David Prutton has commented on Leeds United’s chances in the new Championship season.
Sky Sports pundit David Prutton has told the Yorkshire Evening Post that he thinks Leeds United’s minimum target this season should be a play-off place.
The Whites looked to be nailed on for a play-off place last season, but a late collapse saw them slip out of the top six and finish some way off the play-off spots under Garry Monk.
Much has changed since then; Andrea Radrizzani has taken full ownership of the club from Massimo Cellino, Monk quit the club and moved on to Middlesbrough whilst Thomas Christiansen was the surprise choice as his replacement in the Elland Road dugout, and a host of new signings have arrived too.
Felix Wiedwald, Vurnon Anita, Matthew Pennington, Mateusz Klich, Madger Gomes, Samu Saiz, Ezgjan Alioski and Caleb Ekuban have all joined the club, whilst permanent deals for Pontus Jansson and Hadi Sacko were also tied up.
Leeds will now hope for another strong season, though they do have plenty of unknown quantities, from manager Christiansen – formerly of APOEL Nicosia – to signings with no English experience such as Klich, Saiz, Alioski and Ekuban.
Ahead of Leeds kicking off their Championship campaign against Bolton Wanderers this weekend, Sky Sports pundit and former Leeds midfielder David Prutton has offered his thoughts on the Whites’ chances.
Speaking to the Yorkshire Evening Post, Prutton has suggested that Leeds should be looking to emulate local rivals Huddersfield Town, who won promotion to the Premier League last season with an unknown manager and a hard-working team.
Prutton also praised owner Radrizzani for ‘putting his money where his mouth is’ both with signing players and with purchasing Elland Road, but ultimately believes that Leeds’ minimum target this season should be to claim a play-off place, laying down a real challenge for new manager Christiansen.
David Prutton (R) in action for Leeds United
“When you look at who went up last year, you had two teams that were a bit of a shoe-in with Newcastle and Brighton,” said Prutton. “The comparisons that are made to Huddersfield won’t help Leeds United’s fans but the fact is we are now looking at Huddersfield Town in the Premier League. They had a great team spirit, a great work ethic, very good players, good recruitment and a manager that came in that people didn’t know so much about. He was given a chance and time to bed in his ideas and philosophies and they ended up being the third best team, if not at times the best, and then went up. So I think quite literally anything is possible.”
“Andrea Radrizzani seems to be putting his money where his mouth is with regards to not only players but also buying the ground as well. The optimistic side of it has got to be there for Leeds and after getting so close last year then I think the minimum has got to be looking at into the play-offs. You look at the teams that have come down and Leeds is still the big hitter in that division. Play-offs has got to be a minimum,” he added.
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