Manager Thomas Christiansen, director of football Victor Orta and managing director Angus Kinnear have been “crucial” to Leeds United’s stunning transformation this season, according to BBC Sport.
A report by the network pays tribute to the appointments made by Andrea Radrizzani since he took sole control at Leeds in May after Massimo Cellino sold his half share in the club.
The BBC report that Radrizzani has “not put a foot wrong” since Garry Monk left shortly after his arrival.
Leeds signed 16 new players this summer but it is said that the management trio of Christiansen, Orta and Kinnear have been key to the team setting the early pace in the Championship.
Christiansen’s side, who collapsed in the final month of last season to finish seventh, are top of the league after nine matches and will maintain that position if they overcome third-placed Cardiff City in Tuesday night’s mouthwatering clash.
OPINION
There were more than a few raised eyebrows among the Elland Road faithful when virtually Radrizzani’s first meaningful act as sole owner was to fail to hold on to Monk, who had begun the club’s revival by lifting them from 13th to seventh. But the Italian has made huge progress to in a short space of time in winning over a long-suffering and dissatisfied fanbase used to madcap or invisible owners with no feel or understanding of how to run a successful football club. His appointments of Christiansen, Orta and Kinnear have already paid major dividends, although they must be judged over a longer period of time than just the first seven weeks of the season. Orta and his recruitment team have sourced a series of shrewd signings, with Samuel Saiz, Pierre-Michel Lasogga, Vurnon Anita and Felix Wiedwald looking particularly influential. Christiansen has integrated them into his team in spectacular style, not only in accumulating points but also in entertaining fans who did not even get much of that under Monk’s more sterile side last season.