The kids are alright: Leeds United U23s beat Nottingham Forest 5-1

After the negative attention that was paid to the Leeds United Academy and U23s over the past week, along with the recent sacking of Thomas Chistiansen and the hiring of Paul Heckingbottom from Barnsley FC, it was good to see the U23s beat Nottingham Forest 5-1.

A lot of attention had been paid to the transfer policy of Victor Orta and the board after a number of signings for the u23s were made during the January transfer window, instead of adding additional players to the first team.

In addition to the number of transfers in, there was some questions being raised about the supposed lack of British players at the club. Leeds legend (and agent of two of the players at the Academy, Tyler Denton and Jack Clarke) Ian Harte tweeted out his “disgust” with Spanish being spoken by some of the players and the coaching staff, and complained about the influx of foreign players.

Of course, with a Spanish coach and a few Spanish players, it seems obvious that some Spanish was being spoken. Tweeting out that the club was lacking in British, local talent seemed a bit disingenuous, in that their were more British players in the squad than non-British players. It also seemed a bit odd coming from former Republic of Ireland international Harte, and it even seemed more bitter because his two clients, Clarke and Denton, were both not playing.

It’s a good result to see the club beat Forest 5-1, and it’s also good to see Jay-Roy Grot playing, as he needs some time on the pitch outside of a 10 minute run-out at the end of the match.

Here is an interview with U23 head coach Carlos Corberán after the match. Let’s hope a few of these players will end up in the first team in the next year or so. MOT