Paul Merson shares off-camera Leeds United comment from Sky Sports colleague during Southampton clash
Clinton Morrison claimed “five times” during Leeds United vs Southampton that both sides would get relegation, according to Paul Merson.
The Whites recorded a crucial win at Elland Road on Saturday (25 February), with the reborn Junior Firpo capping a man of the match performance with the only goal of the game in the 77th minute.
The result lifted the team out of the relegation zone, leaving the Saints rooted to the bottom of the table, but Morrison was apparently not confident in either side’s prospects come May while watching the action.
In his Sky Sports column on Monday Merson said: “Clinton Morrison was sat next to me on Soccer Saturday watching Leeds vs Southampton and he must have said to me five times, ‘These two are getting relegated’.
“I worry for them. Southampton had a great result against Chelsea but you have to follow that up by not getting beat by Leeds. That’s why they’re at the bottom of the league.”
First step
There were times at Elland Road where the Javi Gracia reign looked like it would follow the Jesse Marsch era in a game where the home side were well on top and not taking advantage of the situation.
The pressure was obviously enormous on both sets of players with relegation becoming an ever-greater concern, and that showed in some of the decision-making at the top end of the pitch.
After the break the attacking intent started to wear out, and when Gracia made the surprise decision to take off danger man Willy Gnonto there must have been a few doubts about the chances of getting the win they needed.
That tension explained the explosion of emotion that Elland Road is famous for when Firpo scuffed one under Gavin Bazunu and Gnonto came sprinting out of the dug-out to join the celebrations.
It is no real slight from Morrison because the job is far from finished and the form this season has been easily poor enough to go down.
The manager and the players finally found a way to dig one out at the weekend, and if that signifies a change of fortunes under the new manager, not least for Firpo who has so often been the target for criticism, then it is a positive sign.
But it will mean nothing if it isn’t followed up with a lot more results like it with the pressure still on.
In other Leeds United news, one player was slammed for a “shocking” incident during that game that a talkSPORT pundit believes he should have been sent off.
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