Former Leeds United defender Gaetano Berardi has highlighted the ‘main difference’ between Andrea Radrizzani and Massimo Cellino while reflecting on his time at the Premier League club, while speaking to Tuttomercatoweb.
It is fair to say things changed quite dramatically during Berardi’s seven years at Elland Road.
The Swiss international arrived during the short-lived reign of Dave Hockaday, with the club stuck in the depths of the Championship.
By the time his contract expired in July 2021, Leeds were a top-half Premier League team with Marcelo Bielsa turning water into wine; Kalvin Phillips, Patrick Bamford and Luke Ayling into proven, elite-level performers.
But while Leeds went through countless managerial changes during Berardi’s time in West Yorkshire, there were also big alterations behind the scenes too.
How did Andrea Radrizzani turn Leeds around?
While Andrea Radrizzani is undoubtedly the most popular Leeds chairman in generations – affable and ambitious in equal measure – it is fair to say fellow Italian Cellino didn’t enjoy that same level of popularity, even if his infamous Sky Sports boycott did go down rather well with some supporters.
“(Cellino was) unlike Radrizzani, that’s for sure. Cellino is the president directly, he took care of many things, even at the team level,” said Berardi, highlighting the day-to-day involvement of a man popularly known as the ‘manager eater’ for his trigger-happy ways.
“He has his character, everyone knows it, but I got along well with him. (Cellino) understands football, he knows how to manage a club, a company, a group of people.
“Even after his farewell they understood the work he did, saving Leeds and giving them a platform. He was present every day, at the training pitch.
“That is the main difference with Radrizzani.”
Amid those baffling superstitions, the six-game managerial reigns, the constant churn, the Sam Byram saga, the outlawing of anything purple and the number 17, few at Leeds will be pining for the Cellino era these days.
Radrizzani, in contrast, has quickly become a byword for stability and structure at Elland Road; two things Leeds have been crying out for since the house of cards collapsed at the start of the century.
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