Former Leeds United player Andy Ritchie, who played for the Whites between 1983 and 1987, made a bold claim yesterday in his Yorkshire Evening Post (YEP) column.
Writing in the YEP, Ritchie said that all it takes for United to make a success out of their season is to maintain a dual sense of calm and perseverence and that this will see them through to the end of the season and a good placing in the final Sky Bet Championship table. In fact, Ritchie said that a top six finish is not beyond the realms of the impossible should Leeds ensure that these two conditions are fulfilled.
Ritchie’s bold claim is that, at the end of the season, he thinks that United “can sneak into the play-offs definitely,” adding that what needs adding to the playing staff is that the club make sure they are “getting that consistency.”
Leeds sit 14th in the table at the moment on 17 points after 13 games, but are the division’s 8th placed form team over the last 10 games – averaging a return of 1.6 points per game (pp/g) over this spread of matches.
If, as Ritchie professes, the Whites are to hit 6th spot at least at the season’s end then they will need to hit around 74 points – the average points needed for a play-off place aover the last 17 seasons. Currently, Leeds’ 10 game form indicates that they’ll likely fall short and end up around 70 points-or-so, meaning the Whites are going to have to up their game a little in a league where there is a very tightly packed table – only 5 points separating Brentford in 8th place and Derby in 20th.
Ritchie says that Leeds are probably “ahead of schedule,” but the Whites may want to start practising the consistency that their former striker is preaching in order to avoid dropping points from winning positions and aiming to surpass that average of 74 points that usually sees teams gain the final play-off place.
