Georginio Rutter influence on Leeds United's 11th-hour distraction before QPR clash

Georginio Rutter’s shock Leeds United departure hit the dressing room like a hammer blow in August and prepared them for the shock of Friday night’s news this week. The Football Association dropped the decision to ban Junior Firpo on Daniel Farke at the 11th hour on Friday night, long after final preparations had been made for yesterday’s Queens Park Rangers clash.

While the club was aware of the investigation into Firpo’s altercation with Danny McNamara, the ultimate verdict, after the process had taken its course, was still a distraction for the staff and players. Although, in August, the shock of Georginio Rutter’s likely departure to Brighton & Hove Albion set the bar pretty high for pre-match disruption, according to Farke.

“The decision [to ban Firpo] was made pretty late last night (Friday), more or less after our last session,” he said. “So after I've named the squad already. It's always a bit distraction before the game when it comes, more or less, as a surprise for the players.

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“This morning, once they realised, Junior Firpo’s not with us, it was, of course, a bit difficult, but we are also used to adapting to difficult situations. We had even stranger situations with, remember the Carabao Cup game, when, during the game, or just before the game, it came out Georgi Rutter would be the last time together with us.”

Brighton had swooped at the last possible opportunity to trigger Rutter’s relegation release clause, leaving Leeds unable to stop the transfer going through. After the cup loss to Middlesbrough, the news of the deal broke and it became clear the players had gone through the game knowing what was coming for their talismanic playmaker.

Farke was happy with the way they reacted to this weekend’s news, especially as it was dropped on them so close to kick-off.

“They are professionals and they reacted in a proper way,” he said. “It was, of course, not ideal, but we wouldn't have used it as an excuse if we had lost this game. So for that, no complaints about that.”