Daniel Farke finds himself under significant pressure at Leeds United, 22 years to the day since the club parted company with Peter Reid whilst embroiled in a Premier League relegation battle.
Leeds United are battling to avoid the same fate they suffered in the 2003/2004 Premier League season, with the pressure mounting on head coach Daniel Farke.
Farke took aim at the referee after Leeds’ damaging defeat against Nottingham Forest; however, the blame falls firmly at the Leeds manager’s feet, after his side were opened up repeatedly by an organised Forest team.
The defeat leaves Leeds one point outside of the relegation zone and has convinced Tim Sherwood that Farke will inevitably be replaced this season.
22 years ago, Leeds elected to change their head coach, as Peter Reid was sacked following a heavy away defeat. Here is how his record that year compares to Farke’s on the same day.
Daniel Farke looks on during Nottingham Forest v Leeds United - Premier League
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How Daniel Farke’s record compares to Peter Reid in Leeds United’s 03/04 relegation season
Peter Reid’s final game as Leeds manager came in a humiliating 6-1 away defeat against Portsmouth, in which Mark Viduka was dropped after a row with the former Sunderland boss.
It may be scant consolation for Farke that his record on the same day is marginally better than his predecessor’s, with reports suggesting that the Leeds boss is running out of time to save his job.
When Reid left his position at Elland Road, Leeds were rooted to the bottom of the Premier League table, with eight points from their opening 12 games, including two wins, two draws and eight defeats, according to Football365.
Metric on 10/11 03/04 under Peter Reid 25/26 under Daniel Farke
Played 12 11
Points 8 11
Won 2 3
Drawn 2 2
Lost 8 6
Goals For 11 10
Goals Against 31 20
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Having played one game fewer, Farke has pulled together 11 points, including three wins, two draws and six defeats.
Leeds would go on to suffer relegation under Eddie Gray, who replaced Reid for the remainder of the season. Farke will be hoping he is given the chance to outperform Reid across the entire season.
Leeds United manager Peter Reid
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Peter Reid ended an unhappy time with Leeds United in 2003
Reid became the third Leeds manager to be sacked in 18 months on this day in 2003, as the club continued to deal with the fallout of the Peter Ridsdale era.
Ironically, the game at Portsmouth nearly didn’t take place after a floodlight failure saw the two teams unable to kick off at 3pm. However, that would have only delayed the inevitable, as Leeds United drifted listlessly towards relegation.
Peter Reid’s last five games at Leeds United:
Leeds 2-1 Blackburn Rovers
Leeds 0-1 Manchester United
Liverpool 3-1 Leeds
Leeds 1-4 Arsenal
Portsmouth 6-1 Leeds
A report in the Daily Telegraph, via Newspapers.com, from 2003 carries the statement that Leeds made after sacking Reid, which read: “While the board acknowledges that Peter did a sterling job towards the end of last season in keeping United in the Premier League, it believes it must now allow this season to reach a point beyond which the club’s Premiership status comes under serious threat.
“The recent run of results has clearly been unacceptable. The board therefore concluded that it has a duty to act now.”
Reid oversaw a run of four defeats to prompt the Leeds board to act. Having lost three in the last four, Farke needs an immediate upturn in results to avoid the same fate.