Victor Orta is long enough in the tooth to know directors of football are never more than five months away from signing the kind of dud which derails reputations in fanbases. As can be the case with most things in life, one negative can be the focus amid a flurry of 10 positives.
The Leeds United transfer supremo will not be getting carried away in late September with 32 matches to play, but as the first pause in the season comes to an end there are reasons for quiet optimism. The jury will remain out on the nine summer additions at Elland Road for several more months yet, but as opening phases go, Orta cannot have hoped for much more.
The Spaniard had to take his share of the flak going through the lowest moments of last term. He sat alongside Andrea Radrizzani and Angus Kinnear in the front row of the directors’ box as the shelling came in from the terraces around them.
