Graham Smyth takes aim at Leeds United board and Andrea Radrizzani after defeat v Everton
Journalist Graham Smyth has called for someone on the Leeds board or Andrea Radrizzani to come out and face questions after the 1-0 defeat to Everton.
The Whites fell to yet another defeat in the Premier League as interim boss Michael Skubala failed to inspire his team against the fellow relegation strugglers, succumbing to a 1-0 loss at Goodison Park.
The fans were furious after the game, chanting “sack the board”, but never turning on Skubala and Yorkshire Evening Post writer Smyth says the fans know he is not to blame for the current situation and that those above him are the ones who should face the microphone amid their “collective failure” to hire a new boss.
“It is collective failure that led to him sitting in the hot seat in the first place, and though he gamely sat down to answer questions about where it went wrong on Merseyside, questions about how Leeds find themselves in the bottom three are not ones that can be fairly aimed in his direction,” he wrote (19 February).
“You could argue that director of football Victor Orta, who identified Marsch as the man to replace Marcelo Bielsa, should be in front of the microphones. But Orta has a boss, and so you could suggest that Kinnear, as CEO, should be fronting up. But Kinnear answers to a board.
“And ultimately, that’s where the buck stops – with the ownership.”
Spot on
Fans are obviously unhappy with the way the club is being run right now, and the results on the pitch are obviously not helping things.
But everyone knows that isn’t on Skubala, who has been chucked into the deep end with no armbands to try and turn this sinking ship around.
The board made the decision to sack Jesse Marsch despite having nobody lined up to take the role, and after several rejections now find themselves in no-mans land with no idea of which way to turn next.
It’s no Skubala who should be facing questions from the media about what’s next, what the plan is or how the club are dealing with things, because it isn’t him making the decisions.
But the board, Victor Orta and Radrizzani continue to hide away and leave him to take bullets. It’s just another reason why the fans are sick of the hierarchy at Elland Road, and why things must change quickly.
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