Leeds United: David Ornstein shares Chris Armas update amid new Jesse Marsch link
Chris Armas has finally left Leeds United after there was no indication he had a role in Sam Allardyce’s set up, David Ornstein reports for The Athletic.
The 50-year-old was appointed as former Whites boss Jesse Marsch’s assistant back in January but only spent 12 days at the club alongside his former teammate, before a 1-0 defeat at Nottingham Forest saw the manager sacked on 6 February.
He has bafflingly kept on when Marsch’s backroom staff left, and remained at the club in an undefined role even after his brief period supporting interim boss Michael Skubala came to an end and Javi Gracia publicly made clear he wasn’t going to be part of his team, leaving “without a meaningful role”.
Armas is now reportedly in America once more and is due to attend a Chicago Fire game this week with Marsch amid suggestions the pair could be in the running for national team roles.
Ornstein wrote in his column for The Athletic on Monday (8 May): “The 50-year-old is back in the US and having stayed on the payroll at Leeds initially, he and the club have formally parted company and ended his employment.
“It brings to an end the most short-lived and least impactful of appointments, effectively finishing after his very brief spell in the caretaker team headed up by Michael Skubala.”
Mystery ends unsolved
The American’s exit brings to an end one of the weirdest chapters in a season not short of bizarre decisions and unnecessary drama.
His arrival in January was about the only part of his relationship with Leeds United that made any sense, as support for the increasingly embattled Marsch.
Once that plan almost immediately went out of the window and the first Whites boss of the season was sacked it would surely have made more sense for Armas to go to at that point, as the former Manchester United man was left in limbo.
In what may have been an attempt from Victor Orta to glean some value from one of his moves that had already become a waste of effort as his full support for Marsch was overruled, Armas was put with Skubala and Paco Gallardo.
That experiment lasted all of three games, and when Gracia was finally brought in the writing was clearly on the wall as he expressed about as much bemusement about Armas’ role as those outside the club had.
Leeds then failed to mention him in the reshuffle that saw Skubala promoted to first- team duties full-time, with Gallardo replacing him as under-21s boss.
That he has lasted almost three more months at the club despite apparently not having a role is symbolic of an increasingly chaotic situation that has seen Gracia and Orta since leave, with the club once again on the brink of relegation.
In other Leeds United news, a 49ers takeover backed by new money if the club is relegated has been mooted in a Phil Hay update.