[jjamez]

Winter has passed and spring is upon us, a fresh leader stands a front his troops, bringing hope after a winter of discontent.

His troops have battled saints, grappled with mauling tigers, kicked the hornets nest and vexed the black cats, two have seen their leaders fall to the wayside as a quest for survival reigns supreme, further ambitions of glory are but a pipe dream, that even the most optimistic of us can only envisage at this moment.



The biggest challenge of this new dynasty is fast approaching as the White Wankurs march on south together, leaving nothing but destruction in their wake, the mighty Leicester Foxes the latest to be put to the sword in the league by Farke and the monstrosity behind him. They did succumb and retreat north after failing to dispatch the Blue Pensioners of Chelsea, they came close but a last gasp winner saw them have to withdraw from the quest for the FA Cup. Propped up by the wealth bestowed upon them by the Premier League for failing, after an Argentine mad man ushered them in amongst the big boys after over a decade in the bleak footballing wilderness, Farke still has the capability to call upon individuals who came from foreign fields to chance their arm against the elite, whilst funds have been used to pillage defense less villages of the most abundant of resources, with the likes of Swansea losing their talismanic Joel Piroe. A ruthless approach has also beseeched them as they disposed of the services of long time servant Like Ayling over the winter months leaving him further north defending in the Middles Borough.



Many mercenaries have offered their services to both clubs over the years, each claiming to honour the badge before moving on. Many have been designated leaders like Neil Warnock and Simon Grayson, both whom had relative success at the helm of at least one of the clubs, others have not had success such as Andy Ritchie, some like Warnock have gone there after us and learned the errors of their ways and eventually come back. In Warnock's case he turned down a return in favour of trying to tame a mad tyrannic Italian, but failed. Others achieved legendary status among the lunatics of Beeston, like John Charles, but his kin, Jake failed to live up to his name here, despite at one point being very highly rated, but plays in non league for the seaside settlement Scar Borough. Some others that have given their sword to the fans of both clubs can be seen in a jumbled mess below.



1) ben in a tent
2) never aghast
3) frown honking tart
4) reptile eel
5) raccoon barrels
6) a customary alpha
7) a lunchtime ego
8) jacked fireman orb
9) calorie mop
10) a calm blank jam

The White Wankurs have a stronger set up at their disposal and were able to rest players for the trip to Chelsea ahead of the local derby. Some that feature were younger players that took their chance to impress, imperative to their conquest back to the Premier League promised land has been the likes of Crysencio Summerville, who joined the set up back in 2020, departing his Feyenoord to move to the north of England. He has amassed 16 goals and 9 assists in the league so far this season, bagging a brace in the earlier fixture. Although he did miss the meeting with Chelsea through 'injury', he is expected to return for Saturday, as is leading assist maker Georginio Rutter, the Frenchman joined last winter as Leeds splurged £25 million for his services. Former Inter Milan and current Italian international Wilfried Gnonto will likely line up on the other flank to Summerville, the club fended off expensive approaches for his services since they we relegated, although he hasn't set the world alight.



A side from the already mentioned White Wankurs, the other mercenaries to look out for on Saturday include the likes of former Chelsea defender Ethan Ampadu, the youngster who is still only 23 began his career down on the south coast at Exeter until the blues came calling. He made just the three appearances for the club and instead saw continental football at the likes of RB Liepzig, Venezia and Sheffield United before signing a 4 year deal in Yorkshire. Ampadu is the son of Arsenal midfielder Kwame, who played the vast majority of his career at the likes of Swansea and Exeter. He was from Bradford originally, but can currently be found stateside as assistant manager to Wilfred Nancy at Columbus Crew.



Another who is likely to influence the game is Dan James. The Welsh winger, born in Hull, has had a topsy turvy career to date, beginning at Hull before moving to Swansea's set up. He would go out on loan to Shrewsbury and struggle to make an impact before breaking into the Swans side a season later. He would have a breakthrough season and find himself looking for a move away come the winter window as Leeds came calling (mercenary) he agreed all the terms and passed the medical etc but Swansea pulled out of the deal at the last minute, leaving James with egg on his face and having to mope his way back to Wales. That summer he would make the move to Manchester United, a rather left field move by the Red Devils and during his three seasons there he struggled to make an impact whatsoever, even missing out on a few Wales squads through lack of form. He would finally get his move to Leeds as the made the move for the Welshman once again, he struggled to recapture the form that made them interested a few seasons prior and he spent his second year at the club our on loan to fellow Premier League side Fulham, he failed to make the mark there once again and found himself back at Leeds, with another move away likely, but under Farke has been given a new lease of life and has scored 10 and created 8 so far this season.



