By Jonty Banks

6th Jun, 2023 | 11:40am

Sky Sports pundit slams Andrea Radrizzani amid 'rubbish' Leeds United relegation verdict

David Prutton believes that responsibility must fall on Andrea Radrizzani for the relegation of Leeds United from the Premier League last season.

Just three seasons after sealing promotion from the Championship, the Whites were condemned to life in the second division following a truly horrific campaign that saw three managers at the helm, but the first team still only pick up 31 points.

Writing in his column for the Yorkshire Evening Post (6 June), Prutton attempted to dissect who was at fault for the “rubbish” relegation, criticising Marcelo Bielsa, Jesse Marsch and Victor Orta, but eventually placing the blame on Radrizzani’s doorstep.

“They needed to do a certain thing to survive but they didn’t,” he wrote.

“They got battered and were rubbish. That’s why the fans were literally singing get off the pitch and get off home and you’re not fit to wear the shirt at the last game of the season.

“I’ve been booed off pitches and there have been hand gestures as I have left a football pitch but I’ve never as a collective been part of a team that’s been told to get off home. I thought that was astounding really so you’ve got to look at it across the board.

“But this current incarnation, this current chemistry setup has been absolutely nowhere near it and they have gone down with a whimper. As a head of an organisation, there has got to be someone that takes responsibility and that does fall with the man at the very, very top in Andrea Radrizzani.”

Dreadful leadership

Although managers have come and gone with alarming regularity at Elland Road over the last two years, and the likes of Bielsa and Marsch have ended up leaving on disappointment ends, the blame has to fall on the boardroom.

Radrizzani and Orta’s leadership has been rudderless over the last two seasons, with their managerial picks ending up as glaring failures and a number of transfer decisions backfiring massively.

It feels as though this relegation was always on the doorstep but that both these two decision-makers were oblivious to this fact.

The boardroom were seemingly planning a first-team for about three years in the future when the need was for players to hit the ground running at Elland Road straight away.

Signings such as Georginio Rutter and Diego Monteiro in the January transfer window highlight this point perfectly.

There was almost an arrogance from both Radrizzani and Orta that Leeds were never in relegation trouble until it was too late.

In other Leeds United news, Phil Hay claims that a Whites senior player is now set to leave the club at a discounted fee post relegation and will not be signing a new contract.