This week we check in at Elland Road to see how things are shaping up for Leeds United in their preparations for the Championship.
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00:00 Hello and welcome back to Everything But The Prem, the show that is less Jack Greenish
00:10 and more Jack Tucker. I'm Chris Holt and this week we check in again at Elm Road to
00:14 see how things are shaping up for Leeds United in their post-takeover preparations for the
00:18 Championship. We have Joe Donnelly from Yorkshire Evening Post to talk us through that and then
00:23 we drop down into League One where Dylan Oakley from Derby World will guide us through how
00:28 the Rams are faring so far and that very competitive division more generally. It's time once again
00:34 for Everything But The Prem.
00:36 How are we doing lads, you alright?
00:40 Yeah, doing well, thanks for the invite.
00:44 Good to be on.
00:46 We're closing in, just less than two weeks I think until everything kicks off. We're
00:55 going to start off on Leeds United because it's always busy there no matter what's been
01:00 going on. I think the last time we checked in there we were about to have a takeover
01:06 of that, it's obviously since being ratified by the EFL. Joe, just take us through a little
01:12 bit on what's been happening since, maybe a little bit of a kind of background into
01:20 who the new owners are. Well I say they're kind of, for Leeds United fans they're going
01:26 to be well known because they've been around the club and maybe not so much elsewhere.
01:31 Yeah, it's the investment arm of the San Francisco 49ers, 49ers Enterprises, headed up by Parag
01:41 Marath who has been involved with the 49ers for around 20 odd years. He's been sort of
01:48 their president and he's now the chairman of Leeds United. He's the guy that has been
01:54 seen in the promotional material, shall we say, from the takeover that was confirmed
02:02 on I think it was last Monday. And yeah, it's now inclusive of a few star names, they're
02:13 minority shareholders. You've got the likes of Michael Phelps, you've got the likes of
02:19 Russell Westbrook, an NBA star, and then a couple of golfers as well, Jordan Spieth and
02:24 Justin Thomas are involved with the ownership group at Leeds now. They don't have a say
02:30 on the day to day running of the club or board matters, but they have put their money where
02:37 their mouth is, so to speak. And yeah, they've got on board with Leeds. Yeah, I mean, the
02:46 takeover is through and Daniel Farker at the weekend after the friendly defeat to Monaco,
02:53 he was saying, thank God that's been done because now we can really push on and move
02:57 forward with our transfer business. Because so far it's been a lot of outgoings, predominantly
03:03 on loan as well. I think Rodrigo, at the time of recording, Rodrigo was the only player
03:09 that is left for a fee, and that is only three million to El Rayyan in Qatar. And a real
03:17 throng of first team players have left on loan, which is, I don't know, it's been interesting
03:24 to see the rationale behind that. I think there are some contract clauses which following
03:30 relegation do allow the likes of Mark Rocca, Rasmus Christensen, Robin Cooke, all to leave
03:38 on loan for the season. But yeah, they need to get on with acquiring some new players
03:48 essentially because the season is fast approaching, the first game of the season. I think it's
03:55 going to be a busy August.
03:58 Does that kind of leaving on loan leave a bit of a sour taste in the mouths of supporters?
04:03 I often wonder about this. When a team goes down, there's obviously some players who are
04:09 kind of, there will always be somebody who's perhaps head and shoulders above everyone
04:14 else and it would simply be beyond the realms of imagination for them to be playing as not
04:22 a top flight footballer. But these players have gone down, they were a major part of
04:30 the reason why Leeds United went down and yet they've just gone, "I'm here, I'm off."
04:37 Does the fanbase have that kind of resentment towards them, do you think?
04:42 I think maybe resentment is just a little bit too strong a term, but there's certainly
04:47 a sour taste is probably the right way of putting it, as you said. They came to Leeds
04:54 to play Premier League football and now that they've lost the privilege of playing Premier
04:59 League football, they've decided that actually Leeds isn't the place for them anymore. I
05:03 think when you're a football supporter, you want the players who represent your team to
05:11 really get on board, to really buy into your club. It does leave a sour taste, I think,
05:17 for fans because they were willing to be there for the good times, but not so much for the
05:24 bad times. Look, at the end of the day, it gives opportunities for new players to come
05:30 in, it gives opportunities for the younger players to step up and show themselves. The
05:36 likes of Archie Gray, Darko Djebi, Matteo Joseph should really see some real minutes
05:42 this season. Those three and the younger lads have been, certainly over the last season,
05:52 one of the more positive aspects of following Leeds for Leeds fans. It's just the way of
06:01 the business, isn't it? Players ultimately do have to leave. You have to get Premier
06:05 League wages off your books and Leeds have gone about it by loaning them out.
