Kilde: Life's A Pitch.
03Apr
“Leeds desperately need a young manager with ambitionâ€
This week’s defeat to Derby ended both Leeds’ Championship play-off prospects and the reign of Neil Warnock (pictured) at Elland Road. The Life’s a Pitch team look at where the club can go from here and assess the merits of some of the early candidates for the hotseat.
“I’m not a Leeds fan, but I am from Leeds, and a lot of my mates are Leeds fans and it pains me to see the club constantly mired in this stasis from which they can’t escape,†says the Times’ Rory Smith. “What Leeds desperately need is a young manager with ambition who is not a proven failure in football, which is all that seems to happen in the Championship [when a big club appoints a new manager]. Michael Appleton was at the game against Derby, I think, [but] Leeds are one of the biggest clubs in this country – they deserve better than Michael Appleton.â€
The Sunday Telegraph’s Jason Burt doubts that another candidate, Mark Hughes, is either the right man or likely to fancy the challenge of rebuilding. He also disputes Warnock’s version of his time at Leeds. “Leeds are a huge club and they need a good coach to develop that team. They have spent money under Warnock as well. As ever with Neil Warnock, he’s rewritten his own version of history about what he’s done there – it’s an older team, some players are on big contracts. Has he really left a great legacy for the next person to take over? He’s said he’s sorted it all out and they’re going forward. I look at that team and I don’t see that.â€
But surely it will take more than a new manager to turn things around? The Sunday Mirror’s David Walker, a former director at Elland Road, believes the current board need to be far more transparent with the fans about the club’s finances. “There needs to be some openness from the boardroom. There needs to be a smart appointment of a manager, but if I had a friend who was a manager, I wouldn’t recommend to him to go there at the moment. There is too much smoke and mirrors still going on and until it’s resolved I honestly can’t see Leeds being transformed into a Premier League club.â€
The guys also discuss Nigel Pearson’s future at Leicester, taking into account the Foxes’ fall from the play-off places after a winless run of seven matches.