It would also be prudent to keep an eye on young Archie Gray, He is the son of Andy Gray, grandson of Frank Gray, and the great nephew of Eddie Gray, all of whom played for Leeds United and represented Scotland at international level. His brother, Harry, also plays for the Leeds United academy. Currently only 17, the youngster has been tipped to go right to the top level with the likes of Liverpool showing keen interest in his progress. Grey made his first appearance for Leeds on the bench as a 15 year old against Arsenal, but his debut didn't come until this season. Capable of playing in midfield or at full back, it is likely that he will start at right back on saturday.



Some team news from Herr Farke,

“Some good news overall. We had a training session already today and Georgi was able to train, looked good today. He’s definitely available for the game if his body won’t react. It looked good. The same with Cree Summerville and Patrick Bamford, both were unable to train on Monday, both had a full session today and everything works in the session tomorrow they’re fully available. Overall definitely some good news.

“Ilia Gruev is just on individual training today so it will be a late call. We have a few more hours, he would need to train at least tomorrow with the team. There’s still a chance, it depends if he’s capable.”



After rotating key players for the FA Cup clash on Wednesday, Leeds should return to as full strength as possible.

Illan Meslier is likely to keep his place in goal and will want to return to a clean sheet, having managed six in 2024 already.
The back four will probably see one change with Liam Cooper coming out of the side to be replaced by Ethan Ampadu, with Archie Gray moving back into right-back for Connor Roberts, while Joe Rodon and Junior Firpo retain their places.

A midfield pivot of Ilia Gruev and Glen Kamara is the hopeful outcome, but hinges on the Bulgarian’s late fitness test, which could provide Farke with an unwanted selection headache in his double pivot, as he’s yet to have Gray and Kamara play together yet in the middle.

Crysencio Summerville and Gnonto came off the bench and posed a real threat to Chelsea, and they will be looking to pick up where they left off the league starting on either flank – with the returning Georginio Rutter in attacking midfield. Starting up front is likely to be the much maligned Patrick Bamford, but Mateo Joseph’s starring performance this week means that Leeds know they have another option to lead the line if needed.

As for Town, Michal Helik is rumoured to be back fit for a place in the squad, whilst the likes of Jaheim Headley and Bojan Radulovic are both said to be ready to feature. Danny Ward will be hoping his performance against Watford will be good enough to get him a starting role, whilst Sorba Thomas will definitely be involved after missing the last game for the birth of his child. The bad news for Town fans is that Balker and Brodie Spencer are both rumoured to be out for this fixture through a combination of injury and illness. Rhys Healey, Oliver Turton and Josh Ruffles remain long term absentees.





In terms of head to heads, Town just about have the upper hand, with 32 victories, 19 draws and 30 defeats. The first meeting between the two sides came back in 1924 when Town were under the guidance of Herbert Chapman one would presume, and Town wouldn't taste defeat until the 30's, before that, Leeds were on the reverse of a couple of 4-0 and 4-1's and also one 6-1. Really, since the 30's it hasn't been a happy fixture for Town, with a hell of a lot of red on the form charts, since Town got promoted to the Championship, the side had a couple of tight wins as well as a few hammerings, including a 5-1 and a couple of 3-0, the arrival of one David Wagner would see the club register 3 straight wins against them, one being a 4-1 hammering at Elland Road, the others being tight wins, with Aaron Mooy scoring the only goal at Elland Road whilst who can forget the game at the John Smiths? Since then Town haven't won a game against them and have scored just the one goal.



If you are wondering why there is no transfer update for the White Wankurs, well basically it was boring as only Connor Roberts joined on loan and no one of note really left apart from Ian Poveda, Luke Ayling and Leo Hjelde.



So all that is left for today is to share this incase you have some free time