06:13 Given the sheer number of players who have to come in now, I suppose almost every position
06:18 is needing to be filled. What are the priorities though? I think the last time I checked, a
06:27 lot of the speculation and the players they're going for, the goalkeeper seems to be certainly
06:34 high up on the list of what they want. Does that remain the case at the minute? Do you
06:38 expect maybe a goalkeeper to be one of the first to come through the door?
06:42 I think the club are hopeful of getting an experienced goalkeeper in this week because
06:47 it's been a position which, towards the end of last season, became an issue. Ilan Melier
06:54 had been the number one for the best part of three years but hit a really poor patch
06:58 of form and was replaced in goal for the last four games of the season by Joel Robles. Robles
07:05 has been released at the end of the season. Melier has made no secret his desire to move
07:13 on although as yet there have been no bids so it's a little bit difficult, his situation.
07:19 But I suppose given that he has expressed that, you can't guarantee that he will be
07:24 here on September 1st or September 2nd. So you have to plan for him potentially not being
07:30 there. At the very least, they need to bring in a goalkeeper for competition because Christopher
07:36 Klaassen, a Norway U21 international, has been here for two years but he hasn't really
07:41 provided that liquid competition for Melier, I don't think. That's been several coaches
07:48 who have come in and taken that view. But I think they want an experienced head between
07:54 the posts. But in terms of other positions, they need goals. You can't rely on Patrick
08:00 Bamford for an entire season in the Championship because he's shown over the past two seasons
08:06 he simply will break down. Injuries have really hampered his progress after that first season
08:12 in the Premier League when he got 17 goals. You've got Jorginho Router as well now, £30
08:20 million in January. Whether that was a wise move at that time for that price remains to
08:25 be seen. But again, he's not one to use the world on fire in front of goal before he arrives
08:33 at the moment. So I think a striker as well, somebody who is guaranteed I'm going to get
08:39 you 15, 20 goals a season is absolutely necessary if this club are serious about going back
08:46 up at the first time I'm asking.
08:49 They've already brought in Ethan Ampadu, which was lingering just before the takeover was
08:55 announced and again that came in around about the same time, I can't remember exactly the
09:02 timeline on it but it was roughly the same time. He became the first signing of the summer.
09:08 He's a player who perhaps needs a little bit of a reset because he's had, he's certainly
09:14 built experience but a lot of that experience has been getting relegated over the past couple
09:18 of years. He's played in the Premier League with Sheffield United, he's played in Italy
09:23 the past two seasons I think. Now he's going back into the Championship which I think actually
09:31 might suit him as I say to try and just kind of get himself in a bit of a firmer footing
09:36 a little bit because he seems to have, he's gone on loan spells at teams who have expected
09:42 to be struggling but he is a highly rated player and maybe had a little bit too much
09:49 expected of him.
09:53 Yeah I think you're right Chris, I think the thing with Ampadu is I think he's somebody
09:59 who is probably going to benefit really well from playing in a team with lots of possession,
10:05 playing in a team who are at the right end of the league table and I think obviously
10:10 leads aren't in great shape because they've just come down from the Premier League but
10:14 he certainly could have landed at a worse club. So that reset is probably the word and
10:21 reset is something that Parag Murathi, the new chairman, described in the announcements
10:27 of the takeover. So I think the whole club needs a restructure, the team needs a restructure
10:36 and it's a slow process but Ampadu is the first green shoot I think in that process
10:43 because again 44 caps for Wales by the age of 22, he's not somebody who is inexperienced
10:52 to say the least, almost 100 games in Europe's top five leagues, yes a lot of that was getting
10:58 relegated and a lot of that was in central defence but he's somebody with top line potential,
11:05 probably Premier League ability in the right team because the thing with going on loan,
11:11 sometimes you don't get the right fit, sometimes you get managers change in the middle of the
11:14 season, they change the style of play. I think it's a very good move for both the player,
11:22 both the club. I'm in favour of it and he showed decent enough in the friendly against
11:31 Monaco to suggest that he's somebody you can probably rely on in defence and midfield for
11:38 the entire season.
11:39 He has been a bit unlucky really hasn't he because he's gone to Sheffield United in the
11:43 Premier League, they were kind of, there was trouble brewing there and Chris Wilder left
11:51 and Paul Heckington was in and effectively they were all but relegated fairly early on
11:58 in that season and they did so in front of empty stadiums so that kind of experience
12:05 can't have been great for him. But like I say, he's been so highly rated by everyone
12:10 and he's continually picked by Wales. He will have learned a lot in the last few years and
12:18 certainly we know what the United fans want, they want somebody who's just going to dig
12:24 in and battle and fight and obviously with ability as well but a hard working player
12:31 is what they're always going to look for and respect if they can see somebody who's really
12:36 putting it in and I think certainly you're going to get that from him.
