The #LUFC Breakfast Debate (Friday 27th February) - West Ham board bitter after snubbing Calvert-Lewin
Good Morning. It's Friday 27th February, and here are the latest headlines from Elland Road...
West Ham board bitter after snubbing Calvert-Lewin
It’s the classic case of "the one that got away," except in West Ham’s case, they didn't just lose the catch, they practically handed the fishing rod to Leeds United and told them where the best spot was! As the Hammers stare relegation in the face, their board have finally broken their silence on why Dominic Calvert-Lewin is currently firing Leeds toward safety instead of leading the line at the London Stadium.
In what feels like a bitter case of professional finger-pointing! The board has laid the blame squarely at the feet of former manager Graham Potter. Apparently, despite the "world and its wife" knowing the squad was desperate for goals, Potter was adamant he didn't want Calvert-Lewin due to previous injury problems, leading the Hammers to (apparently) snub the England International.
There’s a distinct "sour grapes" energy coming from East London right now. While West Ham’s hierarchy originally justified the snub by citing the striker’s patchy injury record, those excuses have crumbled as Calvert-Lewin has racked up 10 goals and stayed remarkably fit. Not only that, he has won the second most aerial duels (81) of all forwards in the top flight! It’s reached the point where the board have effectively throwing Potter under the bus.
It’s a messy bit of storytelling from a club left red-faced; they want the fans to know they could have had the season’s best bargain, but they let their former manager talk them out of it. Unfortunately for the Hammers, "we told you so" doesn't earn you Premier League points, and watching Leeds thrive on their missed opportunity is a very bitter pill to swallow.
Black Cats without six for the trip to ER next Tuesday
It looks like Sunderland boss Régis Le Bris is going to have to get pretty creative with his team sheet next Tuesday when visiting Elland Road. The 3-1 home defeat to Fulham was a tough pill to swallow, but the fallout in the physio room has turned a bad day into a full-blown crisis. Sunderland walked away from that match with four fresh injuries, and some of them sound like absolute nightmares. Romaine Mundle is facing a "difficult" thigh injury that could side-line him until April, while poor Jocelin Ta Bi’s Premier League debut ended with a foot injury that might require surgery.
The hits just kept coming, as Nordi Mukiele and Brian Brobbey were also forced off; they’re looking at about a month each on the sidelines with calf and groin issues. When you add those names to the existing list of absentees like Dennis Cirkin (who is at least close to a return) and Reinildo Mandava (another long-term 2026 recovery), the squad is looking incredibly thin.
With five loss in their last seven games, the Black Cats have slipped to 12th in the table, five points and three places above the Whites. It's be a crucial game for the Whites in their bid to avoid the drop, and for bragging rights. Both sides tussled over many of the same signatures last summer, with Noah Sadiki, Habib Diarra and Chemsdine Talbi all being strongly linked with a move to Elland Road before signing for Sunderland - so expect a fair amount of tasty exchanges.
Ampadu opens up about half-time team talk at the Etihad
Leeds skipper Ethan Ampadu has opened up about the 'sliding doors' moment during the half-time break in the reserve Manchester City game at the Etihad late last November. 2-0 down, and with pressure mounting on Daniel Farke's tenure, the Whites were at a crossroads. According to the Welsh International, the dressing room conversation that followed, wasn't just about tactic change to 5-3-2; it was a gut check.
"It felt like we all had to remind ourselves what it takes to play in a Leeds United shirt," Ampadu revealed on the official Leeds United podcast. He explained that the team needed to strip everything back to "the basics of running around, working hard and fighting." That shift in mindset, sparked by the belief from veteran leaders like Sean and Dominic Calvert-Lewin, proved to be the catalyst for a season-defining revival.
Even though the match ended in a narrow 3-2 defeat thanks to an injury time winner from Foden, the second-half performance gave the squad the "body of evidence" they needed to realise they belonged at this level. Ampadu noted that once you have that belief and a positive performance to match, "that helps create belief and momentum." Since that afternoon in Manchester, Leeds have been a transformed side, losing just twice.