Patrick Bamford shares how Leeds United teammates reacted to ‘ludicrous’ Elland Road change
Patrick Bamford has shared how his Leeds United teammates reacted to his new haircut, suggesting a number of the players encouraged him to change his style.
The Whites number nine appeared a number of weeks ago sporting a new bleach blonde haircut, with a number of supporters and pundits critiquing his new style, including Sky Sports’ Andy Hinchcliffe who labelled it “ludicrous” [Sky Sports, 23 December].
While not everyone is a fan of the England international’s new look, he revealed most of his teammates at Elland Road approved of the dye job and even pushed him towards making the switch.
Speaking on the My Mate’s A Footballer podcast (4 January, 1:50) he said: “Within the last six months I’ve gone from having long floppy hair to then going to a bit of a buzzcut, to now going to a bit of a platinum buzzcut.
“A lot of the boys knew that I was going to do it and they were saying just do it, it will look good.”
Joe Wilkinson quickly replied saying: “I find it surprising they were supportive because I thought they would all be going ‘you tart’.”
Back in form
Whatever was in the hair dye that Bamford used has had the desired effect for the Leeds United centre-forward. Having failed to find the for the entire first half of the Championship season, he scored in his first start with his new haircut against Birmingham City.
Whether the two things are at all related remains to be seen, but the 30-year-old looked back to his best during the clash with Birmingham and Daniel Farke will be hoping that he can continue this excellent form for the remainder of the campaign.
The Whites are blessed with a number of high-quality attacking players in their ranks at Elland Road this season and that has seen Bamford reduced to a supporting role. But should he continue to pop up with important goals, he will be able to force his way back into contention.
Hopefully, the goalscoring touch will remain long after the bleached hair grows out as regular contributions in the final third from the 30-year-old this season will massively boost Leeds’ chances of winning promotion back to the Premier League.
In other Leeds United news, talks are set to begin over Diego Llorente’s long-term future at the end of the season