'Brainless morons' - Leeds United's only hope, blame and Patrick Bamford take: David Prutton

But whether that's going to come to fruition we just don't know because it's looking very squeaky at the moment in being one point from safety and level on games with everyone else in and around them.

Southampton have already gone and Leicester City looked pretty well beaten in Monday night's defeat against Liverpool. It's looking distinctly eggy for Leeds and I think their only hope possibly is that come tomorrow's clash at West Ham they face a team that is a little bit tired after Thursday night's Europa Conference League exertions combined with Spurs being Spursy on the last day of the season and the teams around them losing. That's the territory Leeds are now in.

I can understand that Leeds United's fans will be angry at the possibility of their team going down and looking on with Burnley and Sheffield United already promoted and set to be joined in the Premier League by either Coventry City or Luton Town from the play-offs next term.

But Leeds have got no divine right to be in the Premier League and on the basis of consistency of performance, you don't end up where they are in the bottom three by fate. It's not bad luck, it's poor performances and bad results and that's what normally in the common-sensical way of looking at it gets you relegated.

I can see how it would all stick in the craw but if Coventry or Luton get to the Premier League at Leeds' expense purely on merit then good luck to them. Those two teams have experienced stuff that Leeds have experienced such as points deductions and creaking towards administration and the lower leagues so there are a couple of similarities. I can understand Leeds fans shaking their heads at the situation but that will also be the case at Southampton and Leicester City.

For Leeds, it should be a huge boost that West Ham played in Europe on Thursday night. Any small advantage that Leeds can garner out of it they've got to take. You can look back at last weekend's performance against Newcastle which got them a point and did we expect that? Possibly not so you take the positive of the point out of that.

Elements of the performance need to be thoroughly looked at. But unfortunately now it's a case of concerning themselves with what they can effect and hoping that other results go somewhere towards going their way. That isn't the deal that you'd take going into the final couple of games but it's the deal that Leeds have got to take because of the way that they play.The penalty miss in last weekend's draw against Newcastle could be costly for Leeds but a part of me admires Patrick Bamford for having the guts to step up and take the spot kick. It was a high pressure situation perfectly made for a Raphinha.

But if Rodrigo has kind of deferred to Patrick taking it then that's the thing and the other side of it is if you get to a situation where you have two players fighting over the ball which looks terrible. I suppose the flip side of that is that as long as the ball ends up in the back of the net it doesn't really matter how it gets to that particular stage does it? That's one way of looking at it.

If you're looking at it from a purely human point of view, it's unfortunate that it is Patrick who has taken it and seen his effort saved amid all the focus on the big chances that he has had and his conversion rate of those which isn't great.

But if Leeds United go down it won't be solely Patrick Bamford's fault. If Leeds United go down it's a collective failure from top to bottom. First and foremost you look at performances on the pitch and secondly you look at recruitment and the people who bring those players in.

You look at the management who put those players out there and set them up going into the games, and within that the management's got to be able to rely on a player like Patrick Bamford to be able to score a goal so it's collective and it's intertwined.

It doesn't help him with the Patrick Bamford haters in the crowd at all but he's seen enough of professional football to know that some days you're ahead and some days you're behind. As it's quantified and broken down, yes, there will be people that will be frustrated, none more so than Patrick I truly do believe. But Leeds' Premier League status or their relegation does not land solely at the feet of Patrick.

Leeds then issued a statement condemning online abuse and threats that Patrick and his family had received including several threats via Twitter. Darren Moore got something similar which was racially motivated after Sheffield Wednesday's 4-0 defeat at Peterborough United in their play-off semi final first leg.

Because Twitter is a public forum and people will see it, Leeds United needed to address it, just as Sheffield Wednesday needed to address it. I absolutely understand that. But people who threaten people via social media are complete and utter brainless morons and that's why they do it on that type of platform because they don't have the guts to do anything of any real worth in real life.

I understand condemning it but to give it air time, traction and currency is foolish because it's ultimately meaningless because it comes from the very small brain of a complete idiot. Leeds would be relegated tomorrow if they lose at West Ham on the back of Everton winning at Wolves and Nottingham Forest not getting beaten by Arsenal at the City Ground.

It's all massively possible given how we have seen Everton pull their fingers out against the likes of Brighton and are we going to see an Arsenal side at Forest that's wilted completely off the back of their doomed title chase?

There is still an outside chance for them but it's whether Forest can step out there and do what Forest can do which can set about a football team. It could be that and if Leeds are relegated there's no hiding place. The post mortem would have to be long and in-depth and wide ranging and would Sam Allardyce carry on?

Whoever comes in would have one hell of a job because Leeds would then fall back into being the big fish in the Championship pond and they'd have to work out how quickly and swiftly they can rewrite the wrongs of the previous season.

But the ones that you always feel for in this situation are the fans who have turned up week in, week out, travelling in great numbers and great voice, making themselves heard and voicing their frustrations.

It's that long love affair with Leeds United, something that I have seen first hand. It can make fans feel utterly glorious and on a different planet but it can also kick them repeatedly in the knackers too.