Marathe now has every right to sack Farke, Leeds boss could torpedo £75m deal
Paraag Marathe cannot be faulted for immediately sacking Daniel Farke as the Leeds United manager.
Leeds looked destined to earn promotion to the Premier League as the Championship winners not so long ago, but have since been on a rotten run of form.
An abysmal record of one win in six Championship matches has seen the Elland Road outfit drop out of the automatic promotion spots.
The Whites are placed third in the table with six games left to play, meaning they would have to participate in the playoffs as things stand.
Having lost to Southampton in the playoff final last season, the West Yorkshire outfit will want to avoid a similar scenario at any cost this time.
Leeds giving Marathe additional headache
Marathe will be keenly watching the developments at Leeds in the coming weeks as he appears to have too much at stake at the moment.
The 49ers Enterprises president is notably a part of a takeover worth around £75million at Rangers.
Although healthcare tycoon Andrew Cavenagh is the major player in the takeover, which involves buying a 51 per cent stake at the Scottish club, the 49ers are also heavily involved through Marathe.
The takeover is already at an advanced stage, with the Scottish Football Association on board with the proposal, according to the Sun.
However, the same is not the case in England, as EFL’s regulations prevent a club from being involved in the administration of another club without the prior written consent of the board.
This means Rangers’ takeover would not go through if Leeds remain in the Championship this season.
For example, Bill Foley’s Black Knights group would not have been allowed to buy a 25 per cent stake at Hibernian if Bournemouth were in the Championship at the time.
Marathe must sack Farke now
This is why Leeds earning promotion to the Premier League is even more important to Marathe and the 49ers.
They would have been relaxed about the situation a month ago, as the Whites were cruising at the top of the Championship table, but the situation has since changed significantly.
| Team | Matches | Wins | Draws | Losses | Goal Difference | Points |
| 1. Burnley | 40 | 23 | 15 | 2 | 43 | 84 |
| 2. Sheffield United | 40 | 26 | 7 | 7 | 26 | 83 |
| 3. Leeds | 40 | 23 | 13 | 4 | 51 | 82 |
Farke is now threatening to torpedo the deal at Rangers, meaning Marathe has every right to pull the plug on the German tactician with immediate effect.
There is talk of the EFL club bosses voting to relax the rules related to dual ownership, but such a development will not happen before the annual general meeting on 18 June.
This signals bad news to Marathe, who hopes to complete the takeover at Rangers by the end of May.