Personalities and visions in Leeds United’s boardroom had to be sold to Daniel Farke while he was supposed to be pitching himself as the club’s new manager. Yesterday, the German finally signed on the dotted line at Elland Road with a four-year contract.
It was a process which found him at the top of the pile throughout, despite some excellent in-person interviews from rival candidates. Farke’s confidence and belief in his own ability proved alluring for Paraag Marathe and Angus Kinnear, who led the manager hunt.
Farke has reflected on the interview process and said, far from advertising himself, he wanted to see what kind of people Marathe and Kinnear were. The former Norwich City boss wanted to know if they saw the same project as him if he committed to taking the job.
“No one had to convince me about the potential of the club and the size of the club and what we can perhaps achieve in the mid and the long term,” he said. “For me, it was more important I was 100 per cent convinced of the key people here because we have never met before, we never spoke [as] that quite intense [as before].
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“It was quite important for me to have those conversations and obviously everyone knows for which brand of football I stand and, obviously, I also brought my thoughts across. My message is what I thought has to be done anyhow, in order to create a really good basement situation to make this club successful again.
“For me, the most important topic was the key people had more or less the same ideas and the same vision and also the same thoughts about what has to be done. Once I got this feeling anyhow, then it was more I said ‘Okay, listen, this is really an unbelievably interesting project in the short term because in football you always have to live in the short term. It's always about the three points in the next game, but also in the mid and long-term.’
“Pretty grateful and it was quite humbling in such a moment all the key people shared more or less the same views and I'm looking forward to work.”
During his tenure at Carrow Road, Farke met Leeds on five occasions, two of which were at Elland Road. There was a 1-0 home win in December 2017 under Thomas Christiansen, before that memorable night on February 2, 2019.
In a clash between the Championship’s top two, the Canaries would dominate and see off Marcelo Bielsa’s Whites 3-1. It was a night that all but confirmed Norwich’s rights to the second-tier crown that season.
They were experiences Farke remembers fondly about the stadium.
“I wasn't doing the advertisement for myself [in the interview],” he said. “It was more like the other way around. They had to convince me to overtake this role. The club didn't have to attract me.
“I always had a soft spot for Leeds United, more or less from the first game I played here. Even a few years ago I can remember one game here at Elland Road with Norwich.
“Listen, quite often I was asked in Germany, which atmosphere was the best in English football. Everyone expects me then to speak about the big six or some great stadiums, but I always mentioned Elland Road as pretty special.”
