Leeds told it would be ‘absolute madness’ to sack Daniel Farke: ‘You’ve got to be realistic’ | OneFootball

It would be “madness” if Leeds United decided to sack Daniel Farke despite their recent poor form, according to Arsenal legend Ray Parlour.

The Yorkshire outfit were promoted as Championship champions last term as they got 100 points with Burnley and Sunderland the other sides to come up with Farke’s outfit.

In Farke’s first season, Leeds missed out on automatic promotion in 2023/24 with the Whites then losing in the Championship play-off final to Southampton.

Leeds made the right decision to keep Farke last season as they romped to promotion but there are once again doubts as to how far the German head coach can take them.

Farke struggled to impress in both of his two seasons in charge of Norwich City in the Premier League after getting the Canaries promoted from the Championship on two occasions.

Leeds are doing okay this season in terms of the table with Farke’s side currently 16th, two places above the relegation zone, with survival the main aim this term.

However, the Yorkshire side have taken just three points from their last five matches and are only one point above the drop zone after West Ham won their last two games before the international break.

When asked if it would be “absolute madness” for Leeds to sack Farke, Parlour said on talkSPORT: “Absolutely. I mean, you’ve got to be realistic.

“Every single club that’s come up, I know Sunderland are going really well, but they’re competing. You can’t just suddenly change the whole team.

“And as Neil Warnock says there, he’s not been given a lot, he’s lost a couple of players as well and I don’t think it would be the right move at the moment.”

Parlour continued: “As I said before, I’m not in that dressing room every single day, and if he has lost the players, then that could be a bit of a problem. That is the vital bit about it.

“If they’re all trying to do the best they can at the moment, if they come 17th this year in the league, they’ve had a great season.

“You’ve just got to try and stay in the Premier League this year, and at the moment, they’re out of the relegation zone, just about. But the next four games, I do fear for them.

“They’ve got Villa, they’ve got Man City away, Chelsea at home, and then Liverpool at home. So the next four are not easy.

“But it might suit them just to sit back, let the opposition have the ball, and try and defend as well as they can, and try and hit them on the break. And that’s how they’ve got to try and play.

“I know Leeds United fans will be looking at Sunderland and saying, ‘look, they’re fourth in the league. They’ve come up, they finished behind us in the Championship and they invested very well. The players they’ve bought.’

“But I don’t agree with keep sacking managers. What manager is going to come in and try and improve it?”

Former Leeds striker David Healy backed the German to keep his job and called out ex-Tottenham midfielder Jamie O’Hara for starting a campaign to get Farke sacked.

Healy said on talkSPORT: “Looking at it now, of course, stating the obvious, everybody in world football is looking for that number nine centre forward, attacking players to catch fire and score goals. Leeds are no different.

“I do think Daniel needs to be given plenty of time. He’s done an incredible job there in the period that he’s been (in charge).

“So coming into it, I think from the outset, I think it was actually Jamie O’Hara started something online at the start of the season, putting pressure on Daniel Farke because of his previous record.”

Healy added: “I think he was trying to start a campaign at the start of the season regarding Daniel Farke coming under pressure because he hasn’t done it in the Premier League and whatever else.

“And then I hear somebody like Neil Warnock saying he’s never really been given the tools or the money to go and perform or give himself the best chance to stay in the Premier League.

“So and by all accounts, and again, I don’t know the full ins and outs, Daniel looks as if he’s a top-class coach, manager.

“He’s doing the best for the resources that he has. There’s been one or two injuries, certainly at the start of the season, but they need a Calvert-Lewin, a Jack Harrison, Dan James or (Joel) Piroe.

“They need one of them centre forward attacking players to catch fire and score goals.”