Opposite View: Leeds United Q&A with Through It All Together

We spoke to our fellow SB Nation blog Through it all Together, to get the lowdown on all things Leeds United.

Thanks to Pete for taking the time to answer our questions ahead of the Good Friday game at Elland Road tomorrow.

From who Bolton Wanderers fans should look out for, to whether or not Paul Heckingbottom is the right manager to get them promoted, here is all the insight you need.

How has the season gone since we last met?

"Well, Leeds United have been on a bit of a roller-coaster. Back in August and September, Leeds were flying high. Top of the Championship for a few weeks, keeping clean sheets and scoring goals aplenty.

Then October and November happened, and Leeds looked dreadful. The club had a very nice run in December, but since Boxing Day Leeds have only won once. It’s been a dark time at the club, as the fans are angry at how the club has tumbled down the table after just missing out on the playoffs the year before.

The “new badge” fiasco in January seemed to burn whatever goodwill the new owner, Andrea Radrizzani, had earned since taking over, and the fans are getting a little restless. It’s been far too long that this club has been out of the Premier League, and after coming so close last year to the playoffs, missing out on them this year has a portion of the fans in close to open revolt. Some good results by the U23s and U18s have seemed to calmed the horde down a bit, but a few more ugly results to finish off the season might make Elland Road a fairly toxic place once again."

Was it the right decision to sack Thomas Christiansen?

"Well, I said a few weeks before Christiansen was let go that sacking him wasn’t going to change the squad overnight, as the same players that were playing terrible and having discipline issues would still be there and if Leeds continued to look poor, it was on the players, not the coach. The man in charge has changed, but the results really haven’t changed that much.

I wouldn’t have sacked TC, but ultimately, I was okay with it because the players seemed to stop listening to him and whatever principles and ideas that TC had about playing football that were on display in August were long gone by the time that January came around. I think he deserves another chance somewhere, but it probably won’t be in England."

With just one win in eight games, is Paul Heckingbottom the right man to take you back to the Premier League?

"That remains to be seen. He was hyped up as being good with development of young players, with his record at getting pretty good results at Barnsley FC on an extremely limited budget. And as dreadful as Leeds have been since he was brought in, he’s seen Northern Ireland U21 Bailey Peacock-Farrell come in and do a pretty good job at keeper. Against Sheffield Wednesday, teenager Tom Pearce came in at left back and also seemed pretty good. He seems to have the faith of the board, and if can bring along some of the young players at the club, then he’ll do well at Leeds."

Who should Wanderers fans watch out for on Good Friday?

"Pablo Hernandez. The Spaniard has become a cult hero at Elland Road, and the status of his contract extension, or lack there of, has caused a lot of heartburn among the faithful. A lot of other players have something to prove, but Hernandez is the straw that stirs the drink for Leeds."

We ran a story the other day about a swap deal that nearly happened between Bolton and Leeds in 2013, with Kevin Davies going to Leeds and El-Hadji Diouf going to Bolton. Would you have liked to see that happen?

In a word? No. As Jack Robshaw, one of our writers and one of the hosts of the Mighty Whites Podcast (@Mightywhitespod on Twitter) put it "We had Matt Smith for 2013/14 season. By that point Davies had gone past his best and Matt Smith was a better big man. Diouf had shown some quality in 12/13 season. As Diouf didn’t do much second season it would have probably been a 50/50 shout."

What’s the score going to be?

"Leeds have looked like crap recently, and I think that Bolton will get a early Easter present from Leeds and win 2-1 over Leeds with some mind-numbing mistake done by the defence that will allow one of your forwards, late in the match, to saunter into the box unabated, slotting the winner home."

Thanks again to the Through It all Together lads for giving us an insight into all things Leeds. You can find TIAT on twitter @thruitalllufc.