Gordon Strachan issues Leeds United promotion verdict and makes ‘embarrassment’ claim

Former Leeds United star Gordon Strachan has tipped his old club to ‘get over the embarrassment of relegation’ after a mixed start to the season.

Daniel Farke has faced plenty of challenges early in his time in charge at Elland Road, with players arriving and leaving right up to the deadline, which didn’t come until weeks into the new season. The Whites, in part, paid a price for that factor, requiring a much greater turnover of players than the majority of their new Championship rivals.

The Whites have won just once so far this season, drawing three and losing once, and they will be expected to kick on after the international break, given they are one of the favourites to win promotion this season.

And according to Strachan, Leeds will find their rhythm after getting over the ‘shock of relegation.

He told Gambling Zone: “I can see Leeds getting results together and getting over the shock of relegation. The way Leeds went down was an embarrassment and sometimes that can take a while to get over – for the club, that can take a little bit of time to shake off and get out of the system. Southampton didn’t go down with a proper fight either. I think both clubs are suffering from the consequences of poor finishes to the Premier League season and need to dust themselves off.”

As for the Championship campaign in general, Strachan believes it will be a close tussle for promotion between up to 10 teams.

“When I look at The Championship this season, I don’t think there are one or two teams in the division that will blow most teams away – I can’t see any candidates that you would potentially consider run-away leaders in terms of securing those automatic promotion spots,” he added. “I think it will be really, really tight between the top ten with about eight or nine games to go and I expect Coventry, Leeds and Southampton to be in that group.

“I think it will be really, really tight between the top ten with about eight or nine games to go and I expect Coventry, Leeds and Southampton to be in that group. I hope that Leeds can get themselves sorted out by that point in the season because they have the fanbase that can drag them along into the promotion reckoning and they also can intimidate other teams. Let’s see how Leeds respond now the season really start to kick on. It’s a heck of a division to see who can win it.”