Jay-Roy Grot is getting a tough time from Leeds United fans.
Leeds United fans were condemned by Thomas Christiansen on Saturday after a section of the Elland Road support jeered Jay-Roy Grot’s cameo in the 1-0 win over Norwich City.
The 19-year-old striker is now yet to score in any of his 13 Championship games, but all of those were substitute appearances which amount to only 147 minutes of football.
Still, Grot, a £1.5 million summer signing (The Express), won’t be feeling too good about his situation in West Yorkshire at the moment, but he need only be told that those boos can and have inspired Leeds players to make their detractors look very foolish in the past.
Chris Wood was subjected to the Elland Road boo boys during a 1-1 draw with Fulham in August 2016, before those jeers turned to cheers when the New Zealand hitman equalised with a 93rd-minute overhead.
The big striker celebrated by ironically cupping one of his ears and he never gave them another opportunity to boo for the rest of his time in Yorkshire. It was his first of an unprecedented 30-goal season, having scored only 13 the previous year.
Grot has a very long way to go before he is scoring goals as often as Wood did, but the towering Dutchman should take heart in the knowledge that a frosty reception from the terraces can make a United career just as easy as it can break it and if the teenager isn’t motivated to prove them wrong, like Wood, then perhaps he isn’t cut out for it at Leeds.
In the meantime, the Whites fans should trust Victor Orta’s judgement. Quite a few of his pre-season recruits have done brilliantly since arriving at Elland Road, and Pawel Cibicki looks like the latest summer signing to blossom in a Leeds shirt.
Grot, who doesn’t turn 20 until March, has plenty of time to silence the critics. One goal can change it all, like it did for the £15 million summer departure.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
