Joey Barton has hailed Leeds United loanee Lewie Coyle as a “great player to have in your side” following an excellent spell at Fleetwood Town.
The defender, 23, is on a season-long loan at League One outfit Fleetwood that the Yorkshire Evening Post report will come to an end on 6 January when he heads back to Elland Road.
Marcelo Bielsa suggested at his media conference on Thursday that he has not yet made up his mind whether to re-integrate Coyle into the Leeds squad when his loan comes to an end.
Barton has spoken highly of Coyle’s performances, with the YEP citing the Blackpool Gazette: “Lewie Coyle – what a great player to have in your side because he competes anywhere you want him to.
“I think you could play him in goal and he would give absolutely everything. It’s a privilege to have him in the building. He sets the tone for a lot of it.”
OPINION
It is a huge boost to Coyle’s self-esteem that Fleetwood manager Barton rates him so highly. The former England international and Premier League legend has named the 23-year-old United academy product in his starting XI for all 20 of his side’s league matches this season, rotating him between his favoured right-back and left-back, and even once playing him in central midfield. It is to Coyle’s credit that he has delivered the goods for a second consecutive campaign at Fleetwood to demonstrate he can cut it in the Football League at senior level. The big question is whether he can make it at Leeds. It appears to be in some doubt, as there is no suggestion from Bielsa that he is eager for Coyle to return and plug the many defensive holes in a squad that is currently deprived of four long-time absentees in Liam Cooper, Luke Ayling, Gaetano Berardi and Stuart Dallas. The greater likelihood is that Coyle will extend his Fleetwood loan or held out elsewhere in the second half of the campaign.