Chris Sutton shares ‘worrying’ Leeds United verdict as Daniel Farke admission made
Chris Sutton has urged Leeds United to stick by Daniel Farke ahead of a difficult summer despite losing to Southampton in the play-off final on Sunday (26 May).
The Whites fell to a 1-0 defeat at Wembley that saw the Saints promoted to the Premier League ahead of them.
This has sparked conversation of key players like Crysencio Summerville, Wilfried Gnonto and Georginio Rutter departing this summer to raise funds.
Farke is hopeful of keeping his job to deal with the complexities of the summer window despite not achieving the aim of promotion.
Speaking on the It’s All Kicking Off! podcast (27 May), Sutton was hopeful that the hierarchy would back the manager ahead of next season – but accepts Leeds face a “worrying” short-term future.
He said: “There are worrying times ahead. Every year you’re out of the Premier League it gets tougher and tougher and the expectation is there.
“I just hope that there’s no silliness in terms of Daniel Farke. I hope there’s no knee-jerk reaction in terms of changing manager.”
Commenting on the loss to Southampton, Sutton named two players who disappointed him at Wembley.
“The big-name players – Crysencio Summerville and Wilfried Gnonto – didn’t turn up.”
Daniel Farke deserves Leeds United second chance
There is no doubt that it is frustrating to have gone to Wembley and lost in a play-off final once again, especially with the quality available.
Leeds started the game better than the Saints but after a lapse in defensive concentration, Adam Armstrong was given the freedom of Wembley to open the scoring.
After that, Russell Martin’s side were able to shut down and prevent the Whites from creating any true clear-cut chances throughout.
This resulted in the most disappointing end to a largely positive Championship season where Farke will have hoped for a better outcome.
He guided his side to 90 points in the regular season, which would be enough for automatic promotion in every season since the rebrand of the division.
The frustration is that no matter how many times that is said, it doesn’t change the fact Leeds will play in the Championship next season.
Farke deserves another season at Elland Road after accruing this points tally. There won’t be many better managers in the league than him next season.
In other Leeds news, one transfer-linked star was spotted at Wembley in new fan footage.
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