David Prutton: Spygate press conference fascinating but EFL and FA bound to bite back

When you saw a press conference had been announced, the gossip mongers went into overdrive about whether Bielsa might go because of what he has done in previous jobs in walking out.

I think there was a bit of apprehension about that.

But his presentation was very methodical, deconstructed and thoroughly explained and let’s take into account that this is a man whose pre and post match interviews take an age to get across because of his depth of explanation and use of a translator.

Yet Bielsa was still able to hold this presentation for over an hour but keep everyone pretty much wrapped in what he was saying.

I think it was a fascinating insight into what a manager with those capabilities and at that level deems appropriate.

If you are a Leeds fan and you look at who has managed Leeds in recent years and the names that perhaps haven’t jumped off the page, Bielsa puts them into even greater focus.

Here you have got a manager who – and there’s no other way to put this – is quite simply not messing about trying to get this club back into the Premier League. He’s sincerely not playing at it.

But I still can’t see there being no reaction by the FA or the EFL to ‘Spygate’, even if it’s a case of addressing what they have seen or talking about what they have found or even looking to appease.

Let’s be honest, in a 24-club division the EFL and FA have got to be seen to be acting on behalf of everybody, hence the democracy side of it. They have got to be answering the questions and the questions of a team like Derby or opponents who feel like lines have been stepped over.

As we have said before, there have been no rules broken or no laws disobeyed but there have been lines stepped over and I would be very, very surprised if there were not some ramifications for Leeds United somewhere down the line.

It’s a very grey area because you don’t know how tiny seeds can imbalance a squad and a performance.

Derby might have played exactly the same way at Elland Road last Friday night without any of this going on or maybe not, so therefore it’s completely up in the air. The more extreme suggestions have been a points deduction or Stuart Pearce’s suggestion that the points should be awarded to Derby.

But if you are going along with Stuart’s thinking then you replay the game and put it back on an even keel.

I couldn’t see that happening and one way or the other you’d surely want this done and dusted so that you know whether it is a financial penalty or a points deduction.

Such is the fine balance of where Leeds are at this moment in time, they will obviously be hoping that is the last thing on the minds of whoever sanctions the reaction to it.

Another eventful week at Leeds has also seen the capture of goalkeeper Kiko Casilla from Real Madrid, a player who has won three Champions Leagues, a La Liga and a European Super Cup at Real after plenty of years experience at Espanyol.

That’s a huge signing, he has been at Madrid, Espanyol and then back at Madrid and you take into account the appearances he has made and the experience he has got but there’s also that ‘big club’ mentality about him.

I say this with the greatest respect to Leeds United, but there are not many clubs on the planet that are Real Madrid.

He knows exactly what that machine is like so he brings that experience and hopefully he can push Bailey Peacock-Farrell too.

At 32, Casilla is a good age for a goalkeeper and he will be hungry to be in a side that he has looked at and seen doing so well.

He will want to be a part of that success and prolonged success and the statement made by Leeds in signing a player such as that will not be lost on the rest of the division.

Stoke City are next for Leeds today under their new manager Nathan Jones and I think it’s tough for Nathan.

It’s a fantastic opportunity for a manager that I have followed closely who has done wonderfully well and at Luton he built a team how he wanted to build it and a club and a culture which reflected him.

He has come into a club now which very recently lost its Premier League status where the players and club have underperformed as a whole, hence the fact that former manager Gary Rowett was sacked.

We look at the money they have spent – which is a lot – but even more so the players they have kept hold of, which we thought would stand them in better stead.

Nathan has had two rough results and he will know that as much as there is the good will when a manager first comes in – that wears very thin, very quickly if results aren’t there. He will have his team absolutely bang at it today against a Leeds United outfit that he will relish coming up against because of how much we have lauded them and how well they have done.

I will be intrigued to see if Nathan sticks to the way he wants to play using a diamond formation which is what he had at Luton.

That worked very well but whether he has got the full-backs to deploy that I don’t quite know at this moment in time.

Leeds will be a very, very tough test for them and United quite obviously go in as clear favourites.

It will be a Bielsa side ready and raring to go and coming off the back of what he has said about teams’ threats and what teams he looks at before matches.

You can bet your bottom dollar he has looked at Nathan’s teams in exhaustive detail and will have worked out plans A to Z of how to deal with them.

*Sky Bet Championship on Sky Sports today: Championship, Swansea City v Sheffield United – Sky Sports Main Event 5.15pm.