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LEEDS OWNERS SHOW RUTHLESSNESS AMIDST DANIEL FARKE CRISIS

Pressure mounts on Leeds boss Daniel Farke as the club slips into the Premier League relegation zone. With just one win in seven games, the owners face a tough decision after showing a quick trigger with other clubs.

Leeds Owners Show Ruthlessness Amidst Daniel Farke Crisis
Farke Defies Sack Talk At Leeds

Leeds United's owners are feeling the heat to decide what to do with head coach Daniel Farke after the team slipped into the Premier League drop zone over the weekend. Leeds started the season okay, but one win in their last seven games has fans worried.

Their latest loss, a painful 2-1 defeat to Aston Villa, was made worse since Leeds took the lead with a goal from Lukas Nmecha. Morgan Rogers scored twice for Villa, and some boos from the home crowd at Elland Road made it obvious that Farke needs to turn things around fast.

Some fans want the Leeds owners to fire Farke, hoping a new manager could quickly improve things. That doesn't seem likely right now, but the ownership has been quick to make changes lately, most recently at another of their clubs, Rangers.

The Scottish Premiership team sold their majority shares in May, with the San Francisco 49ers group joining the ownership. After some recent struggles, they already swapped managers, with Russell Martin out and Danny Rohl in.

Now, even more changes are happening. The owners just sacked chief executive Patrick Stewart and sporting director Kevin Thelwell. Both joined the club within the last year, with Stewart arriving in December 2024 and Thelwell joining from Everton in the summer.

Rangers chairman Andrew Cavenagh said, Now we've been a part of Rangers for six months, we have got to know Patrick and Kev a bit more. What we need in a CEO and sporting director today is different from who we thought Patrick and Kev were. We want people who agree with our vision for the future.

Cavenagh added, Patrick and Kev are both good at what they do and have done a lot for the club. I'm not going to say bad things about them. I think they're great people. It's just that the club needs something different now than it did six months ago.

We've already started looking for replacements and hope to hire people soon, but we want the right people more than we want to do it quickly. Changes like this are never easy, especially when they involve people we like. But we're excited to bring in some new leadership to this great club.

This shows the Leeds owners aren't afraid to make tough decisions, and they might have to make similar choices at Elland Road. The team's recent form has been bad, and they now face criticism and a real chance of being relegated again.

While Farke is feeling the pressure, he says he's not thinking about his future and is only focused on getting points. After the loss to Aston Villa, he said, No, I am really not concerned about it. If you can’t handle the pressure, don’t manage Leeds United.”

The pressure is definitely on Farke, as Nottingham Forest and West Ham have each won two of their last three games, moving ahead of Leeds.

VAR REVIEW: CHELSEA 2-2 BOURNEMOUTH, ESTêVãO PENALTY DRAMA EXPLAINED! WAS IT A FOUL OR A DIVE

Explaining the VAR: How an 11th-minute penalty check at Stamford Bridge saved a point for Chelsea against a resilient Bournemouth.

top-news
Antoine Semenyo’s clumsy challenge handed Chelsea a vital lifeline

Every week, the Video Assistant Referee stirs up drama in the Premier League. Let's break down how these calls are made and if they're actually right.

This season, we're digging into the big moments to explain the VAR process and the rules of the game.

What went down: Chelsea's Estêvão was moving into the Bournemouth box, with Antoine Semenyo on his tail. Estêvão went down after some contact with Semenyo. The ref, Barrott, waved off Chelsea's penalty shouts, saying there wasn't a foul. He thought both players made contact naturally as they were running, and Estêvão basically tripped himself.

VAR said, "After looking at it, VAR Pawson suggested Barrott take another look at the monitor for a possible penalty because Semenyo might have tripped Estêvão."

VAR's take: Pawson had to figure out if the contact was just part of the play, like the ref thought, or if Semenyo fouled Estêvão. It was clear Estêvão tripped, but the question was how the contact started.

At first glance, it would be hard for Pawson to disagree with the ref because the main TV angle wasn't clear. But after checking out the sideline and behind views, Pawson saw that Semenyo stepped into Estêvão's path, making enough contact with his leg to cause him to trip.

Pawson told Barrott to check the monitor for a possible penalty. Barrott watched the replays, agreed, and gave Chelsea the penalty.

The call: It was a reasonable VAR call based on today's standards. But it's a borderline case.

Barrott seemed unsure of the monitor and needed some convincing from different angles.

A lot of the time, this kind of contact is just from players running normally, and someone goes down. To give a penalty, there really needs to be a clear foul by the defender. You could say that happened here, but it's a pretty low standard for VAR to get involved.

Chelsea 2-2 AFC Bournemouth

Referee: Sam Barrott

VAR: Craig Pawson

What: VAR check for a foul in the box

When: 11th minute

BREAKING: UNAI EMERY REVEALS THE REAL REASON BEHIND HIS COLD ARTETA HANDSHAKE SNUB NOW

Unai Emery explains why he skipped the post-match handshake as Arsenal’s 4-1 win ends Aston Villa’s 11-game streak at the Emirates.

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Emery snubs Arteta's handshake

Unai Emery said he didn't shake Mikel Arteta's hand right after Aston Villa lost at the Emirates Stadium since the Arsenal manager kept him waiting.

This loss stopped Villa's winning streak at 11 games, their first in almost two months.

Villa held their own in the first half, but Arsenal scored early in the second when Gabriel got to the ball before Emi Martinez on a corner.

Martin Zubimendi quickly made it 2-0, and Leandro Trossard scored a third goal a little after an hour had passed.

Soon after entering the pitch, Gabriel Jesus scored, making it 4-0. Ollie Watkins was able to respond by tapping in a goal late in the game after Donyell Malen's nice play.

After the game, Emery waited to shake Arteta's hand, but he went to the locker room since Arteta was still celebrating with his team.

It’s easy to see. I like to do things fast,” Emery said when asked about why he didn’t shake Arteta’s hand.

“I shake hands, then I go to the dressing room with my players and coaches. I was waiting.

“Arteta was busy with his coaches, so I went inside. It’s not a big deal for me.”

About the match, Emery commented, “We played great in the first half, and things were going our way. We had corners and defended well. We didn’t let them get a corner in the first half.

“We felt good, but we let in the first goal in the second half. Onana getting hurt didn’t help since he’s important for set pieces and in the midfield.

“We didn’t quit, and we kept playing hard. We scored one goal and almost scored more. Arsenal is the best team in the league and should win the title.

“I’m not sure which day it is since we’ve played Arsenal twice already, and we still have to play Nottingham. But I’m happy with our goals and how we're trying to attain them.

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