LEEDS UNITED

Marcelo Bielsa arrived as Head Coach at Elland Road with a huge reputation behind him and a huge task ahead in getting Leeds United back to the Premier League. He inherited a squad of players that, at times the previous season, looked good enough to achieve that goal but which ultimately fell away. He whittled the squad down to bare minimum numbers and just half a dozen new faces arrived. But, from the first kick of a ball after his arrival, it was clear he’d managed to extract far more from these players than we’d ever seen before and he ensured they were the fittest in the division. ‘Bielsaball’ was born and it took the Championship by storm. Leeds were top of the pile again at Christmas and with only three league defeats. At times, the football Leeds played was scintillating. As the new year dawned though, problems emerged. Leeds suffered an endless stream of injuries and the new players added little quality. The defeats mounted up and between Christmas and the season’s end Leeds lost a further 12 games. Automatic promotion went to Norwich and Sheffield United and Leeds were pitched into the play-offs. David Watkins was at every game, from the first pre-season match to the season ending defeat to Derby and this is his blow by blow account of events on and off the pitch throughout a remarkable season. It is the ninth such book from the author and, once again, he captures the joy, the despair, the hope and the humour of following one of the most iconic teams in English football.