Leeds Are Being Left Behind as the 49ers Pour Their Energy Into the Rangers Turmoil

Are Leeds United being neglected with the focus of the ownership on Rangers? Another crisis in Glasgow raises big concerns over 49ers’ priorities.

The sackings of CEO Patrick Stewart and sporting director Kevin Thelwell are the centre of the latest intervention from 49ers Enterprises at Rangers.

And once again, Leeds United find themselves pushed quietly into the background at a moment when they can least afford it.

Thelwell and Stewart oversaw the appointment of Russell Martin, who lasted just 123 days before results forced the club to act.

The sporting structure in Glasgow has been criticised for internal appointments, including Thelwell’s son, Robbie, and technical director Dan Purdy, who also followed him north.

Now, with that entire regime being dismantled, they’re looking to get back on track, and a recent surge in form under Danny Rohl might even have got Rangers back into a Scottish Premiership title race.

For Paraag Marathe and the 49ers, that means another period of full attention on Scotland. And that might not bode well for Leeds.

Are Leeds Being Neglected By Their Ownership?

After a fairly promising start to the season, Leeds have slipped into the bottom three after 12 games, losing four of their last five.

There’s been a real drop in form under Daniel Farke, and making matters worse is the positive impact new managerial appointments have had on both West Ham and Nottingham Forest – both of whom have now leapfrogged Leeds.

Pressure is ramping up on Farke, whose position may now be untenable, and the squad is creaking badly. This should be the moment where the ownership steps in with direction, urgency, maybe even a bit of ruthlessness. Instead, they’ve been in fireman mode in Glasgow while Leeds wait their turn.

The January window looms, a time when every stable club begins identifying solutions, but the outfit that needs reinforcement most urgently is the one receiving the least attention.

Rangers are already in the middle of an internal overhaul. Leeds, who desperately need recruitment, leadership, and clarity around Farke’s future, are basically in a holding pattern.

This isn’t a one-off. It mirrors what happened in the summer. Rangers were busy making late-window additions, while Leeds went an entire week without a signing.

They desperately needed to strengthen their attack and ended up signing Dominic Calvert-Lewin on a free transfer, who looks way past his best. The balance and depth of the squad were left fragile.

It’s not intentional. It’s simply… neglect. And neglect gets you relegated.

Does Multi-Club Ownership Work Well?

This is the part where the theory of multi-club ownership can crumble. In theory: shared resources, shared scouting networks, shared expertise. In practice: one club inevitably becomes the favourite child.

What makes the Leeds situation so baffling is that they are, by any metric, the more important footballing asset. Rangers are a huge club – there’s no doubting that. But Leeds are the Premier League club. Leeds are the global brand-builder. Leeds are the revenue engine. And Leeds are the club whose survival matters most to the long-term plan the 49ers keep outlining.

And yet, operationally, they do not feel like the priority.

It is somewhat understandable given that Rangers reached a crisis point earlier in the season, but it might be a case of a reactive hierarchy lurching toward whichever club is causing the biggest PR blaze.

And Leeds are not stable enough to absorb this kind of passive management. They are not mid-table safe – far from it. It doesn’t feel like they should be treated as the “we’ll get to them after we fix Scotland” project.