The confetti from the promotion bus parade had barely been swept up off Millennium Square by the time Daniel Farke returned to work. He and Leeds United chiefs knew they needed to make the most of early promotion.
Everyone at the club is aware of how the promoted clubs from the past two seasons fared. Last season’s 13-point gap between 17th and 18th - the relegation dividing line - was the largest in Premier League history. It's clear Leeds need to do something different.
A summer of change in the playing squad was inevitable but so it was in the boardroom. CEO Angus Kinnear jumped ship to take up a new job at Bramley-Moore Dock with Everton, something that was announced a few months ahead of time.
That sparked, and allowed, Leeds to conduct a review of the boardroom structure. The result saw a number of internal promotions, most notably Robbie Evans to managing director and Adam Underwood as sporting chief.
Farke would sit down with this newly-assembled regime to discuss next steps just days after miming DJ decks on the bus parade. By that point, chairman Paraag Marathe had dissolved the speculation that had arisen around the manager’s future by confirming him as “my man”.
There are natural and understandable surface-level questions about the German’s ability in the top flight given his days at Norwich City. He has already said he has “nothing” to say to critics who doubt him.
These naysayers point to his time in East Anglia, where he became the first manager to lose 15 straight Premier League games, albeit over the course of two seasons after an interim year in the Championship. This is essentially his last chance at proving himself as a Premier League standard boss.
But at Carrow Road, Farke was working with a group of overachievers. His work to see Norwich promoted to the top flight on two occasions is often overlooked. A theme of his managerial career has been to elevate the levels of players.
The reasons behind his inability to make the jump up to the next level were rooted in financial strife. Norwich, even then, were dwarfed by the riches of rivals. A backlog of contract issues also held a strain.
Staying up both times would have been a “miracle”, according to Farke. That will not be the discourse if Leeds survive this time. The manager is now backed by money, inherited an excellent core squad base (which he has improved) and has the transfer pull of a big-name club.
Each signing so far has mentioned the size of Leeds, a club that is known across the globe. Yet, survival might still be something close to a miracle given the chasm that needs to be bridged between the second and first tier.
In order to achieve this, Farke must adapt his tactics. Club sources have outlined that, as expected, a more cautious approach will be employed albeit not with a total disregard for last season’s progressive-ball thesis.
The bedrock of success will depend on what happens before September 1, summer transfer deadline day. Chairman Paraag Marathe vowed that owners, the 49ers Enterprises, would maximise spending limits.
“You’ve got to nail your transfers,” he underlined when asked about the key elements for survival next season. Leeds will have found a Premier League premium slapped on targets this summer given the wealth of the English game.
The club are meanwhile having to mind a £61million three-year loss cap within financial regulations - the joint-lowest limit in the division. In the weeks after promotion, the club sold extra shares that drummed up £120m of cash to be split between the stadium expansion and transfer investment.
Farke has shown his credentials in the market at Leeds. Having already been able to find a gem in Emiliano Buendia at Norwich, he’s done the same with Ao Tanaka at Elland Road.
His £3m arrival was the bargain of the window last summer, with the £5m fee paid for Jayden Bogle not a too-distant second. This has been aided by the club’s recruitment structure set up by the 49ers since their full takeover in 2023.
One high-ranking source described how there essentially was no data department when the 49ers first arrived as minority shareholders in 2018. Borne of NFL, the Americans were not having that.
Data analysis is now one of the three major prongs used to identify targets. So detailed is the analysis that elements such as running gate and how a player carries the ball are scrutinised.
Farke, therefore, now has this web to delve into while he too makes recommendations to follow up. Scouts also sending in their reports before the shortlist is whittled down. The manager has a veto on every signing - if he does not like them, the deal is off or not pursued. He will always hold a series of calls with a player in the last knockings of a transfer.
Farke joked to senior recruitment staff that he wanted all players in by the first day of pre-season before he eventually did take a summer holiday. Of course this was tongue in cheek, but Farke indeed prefers his signings in early and three players were acquired before day one back at Thorp Arch.
This - at least for a certain time period - excited the fan base. But as Farke has many times referenced, Leeds have an “emotional” set of supporters. They themselves would agree, by the way.
The 48-year-old has been the cool head among a cacophony of noise at certain times throughout his reign. He half-humoured that he was selected by the 49ers to be “the helmet”, so calm is his nature. There’s more than an element of truth to this.
He has been steadfast in his methods - sometimes too steadfast. It took until the final seven games of the season to drop an error-strewn Illan Meslier while a lack of rotation seemed to prompt a spell of both mental and physical fatigue in the period before the run-in last season.
Farke’s challenge next term is to be more loose and adaptable to circumstances - and to utilise his squad depth. It’s a big shift to go from dominating most Championship games to being the underdog in nearly all Premier League matches.
Twice before he has fallen short, his first attempt ending his relegation and his second, dismissal. The pressure will crank up quickly next season if Leeds go on long winless runs and it’s about finding solutions, not just tinkering.
Farke has been given an objective of 10 wins next season - not 30 points, Leeds need more than that but double-figures of victories. The hope is that draws will bump the tally up to a tally that secures survival. United will need to usurp a Premier League regular to stay up.
The benchmark of 41 points has been enough to finish those who finished 17th over the past decade, with 39 being ample for seven of the last 10 years. Farke has made Elland Road into a fortress, having only lost one home league game last season.
Home is where the heart is and where the club’s greatest chance of survival lies. Farke might not be in situ by the time the stadium expansions are completed amid the forecast date of late 2030, but he can help ensure Leeds are Premier League regulars once again by then.
In that meeting with the revamped board in May post-parade, Farke came prepared with an analysis dossier of what recently relegated clubs did wrong and what those who survived did right. We will see the fruits of that labour by a similar time next year.