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Jesse Marsch could be replaced as Leeds United manager whenever the San Francisco 49ers takeover the club, according to Adam Pope.
The American kept the Whites in the Premier League last season and was provided with a number of players with links to him in the summer, before an up and down campaign so far that sees the club sitting 15th in the Premier League during the World Cup break.
The current regime under Andrea Radrizzani appear to be firmly behind the former Red Bull manager, but with the 49ers holding an option to take full control of the club in the near future BBC journalist Pope doesn’t think they are necessarily as sold on the current boss by any means.
Speaking on Don’t Go To Bed Just Yet on Monday (21 November, 15min 20sec) Pope said of the 49ers: “The presence has been intense, and the due diligence has been done.
“You do wonder. At the moment on the footballing management side you can tell it’s still Victor [Orta], it’s Angus [Kinnear], it’s Andrea who are making those decisions at this stage.
“I wonder if they’re in sync [with the 49ers]. Is Jesse their man? Do they want to make a statement once they take over? Do they think, ‘No, hang on, we want to do this differently?'”
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Jonny Buchan then asked: “Everyone assumes the 49ers’ man is Jesse don’t they?”
But Pope responded: “I’m not so sure about that.
“I don’t know. It’s an easy link to make isn’t it? I don’t think it’s as simple as that, no not at all.”
Upheaval
It was only a few weeks ago that it seemed like Marsch would be on the way out of Elland Road even under the current ownership.
The players, and especially Crysencio Summerville, rescued the manager from the increasing pressure over his job before the hierarchy were forced into making a decision.
Had the wins at Liverpool and over Bournemouth in consecutive weeks not been secured there would have been major calls for the World Cup break to be used as the perfect time to make a change.
Having made the seismic decision to replace widely-loved former boss Marcelo Bielsa with Marsch last season, it is clearly very much in Radrizzani, Kinnear and Orta’s interest for him to be a success.
A few bad results once Leeds United return to league action and the pressure could be back on, so it would be no surprise is the key decision makers in the prospective ownership to have their doubts.
Whether the takeover happens within the next year, or not until 2024, Marsch is clearly going to have to do more than he has done so far to convince anyone he is the man for the long term.
The jury remains out due to the fact that for all he has undoubtedly achieved, in terms of avoiding relegation last year and some major wins in the new season, the club are still not established in the top flight and an air of chaos remains in many performances.
In other Leeds United news, an ITV pundit was taken aback by a World Cup snub for a key Whites star on Monday.