Up until December, Patrick Bamford would have been fearing the worst at Leeds United because not many things were going right for him.
The 30-year-old had just suffered relegation with the club and was now struggling to earn starts for a team in the Championship.
Summer signing Joel Piroe was becoming the main man and he was starting to win the Leeds fans over with his goals and performances, as a result, the road ahead was looking bleak for Patrick Bamford.
That’s why Clinton Morrison thinks he wasn’t going to get back into Daniel Farke’s XI, as he told Soccer Special on Sky Sports (13/02/24 at 7:30 pm).
But fast forward to the present and the former EFL hitman thinks Patrick Bamford has been ‘outstanding’ for the Whites.
Ever since he was handed his first Championship start on New Year’s Day against Birmingham City, he hasn’t looked back, because he scored on that afternoon and has since scored three more important goals during that period, not forgetting that wonder goal in the FA Cup.
That has been some turnaround for the Englishman and how he has, in recent months, managed to bench Joel Piroe, who returned to the starting XI against his former club on Tuesday night as Leeds thrashed Swansea City.
Patrick Bamford’s turnaround at Leeds United
“He is important,” said Morrison about Bamford ahead of the run-in for Leeds. “But I didn’t think he would get back into the team.
“Joel Piroe, who they signed, was outstanding. But when you have competition for places, that’s what Leeds have. Bamford can come in there and he has done well. He has been given his opportunity.
“I remember when he first came back, he missed a penalty against Stoke. I thought it would knock his confidence and he came out of the team. Now he is getting all kinds of goals. That’s what Patrick Bamford wants, is service. I think he has been outstanding.”
Patrick Bamford’s last dance for Leeds?
The main aim for Leeds is to earn promotion back to the Premier League, as of this moment, they are on track because they are sitting second in the Championship table.
If Farke does get the Yorkshire club back to the promised land, then it might prove to be the last dance for Bamford in Leeds colours.
He turns 31 in September, and you feel with the club in the Premier League, he is someone they would move on and thank him for his services.
So, these next few months could be Bamford’s parting gift to a team that has served him so well in his career.
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