'Stuff you lot' - Ex-Leeds United man advice to Whites player, £50m sale shout and striker call

He jumped out of a situation that as a collective he was part of. Being an ex-footballer, I totally understood the reaction to his move to Union Berlin on a loan exit relegation release clause. You knew that it would annoy people and understandably so because it's the equivalent of just walking out on the family from a Leeds point of view.

But that was his choice and that's what he did. Now he's coming back and he's said a few bits and bobs, not in the sense of shouting his mouth off but he has been asked about it. But the best way to get yourself back in the affections of the fans is to play well, be part of a team that does well and don't stink the place out. That's the challenge to Brenden.

Going back to the summer of 2022, when I first found out that he was coming to the club from Red Bull Salzburg, I thought the attributes that I saw from him in the MLS would suit what Leeds were after. They might suit Leeds even more so in the Championship now. Brenden will understand what the challenge is and the best thing for him to do is just get his head down and perform if he gets picked. That's all he can do.

There will be question marks about the rough and tumble of the Championship for him and if you can't deal with the rigors of the Premier League or the Championship then you need to have a serious look at your recruitment if they have not been able to see that. Physically, yes, it is the player's responsibility but if he can't cut it then that lies firmly at the feet of whoever has brought him in.

If you have brought the wrong type of player in for English football then it's you who has gone out of your way to scout him, you have gone out of your way to buy him so it's your fault, not the players' fault at all. Now he either does cope with it or he doesn't and he ends up going somewhere else.

He has already shown that he is more than happy to disappear off somewhere else so it's a challenge that is going to be set for him and what boss Daniel Farke wants for him. The only way that he can deal with it is to step forward into the challenge which collectively the Leeds United side that he was part of in the Premier League didn't. They were all pretty ropey.

'Making up' with fans is not the right phrase but he has been away for a season when a lot of very, very good things happened, barring jumping over that final hurdle. Now he has got to make sure that collectively he is part of the people that pick each other up and go again, that's all he can do.

He was a very young player when I saw him play in the MLS but he had a gameness to get on the ball with ability and energy. They are things that perhaps might suit the Championship marginally more than maybe the Premier League, which I suppose is a bit sweeping statement.

I saw him with my own eyes and I thought he was going to be half decent. But he was part of a string of players that were brought in at Leeds that were just good enough for the club in the Premier League so it's a case of getting back to proving the promise that he showed.

Going back to that gameness and the type of player that he was, he was bullish enough to move continents to play football and think that because one move didn't work out I am going to go and try somewhere else.

This might be trying to put needless positives on the position. But maybe and hopefully it's a case of tapping into that. Get that player, get that side of the player to almost say in the nicest possible way 'stuff you lot, I'm a good player and this is what I can bring to Leeds'. That's what he was got to do. He has got to get himself into the team, into Daniel's reckoning and once he gets there he's got to maintain and show people what he can do.

Make absolutely no doubts about it, given the teams that have come down, Leeds will be favourites for next season's Championship if not firm favourites.

There is the disappointment of the play-offs to deal with, of coming up short in that particular regard. But that disappointment has to be very quickly banished because the next port call for Leeds is promotion and if they don't achieve it then that will be a failure.

In terms of what Leeds need to do next, I suppose part of it is a bit cat and mouse with potentially who might be going and if it's an attacking player that goes. Broadly speaking, Leeds had a system that worked last season and they had a fair decent amount of people to call upon. But fundamentally, that didn't get them over the line so that's part of what they've got to keep an eye on.

I'd say keep a hold of a Crysencio Summerville if you can but if you get 50 million quid for him, see you later. Georginio Rutter has got a more consistent season in him, Dan James has got a more consistent season in him, Willy Gnonto has got a more consistent season in him.

There is so much collectively that Leeds were very, very good at but you don't get promoted if you're not consistent, which is what Leeds ended up being. That's what they've got to keep an eye on - and being that big fish in the pond that people will be absolutely buzzing to play and gunning for.

When it comes to the options upfront, Mateo Joseph looked bright enough in the little bits that we saw of him last season but we didn't see much of him. He hasn't even had one league start yet so to say he is our man going into next season would be a little bit premature. Very premature even. That's a little bit idealistic.

That sense of what he can do and who he can possibly be, he needs to be helped by Georgie Rutter and Patrick Bamford and whether Summerville is playing centrally or off the side, there is a bit of that as well.It's an intriguing setup that Leeds have got to try and manage. If there is a striker that becomes available for the right price then yes but for how much and have Leeds got the money to buy someone like that? But I think you would always keep an eye out for a striker. Other than that, it's about keeping the ones there that are fit and available.