Angus Kinnear steers clear of bold Leeds United Premier League proclamations but sets the bar high

Leeds couldn’t do it properly, not quite, thanks to a pandemic and the responsibility felt keenly by decision makers at Elland Road not to encourage people onto the streets in large numbers.

A gathering was inevitable however and the sing-song that players and approximately five thousand of their devotees were able to enjoy, from a safe distance, went some way to making up for what Marcelo Bielsa’s squad have lost due to coronavirus.

Liam Cooper should have been carried around the hallowed turf on fans’ shoulders. There should have been a pitch invasion.

Instead, Cooper hoisted Josh Warrington onto his shoulders, the city’s world champion invading the celebration at a stadium to whose glorious sporting history he has contributed.

Yellow and blue smoke filled the air as ‘Leeds, Leeds are falling apart, again’ rang out from Leeds-born Kalvin Phillips and the thousands-strong choir he was conducting from the stadium steps.

Even under owner Andrea Radrizzani and this regime, Leeds have been accused of falling apart. Not this time.

This time, they held it together and watched as first West Brom and then Brentford fell apart to hand Leeds promotion on Friday night and a league title on Saturday afternoon.

“It’s been some weekend so far without kicking even a ball,” said Kinnear, when top spot was a certainty on Saturday.

“Everyone is absolutely delighted, absolutely thrilled, three years of hard work, difficult to believe.

“There are some very sore heads around Leeds today, including mine. We partied with some vigour last night, but I think it’s what the team, the city and most of all what the fans deserved.”

If Friday’s overriding feeling was relief, Saturday’s was satisfaction. A lot of hard work went into making Leeds a force to be reckoned with, both on and off the pitch.

“I think the club have suffered from years of mediocre ownership, there were challenges across the club, from how we generated revenue, how we were engaged with the fanbase and to the playing side as well,” said Kinnear.

“We really had to start from the bottom up.

“It’s always been about building foundations. Andrea set the target of getting back the Premier League in five years, we’ve done it in three. For us really this is just the start of the journey, it’s the end of the beginning.”

The reality of a sport that never stops is that Leeds cannot take too long to celebrate what they’ve done, before turning their attention to a first season back in the Premier League since their 2004 exit.

Radrizzani has vowed that the club’s ambition isn’t simply to reach the Premier League and Kinnear sees top flight status as a bare minimum for a club with the size, stature and fanbase of the three-time champions of England, Leeds United.

Kinnear acknowledged the relentless expectations of the supporters in helping drive the club back to the top.

“Whilst we’re all very excited, we’ve got back to where we belong,” he said.

“This is base camp for Leeds United. Leeds United shouldn’t be a Championship side, they should be a Premier League side. So really the challenge starts now, it’s about competing in the Premier League.

“We know our supporters are immensely loyal but they’re immensely demanding, as they should be.

“I spoke to one last night who said we have a honeymoon period until half-time in the first game and if we’re not two up they’re not going to be happy again and we know that’s the case, that’s the way it should be.”

So having made one dream come true, how big can Whites fans start to dream now? Kinnear, who admits his tongue-in-cheek ‘we’re not ******* around with the play-offs any more’ comment might well have left him with egg on his face, is making no firm promises about next season’s achievements. He is setting the bar high for the future, though.

“It’s the first step, having Leeds back playing in the forum they should be in and now it’s about building on that and making sure over the next few years we are competing at the level Leeds should be competing at, that’s the top six and that’s always been our aim,” he said.

“I’m not going to make any bold proclamations like I did last year because that almost came back to bite me.

“Next year the team will go out every week, will play swashbuckling, attacking football, will show absolutely no fear, will show no team any respect, we’re not going to be scared and we’ll give Leeds supporters another year they can be proud of.”