Ally McCoist questions Leeds United decision live on talkSPORT after Patrick Viera sacked at Crystal Palace
Ally McCoist has questioned whether Leeds United changing their manager mid-season has hindered the club’s Premier League survival hopes after news broke of Patrick Viera’s sacking at Crystal Palace.
The Whites sacked American manager Jesse Marsch in February on the back of a 1-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest that left the club 17th in the Premier League and without a win in over three and half months.
However, McCoist highlighted live on talkSPORT Breakfast (Friday, 17 March) that the Whites now sit 19th in the Premier League after appointing Javi Gracia as head coach, and just a point above bottom-paced Southampton, who have also rung the managerial changes this term.
The former Rangers legend hinted that Crystal Palace were making a mistake in following the footsteps of the Whites and Southampton by sacking Viera on Friday morning (17 March) at such a pivotal point of the season.
He said: “The two bottom teams in the Premier League right now, Leeds United and Southampton, what have they done? They’ve changed their manager.
“Nottingham Forest gave your man [Steve Cooper] a five-year contract; they sit 14th. I know Everton had the change with Sean Dyche, I get that, but there’s nothing that would tell you that changing a manager is going to make a dramatic change.
“I’m with the boys. Nothing surprises you in football anymore, but that’s come a little bit out of the blue.
“They’ve got to have somebody lined up, there is no way they’ve made that decision and they don’t have somebody lined up.”
Time will tell
McCoist makes a good point that making a managerial change isn’t a guaranteed route to success.
When sacking a head coach, the club must be sure to have a replacement lined up in the works otherwise you can be left scrambling and not actually appointing your first-choice replacement.
And although Gracia has looked like a steady pair of hands since taking the reins at Elland Road, this is exactly the trap that Leeds fell into.
Under the guise of interim manager Michael Skubala, the Whites lost a potentially season-defining match against Everton at Goodison Park at a whimper. If Victor Orta had got all his cards in line before sacking Marsch and knew a replacement was ready and raring to go, it would have been the correct move, however, this wasn’t the case.
Whether Crystal Palace have fallen into this same issue is yet to be seen, but turbulence at Selhurst Park can only be a good thing for Leeds.
The more teams embroiled in a relegation battle, the better.
In other Leeds United news, Phil Hay shares a Tyler Adams injury update with a potential return date mooted.
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