Leeds United: Sky Sports pundit reacts as Joe Gelhardt and Charlie Cresswell ‘want to go’ amid stand off with Daniel Farke
We’re delighted to welcome former England goalkeeper Paul Robinson as our exclusive columnist as each week he’ll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at Leeds United …
If Leeds United can keep hold of Joe Gelhardt and Charlie Cresswell this month despite the pair’s frustrations “they will do that” says Paul Robinson.
The two youngsters have seen very little game time under Daniel Farke since the early weeks of the season and have been linked with heavy loan interest during the January window, but Phil Hay of The Athletic reports the message that both have so far received is that they are going nowhere [Square Ball, 8 January].
Cresswell in particular is unhappy with his situation, with his father and agent Richard also expressing his own displeasure.
Ex-Whites and England keeper Robinson agrees that is “very difficult” for the two 21-year-olds and understands that they will want to leave while the window is open to secure game time elsewhere.
But when the club are looking to secure promotion back to the Premier League he is equally unsurprised that Farke and the Elland Road hierarchy appear to be against either departing midseason.
The Sky Sports pundit told MOT Leeds News: “It’s a tough one because you can understand what the club are doing. They want a strong squad in case there’s any injuries or suspensions between now and the end of the season.
“The squad that they’ve got is more than capable of getting promotion in the top two places. We know how long the Championship season is, the points can be closed. They came very close to it after the Ipswich game but just couldn’t put two back-to-back results together.
“But players like that the manager and the club are going to want to keep at their disposal.
“There’s two sides to it. The players themselves will want to play, they’ll be frustrated at their lack of game time and their careers, at their ages now, they’ll be wanting to progress and play football.
“It’s very difficult if they’re not getting the opportunity to, so from the players’ point of view you can completely understand that they want to go out and they want to play and get games.
“But from the club’s point of view if they can keep the players they’re going to do that.”
In other Leeds United news, both the frustrated pair have now been tipped to join the same club on one condition by a former Elland Road player.