Robin Koch hurt by what 'crazy' Leeds United fans have said about him as terms agreed

Robin Koch has admitted that he was hurt by what "crazy" Leeds United supporters said about him following the Whites' relegation from the Premier League.

The 27-year-old made 36 appearances as the Whites were relegated to the Championship under the management of Sam Allardyce, before departing Elland Road in the summer to join Eintracht Frankfurt on a season-long loan deal.

Frankfurt have confirmed that Koch will join them permanently come the end of the season and the German has since admitted supporters' frustrations were tough to take following relegation, although he could understand their anger.

As quoted by The Athletic (10 January) he said: "It definitely hurt me to read a lot of the comments from fans on social media but of course, I can understand the anger.

"The Leeds fans are positively crazy about their club and relegation was very painful for them. I always did everything I could to be successful with Leeds, and to make the Leeds fans happy. For me, it was terrible that we didn’t achieve our goal of staying up at the end of last season.

"After relegation, I had to deal with it for quite a long time. I didn’t think about leaving Leeds during the season and had no intention of doing so. I was fully focused on the relegation battle but as a footballer, you have ambitions. My ambition has always been to play as high as possible."

Understandable

Elland Road was not a particularly nice place to be after Leeds United were relegated to the Championship, with a general unhappiness across the club whether that be at the players, managers or even the then owners at Leeds United.

There was a general frustration that bubbled over following that drop to England's second tier on the final day of the season and while it was fair for the supporters to be unhappy, there were several players who were likely also hurting.

Koch, like many others, did what he could to keep Leeds in the Premier League and while that wasn't ultimately enough. Supporters were within their rights to be angry, but that frustration has begun to fade away over time.

Just as Koch has insisted that he had no regrets, Leeds supporters will likely feel the same about their actions following the drop. Now they have a new team to get behind and a greater feeling of positivity around Elland Road to focus on.

In other Leeds United news, Alan Shearer was left wowed by an "absolutely unbelievably" moment in the Whites' FA Cup clash