The moment Marcelo Bielsa took charge at Leeds, this is what we were promised. 

Spy-gate has not gone down well among the more sanctimonious elements of English football. 

Yet the eccentric Argentine, the man affectionately dubbed 'El Loco', was always going to bring a certain madness to Elland Road - and with it, some method, considering the incredible attention to detail he has admitted to using when watching other teams' preparations. 

Given his history, it's easy to see why rumours began to spiral that he was about to resign when he called a press conference on Wednesday. 

Remember, this is a man who quit Lazio after just two days in charge after falling out with the board.

It was feared he was unhappy with Leeds' public apology to Derby County following revelations that one of their staff was apprehended outside their training ground ahead of the Whites' 2-0 victory last week. 

Instead, he unveiled an in-depth PowerPoint presentation and, to the surprise of many, freely acknowledged that the league-leaders had spied on every single team they'd played this season. 

Bielsa's startling admission 

"I observed all the rivals we played against and watched the training sessions of all opponents," he said, via BBC Sport.

"All the information I need to clarify, I gather it without watching the training session of the opponent, so why did I send someone to watch them? Just because I thought I wasn't violating the norm."

Few would blame Derby boss Frank Lampard for his incredulous reaction, particularly once his side had suffered defeat. 

However, speaking ahead of the Championship outfit's FA Cup replay against Southampton, Alan Shearer warned that spying is rife in football, even giving an account of when he knew he was being watched ahead of his last England match. 

Shearer responds 

"It's very honest and very open from him [Bielsa]," Shearer said live on BBC. 

"Watching teams on the sly is nothing new to football, because when you go away to European games, you play in the stadium the night before, you almost are certain that there's someone from the opposition watching. 

"We talked about it in the World Cup, about my very last England game, when we knew someone was in the stadium the night before watching the training session. 

"Therefore I practiced penalties putting them to one side, knowing that if I got one the next night, as I did, I was going to put it to the opposite end. The keeper went to his left and I put it to his right. 

"It's nothing new, but it's slightly different when it's not an open training session, i.e. there's no privacy around the training ground and everyone can watch you. Derby County's training ground is enclosed, so that's slightly different, and slightly off. 

When pressed by Gary Lineker on whether Leeds should be punished, he added: 

"As I said it's nothing new but it's definitely wrong, you can't go into someone's private training ground when you're not invited and then take the information from that." 

Now that the full extent of the practice has been unearthed, Leeds will just have to wait and see how the EFL respond. 

There's talk of Leeds being docked points - do they deserve it? Have your say in the comments.