Leeds United dodged a bullet not signing £20m flop, regret has turned to major relief

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To think, this was a signing some felt would pretty much guarantee a return to the Premier League for Leeds United.

A footballer for whom the Championship has represented extremely fertile ground in recent seasons. A centre-forward who averaged 21 goals in each of the his three second-tier campaigns.

While sticking the ball in the back of the opponent’s net clearly hasn’t been much of a problem for Leeds United this term – Daniel Farke’s side have scored a staggering 19 more goals than next-best Norwich City – if there is one thing this squad is lacking, it is a potential 25-goal-a-season marksman.

Joel Piroe has a solid but unspectacular 15. Leeds’ former Swansea talisman looked a man haunted against Preston North End on Saturday afternoon, meannwhile.

Piroe hit everything but the net as the Elland Road faithful called for Patrick Bamford’s introduction.

Fortunately enough, given Piroe’s purple-patch inconsistency, Leeds have shared the goals around pretty effectively this term. No fewer than seven players have more than five to their name.

Proof that a team with title ambitions do not always need an Aleksandr Mitrovic, a Glenn Murray or a Teemu Pukki to fire them to glory.

And, three months after the close of the January transfer window, those who wondered if failing to secure the services of Adam Armstrong would be a costly error in the long-run are gorging greedily on humble pie.

Struggling Joel Piroe has more Leeds United goals than Adam Armstrong since West Brom switch

While Piroe has his critics, he has five Championship goals since the start of February.

As such, Piroe has more than twice as many as Armstrong has managed in the same time frame, despite finding himself in the midst of an eight-game barren run.

Armstrong’s decisive strike on his West Brom debut against Sheffield Wednesday appeared to herald the beginning of another prolific Championship streak from a man who broke the 20-goal barrier in each of his last two seasons at this level.

Only one has followed in the eleven games since, however. He was inneffective in the recent 1-1 draw between Leeds and West Brom in March. Daniel Farke labelled Armstrong a ‘proven goalscorer’ pre-match. But the man who fired Southampton past Leeds at Wembley a year ago never looked likely to repeat the trick.

And, after Armstrong was hauled off on the hour during a midweek defeat to play-off rivals Bristol City, Baggies boss Tony Mowbray opted to drop his marquee winter signing for the first time against Watford on Saturday.

A change which most certainly had the desired effect.

West Brom ended a three-game losing run, triumphing 2-1 over The Hornets. And while young Tottenham loanee Will Lankshear would not get his name on the scoresheet, the standing ovation he departed to felt in stark contrast to the frustration felt towards Armstrong by the Hawthorns masses.

Tony Mowbray not giving up on Armstrong but Southampton loanee loses starting spot

In his defence, Armstrong has always been the sort of centre-forward who needs chances created by those around him.

Mowbray, who worked with the one-time Newcastle starlet at the beginning of his career at Coventry and then again at Blackburn, feels that Armstrong should only shoulder part of the burden for his underwhelming spell in the Midlands.

“I’ve worked with Adam for years, at Coventry and Blackburn,” Mowbray said. Strikers need chances created for them, generally they are finishers. Collectively the whole team need to stand up, create more chances, have more end product.

“It’s a little but unfair to point to Adam. The whole team need to score more goals.”

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
1	LeedsLeeds	42	25	13	4	82	29	53	88
2	BurnleyBurnley	42	24	16	2	57	13	44	88
3	Sheff UtdSheffield Utd	42	26	7	9	57	33	24	83
4	SunderlandSunderland	42	21	13	8	57	38	19	76
5	Bristol CityBristol City	42	16	16	10	54	45	9	64
6	CoventryCoventry	42	18	9	15	59	54	5	63
7	West BromWest Brom	42	14	18	10	51	39	12	60

Armstrong is averaging only 1.8 shots per game in a West Brom shirt. When breaking the 20-goal barrier at Southampton and Blackburn, he averaged 3.1 and a remarkable 4.7 per game in contrast.

One wonders what his tally would look like if he had Manor Solomon, Junior Firpo and Dan James supplying the ammunition. Though, it should be said, West Brom do have the league’s most reliable creator in 13-assist Tom Fellows.

Armstrong is underperforming his XG with The Baggies too. What’s more, his only other goal – against QPR – came from the penalty spot.

A potent Leeds United attack boasting a striker who averages 21 goals a season in the Championship felt like a sure-thing. But, as West Brom are discovering, past success is no guarantee of future productivity.