da premier bet： Following a chaotic three-year spell under the leadership of Massimo Cellino, you could have forgiven some Leeds supporters for being nervous when they learnt that another Italian – Andrea Radrizzani – was looking to complete a takeover of the club.
da apostaganha： That deal eventually went through shortly after the 2016/17 Championship season had ended in disappointment, with the Yorkshire outfit missing out on the play-off positions despite spending the majority of the campaign in the top six.
Radrizzani may have only been the owner for little over four months now, but there has already been plenty of change with Garry Monk turning down the opportunity to stay in charge and being replaced with Thomas Christiansen, while on the pitch last season’s top goalscorer Chris Wood departed for Premier League Burnley.
The Italian businessman has certainly overseen plenty of other on and off-pitch dealings over the course of the last few weeks and months, too.
Here are five ways Leeds have changed since the 43-year-old took the Elland Road reins in May…
Togetherness
While Leeds United’s official club anthem is called ‘Marching On Together’, it rarely felt as though that was the case when Massimo Cellino was the owner.
The chairman and the fans often clashed and the Italian’s decision to appoint seven different managers during his three years at the helm hardly helping the Yorkshire outfit in their quest to return to the Premier League for the first time since 2004.
The arrival of Radrizzani has changed that though, and it finally seems as though the new owner, the fans, the manager and the players are finally all pulling in the same direction, and that has translated to a positive start to the season on the pitch.
The match against Ipswich also saw the first meeting for the Supporters’ Advisory Board, who provide the connection and communication between the terraces and the boardroom.
Sensible club appointments
Radrizzani certainly seems to be more sensible when it comes to appointing managers, and it would have been the right decision at the time of his arrival to provide some stability by keeping Garry Monk.
That was the plan but Monk had other ideas and chose to move on, leaving the Italian to search for a new boss.
Following a meticulous interview process Leeds appointed the relatively unknown Thomas Christiansen, and the positive start to the Championship season would suggest that it was a good move.
With Victor Orta and Angus Kinnear also taking up director of football and managing director role respectively, the Yorkshire outfit have a good setup to lead them forward and Radrizzani certainly looks to be the type to keep the faith rather than making any snap decisions – as his predecessor often did.
Structure
Under Cellino you never felt that Leeds had much structure or well thought out future plans, but it appears to be a completely different story with Radrizzani.
The 43-year-old had his new manager and his squad completed by the time the summer transfer window slammed shut at the end of August, while he is already making progress off the pitch too by looking to form a strong relationship with the supporters and bring back the club’s ladies’ team.
If this planning and organisation from the very top of the club to the bottom continues, it will only be a matter of time before the Yorkshire club make their Premier League return.
Transfer market dealings
While losing last season’s top goalscorer Chris Wood to Premier League side Burnley just 10 days before the summer transfer window shut may have been worrying under the leadership of Cellino, you get the feeling that Leeds supporters trusted Radrizzani to not leave them short up top come September 1, and it proved to be the case.
Having already signed Caleb Ekuban earlier in the summer, the Yorkshire outfit brought in Jay-Roy Grot two days after Wood’s departure before they added fellow strikers Pawel Cibicki and Pierre-Michel Lasogga on transfer deadline day.
With the likes of Matthew Pennington, Samu Saiz, Ezgjan Alioski, Vurnon Anita and Mateusz Klich also arriving throughout the summer, Leeds look to have the quality and strength in depth that they may have lacked in previous seasons.
He gave the fans Elland Road back
While previous Leeds owners have promised that they would buy Elland Road back after the club sold it in 2004 because of the financial difficulty they found themselves in, Radrizzani was the first to deliver.
Now the Yorkshire outfit have their home back and while it perhaps isn’t the biggest change, it is probably one of the more significant one for the supporters.
The Italian has already started adding nostalgic banners around the stadium highlighting the club’s previous honours and achievements, and the fact it is theirs again has probably helped to boost the already electric atmosphere that the home faithful creates every fortnight.
Do you agree, Leeds fans? Let us know below.