It has been a whirlwind six months for Jesse Marsch. Taking over a struggling team is par for the course in the world of management but Marsch wasn’t just facing a relegation battle, he also faced the monumental challenge of winning over a heart-broken fanbase, a challenge so great that keeping their team in the top-flight with the last kick of the season didn’t even do the trick.

It has been a whirlwind six months for Jesse Marsch. Taking over a struggling team is par for the course in the world of management but Marsch wasn’t just facing a relegation battle, he also faced the monumental challenge of winning over a heart-broken fanbase, a challenge so great that keeping their team in the top-flight with the last kick of the season didn’t even do the trick.

The first day of the new season starts with a burst tyre and it’s impossible not to see it as a sign of things to come, especially as my confidence in Leeds United is fragile to say the least. It’s not just a new season but a new era under the stewardship of Jesse Marsch, who rode into Elland Road for the last twelve matches of last season; a knight in shining armour to some, a cowboy shooting from the hip to me.

Season 2021/22 was even memorable than the electrifying season that preceded it, yet few will remember it fondly. We were put through the wringer, went to hell and back, and sacked the most beautiful human being ever to walk our green and pleasant land

It was as if El Loco descended from heaven. ‘The Godfather of Modern Football’, ‘the best coach in the world’, yet I’d never heard of him despite being obsessed with football since his managerial career began. I used to bemoan the fact no world-class manager would have the hunger to take on the hardest task in football: guiding Leeds United back to the Premier League.

My dad made the ultimate sacrifice, giving his ticket for scum at home to his 16-year-old Grandson. Lucca had also been given a ticket for scum away, and he was sat in the home end with his scum-supporting friend’s mum and sister when Luke Ayling produced one of the highlights of the season, although the subsequent capitulation had trampled all over the memory.

Let’s start with the glaringly obvious, it’s been disappointing. We dreamed of building on last season’s late push for Europe and instead we are now doomed to spend at least the vast majority of the season looking over our shoulders at the bottom three. The past week perfectly summarised Leeds in 2021/22, a good performance followed by a bad performance, and not enough wins.

It was a victory for fortitude, for humility, and for Marcelo Bielsa. He overcame the London Curse, VAR and the worst injury crisis I’ve known in thirty years of watching English football to beat high flying West Ham on a remarkable Sunday afternoon.

What a game, what a win, and what a start to the year! After Bielsa stayed out with the players following their 7-0 drubbing at Manchester City, and the fans cheered them like heroes after the 4-1 defeat at home to Arsenal, the players repaid these acts of love in the only way they could, by sweating blood to beat Burnley.