Leeds United sit just one game shy of wrapping up a season that started in the August sun and will end up crawling through heat of an early May Sunday.
However, whilst the Whites 2017/18 Sky Bet Championship campaign may be bookended by instances of sunlight and warmth, there was very little of that sandwiched in between that opening day game against Bolton and Sunday’s final match against QPR.
United topped the table in the early part of the season, but inconsistency was their enemy and results soon began to falter, then drop, before the free-fall that has come to signify the second half of the season.
Only 18 points have been collected since the turn of the year, that profligate return has seen the Whites tumble to 14th place in the league table. Another season of mid-table mediocrity for Leeds fans to chew down on and swallow hard, depressing as it followed an almost stellar campaign the season before.
Player consistency has been an issue as well across the season, and with the season’s end rapidly approaching it will soon be time for the dreaded ‘retained list’ to be issued by all clubs, Leeds United included.
It was something that was touched on by United manager Paul Heckingbottom in his pre-QPR presser on Friday afternoon. Speaking to Adam Pope from BBC Radio Leeds ‘West Yorkshire Sport’ programme, Heckingbottom touched on the nature of some players’ futures.
Will they stay, or will they go?
The Leeds United head coach is asked by Popey when will he get the opportunity to sit down and make decisions about those he wants to keep at the club, and those that he wants to pass on.
Admitting that it has proven difficult with the proposed trip to Myanmar, Heckingbottom says that he wanted to get people in after the QPR game and have “proper conversations” with them. He is then asked by Popey whether he’s had some conversations with players, and whether they know their future’s are away from the club.
In responding to this question, Heckongbottom replies, “Yeah, some do, yeah.”
This final utterance, which rounds off the West Yorkshire Sport clip, will have pertinence for players such as Polish midfielder Mateusz Klich, former £1-million-man Luke Murphy and Swedish forward Marcus Antonsson. That trio are currently out on loan, and many fans have been questioning whether they have a future at the club.
It would be safe to assume that the futures of fellow loaned-out players Lewie Coyle (Fleetwood Town) and Yosuke Ideguchi (Cultural Leonesa) will be at Elland Road. However, fringe players at the club this season, such as Hadi Sacko may already know where their future lies.
The intriguing one for fans to ponder over will be the future of former #1 Felix Wiedwald, who is essentially now the third-choice stopper at the club. With many fans not wanting him between ‘the sticks’ at the club again, it remains to be seen whether he has joined his wife in returning to Germany.
