This is the eleventh season that Leeds United have been out of the Premier League, but could it be the one which sees them return to the upper echelons of English football? Opinions differ greatly in football but, as far as sleeping giants in English football are concerned, not many clubs compare to the size of Leeds. They have never looked remotely close to gaining promotion to the Premier League other than losing out in the play-off final (2005-06) and the first season (2010-11) after promotion from League One back into the Championship. The side finished seventh; just three points from the play-offs, eventually finishing no better than 13th in the following four seasons. This campaign, there seems to be genuine optimism among the club and supporters. But, why does that optimism exist – are Leeds United genuine promotion contenders?
Last season was one of many ups and downs, which the club is no stranger to in the least. The hiring of Dave Hockaday, an unknown name to most of the footballing world, along with his consequential quick sacking, are examples of both. There was also the hiring and firing of Darko Milanič, as well as the ban of club President, Massimo Cellino, in the Football League; these are but a few of the many bad moments of the season.
The one shining light, though, was undoubtedly Neil Redfearn being appointed Head Coach until the end of the season. Redfearn showed a huge amount of trust in the young, talented, home grown players, which coincided with the fine run of form at the beginning of the New Year, ultimately shielding the team from relegation.
The beginning of last summer pinpointed that there was a lot of work to be done at the club. It started off with the hiring of Adam Pearson as Executive Director. A few days later, there came the appointment of Uwe Rösler as Head Coach, which left many fans with mixed emotions, mainly because supporters wanted to see Redfearn hold onto the job he had started previously. The club got to work in terms of transfers and, with key signings secured including: Sol Bamba, who is now club Captain, Chris Wood, who is a born goal scorer, and Stuart Dallas, who is a winger the club has been crying out for since the departures of Robert Snodgrass and Max Gradel. All of this coincided with the Kappa kit deal and release of the new strip: an all-white sponsor-less kit which is reminiscent of the great Leeds teams of the famous Revie era.
August 10th saw the beginning of the Football League season. Walking around the city and outside Elland Road before the lunchtime kick-off against Burnley, you could feel the optimism among fans, and a buzz of raw excitement. The game ended in a draw; one that was a bit hard to take for the supporters, as Leeds took the lead so late only for Burnley to level straight afterwards. The next four games ended up in a Capital One Cup defeat and three draws, including surrendering a two-goal lead in injury time away to Bristol City. This mightn’t have been the start many had hoped for, but at least the team were unbeaten and playing well, if only unlucky not to have picked up a victory.
The final game of the month was away at Derby County, a place of which has been notoriously hard for Leeds to pick up points; the last win there was back in 2002. Leeds left the iPro with three points on Saturday, thanks to a stunning Chris Wood strike upon the chime 88 minutes, which was well deserved because Leeds dominated crucial parts of the game. This now leaves the side in very good stead to pick up where they left off after the international break.
The Championship is one of the hardest leagues in football to get out of, and one that Leeds have struggled to concur in years gone by. Will this be the year Leeds get promoted? Who knows, but everything at Elland Road is finally starting to point in the right direction. The owner has finally stabilised the off-field problems, there is a good management set up with a great, young, hungry squad of players and the fans finally seem happy with what they are seeing.
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