Leeds United don’t want to appoint new manager Wednesday with Andoni Iraola on shortlist with Arne Slot and Marcelo Gallardo
Leeds United don’t want to appoint a new manager on Wednesday in case it distracts from the trip to Old Trafford to face Manchester United, The Times reports.
The Whites kick off against their old rivals at 8pm in the first of back-to-back Premier League meetings with Erik ten Hag’s side, and will have Michael Skubala, Chris Armas and Paco Gallardo in charge.
The club is hoping to have the new permanent boss in place for the return at Elland Road on Sunday (12 February), and the shortlist is now down to four names after Carlos Corberan signed a new contract at West Brom.
Whites owner Andrea Radrizzani had suggested on Twitter on Tuesday night (7 February), prior to Corberan’s move, that there could be “white smoke” the same evening or the following morning, but it appears that will not be the case.
The Times report: “Leeds do not want to make a new appointment today because they believe it would cause a distraction before their Premier League game with Manchester United at Old Trafford, but they do want a new manager in place by the time they face Erik ten Hag’s side again at Elland Road on Sunday.”
The report names Rayo Vallecano’s Andoni Iraola alongside Feyenoord’s Arne Slot, former River Plate boss Marcelo Gallardo, and an unnamed fourth option as the remaining names on the shortlist at Elland Road.
Timing
There is some logic to not wanting to distract from the Manchester United game, but since the situation can hardly be ignored the speculation means it probably will anyway.
Having a new man in ahead of the game even has the potential to provide a slight new manager boost as the players look to put in a performance that shows their next boss he should pick them to face the same opponents days later.
If the decision-makers at Elland Road were prepared to spend big during a well-executed January transfer window only to fire Jesse Marsch straight after he failed the first subsequent test at Nottingham Forest on Sunday (5 February) it suggested they knew they were going to pull the plug if he lost that game.
Therefore it is strange that they hadn’t put in work behind the scenes to at least sound out their options for a replacement ahead of time.
The difference between appointing a new manager on Wednesday or Thursday is probably not the difference between staying in the Premier League or not, but as smooth a transition as possible would be beneficial.
Corberan may or may not have been a leading candidate, but already the time since Marsch’s Monday sacking has seen the 39-year-old former Elland Road coach rule himself out by committing to West Brom, and were one or two more options to do something similar the hierarchy might start sweating.
So a swift appointment after the game at Old Trafford, preferably with a positive result recorded, will surely be the aim now.
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