12:41 Yeah I think he's got leadership qualities as well, or leadership potential certainly,
12:45 I've seen it time and time again for Wales. I don't think he has had the arm band for
12:50 Wales but he's somebody who rallies the troops and that is exactly, it's very cliche but
13:00 it's exactly what fans of football clubs want. They want to see, as you say, someone digging
13:04 in, someone giving their all and I don't think you can go too far wrong as a player doing
13:11 that because you're going to strike the right chord or the right note with fans when you're
13:17 doing that. So yeah, I'm hopeful of his impact. On the topic of central midfielders though,
13:25 they do need reinforcements in that position because currently they've got a number of
13:30 young players who can play there but if you're looking at going for automatic promotion you
13:36 need to be getting someone in who is experienced in that position. Someone like Oliver Norwood,
13:43 someone who is a distributor, someone who's going to be able to play from deep and really
13:50 complement Ampadu in that position as well or whoever ends up starting in that double
13:56 pivot in midfield.
13:59 Another team in a different division who have a lot expected of them this season is Derby
14:05 County in League One. They just fell short last season but they are one of a number of
14:14 teams this year who are expected to be up there challenging for promotion again. Dylan,
14:19 I'm going to bring you in, how have things been going this summer so far with Derby County?
14:27 I think there's mixed results. Pre-season's been steady, I think, to say the least. There's
14:34 not been anything that has discouraged Derby fans of the fact that we can push for promotion
14:41 this season but there is still a lot of work to do and I think the coaching staff have
14:45 been quite vocal on that. We still need to bring in more players. We've made a few good
14:51 signings I think, the likes of Joe Ward from Peterborough. He'll fit into Paul Warren's
14:58 system very well because he tends to like wing-backs and in the few pre-season games
15:05 that he's played so far, I think he already has two, three assists just from crosses into
15:11 the box. That's something that we can really capitalize on. And then I think Sonny Bradley,
15:17 the centre-back from Luton, I think was a fantastic signing. In my opinion, I think
15:25 he should really be playing in the Championship. So, to see him come down to Derby, I think
15:29 really shows the sort of draw that they've got as a club in terms of bringing in new
15:34 players. But there are still a lot of holes to fill. I think strike is the big one. We've
15:40 brought in Connor Washington but the issue is the team already had James Collins from
15:47 last season.
15:48 Connor Washington don't score any goals.
15:49 Well, they both don't score.
15:50 For a club or a country.
15:51 The issue is they're virtually the same player, which isn't really going to help. We need
16:02 someone in that sense, similar to Leeds, we need someone that can score 15, 20 goals that
16:08 can replace McAldrick from last year. Because if we are looking at a team that are aiming
16:14 for promotion, which there's no secret that Derby are one of the favourites to go up this
16:19 year, we need a goal scorer. I don't see Connor Washington being that option, to be honest.
16:27 I think the problem is at the moment, there aren't that many strikers about really.
16:34 This is an issue across the board really, isn't it? We're finding in the Championship
16:41 and in Leagues 1 and 2, there are actually very few strikers available that can actually
16:47 come in there.
16:48 I think that's probably it. I've definitely noticed it in League 1. A lot of the top contending
16:57 teams are looking for strikers and there just really hasn't been that sort of availability.
17:05 I think the biggest one in League 1 has been Alfie May, because he drew a lot of interest
17:12 from a number of clubs, apparently including Derby. He ended up going to Charlton in the
17:17 end. But really in terms of League 1, he was one of the only top strikers that was on the
17:23 market.
17:24 I think that's one reason why Derby have struggled so much, because they are really running out
17:31 of options. But we do still need to sign that goal scorer. At this point, it's sort of unclear
17:40 as to who that might be.
17:43 It does make a huge difference, really, doesn't it? Because the league as it is, and again,
17:48 this is kind of all across the EFL, with so many matches to be played, you find yourselves
17:53 where you're in games where just that one, just the odd goal is going to change things
18:00 in a really tight game.
18:04 And even last season, there was kind of a lot of responsibility on the shoulders of
18:12 McGoldrick, which kind of... David McGoldrick is absolutely superb footballer, but to put
18:19 so much emphasis on a 35, 36, whatever, to put so much emphasis on a player of that age,
18:28 I think it really said a lot, really, didn't it, about what's available out there?
18:34 I think so. I mean, obviously you can't downplay his impact, because I think if Derby hadn't
18:40 have had him up top scoring, I think it was 22 goals that he scored last season, I don't
18:45 think they would have been anywhere near the playoff chase, to be honest, because he was
18:49 pretty much our only goal scorer.
