Ian Harte heaped praise on Leeds forward Kemar Roofe after he scored in a 2-1 win over Wigan to take Leeds top of the Championship.
The former Leeds player also said that he deserves a new deal – and that wound up the Leeds supporters.
Roofe’s goal was his seventh in just 10 Championship games after he missed six games through injury.
Harte delivered the message on his personal Twitter account on Sunday night.
The Roofe is on ? @roofe39 deserves a new @LUFC deal. Top of the table #leedsleedsleeds #mot
— Ian Harte (@ianharte23) November 4, 2018
COMMENTARY
Harte probably wasn’t expecting this criticism from Leeds fans. There’s nothing controversial about the first part of his tweet. Kemar Roofe is on fire and his record this season is even better when you consider that he’s missed a third of the league games through injury. He’s on for 20+ goals as it is and could get even more if he keeps himself fit. As for the new contract, we don’t really see anything that odd about it. His current contract runs out the summer after next and you’d want to get him signed up before next summer. It might actually make financial sense to tie him down sooner rather than later. If Roofe does fire Leeds into the Premier League then his demands might well go up and Leeds wouldn’t want to lose a player who has been transformed under Marcelo Bielsa. We can understand that Leeds fans don’t want new contracts to be thrown about like confetti, but we actually think this one makes sense. One fan said that Harte had lost the plot but we think he might be talking sense.
Here are the best reactions from Leeds fans:
https://twitter.com/realrj80/status/1059197590053433344
O’Leary era coming out of ya there, new deal every 6 months
— Jimmy (@CryptocurrancyK) November 4, 2018
What a very strange tweet, how about just knuckling down and working hard?
— Joe Atherton (@joetmatherton) November 4, 2018
Very random tweet, beneath an ex-LUFC pro. Also, while Roofe is having a great season so far, he’s scored 7 goals with a 3rd of the season gone, putting him 7th in the Champ top scorer league. So my advice would be to keep his head down and focus on getting to 1st.
— Jezaldinho (@Jezaldinho) November 4, 2018
https://twitter.com/bertlufc/status/1059190250864558081
Not cool, Ian. Not cool.
— Simon O'Rourke (@simon_orourke) November 4, 2018
https://twitter.com/NickPhipps1974/status/1059216350567194625
A very odd thing to tweet. Surely it’s more important for him to keep his head down and continue this hot streak rather than focus his attentions on clinching a new deal. Surely he has an obligation to honour the terms of his current deal.
— Tom Potter (@TPfootballscout) November 4, 2018
https://twitter.com/JimboC1974/status/1059231159878672385
A lot of stick towards this tweet. With 18 months left in his current deal this makes sense but a lot of people won’t know that before tweeting. Would people rather him continue his fine form and then leave next January for tuppence or for a deal like wood which is instalments
— PD (@parmadiggyd) November 4, 2018
madness 3 good months and all this contract talks score 25 and take us up then give him his big contract
— thomasdorrian10? (@thomasdorrian) November 4, 2018