Leeds United: Bristol City owner Steve Lansdown wants points deduction for 'spying'

Published on: 18 January 2019

Leeds United are four points clear at the top of the Championship

Bristol City owner Steve Lansdown has called for Leeds to be deducted points after head coach Marcelo Bielsa admitted sending people to watch all of their rivals train.

A member of Leeds' staff was spotted 'spying' at Derby's training ground.

The English Football League and Football Association are investigating the incident.

"The only thing that makes sense if I'm honest is a points deduction," Lansdown told BBC Points West.

"They ought to seriously consider it but I don't think that will happen as I don't think the EFL will be strong enough to do something like that.

"A fine would go someway towards showing it's not acceptable. Whatever happens we mustn't condone it."

Bristol City's chief operating officer Mark Ashton is also on the EFL's board.

In an unscheduled news conference on Wednesday, Bielsa revealed he had other teams watched while training because he did not think it was "violating the norms".

Leeds, who visit Stoke on Saturday, are four points clear at the top of the Championship.

Lansdown added: "If he'd asked to send someone to watch our training we would have said no. And every other football club would say no. So why does he think it's acceptable to do it?

"However great a coach he is, it's the wrong thing to do. Poking around and skulking around a training ground is not part of the game."

Leeds beat Bristol City 2-0 at Elland Road in November - and the return game at Ashton Gate takes place on 9 March.

Media playback is not supported on this device

Watch Bielsa's remarkable PowerPoint presentationPeople watched us train from the mountains - Guardiola

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola, who has previously said his admiration for Bielsa is "huge", defended the Argentine's actions at his own news conference on Friday.

Guardiola said that during his time managing German giants Bayern Munich people routinely watched the team train from any vantage point they could find.

"My respect remains the same. He was clear in his statement. I admired what he did in the past, why should I change my opinion?" the former Barcelona boss said.

"In all the countries I have been before, everybody does it.

"When we were training at Bayern Munich there were people in the little mountains with cameras and the opponent was watching what we did. Everybody did it.

"It is the culture of the clubs. It was part of the club. Not because you said 'you have to do it'. It is the culture."

Bielsa 'welcome' to watch Stoke train

Bielsa also said on Wednesday that because Stoke boss Nathan Jones had only been appointed last week, he and his staff had watched the 26 games played by his previous club Luton Town.

When asked about Bielsa's approach, Jones said the analysis of teams was "not revolutionary".

"I would love to sit down and chat with Marcelo because he is a very good football person. I would invite him down to watch our training sessions if he wanted to come down here," Jones said.

"What he does is thorough and it's good work but we do that. We gather information, watch clips and I spend hours with the analysts. It's not revolutionary, it's probably just the first time someone has done a presentation on it."

Source: bbc.com

This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website.
Learn more