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Mon 6 February 2017 8:26, UK

COMMENT By Will Butcher

Garry Monk has hit the headlines once again for his overzealous antics against Huddersfield, but will it prove detrimental to Leeds’ form?

Monk was sent to the stands on Sunday in the dying embers of his side’s 2-1 loss, after a huge touchline tussle – sparked by Monk’s actions.

Huddersfield boss David Wagner decided to celebrate Michael Hefele’s 86th-minute winner by running towards his players at the end of the pitch.

As he walked back to his technical area, Monk took a few steps outside of his own technical area to shoulder barge him, causing an almighty uproar that saw both managers sent off and three players receive yellow cards.

This was the second time that Monk has been sent off this season and the sad fact is that he is starting to draw the attention away from his in-form side and place it on himself.

Momentum is key for Leeds. Setting an example to his star-studded squad is paramount, but after being told to leave the technical area for the second time this season, Monk is quite obviously failing to conduct himself professionally.

Wagner lit the fire with his celebrations on Sunday but monk poured petrol onto the flames.

Speaking of his moral values after the match, Monk looked to shift the blame from himself after falling into the trap of being provoked by his Huddersfield counterpart Wagner.

In truth, it was a nonsense. As Wagner pointed out after the game, it’s more normal for a manager to celebrate with his players.

It might be more unusual over here, and it might have annoyed Monk, but he was the one who started the physical contact.

What Monk did was entirely avoidable and completely unjustifiable.

Now, Monk could be forced to watch from the stands against Cardiff on Saturday and without their manager’s insight and encouragement in the dug out, Leeds could struggle to break Neil Warnock’s side down.

Three points is vital, and so is morale. But Monk must learn to control his emotions and conduct himself professionally before his players start to copy his example and lose their rag, too.

He can talk about values all he likes, but he needs to start acting like a manager of a highly successful team and look at the bigger picture.

Losing to Huddersfield in the manner they did must have been tough to take. But Leeds are still in the play-off spots and a return to the Premier League is a real possibility.

Monk must make sure he doesn’t do anything else that could potentially derail his team’s push.

In other Leeds news, Alfonso Pedraza posted this Twitter message to fans after making his debut.

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