Bielsa’s got one Ell of a job if he wants to send Leeds fans to Heaven

MARCELO BIELSA is either going to go down as one of Leeds’ greatest-ever managers or as an unmitigated disaster.

It will be boom or bust for the Elland Road club and a stunning return to the Promised Land or an absolute nightmare for the Argentinian.

I can’t see him steering Leeds to sixth, fifth and fourth in the next three seasons with steady growth assuring regular play-off places.

Simply because of the pace and tempo of the Championship, allied to the sheer number of games and the way Bielsa likes to play – at 100mph.

He likes men with miles on the clock, but young, hungry, malleable players too, which is why he has gone for keeper Jamal Blackman and midfielder Lewis Baker from Chelsea. And why he has signed Jack Harrison (below) from Manchester City on loan.

He likes to be the boss, the man, he likes to walk in and demand everyone hops on their right leg for 15 minutes and for the players to do so gleefully.

He likes to get players carrying out his tactics and at a blistering pace.

He likes his teams to get in opponents’ faces, to outfox them and I’m not sure how long all that is sustainable in the second tier of English football without a monstersized squad.

You need a group as big as Pep Guardiola’s at Manchester City if you are a Championship club whose boss will beast your team for half a season – as Bielsa undoubtedly will.

Teams have to be consistent twice a week at eight or nine out of 10 if they are going to earn promotion and to do that with the squad he has will not be easy. Not least because he won’t have the luxury of a winter break in the Championship as he has had in Europe’s other big leagues.

Full-back Barry Douglas is a very good signing and a lot of my Wolves-supporting mates can’t understand why they have let him go.

Douglas knows what it takes to win the division, but the younger lads Bielsa is bringing in obviously do not.

I’m expecting to see Leeds fly out of the traps and maybe even be the early pacesetters.

Certainly Bielsa is going to get them playing an attractive style of football the fans will like. But over the course of the season it’s a massive gamble from the Leeds hierarchy and I’m not sure it’s one that is going to work.

There are at least 10, maybe even 12, competitive clubs in the Championship and a lot of them with younger managers who know how to connect with their players.

Can Bielsa do that at 63 and does he have the energy and wherewithal to keep at it every day as the Frank Lampards, Gary Rowetts and Darren Moores of this world undoubtedly will?

We’ll see what he is made of and I’d like him to be a success for one of England’s great old clubs.

But I wouldn’t be at all surprised if Bielsa and Leeds had not already parted company by January.