In the summer of 2021 then-manager Marcelo Bielsa told then-owner Andrea Radrizzani that the
#LUFC squad needed a significant overhaul.
Radrizzani's response was to buy Jack Harrison (who had already been on loan at the club since 2018), Junior Firpo (to replace Ezgjan Alioski and Barry Douglas) and Dan James (to replace Pablo Hernandez and Helder Costa).
And when it didn't work - as it obviously wouldn't, as Bielsa had told him it wouldn't - Radrizzani sacked Marcelo.
And still - in an Italian newspaper today - instead of taking responsibility and admitting that Bielsa was right in the summer of 2021 and that he and Victor Orta were wrong - the former owner dabbles in magical thinking and found a way to call Leeds' fans sentimental.
"I regretted (sacking him) because for Leeds fans, Bielsa was worth more than a place in the Premier League" - Andrea Radrizzani
This is such an outstanding way for Radrizzani to imply that he made the correct decision - but he wishes he had made the wrong decision - because that's what the poor sentimental Leeds fans would have wanted.
Besides being almost completely inaccurate, that is not a logical way to make decisions.
(Some) Leeds fans do not hate Radrizzani because he sacked Bielsa, or because they would rather have Biela in League One than Jesse Marsch in the Premier League - the main gripes Leeds fans have with Radrizzani are:
• A general lack of competence in his oversight of the club;
• Taking credit for successes but not responsibility for failures;
• A lack of self-awareness and respect for Leeds fans when speaking in public including a track-record of unhelpful (to the club) and unprofessional tweets;
• And the times he used Leeds United & Elland Road for his own personal, selfish business endeavours.
Like when he took Leeds on a post-season tour to Myanmar in 2018, shortly after a genocide there, and his company coincidentally launched services in the country.
Or when he used Elland Road - the home of the club, the heart of Leeds' community which fans call 'church' - as a security for a bank loan to buy his next project - Sampdoria.
Hiring Bielsa was the best thing Radrizzani did at Leeds United.
Not listening to Marcelo, not backing him in the summer of 2021 - was the biggest business mistake Radrizzani has ever made and it ended up costing him hundreds of millions in lost value of the club.
Before Bielsa, Radrizzani hired Thomas Christensen and Paul Heckingbottom - two managers that combined to take Leeds from 7th in the Championship under Gary Monk the season before, to 13th. And Leeds' scatter gun transfer policy included acquisitions like Laurens De Bock and Pawel Cibicki.
After Bielsa, the competence left the building and a return to policies before Marcelo ensued. Radrizzani hired Jesse Marsch, Javi Gracia and Sam Allardyce who all combined to take Leeds from a 9th place finish in the Premier League, back to the Championship.
If Radrizzani simply took responsibility for his errors, as much as his triumphs, and didn't patronise Leeds fans - he would be respected for taking the club much further than any previous owners since Caspian.
But quotes like the one published in an Italian paper today, twist the narrative and in turn, cast more shade on his own legacy.
It is often a measure of the affect that a custodian has on a club, by the contrast between the state it was when they took over, and the state it was when they left.
Radrizzani undoubtedly pushed the club on from where it had been over the 'banter years' - buying Elland Road back, hiring Bielsa and returning the club to the Premier League.
But before and after Marcelo - Radrizzani's flaws in oversight were exposed - the managerial appointments all failed and the failure rate of transfers was extremely high.
And when Radrizzani sold the club, Leeds United was in chaos again - there was a loan exodus, players were refusing to play, Leeds had just been relegated, a lot of the squad were divided and far below the fitness levels under Bielsa, morale was through the floor; and the club needed to hire a fourth manager in less than a year.
The summer of 2023 was a perfect storm - a few more bad decisions could have kept Leeds in the wilderness for more decades.
Another poor appointment, more failed transfers - Leeds could easily have slipped down to the mid-table Championship team they had been for the five seasons before Gary Monk.
And it is solely down to the 49ers and Daniel Farke - making outstanding decisions, uniting the club, getting comparatively incredible value in the transfer market, having an excellent strategy on and off the field and shrewd revenue management - that Leeds are not just back in the Premier League where they belong, but finally expanding Elland Road and in a position to push on towards a mid-table finish and establish the club in England's top-tier again.
Sacking Bielsa wasn't the wrong thing to do because he was loved by Leeds fans.
Not realising that Bielsa was the only competent voice in the building was Radrizzani's biggest error.
And the sooner that Radrizzani can admit that, and not disrespect the intelligence of
#LUFC fans, the sooner he can repair his legacy.
Because the truth is that the Italian was a major part in the story of Leeds' rise back to the big time, and he should have an overall positive legacy.
But comments like this are just not helping anyone.