Happy tears and dopamine flowing even before fans return so Leeds United must tread carefully in transfer market

Leeds United had not only beaten Southampton, they had done so handsomely thanks to a second-half goal-blitz.

They had done so with panache, with three good goals and chances to add an equally stylish fourth or even a fifth.

Patrick Bamford continued his remarkable goalscoring run with yet another fine left-foot finish, Stuart Dallas toepoked - it can be given no other name - in a second after a sweeping counter attack and Raphinha scored direct from a free-kick.

It was the kind of strike only very good players produce, a shot that dipped over the wall and curled into the bottom corner of the net, beyond the goalkeeper’s hand and it was further evidence that he belongs in that category.

The dopamine was flowing and so too in some quarters were happy tears, thanks to Dallas’ celebration tribute to Granny Val, Kalvin Phillips’ beloved, charismatic grandmother who died last week.

Marcelo Bielsa’s eloquent words on that subject added to the emotion swirling around Elland Road and the homes of fans pouring over the reaction to the win.

His words earlier in the week on how at home he feels at Elland Road, in the city and in Yorkshire had laid the groundwork for a groundswell of fierce Leeds pride and a lump in thousands of throats.

In showing their support for their grieving colleague, Bielsa and his team once again demonstrated how together they are, even with newcomers who cannot yet boast of any real knowledge of what it means to ‘be Leeds’.

The togetherness of this group has had a softening effect on hearts that had been hardened by years of mediocrity and disaster. Whites supporters have all the more reason to be proud of their team and what they’ve achieved together, because on-field success has been accompanied by off-field generosity and acts of kindness.

Patrick Bamford carried an iPad onto the field on Tuesday, while video calling a group of Beeston Primary kids who were themselves using tablets the striker had bought and donated to the school.

Good football and good will is a heady mixture.

Kindness has come to be expected from this Leeds team, but what they’re managing to pull off on the pitch is beyond anyone’s wildest dreams. So the 10th-place position they acquired with that victory over the Saints and the 35 points that might actually be enough to stave off relegation without further addition from here to the end of the season, are to be relished and savoured.

If you’re not pinching yourself, you should be. If you’re not enjoying it as much as you can from home, you should be. It might not be this fun forever but another season just like this one, with Elland Road full, will be electric.

If all goes to plan, Bielsa turns his job satisfaction into a contract extension and Victor Orta finds more quality additions, there will be less of a pleasant surprise element to victories like the ones they’ve enjoyed this season over mid-table clubs like Crystal Palace and Southampton, but fans will be experiencing Bielsaball in the top flight for the first time. It will feel like a new normal.

Expectations may rise, which in itself is to be expected after a better-than-anticipated debut Premier League campaign. And Orta’s work in the transfer window could send hopes soaring past what is reasonable.

But I dare say most match-going Whites will be so wrapped up in an experience that has eluded them for too long to remember they’re supposed to be a demanding, impatient lot. At least for a game or two.

Raphinha is going to send a buzz around Elland Road every time he picks up the ball but the real ovations should belong to the ‘old timers’ who made Leeds’ current, scarcely-believable reality possible.

Liam Cooper, Stuart Dallas, Luke Ayling, Pablo Hernandez and others have been responsible for setting standards and maintaining a culture that has served this club very well.

Bielsa once said you would be unable to find a better group, in the human sense, than the one at Thorp Arch.

He too appreciates what the fans appreciate when they look at these players and how they conduct themselves.

That’s where the club has to be so careful with the pace at which they move forward.

Too many changes made too quickly could quite easily erode the foundation and ethic that this period of success has been built on. Quality is needed, but continuity is what brought Leeds to the dance.

The nice guys are not going to finish last and they deserve the reunion and the happy tears that will flow when Elland Road’s turnstiles finally click again.