Leeds boss Daniel Farke has fended off ‘big name’ threat but gets ‘three games’ warning from former Elland Road star

Ambitious plans are being drawn up in West Yorkshire, with that project including long-awaited upgrades to a famous old home. With demand outstripping supply in the ticket-selling department, more supporters will soon be welcomed through the doors.

They are hoping to be entertained by performances on the field, with some shrewd recruitment on the transfer front having allowed Leeds to solidify their standing among the elite of English football.

Survival was eventually secured with relative ease last term, with an eight-point gap separating Leeds from the drop zone and an immediate return to the Championship just 12 months on from securing the second tier title.

Replicating, and ultimately bettering, those exploits will not be easy - with rivals across the board ready to spend big once more. Leeds need to keep pace with those around them, as further backing is sought from the 49ers Enterprises ownership group.

They want to deliver a push towards Europe and domestic trophy tilts, with inspirational figures required to aid that cause on the pitch and in the dugout. Farke ticks that box for now, with any desire to bring in a so-called bigger name being resisted.

How long that remains the case is yet to be determined. Quizzed on whether Farke has done enough to keep himself in the most demanding of roles, Leeds academy graduate Kilgallon - speaking in association with Right Bet - told GOAL: “This was sort of spoken about a bit last season as well, especially when they went through like a sticky patch.

“I think there was a run of fixtures where it was going Man City to Liverpool to Chelsea and everyone was going, ‘well, he's going to get sacked now, there's no way, they're on a bad run of form, the chairman is speaking about it, where are they going to pick these points up for him to have a chance of staying in?’ And he went out there, he changed the formation against Man City and they were like a different team.

“I think the chairman and the owners saw that the players were still really playing for him. Sometimes you watch some teams and you think, ‘they've chucked it here, the boys, they don't want this manager in charge’. But there was something, I think it was the game against Chelsea at home at Elland Road where the lads were out there giving it their all for him - obviously to win the game like you always do, but playing for him.

“You can see someone saying, ‘they don't like the manager here, you can smell something, can't you?’ I think he's got the changing room, big style. I think the players really like him. But you only need a few results, don't you? A few don't go your way and you start looking over your shoulder. If you lose two or three in the Premier League now, you're going, ‘I'm in trouble here’. Especially how Leeds United are making the stadium bigger and they're having half a go now.

“But Farke has done absolutely fantastic for me. I think he's been great. Last season, they were a top team. They were in every single game going. I know they were near the bottom and it was probably the last five, six games when they were out of it really, away from relegation. But every game at Elland Road that I saw, they were in every game. They weren't getting battered like West Ham were. Leeds were always, if they did lose, it would be 1-0. They were in all the games.

“So I think Farke's done absolutely brilliantly, I really do. And I think that the owners like him, but you only need three losses and you are looking over your shoulder.”

Pressed further on whether targets have been tinkered with at Leeds, with merely staying up no longer representing the height of collective ambition - with it important for positive progress to be made in 2026-27 - Kilgallon added: “Definitely. I think the last game of the season, you all got ushered out of the stadium and the bulldozers are in! Bob the Builder was on as soon as the last game of the season finished.

“They were ready to crack on and get that stadium built so Elland Road looks like a proper stadium again. It was looking old, I'll be honest, especially compared to some of the stadiums that are in there now.

“New stadium, players now on really good wages, a bit of money to spend, you can't be happy now with just staying up, it's got to be your top 10, top 12, stay up there. But how many times do you see it with that second season in the Premier League where teams start struggling. They stay up and that second season, they drop.

“But Leeds United can't do that. They've got to improve if they want to get up there and start being that massive club that they can be, because the fan base is there, they need to start finishing top 10 next season and then just keep building.”

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