Leeds could replace Farke with FA Cup winner who once went 62 games unbeaten

For the time being, Daniel Farke looks as if he will survive another day in the Leeds United dug-out.

Time is surely running out for the under-fire German, though, before the powers that be at Elland Road are tempted to pull the plug. Yet, journalist Graham Smyth has come out to clarify that a change in the Whites’ hot seat is not anticipated at this stage.

However, if the Premier League defeats continue to stack up, the 49ers might be left with no choice but to get rid, as a tough fixture list of Aston Villa at home and Manchester City at the Etihad close out November.

Some names are floating about already, regarding who could succeed the ex-Norwich City manager if he is given the axe, with a previous FA Cup winner catching the eye…

The potential replacements for Farke at Leeds United

This isn’t fresh news surrounding Farke being under pressure in the Elland Road dug-out.

Indeed, last season – even after promotion was successfully clinched – it was speculated that Leeds were tempted to get rid of the 49-year-old. Then, the Guardian even speculated that Giovanni van Bronckhorst was in line to take over the Premier League-bound outfit.

In the here and now, Gary O’Neil is out of a job and managed to steer Wolves to 14th spot in the daunting top-flight during the 2023/24 season. Could he be a pair of safe hands that enable Leeds to push out of their current doom? He only very recently nearly returned to Wolves, only for a deal to fall through.

The West Yorkshire outfit have also been tentatively linked to RC Strasbourg manager Liam Rosenior in recent weeks, but Leeds could look elsewhere.

Who? Well, Brendan Rodgers could be one man, with the 49ers alleged to have previously spoken to the ex-Liverpool boss about the Whites’ job before they hired Sam Allardyce in 2023.

Now, having just been relieved of his duties at Celtic after an 83-win stint back at the Hoops helm, it could be the perfect time to reignite talks, with the Northern Irishman a clear upgrade on Farke when looking at his managerial record in even more detail.

How Rodgers is a “world-class” upgrade on Farke

This isn’t to say that Farke won’t be remembered fondly down the line for what he has achieved at the West Yorkshire giants, with 100 points accumulated last season seeing Leeds lift the Championship title in style.

But, it’s night and day when assessing the German’s successes in the second tier, next to his struggles in the gruelling top-flight, with a dismal win percentage of just 15% in the Premier League next to his name, collecting only nine wins from a possible 60.

Whereas Rodgers is far more at home in the high-intensity division, with 139 wins collected from 312 outings in the Premier League.

His overlooked time at Swansea City will stand out for Leeds fans, with Rodgers managing to steer the Welsh outfit to 11th place in the Premier League way back in 2011, just after clinching promotion out of the Championship.

On top of that, the 52-year-old would manage to regalvanise Leicester City after the legendary Claudio Ranieri departed, with two fifth-place finishes even seeing Gary Neville once tip the “innovative” boss for the Manchester City job post-Pep Guardiola.

The FA Cup would, of course, also come the Northern Irishman’s way during this celebrated stint with the Foxes, with Farke’s achievements at Championship level now largely paling in comparison.

This is before you even touch on the fact that Rodgers once cultivated a staggering 62-game unbeaten streak in Glasgow with Celtic, with talkSPORT pundit Gabriel Agbonlahor also going out of his way to hail the Leeds-linked manager as “world-class”.

Rodgers will hope he can be beneficial to Leeds in the present, though, away from all his past glittering achievements, with Dominic Calvert-Lewin perhaps benefiting from a change of boss, having seen what the Northern Irishman got out of an ageing Jamie Vardy.

At the moment, however, this is all just speculative chatter.

But, if push comes to shove and Farke is still floundering under all the pressure, Leeds would be hard-pressed to find a better replacement than the out-of-work FA Cup winner.