Whites woe shows folly of late window

IT’S easy to laugh at Leeds, isn’t it? Like Manchester United, they are a club whose trauma elicits great merriment among opposition supporters, for reasons that have never been particularly clear.

Revie? Ridsdale? A perceived sense of entitlement? Whatever the cause, sides must be splitting throughout the country after recent events at Elland Road.

Defeat to Birmingham last weekend capped a harrowing few days for the Whites in which both Wilfried Gnonto and Luis Sinisterra went on strike.

Gnonto’s absence for a Carabao Cup victory over Shrewsbury was initially passed off as injury-related, but at some point in the subsequent days the club’s patience snapped and a no-holds-barred statement revealed the Italian striker had refused to travel. Everton are in hot pursuit.

Sinisterra, below, was not thrown under the bus quite so vigorously, but Daniel Farke’s post-match interview at St Andrew’s left nobody in any doubt that the Colombian had downed tools, too.

“If any player doesn’t want to be with us they can train alone and use their own dressing room,” added the German. “I need players who are fully committed to defend the shirt.”

While some players agitated to leave, others proved unwilling to come. Leeds were embarrassingly spurned by Norwich right-back Max Aarons, who received a better offer from Bournemouth quite literally en route to Elland Road. Hours later, long-standing target Gus Hamer was swiped by Sheffield United.