‘Leeds United line up Daniel Farke replacement for mid-season sack’
Leeds United may in fact be ready to give Daniel Farke a shot in the Premier League, but with alternatives lined up if he has to be removed mid-season.
With the Whites having just secured automatic promotion back to the Premier League from the Championship, there has been plenty of talks about a managerial change at Elland Road.
There are suggestions that Leeds have been preparing to sack Farke and appoint a replacement ahead of the start of the 2025/26 campaign.
That is apparently due to concerns over the German’s previous unsuccessful spells managing in the top-flight of English football while he was in charge of Norwich City.
Now though, Michael Bridges has claimed that indications of the Whites’ interest in other managers may be with a more long-term view in mind.
‘Leeds United looking to the future with manager search’ – Michael Bridges
During their 4-0 thrashing of Bristol City on Monday (28 April), Leeds fans made it clear that they are still backing Farke amid those rumours around his future.
After the games though, Bridges suggested that Leeds owners the 49ers Enterprise are unlikely to be influenced by the backing from the crowd if they have already made up their mind.
However, the club’s ex-striker has now also hinted that they may well be willing to keep faith with Farke for the start of next season, even if they are indeed looking at other managers as a contingency.
Bridges hopes that the decision makers at Elland Road may instead be putting plans in place for if they need to change manager if things do not work out under Farke by the midway point of next season, or potentially next summer.
| Daniel Farke record as Leeds manager | Total (from Transfermarkt) |
| Played | 103 |
| Won | 60 |
| Drawn | 24 |
| Lost | 19 |
Speaking about the situation on Sky Sports coverage of that most recent game, the former Leeds star said (28 April, 10:35pm): “There could be a flip side to this.
“There’s a lot of clubs looking at who their next managers could be. Going into a Premier League season there’s not many managers [who] do survive when they get promoted, that have a good crack in the next season.
“So the club can do their homework and research to find potential managers to replace Daniel Farke. You’ve gotta look ahead, they’ll have a plan B and C.
“He’s no mug, he’ll know that. They’ve gotta be able to do that. So the smoke that’s been generated could be that Leeds have been looking at somebody to replace this guy in a year, or half-way through the season…
“It could have been going on for weeks, we don’t know that… It’s just like players, all them players will be being looked at now for what players are going to come in and which of these players are going to be leaving, who’s going to lead them into the Premier League?
“This is what happens when you get promoted, there’s massive turnover. I just hope I’m reading right into this to think that it’s being done behind the scenes for the future and not for the immediate termination, because this guy [Farke] is a genuine leader, and he’s a genuine man, a man of men, and he’s a fella that I’d have love to have had as my manager.”
Daniel Farke will feel pressure again next season
Football Insider Verdict
With the expectation on Leeds to be in the Premier League, there is no doubt Farke will have felt the pressure on him to get them promoted this season.
Now that they are there though, things will not change, and if anything that weight may increase given how important it is for the club to stay there.
As a result, it makes sense that those in charge at Elland Road ought to be making the necessary plans for if they stick with Farke and things do not work out by identifying potential replacements.
Indeed there is precedent with two of the three promoted clubs this season – Leicester and Southampton – have changed managers this season, albeit they have not worked out.
Being prepared now for if they have to make a change at the midway point of next season, should put Leeds in a better position to still get out of trouble even if they are forced to switch managers, especially given the confused mess the last time the Whites went down.
Two years ago the Andrea Radrizzani-Victor Orta regime fell apart over replacing Jesse Marsch with Javi Gracia, before sacking him for Sam Allardyce, with a brief caretaker spell from Michael Skubala thrown in.
With that in mind, Farke will surely know that even if he is still at Elland Road at the start of next season, results will have to continue to be positive if he is going to be there by the summer of 2026.