Michael Skubala lead candidate to take over at Leeds United until end of season
Michael Skubala is reportedly the lead candidate to take over the extended caretaker position at Leeds United until the end of the season.
According to the Times journalist Duncan Castles [14 February], the Whites could decide to appoint someone on a short-term deal, possibly the Englishman, and then look at their preferred targets in the summer.
They have approached a number of managers and most of them are unwilling to take over the reins in the middle of the season.
Castles wrote, “The under-21s coach Michael Skubala, who led the first team in back-to-back Premier League meetings with Manchester United in the past week, is a lead candidate for that extended caretaker role.
“Keeping Skubala — a 40-year-old former England futsal national team coach — in position until the summer would allow Leeds a second opportunity to hire one of the individuals who declined to take over mid-season.”
Not ideal
When Skubala was asked about his tactics, he said that they’re not too dissimilar to Jesse Marsch’s and he asked the players to perform similar roles as the American did.
What Leeds need is someone who has a fixed philosophy and defines roles more clearly, especially in the defensive third.
Skubala may be seen as something of the same type and the players may not take him too seriously or fight for their spot in the team.
If he is indeed the man to be there until the end of the season, then he’s got to make sweeping changes to the side.
He cannot be worried about upsetting players as it’s about what is best for the team and he needs the right results to prove he is the right decision.
The coming relegation six pointers against Everton and Southampton will be massive and hopefully, the Englishman can get it right.
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