The promised land party and Pablo Hernandez' pass-for-pass triumph over Wayne Rooney - Graham Smyth's Verdict

After the most arduous of journeys, one that has taken 16 years, they have arrived exactly where they want to be, at the gates of the promised land.

They’ve come reasonably close to discovering it in the past but, in their centenary year, having sorted themselves out from top to bottom and brought in a coach who knew the path to take, it feels like they’ve arrived with perfect timing, exactly when they should have.

It’s a land of milk and honey, of champagne and happy tears, where Marcelo Bielsa jumps up and down hugging his players, where Ben White sings ‘campeones, campeones’ in the shower and Mateusz Klich break dances on the turf of the very side responsible for delaying the Whites’ arrival by a year.

If only these scenes, the partying and the feelings of joy, relief, vindication and pride would last forever. If only Leeds could set up home here, or at least rest in this moment.

The party will go on a little longer but the very thing that gave cause to the celebrations will interupt and then bring them to an end. Football doesn’t stop.

Leeds, 3-1 winners over Derby County in their penultimate game of the season on Sunday, have Charlton to face at Elland Road on Wednesday.

They have Bielsa’s future to sort out, players to sign and an all-too-rapidly-approaching Premier League season to prepare for. Life comes at you fast when you hit the big time. Work has already begun. A bottle of bubbly in one hand, a phone in the other, Leeds are happy to be here but they can’t stay long.

It’s clear Bielsa wants everyone to drink it in before they move on. He wouldn’t talk about his future after a side boasting no fewer than seven changes beat an apathy-riddled Rams outfit, prefering to point everyone in the direction of the young men still whooping and singing in the changing room as his post-match press conference went on.

Leeds are confident the head coach will remain. It feels inevitable as promotion has under his guidance. He’s all in with Leeds United. The embraces with Kalvin Phillips and Patrick Bamford on Friday were familial, not farewell. Elland Road is home, even when the rest of the family are locked outside.

He might have changed the line-up for Derby, insisting it was on account of the mental stress the team suffered in their crucial 1-0 win over Barnsley on Thursday, making no mention of the stress the deserved partying has put on bodies since then, but there was no change in his attitude or the plan at Pride Park.

His touchline demeanour and verbal output said, quite clearly, that nothing but a win would do. He wants continued success, continued development.

The future was on display, in the shape of Jamie Shackleton, Ian Poveda and Pascal Struijk, a trio of youngsters entrusted with key positions for the Derby game.

It began with a touch of class from the hosts, Wayne Rooney and his team-mates forming a guard of honour for the champions. Hernandez, captain for the day, strolled through the tunnel of applause and the game, his class on display throughout.

The Spaniard went pass for pass with Rooney and came out an undisputed winner.

There’s no doubt that Rooney can still pull the strings but this, dead rubber or not, was Hernandez’ show.

If it was a meaningless game, no one thought to tell the 35-year-old who appears frozen in his prime. No one told Gaetano Berardi either. His fifth-minute ‘reducer’ on Tom Lawrence - a perfectly legal challenge - ended the Derby man’s afternoon. He hit Lawrence like a tonne of bricks but the landing was what did for the attacker. He left the field with his shirt acting as a sling for his arm.

An awkward landing then did for Berardi. Out of contract in the summer, the distressing sight of the ultra committed defender leaving the game on a stretcher, head in hands, was a truly sour note in what had been the sweetest of weeks.

Leeds, at least, gave Berardi, watching from the stands with his knee in a protective brace, something to smile about in the second half.

Derby had no sooner taken the lead, Chris Martin scooping an errant Poveda clearance into the net, that Hernandez really turned it on.

He picked out Poveda on the right who sent the ball back into the middle, a first shot was blocked and the second was perfection.

It was all cigars and nutmeg from Hernandez and Leeds after that.

Tyler Roberts’ wonderfully weighted through ball allowed Shackleton to gleefully smash home his first senior goal for 2-1 and Gjanni Alioski’s wicked cross invited a volleyed finish that Derby’s Matthew Clarke was unfortunate enough to provide.

Leeds were in control, that air of inevitability swirling around Pride Park and Derby were powerless. Ben White’s outrageous dinked pass over the head of Rooney deep in the Leeds penalty area was every bit as cheeky as Victor Orta’s binocular-prop celebration at full-time.

Bielsa popped down the tunnel and corks popped on the pitch.

Leeds United are in a good place. This is the time to savour it, for soon they will have to move on and the sense of satisfaction saturating the club and its fans will once again turn into hard work, hope and expectation.

September and the start of the Premier League season will be here in a flash and Leeds, more so than the clubs who have existed there for a year or longer, have their work cut out to be ready.

Clear and cool heads are needed, once again with consequential decisions to be made.

At least, once the party stops there will be no hangover. It’s onwards and upwards from here.