David Prutton believes Leeds United’s poor run of form will show if head coach Thomas Christiansen possesses the ability to inspire his charges.
The Whites, who appointed Christiansen as their new head coach in the summer, following the departure of Garry Monk, started the season in spectacular fashion.
Leeds were unbeaten in their first seven Championship outings and even found themselves at the top of the league table at one point.
However, the Yorkshire giants are currently in the midst of a slump, having lost seven of their last nine league matches.
And Prutton is of the opinion that Christiansen’s managerial abilities will be under the magnifying glass during testing times.
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“But what Leeds have got – which is very good players – they are just struggling for confidence and form as much as anything and this is where we find out about the manager – whether he has got that ability to inspire players”, he wrote in his column in the Yorkshire Evening Post.
“In the early season Leeds looked organised, composed and assured and they just seem to be going away from that somewhat.
“It’s seven league losses out of nine and that has got to be addressed as once you start getting into double figures, that’s when question marks are really raised.”
Prutton went on to add that although a manager’s job is results oriented, Bristol City benefited from sticking with Lee Johnson even when they lost eight games on the trot last season; the Robins are currently fourth in the standings.
“If you look at a reference point, you can look at Bristol City last season as around December/January time they lost eight on the bounce”, he continued.
“But they stuck by Lee Johnson and look where they are now.
“They are flying and they are fourth in the division.
“Obviously they had somebody like Tammy Abraham scoring all of the goals but there are arguments to stick through the not-so-good times because it gives you perspective for when things are going slightly better.
“But as we know, football is immediate, football is about right now and keeping a manager requires patience.”
Leeds will next take on Middlesbrough, led by former Whites boss Monk, at Elland Road on Sunday.
