Former Leeds United defender Alex Bruce has suggested that Adam Forshaw should have been concentrating on helping the Whites get over the line to promotion, rather than making any bold claims ahead of the season resuming.
The Whites are in a commanding position in the table ahead of the final nine matches of the season, holding a seven-point gap to Fulham in third place, but Marcelo Bielsa’s side were overhauled by Sheffield United last campaign in the last few matches.
Forshaw, though, ahead of the return of the Championship season was in confident mood about the Whites’ chances of finishing off the job. Speaking to Leeds That Podcast he said: “I think it’s going to be a formality for us. That’s my personal view. I think we’ll romp it.”
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Speaking to the Football Insider, Bruce has suggested that whilst Leeds are in a very strong position, Forshaw could well end up regretting those comments come the end of the campaign, and he believes he would be better served just concentrating on the matches ahead.
He said: “You have to admire his confidence – he’s obviously got a lot of confidence in himself and his teammates.
“I think they’ve got enough and I’m sure they’ll see the job out. However, we’ve seen a few over the years, there’s always a few twists and turns in the last quarter of the season.
“I hope for his sake they do see the job out because he’ll be setting himself up for a bit of stick if they don’t. I think you’re always better off keeping your head down, getting on with the job done and doing the talking when the job’s done.”
The verdict
Bruce is probably saying what all Leeds fans will be thinking following Forshaw’s recent comments, with the Whites not wanting to tempt fate or give any extra motivation to their opponents ahead of the final nine matches of the campaign.
The long break in the season has given Leeds plenty of time to ponder their promotion hopes, and while it is good that Forshaw is showing confidence ahead of the run in, it would probably have been wiser to have been making those type of comments internally.
Given what happened to them in the run in last term, Leeds will be keen to get the job done as early as possible, which will mean they will need to hit the ground running in their first few matches, and if they can do that then Forshaw’s comments will not look as potentially intrersting as they do right now.