Gary Rowett has cast doubt over Leeds United manager Marcelo Bielsa’s ability to take the team back into the Premier League amidst their recent dip in form.
Rowett, who’s perhaps most qualified to make these comments, following a host of failed attempts to secure Premier League promotion, recently applied his expert knowledge claiming that Leeds United will be unable to maintain their high-intensity style and ultimately have to endure the uncertainty of the playoffs come the end of the campaign.
“I’m not sure they [Norwich and Leeds] will be [finishing in the automatic spots],” Rowett revealed to Sky Sports’ EFL Matters . “But I think those two have been fantastic and very, very impressive this season.”
He added: “What do you do now? Do you start to change that? Do you start to comprise? He [Bielsa] doesn’t look like the type of character that would.”
“And that’s just a question I think, it doesn’t mean that they’re not going to [win promotion].
“But if I look at the experience of some of those teams below, I think they’re certainly going to give Leeds – and Norwich – a run for their money.”
We’re sure football fans would probably heed Rowett’s advice had he not been sacked by Stoke City after only eight months in charge after his paltry efforts to bounce them back into the top-flight of English football left them in the bottom half of the table. Not forgetting his capitulation at Derby County, either; or his time at Birmingham for that matter.
Rowett still awaits his next job in management. With judgements like that, it’s not hard to see why.
Marcelo Bielsa knows what he’s doing at Leeds United and the sheer nature of the Championship campaign is always likely to throw these kind of obstacles at any team chasing promotion. The future is bright at Elland Road. Maybe not so much for Rowett.
