Leeds loanee Izzy Brown is fit but he’s still not getting in the Leeds side at the moment, and Yorkshire Evening Post journalist Phil Hay thinks it’s because of Jamie Shackleton.
Brown has been on the bench for the past seven games and has only made the bench once, in a nine-minute cameo against QPR where he seemed totally off the pace.
He didn’t come off the bench in the 3-0 win against Reading on Tuesday, despite Marcelo Bielsa making three substitutions, and Hay thinks it’s because of the energy and intensity of youngster Jamie Shackleton.
Shackleton, 19, came on in the 69th minute for Tyler Roberts, and put in another impressive display.
“Just a point on Shackelton,” Hay said on the latest episode of the Inside Elland Road podcast (12 mins).
“Looking at his intensity and how he attacks the game, and you suspect he not only plays like that but trains like that too, it’s another example of why Izzy Brown isn’t getting a game at the moment.
“He didn’t come off the bench against Reading, three subs used, no suggestion that it was going to happen.”
OPINION
It’s been a season to forget for Izzy Brown. He was seen as the new signing Leeds didn’t land in January after missing the whole of the first-half of the season. Leeds started paying his wages when he was fit again, in December, and Leeds fans were sure he was going to come in and make an impact under Bielsa in 2019. However, after another setback, he made his bow after a few appearances for the Under-23s and didn’t impress at all. Since then, Brown has been on the bench for the past three games with, as Hay said, no suggestion that he’s in the reckoning to come on. Leeds fans were surprised when Shackleton was introduced instead of Brown, but it proves that his impact for the rest of the season is going to be minimal, barring another Leeds injury crisis. It’s disappointing, for Brown and for Leeds, but it was always going to be a gamble, taking a player on loan who was still injured. It’s a gamble that’s not going to pay off for Leeds.