Jim White and Simon Jordan debate Leeds United ‘aberration’, deliver scathing relegation view live on talkSPORT
Jim White and Simon Jordan have admitted that Leeds United are in “real trouble” in their fight for Premier League survival.
The Whites crumbled to a 4-1 defeat at Bournemouth on Sunday (30 April) and broke their own record for the number of goals conceded in a single month, giving up 23 from just seven Premier League outings.
The loss left Javi Gracia’s side just a point above the relegation zone with four games of their season remaining and an extremely tricky trip to Manchester City on the horizon this weekend (Saturday, 6 May).
Speaking live on White and Jordan on TalkSPORT (Monday, 1 May), the pair were scathing in their assessments of Leeds’ upcoming fixtures and their chances of escaping Premier League relegation.
“Leeds are in trouble, are they not Simon, real trouble. You backed Javi Gracia,” Jordan said.
“Categorically, yes categorically they’re in trouble,” Jordan replied.
“And of course, leading up to the results, they had beaten Forest, no one sees a 5-1, they were very, very good in the first half against Palace, in fact they dominated it apart from that 20-minute aberration in the second half.
“But Leeds have suddenly lost their way a little bit in two games. They didn’t get heads handed to them by Fulham, they got a result in terms of a point against Leicester, you know they were okay in that game.
“But it is now difficult to see, they are not getting anything against Man City, forget about it, I doubt they will get any points out of Newcastle, forget that one too.
“So you’re looking at West Ham and Spurs. You never know what you’re going to get with West Ham might have a European competition and might be resting players for that game, their league status might already be settled by that time.
“And then the last game of the season is against Tottenham, who are like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re going to get from them.”
Utter shambles
How the tables have turned on Javi Gracia over the last few weeks.
After a win over Wolves and Nottingham Forest in the early days of his tenure at Elland Road, things were looking up for the Spaniard, however in recent weeks, he has let proceedings spiral out of control.
Gracia can’t be solely to blame for the capitulation of Leeds, with Andrea Radrizzani, Victor Orta and Angus Kinnear having their fair share of failing over the last few years.
However, where the club go from here is an absolute mystery.
A change in the dugout is desperately needed, but who would want to risk relegation on their managerial CV with just four games of the season remaining.
At this rate, the best option could well be to promote Michael Skubala as a caretaker once more and hope for the best.
If Leeds stick with Gracia, the trip to Manchester City could end up being a cricket score.
In other Leeds United news, Phil Hay has shared a surgery update that could rule another Elland Road ace out for months.