Ian Harte slams claim of Leeds United player in citing Whites 'shock' and team's 'massive miss'

Ian Harte has revealed his disagreement with the comments of a Leeds United star and cited a particular “big miss” in his former side’s awful season.
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Leeds are heading for Sunday’s final day of the campaign sat second-bottom and needing a victory against visiting Tottenham Hotspur plus slip-ups from both fourth-bottom Everton and third-bottom Leicester City to stay up.

United’s survival destiny was back in their own hands approaching last weekend’s clash at West Ham ahead of which Leeds knew that two wins from their last two games would keep them up. Sam Allardyce’s side went 1-0 up at the London Stadium only to then crumble to a 3-1 defeat, after which Luke Ayling declared that his side did not have the same fitness levels as previous years.

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Harte, though, has hit back at Ayling’s claims in declaring his “shock” that Leeds are now fighting for their survival and his belief that the United have been unable to cope without the leadership of captain Liam Cooper when injured.

DISMAY: From former Leeds United star Ian Harte. Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images.DISMAY: From former Leeds United star Ian Harte. Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images.
DISMAY: From former Leeds United star Ian Harte. Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images.

Speaking to FourFourTwo via Freebets.com, Harte said: “I disagree with what he said there. Not fit enough? Leeds always run. They do score goals, but they've conceded more than they've scored. For a player to come out and say ‘I don't think we're fit enough’ is hard to accept, because every kind of training session is monitored.

“All players have little packs on the backs; you can see the running stats and you can't hide away from anything nowadays. Even when they're playing first-team games like at West Ham, all of those same stats are collated.

"You’ve just got to deal with the fact you’ve lost your game. You need to put your body on the line and accept that you’re in a relegation battle. There's no point in sulking about it, you got to go and earn the right to play in the Premier League next season.”

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Harte added: “Liam Cooper has been massively missed, because he does speak to the lads during games. I just think that certain players cannot deal with the pressure, especially at Elland Road because Leeds fans are the best fans in the world. Naturally they will voice their opinion if things aren't going right, and I think certain players have gone into their shells.

“I'm not really sure why they’re in this position because they started the season brightly with wins over Wolves and Chelsea. But they’ve only won seven games all season. When you look at that group of players and how well they backed Jesse Marsch at the start of the season, I’m shocked that they’re in a relegation battle.

“Jesse gets the sack and Javi Gracia comes in. When you look at that decision now, it probably would have been better if they had brought in Sam Allardyce earlier to give him a bit more time to try and help the team, alongside Robbie Keane and Karl Robinson.

“To find themselves with one game to go needing to win and hope that Leicester and Everton don't get results, is far from ideal. I think Everton will get a result if I'm being honest. Everton are home to Bournemouth who are now safe, so I do think they will get the win.”