Is Daniel Farke the man to lead Leeds to Premier League safety?
After two years away, Leeds United secured promotion back to the Premier League on Monday following Sheffield United's 2-1 loss at Burnley, hours after they thrashed Stoke City 6-0.
Daniel Farke's side have been the Championship's standout team this season and could reach the 100-point mark for the first time in the club's history.
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But the German has struggled during previous stints in the Premier League. His Norwich City side were relegated in the 2019-20 season after finishing bottom, and the 48-year-old was sacked 11 games into the 2021-22 season, with Norwich again languishing in 20th place.
On the latest episode of The Athletic FC Podcast, Ayo Akinwolere was joined by Phil Hay and The Athletic's Leeds correspondent Beren Cross to discuss whether Farke is the right man to take the club into the Premier League.
A partial transcript has been edited for clarity and length. The full episode is available on The Athletic FC Podcast feed on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
Ayo: Farke has a points-per-game average of just 0.53 in the Premier League, having won six, drawn eight and lost 35 of his 49 top-flight games in charge of Norwich. That's the ninth-worst record in the competition's history for managers with more than 10 games. What's different from Farke at Norwich to Farke at Leeds? Has this guy evolved enough as a manager to withstand the Premier League juggernaut? We've seen the disparity grow, especially when Championship teams go up and come straight back down.
Beren: The job he's now got on his hands is a world apart from when he was last in the Premier League. When Norwich went up, Farke would say he wasn't backed in the transfer market. His record is terrible but it's very unfair to say it will be mirrored with Leeds if he does get that chance next season.
Those Norwich teams were weak. He went down after that first title with Norwich and then came straight back up again, so it's not like he became a terrible coach overnight. I wouldn't put much stock in what happened at Norwich because it's an entirely different situation.
If he does get the chance next season with Leeds, the noises from behind the scenes are that there will be money to spend.
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The people at 49ers Enterprises (majority owner) are custodians of the club, they need it to be successful and keep moving forward. They're going for planning permission this year on a massive extension at Elland Road, so they need to establish themselves in the Premier League as a regular finisher. If they have a long-term vision of selling up and making a big profit, they need to be finishing comfortably around mid-table to get the price they want to achieve in the market, so they know they will need to back the manager.
When Farke pitched to Angus Kinnear (outgoing CEO), Paraag Marathe (chairman) and Peter Lowy (board member) at his job interview, he said, 'I'll come to you, get you up and then you're going to be my vehicle to prove myself in the Premier League.' So Farke is not short on confidence, and anybody who has spent time with him knows he backs himself.
Phil: These are such difficult summers for clubs who go up. Realistically, no promoted side, with rare exceptions, can spend a fortune when they go into the Premier League. There's an increasingly stark picture at the moment of clubs going up and coming straight back down, and this season with a real whimper.
The Premier League isn't getting any more forgiving. It would look incredibly harsh if Leeds didn't give Farke a go in the Premier League, and you could say the same about Scott Parker at Burnley. But Parker has the same issue as Farke — he's never really cut it in the Premier League.
The pragmatist in any board or club ownership group has to look at it and say, 'Clubs are finding it incredibly difficult to take this leap. In fact, in the last two seasons, it's been impossible, so do we have to think differently?'. In a broader sense, I don't think this just applies to either Leeds or Burnley. Are we reaching a point where clubs need a specialist for the Championship, and then a different specialist for the Premier League?
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The thing with the 49ers is that their decision-makers never intended to buy a Championship club, and never intended to be in the Championship with Leeds. The last two seasons have been extremely expensive for them.
I would expect them to back Farke and stick with him, but they'll know that comes with an element of risk because Farke will be fairly strict in demanding about who he wants to sign. They will come in as his players, and you always run the risk that, further down the line, you'll then pass them on to another coach. This has happened time and time again with Leeds in the Premier League.
Every club that goes up finds themselves in a position where they're thinking about what has to happen if they need to make a change. Ipswich stuck with Kieran McKenna but you've seen it with Southampton and Leicester, too. These things can come at you so quickly once you get promoted.
You can listen to full episodes of The Athletic FC Podcast free on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, and watch on YouTube.
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