Leeds United made the rest of the Sky Bet Championship stand up and take notice last week when they appointed former Swansea City manager Garry Monk into the managerial role which was recently vacated by Steve Evans.
Monk is the latest in a long list of Massimo Cellino managerial appointments and the Italian owner will no doubt hope that he has chosen the right man this time around.
The Whites finished in an unspectacular 13th position in the second tier last term but with promotion firmly in the mind of the club’s hierarchy, anything less than the play-offs from Monk and his coaching staff is likely to be deemed as failure from the boardroom.
The highly-rated young coach is expected to shake things up at Elland Road and his arrival has given optimism to their long-suffering supporters.
Football League World writer Lee Clarke takes a look at four players who could thrive for Leeds United under the stewardship of Garry Monk next season:
Alex Mowatt
The 21-year-old midfielder boasts over 100 appearances in the white of Leeds United since he made his debut in 2013.
Mowatt has potential in abundance and he could really start to show his true worth for the club next season as Garry Monk looks to stamp his own authority on the squad.
At Swansea, Monk liked his team to play with the ball on the deck and that will suit Mowatt to the ground, with the youngster’s style all about forward passing with one eye on the team pressing forward.
It would be no surprise at all to see Monk build his entire team around this midfield maestro during the 2016/17 campaign.
Chris Wood
It is probable that Garry Monk will look to add some competition up top, with Leeds somewhat short in attack at present.
With that in mind, Monk could actually get the best out of the New Zealand international and the new boss’ style will be all about getting balls into Wood where he can finish them off.
The former Leicester City man netted 13 goals during his maiden season in West Yorkshire and he can clearly score plenty in the Sky Bet Championship.
The 24-year-old has so much more to offer the Whites and if Monk puts his faith in the target man, he could well fire Leeds towards the top six next season.
Lewis Cook
A midfield pairing of Cook and Alex Mowatt must have the Leeds United faithful purring at the thought of such a partnership.
The 19-year-old was the subject of top flight interest last season and the fact he was pushed out wide on occasions last term will not have helped his development a great deal.
Monk is unlikely to place any square pegs in round holes when next season kicks off and Cook should find himself back in a more natural central role, where he is most effective.
Cook has already featured 80 times for the Whites and if he can focus back on his football and not his next move, the club will have a real player on their hands during 2016/17.
Jordan Botaka
Former Leeds boss Steve Evans probably didn’t do a great deal for the Zaire-born winger’s confidence last season, when he publicly criticised him after one game in particular, although his form was pretty impressive towards the end of the campaign.
After his public rollicking from Evans, the lively youngster dusted himself down and finished the season with 10 appearances to his name, following a summer arrival from Excelsior.
Botaka pledged his international allegiances to DR Congo and he now has seven caps to his name after making his debut in March 2015.
One thing you would expect Garry Monk to do is give young blood a chance to thrive in the first-team and the 22-year-old should have done enough towards the end of last season to warrant a chance to shine next season.
Leeds United fans, what do you think? Do you believe these players will thrive under Monk’s management?