindon, Clem
THERE are a lot of worried Swindon fans after they were given the bombshell news that Clem Morfuni does not have complete ownership of their club after all.
It emerged that the Australian businessman — who took control of the League Two side two years ago — was forced to admit he had to sell a chunk of his shares to two unnamed individuals last year.
He had to fund paying off a £2.9million debt which would have plunged the Robins into administration.
Morfuni took over a club that was £7.5m in the red and claimed to have reduced that to £1m.
But he only came clean about the transfer of shares and the £2.9m debt this week after the club’s Companies House records were updated.
He said: “Money was borrowed from two individuals that I reached out to and shares were utilised as security for the loan as virtually all my assets are in Australia.
“They’ve had no interest in running the club and want no influence over the club whatsoever. Mistakes happen. We’re not perfect, and neither is any other club out there.
“What matters is how we own up to it, fix what needs fixing, and keep moving forward. I apologise to all supporters for the confusion this has caused.”
Morfuni should have come clean last year. Owners like this must understand they are custodians of proud football institutions like Swindon Town. The club ultimately belongs to the fans, not him, and he should be telling them what the hell is going on at the earliest opportunity … not a year after the event!
Read More on The Sun
And why are these individuals not being identified? This is yet another reason why our game needs cleaning up and regulation. The names of the persons owning those shares should be, no pun intended, shared with their fans.
They have every right to know.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
