Some Willy Gnonto home truths, 49ers musts and exception from Leeds United ‘mob’: David Prutton

We all know that when teams get relegated, there are occasions when players move on. There's occasions where you see players valiant in defeat and you kind of wish them well. Of the players that have left, I think Jack Harrison is possibly one of the only ones who that applies to.

Jack was as much of a part of getting Leeds back into the Premier League as anyone else and I think he really proved himself coming back into English football with the way he went about it. Kudos to him and there's also the fact that he was out the door at Leicester in January.

But the rest of it has made a mockery of Leeds' recruitment. First and foremost, you've got players that haven't been good enough to keep the club at the top level. Secondly, said players then believe themselves too good for the level they are at now - a level they have had an active part in getting Leeds in to.

Clauses have also been inserted and players with those have consequently left or you do what Willy Gnonto has done and say my head's all over the place, blah, blah, blah and I can't play, all that type of stuff.

With the cynicism of being a former pro and knowing how fickle and precarious your existence as a Premier League footballer can be, I do understand. But there's the other side of it and I am wholeheartedly set in amongst the fans with this. It looks terrible, it is terrible and doesn't reflect well on the player or his representation.

You can't be surprised because this is what happens and this is just the way it's all kind of panned out. We all understand that football is a business, it's global and it's high stakes. We get all that. But saying I am not in the right mind to play is code for I don't want to play for you and that really does stink the place up.

To paraphrase Liam Cooper, if you don't want to be here then **** off. That's how he put it and that's pretty much how it feels that Leeds fans would feel about a situation such as this.

It's scandalous that Gnonto refused to play. I understand how selfish footballers have to be and need to be to be successful. But you can't do that. I've heard good things about him as a person and a teammate but this blows that out of the water.

As much as we understand what football is nowadays, the essence of it is still about being a team, a band of brothers or sisters looking after each other. That might all sound a bit twee but if you are looking over and can't rely on the geezer next to you then what's the point in having him in the team or the squad? He's very firmly burnt his bridges I think.

There was a lot of head scratching about him at the end of last season when he wasn't playing, a clamour to get him in the team and to see what he can do. There was a genuine excitement when he was on the ball.But when we were enthusing about him I think he was benefiting from the comparison of being a poor team.

The jury is out on whether he is a Premier League footballer, very much so. He might have looked pretty energetic and lively at times but he's no wonder kid. He doesn't come on and rip people to pieces. He's not a Michael Owen circa 1998 slicing through teams and smashing it in the top corner by any stretch of the imagination.

There's definitely a very good footballer in there. But it's a unique relationship that fans have with players and if they love a player they will root for him until he does something like this which feels like a slap in the face.They've been chanting and roaring his name out to try and help out and he's not been part of that.

He might look at it and think this club had managers that didn't give me a chance in the Premier League so sod you lot, I'm off. But I am firmly foot in the camp of what the fans are thinking and all the text messages that I am getting are about this mob, this crew, this firm of players that have been absolutely bang average for Leeds United that want to go, don't let the door slam you on the way out.

It's been ups and downs for Leeds fans over the last few seasons and it was a long time coming to get back to the Premier League. But if you are a player then don't take the mickey out of them, don't one day declare undying love and loyalty and then jump at the first hole in the boat which is exactly they've done.

I wouldn't say Jack Harrison gets away with it but what Jack has done for Leeds and what Leeds have done for Jack has been mutually beneficial. I think everyone has applauded his work rate, his consistency and his attitude to play absolutely anywhere that he has been told to. He has been brilliant for that and I think there is an element of wishing him well on his way.

I absolutely get that because he's proven himself in the period of time that he has played for Leeds. But the rest of them are instantly forgettable names, instantly forgettable performances, and a lot of them will just go down as many players can do at Leeds United as just names on a board but once wore a white shirt at Elland Road.

At the moment, all it looks like to me is that players have been identified who have been poor players for Leeds United that have underperformed and got the club relegated and said poor players then have the opportunity to further their careers after using Leeds as a stepping stone that has been completely dunked underwater.

If you are a Leeds fan you must be sitting there scratching your head. It almost feels like you would be waking up and rubbing your eyes in August 2023 ahead of a Championship season thinking 'have I just dreamt the last three seasons.' Did Marcelo Bielsa actually exist? Were there really people en masse outside on Elland Road celebrating promotion and were there people celebrating beating Manchester City and beating Liverpool and were these occasions real? All because of what's happened and unfolded quite dramatically in the last few months.

First and foremost, the 49ers need to get the ones out of the door that don't want to be there and then replace what you can replace and get the injured lads back fit. Leeds let themselves down defensively in that first game against Cardiff and then they lost to a Birmingham City team that is on a bit of an upswing with regards to Tom Brady bowling in the door.

But Daniel Farke needs to be given the arsenal that he needs. I think he's dealt with it just right so far and he will know more about what's going on then we do. But I think he's been absolutely right. When he says a player is "unavailable" like Luis Sinisterra was at Birmingham then his explanation is ambiguous enough for people to make of it what they will.

Then there are players that are moving on which is proving him right for keeping his counsel and his take off if people don't want to be here then move them on is absolutely right. I think he needs to be given a bit of patience from the people in charge and also from the fans which I think he will get because of what he is capable of.

But Daniel conquered the Championship with a ball-playing midfielder in Emi Buendia who was one of the best we have seen at that level and a goalscorer in Teemu Pukki who was also one of the best we have seen at that level too. He needs things akin to that.