Leeds United: Neil Warnock favourite never really convinced the Elland Road faithful - View | OneFootball

Leeds United are pushing for promotion to the Premier League this season, and they will be desperate to get back to the top-flight as soon as possible.

Given the size of the club, and the quality within their ranks, many would expect the Whites to be in the mix for a top two finish next season if they do fall short.

However, Leeds fans will be well aware that you can quickly get stuck in the Football League, with the unpredictability of this level part of what makes it so enthralling.

Leeds spent 16 years outside the top division from 2004 before Marcelo Bielsa took the club back to where they feel they belong, and in that period they also dropped to the third tier for a spell.

So, it was a chaotic era for the club, and in that time many players came and went as Leeds searched for the right formula.

As the failure to go up suggests, it didn’t always go to plan, and one man who didn’t hit the heights expected was Michael Brown.

Michael Brown’s struggles at Leeds United

On paper, the midfielder looked like a smart signing for Simon Grayson’s side in 2011, even though he arrived at Elland Road at 34.

This was a player who had excelled in the top two divisions throughout his career. Most notably, Brown starred for Sheffield United in the Championship under Neil Warnock, where he was an energetic, box-to-box midfielder who regularly scored goals.

That form earned the ex-Man City man a move to Spurs in the Premier League, and whilst he reinvented himself later in his career, Brown still arrived at Leeds with real pedigree.

He had made over 150 Premier League appearances, and he would bring experience and grit to a Leeds side that were hoping to kick-on and challenge for promotion.

Neil Warnock and Michael Brown can’t rediscover Sheffield United spark at Leeds United

Yet, things didn’t go to plan in his first season, with Grayson losing his job in February, although his replacement was arguably the one manager that Brown would’ve picked if he was chairman - as Warnock rocked up to Elland Road.

As mentioned, he was in charge when Brown performed superbly at this level with the Blades, and the two had a close relationship given what they’d been through in Sheffield.

Leeds were hoping for the Warnock who had done so well at Bramall Lane, and that his unique approach would galvanise the crowd, with the momentum taking the club back to the promised land.

Instead, Leeds is a rare negative on Warnock’s CV, and the same could be said for Brown.

Injuries certainly didn’t help the midfielder, but, when on the pitch, he lacked the same intensity and drive that had made him such a formidable figure at this level in the past.

Warnock’s time at Leeds lasted just over 12 months, with Brian McDermott the next man tasked with awakening the sleeping giant at this level.

Brown would continue to play a part for a third campaign, before he was released in 2014, and he would then join Port Vale, who were his final club, before he called a day on his impressive career.

It should be said that Brown was by no means awful for the Whites, but his three years at the club resulted in three bottom-half finishes, in what was a forgettable period all round.

Leeds knew they weren’t getting the dynamic Brown from his Sheffield United days, but he still underwhelmed - and even reuniting with Warnock couldn’t change that.