Integrity of English pyramid must be protected: Leeds chief
THE INTEGRITY of the English football pyramid must be maintained by completing the current season, Leeds United chief Angus Kinnear said yesterday as administrators wrestled with an unprecedented shutdown caused by the coronavirus crisis.
Leeds are well-placed for a return to the Premier League for the first time since they were relegated in 2004, but their promotion bid has been put on hold after last week’s decision to suspend the season until at least early April.
With nine games left, Leeds are top of the Championship, one point ahead of West Bromwich Albion and seven ahead of third-placed Fulham with the top two automatically promoted.
“From our perspective it’s vital that the season is completed and there is a growing sense across the football family that is the right thing to do,” he told Sky Sports.
“It’s difficult to speculate on time lines, so we need patience and cool heads. But for the integrity of the football pyramid and the financial security of the clubs, finishing the leagues is the right thing to do.
“The timescale will be challenging but I don’t think it’s beyond the wit of man to see a scenario where the Football League and Premier League are completed later in the summer.
Mare set to extend Paul Pogba’s contract by a year – whether he likes it or not. The club are poised to take up the one-year option on the deal which the midfielder signed when he swapped Juventus for Old Trafford in the summer of 2016.
It means Pogba’s deal, which was due to expire in the summer of 2021, will now run until the summer of 2022, adding more weight to United’s stranglehold over his future.
“Paul’s our player and he’s got a year plus an option. So you can expect Paul to be here,” manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said last week, following the Europa League win over LASK Linz, of which the midfielder played no part.
There was previously very little suggestion that United were actively
looking to sell, with rumblings over his future coming from
Pogba’s side.
But despite all the headlines, it has come in a season where Pogba has had no – or very little – impact on the pitch.
So how has it come to this point?
To get the full story on Pogba, one have to go back to the end of last season.
After Solskjaer was appointed
United manager, Pogba’s form took a significant upturn and it looked like the Norwegian was finally getting the best out of him.
But when results started to turn, so did Pogba and he was the first to have the finger
“The ultimate solution is to get back to playing football when it’s safe to do so.”
Professional Footballer’s Association (PFA) chief Gordon Taylor also believes having “unfinished business” would hurt the English game.
“It would devalue it and I think those clubs that have done well and are at the top deserve to be there,” he said.
“And those clubs who are at the bottom deserve to be given the chance to get out of trouble, because that’s how the game’s always worked and that’s how the competition was at the beginning.” – Reuters pointed at him for his drop in performances.
Graeme Souness on Sky Sports was one who heavily criticised how he performed – but he was not the only one.
The frustration of some United fans led to a controversial comment from Pogba over the summer.
“It could be a good time to have a new challenge somewhere else,” he said, which came alongside the links to Real Madrid and Juventus.
The speculation continued to whirl but with nothing particularly solid happening, he linked up with the squad for pre-season training.
The Pogba rollercoaster began again on the opening day of the season as Pogba provided two assists in the 4-0 thumping of Chelsea at Old Trafford.
But he followed his performance with a comment insisting that he was not completely happy, claiming that there was a “question mark” over his future at the club.
The stop-start nature of his appearances only fuelled more people to be frustrated with his attitude – especially as his social media showed him at events such as the Paris Fashion Week, rather than being in the gym grafting.
Pogba’s agent Mino Raiola completely bypassed Pogba himself with an extraordinary rant at Solskjaer in February, claiming that his client was a “prisoner” among other things.
It once again opened up talk about Pogba leaving, with Raiola, who is one of the most powerful men in football, leading the speculation.
And normally, if Raiola wants something, he tends to get it.
“Paul’s our player and he’s got a year plus an option. So you can expect Paul to be here,” was Solskjaer’s comments before the coronavirus pandemic.
It looks to be the case with United poised to take up the extension, which they can do without any influence on Pogba.
Perhaps it could be a ploy to give them more time to sell him, or possibly because they actually see him being able to work his way into the team again.
Either way, it has been reported by The Athletic that Pogba is open to considering a new contract with United on top of the extension, suggesting that he might be happy to stick around. – The Daily Star