Gary Neville shares Leeds United relegation verdict amid ‘desperate’ Sam Allardyce appointment
Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville admits Leeds United are in “deep trouble” in the Premier League relegation battle despite their desperate appointment of Sam Allardyce on Wednesday.
The Whites sacked Javi Gracia and hired [3 May] the experienced former England boss as his replacement for the rest of the season as they look to fight off relegation in their remaining four Premier League games.
And speaking in his The Gary Neville podcast [4 May], the former Manchester United defender admits he is fearing the worst for Leeds even despite their appointment of Allardyce during the week.
Asked by Martin Tyler whether clubs are getting desperate, following Allardyce’s appointment, he said [18m:32sec]: “Things are getting more desperate now.
“I think it’s to do with the fact that they commit when they’re in the Premier League, they want to be in the league obviously, and they’ve worked hard to get there but the desperation to stay there is off the scale for some of them.
“And I think, Leeds United and Everton are in deep, deep trouble, I had Bournemouth three or four weeks ago, wow, how well they’ve done, but they’ve gone, they’re out of it so now you’re looking at Everton, at Leicester City and Leeds, Nottingham Forest and Southampton, there’s going to be one or two huge clubs that go down.
“And the pain that will cause will be significant. The ramifications, we don’t know yet.”
Huge job
The Whites’ decision to sack Gracia with only four games to go was certainly understandable given the terrible decline Leeds United suffered under his watch after he began the role so well.
Neville is absolutely right, clubs are getting desperate. The only relegation candidates to stick by their managers in recent months have been Nottingham Forest and West Ham United but Leeds United have indeed decided to jump ship and though it may come from a state of panic, something had to give.
Allardyce certainly has a massive job on his hands now, especially with just four games to go which could certainly prove too small a time to try and change things around within the Leeds United camp.
The former Blackburn Rovers boss will have to transform the confidence and belief around Elland Road as much as the tactics on the pitch which really isn’t an overnight task.
That is something that takes weeks, as we’ve already seen throughout the season, so Allardyce has certainly been given an impossible job and considering the difficulty in the games to come with Manchester City, Newcastle United, West Ham and Tottenham means Leeds United need some sort of Premier League miracle to keep their heads above water.
In other Leeds United news, other senior figures are now in line to be fired along with the manager after “emergency” talks.