Farke's fight for hearts and minds
- Published
Adam Pope, BBC Radio Leeds
Daniel Farke cuts a genial figure when close up sitting around a table interviewing him as the new Leeds United manager for the first time.
He has a humility infused with a deep confidence and candid realism.
He knows what it takes to ensure promotion from the Championship - the toughest of all leagues he says - but you soon realise that having done that twice with Norwich City, the challenge Farke has set himself and the club is to become established in the Premier League.
Over the course of the four-year deal he has signed at Elland Road, the 46-year-old must feel he will have tools - which he admits were missing at Carrow Road - to go up and stay up in the top flight.
The club did not need selling to the German, who revealed the only convincing he required was that "all of the key people were on the same page - the owners, the board and all the people in the sporting department".
The San Francisco 49ers Enterprises takeover is not yet ratified by the English Football League, but Farke can see enough of the picture to take on the role regardless.
With enough trust established in those above him, Farke is eager to do the same with his charges - starting with appealing to their "heads and hearts" to recreate a winning mentality.