18:51 But it is a good point, because realistically, for a big club like Derby, they shouldn't
18:55 necessarily have to be relying on, as you said, a 35-year-old striker to be scoring
19:00 all those goals. And so, yeah, it's a big problem at the moment. I think I'm not really
19:08 sure where a striker is actually going to come from. I've seen that they've been rumoured
19:14 to be interested in Jordan Rhodes, but obviously he's well past his prime now. So, yeah, it
19:20 will be interesting to see if Derby do sign a striker, and if so, who that could possibly
19:25 be.
19:26 And it's difficult as well, because you can think Derby are kind of in the same position
19:31 as Sheffield Wednesday were, for instance, last season, where it's very much a case,
19:35 we need to get out of this league and then see what happens then, which means that they're
19:41 probably less likely to take a gamble on a League Two striker or a Nagsden League striker
19:47 who could possibly get the goals for them. But like I say, it's a big gamble to take,
19:54 isn't it, when all your eggs are in that promotion basket?
19:58 Yeah, definitely. And the thing is, there's so much pressure on Derby this season, if
20:04 anything, just from the fans, I think, because obviously it's such a big club. And in pretty
20:12 much every sort of prediction and odds, for example, that I've seen, Derby are predicted
20:19 to win the league this year. And at the moment, I think there is a very strong squad, but
20:25 I don't think it's quite there yet. And as we said about the striker, it would be such
20:30 a gamble relying on, for example, someone from League Two, a less proven player, because
20:35 we just need someone that can get us out of League One. But obviously, saying that is
20:40 easier said than done, because there really aren't that many about anymore.
20:43 Who's impressed you around the rest of the division then in terms of their recruitment
20:47 so far?
20:48 I think Charlton, actually. They've signed quite a few players, obviously, including
20:53 Alfie May, who was again, this big, one of the main League One strikers available. They've
20:59 signed a lot of players this year. They were slightly underwhelming last season, I think,
21:03 because they were one of the teams that were expected to be in and around the playoff places.
21:08 But they really didn't show that last year. But they've brought in a number of players,
21:15 and actually a lot of them of which Derby have been interested in as well. So they're
21:19 obviously going for that promotion calibre squad. And I think they do have a squad that's
21:25 probably good enough to actually surprise a few people this year. I think the thing
21:30 is with League One this season is it's so more open than it was last year. Because last
21:35 year you had the likes of Plymouth Argyll and I think Sheffield Wednesday. Those two
21:40 were probably the main two favourites, Ipswich were up there as well. Obviously, now those
21:43 three are gone. It is very open and the teams that came down from the championship aren't
21:48 necessarily obvious title contenders. I think Blackpool are probably in the strongest position
21:54 of the three. I think Redding are in an okay spot, but obviously they're in a bit of uncertainty
21:59 regarding their financial situation. So, yeah, as I say, I think Charlton are going to surprise
22:05 a few people this year. I think Portsmouth should bounce back as well. Other than that,
22:11 I think Derby's biggest contenders will be Bolton and Barnsley, who obviously both made
22:15 the playoffs last year. Barnsley just missing out to Wednesday. So I think it's going to
22:20 be a very exciting Ligue 1 season for sure, because it's probably one of the less predictable
22:25 ones in recent years.
22:29 And do you fancy Derby's chances? Everything just comes down to recruitment now, doesn't
22:33 it?
22:34 It does really, yeah. I think I trust the manager. He's got a proven record in Ligue
22:39 1, Paul Warnhast. So I trust him to get the team promoted. And to be honest, actually,
22:43 the majority of our squad, I think most Derby fans would say that they're pretty happy with.
22:49 I think it is just trying to sign another striker, even if it's someone that can take
22:53 the burden off the likes of James Collins a bit more, because he's not a 20. I mean,
22:58 I don't want to necessarily write him off completely, but he's not a 20 goal striker,
23:04 you know. And so I think that's the big issue. But I think the squad is good enough to minimum
23:10 make the playoffs, but really it is a team that should be pushing for automatic promotion
23:15 for sure.
23:16 That's great. Thanks a lot, Dylan. That's us for this week. I'm still, by the way, very
23:24 much in the David McGoldrick fan club, number one member. Yes, that's us for this week.
23:31 Join us again next week where we will have a bumper edition, hopefully previewing the
23:36 start of the EFL season. Thanks, Joe and Dylan, for joining us and to you for watching and
23:41 listening. This show is produced for National Award by Chris Hedgehill's and with music
23:45 by Gentleman Jackal.
23:47 [Music]