Friday’s bombshell on Merseyside spawned a million thoughts about what it means to manage a football club. And by what it means, they were talking about what it takes. In a job where people can love you on Monday and chase you out on Tuesday, how do you cope and how do you thrive? How does a coach survive?
One of the chapters in the manual must cover the art of knowing which fights to pick and which fights you can win. Do that, as Daniel Farke has done with Charlie Cresswell, Luis Sinisterra and Willy Gnonto at Leeds United, and a dressing room will hold together. Get it wrong and there is one of countless pits a manager can fall into.
Cresswell was back in Leeds’ squad yesterday for their FA Cup tie against Plymouth Argyle, a few weeks after Farke ruled that the defender’s low mood over fleeting appearances was too visible to involve him for the time being. How much of the smoothing of waters comes down to convenience is a moot point. Cresswell was not close to getting the move he wanted this month and Farke is waiting to see if Pascal Struijk’s injury will make spare centre-backs important. Nonetheless, the bottom line is that Farke challenged Cresswell to knuckle down and latterly, Cresswell agreed.
It was not Farke’s first episode of pulling rank at Elland Road and on the evidence of his methods of discipline so far, it will not be his last. His handling of Gnonto, back when Gnonto was as close as a player gets to industrial action, set the tone and sent the message early: either commit and commit fully, or the bus will travel without you. Gnonto repented after a while, too, and Leeds have long been hopeful that once bitten, Gnonto would refrain from going down that path again; that on reflection, Leeds would look like the right long-term home for him. They would like him to demonstrate that by taking a new contract. Beyond that, they would like him to rediscover the form which has slipped away.
There is hardly an attacking player who was expected to make a good dent in this season who has not done well for Farke at some stage. Three are in double figures for goals, Georginio Rutter, Crysencio Summerville and Dan James are on the way to getting there with assists, and Leeds have proven to be interchangeable up front. Jaidon Anthony has been more quiet on the fringes, though he proved the source of a velvety finish against Plymouth yesterday, but Anthony is a loanee with no permanent option and no bigger picture around him yet.
Gnonto in action against Plymouth (Matt McNulty/Getty Images)
Gnonto, in contrast, has a contract to 2027 and is being courted by Leeds with an offer to improve that deal, despite the fractious events of August. However the winger reflects on those circumstances now, he cannot pretend that they did much for him. The big transfer he sought did not emerge and shows no sign of emerging in this window either. His starting place under Farke was lost and has not presented itself again. He has gone from being the joyous source of flair who blossomed so rapidly last season to being a body who is little more than present. His only goal came five months ago. His only assist was one of those which did a lot of heavy lifting: a pass to an unmarked Summerville who still had the task of curling in a shot from 20 yards at Norwich City. Gnonto is one of the few resources that Farke has not been able to tap into.
With a few days of the window to go and in the absence of any signings, Leeds’ January squad-building has focused exclusively on the renewal of contracts: Archie Gray tied down to 2028 and Mateo Joseph accepting an extension to the same date. The club have been speaking to Gnonto about following suit and are optimistic that he will, an agreement which would do no harm in making it look as if Gnonto is not here under duress. There was a price which would have tempted Leeds to sell in the summer, particularly once Gnonto started waving his arms, but at no stage did they actually favour flogging him. Gnonto is still only 20. He is still on the scene with Italy’s national team and might well go to the Euros in the summer. No one is suggesting that he has started to look like a busted flush.
But discipline, form and injuries broke up the first half of his campaign at the cost of his ability to be effective. He is also spending most time on the right on Farke’s watch, having broken through last season with outings on the left. He was in and out against Plymouth and mostly out, striking the crossbar after Argyle goalkeeper Conor Hazard got hands to a shot in the first half but slicing other chances into the crowd and falling well short of clicking. Anthony made more of the chance to be seen, with sparky feet to step between three defenders and open the scoring by picking out the far corner on the run. Anthony, on loan from Bournemouth, lost his mother, Donna, last week and had prepared himself for the moment, revealing a T-shirt reading ‘Rest in perfect peace Mum’. Football being the petty industry it is, computer said no and the referee booked him for removing his top.
For him, the goal was about the emotion of personal suffering, but in footballing terms, it was also fuel for a player who, like Gnonto, had not a great deal for quite a while. Gnonto is looking for a similar kickstart but he was substituted in the 74th minute, immediately after Plymouth levelled the tie at 1-1 through Adam Randell. The worst-case scenario duly found Farke, a replay at Home Park a matter of days before a league game at Home Park, among fixtures at Bristol City and Swansea City. Gnonto watched time tick away from the bench having failed to show that inspiration was close to finding him. Perhaps a new deal will be the reset he needs.
(Top photo: Pat Scaasi/MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
