Gus Poyet has predicted that Leeds will win the play-offs and get back to the Premier League.
The former Leeds assistant manager also said that what Marcelo Bielsa did against Aston Villa was “good for football”.
Bielsa demanded his team let Aston Villa equalise in the Championship clash on Sunday after Leeds had scored while a man was down injured.
Talking on the Alan Brazil Sports Breakfast show (talkSPORT, Wednesday, 845am) Poyet said of the incident: “It was good for football. Because it’s difficult nowadays.”
Asked if Bielsa would have done it had he needed the points for promotion Poyet said, “I don’t know, but it’s true that what I like is Bielsa is trying hard to adapt to things he has never seen before. He came here saying football, it’s the same planet, I’m going to do what I’ve always done.
“The big problem is that they [the Leeds players] slow down. If everyone plays on, no problem because of the rules.”
Poyet was then asked who would win the play-offs and he plumped for Leeds.
“I see things there [Leeds] and it is incredible. They deserve to be in the premier League. It is a great place. Some decisions have been made financially, 10-15 years ago and they’ve paid the price, but this is their time to go back to the Premier League.”
OPINION
Most pundits are choosing Villa at the moment but perhaps Poyet is a tad biased. He was assistant manager at Leeds in 2007 and still has a lot of affection for the club. Football obviously isn’t scripted but if it was you’d be hard pressed to write a feud as good as the one building between Leeds and Aston Villa – two teams that could meet in the play-off finals, with a staggering amount of money on the line. Aston Villa haven’t beaten Leeds this season but will be looking to inflict the deepest wound at Wembley in May. Just talking about Leeds and Aston Villa does the other teams in the mix a disservice, though. West Brom, Derby, Bristol City and Middlesbrough could all spring a surprise and Leeds have history with Derby too after spygate. They play Swansea tonight and a win would almost guarantee them a game against Leeds in the semi-finals.