Phil Hay shares Javi Gracia Leeds United sack verdict after 4-1 Premier League loss v Bournemouth
Phil Hay has suggested Leeds United “might as well” roll the managerial dice once again after the Whites were beaten 4-1 by Bournemouth.
Goals from Dominic Solanke, Antoine Semenyo and a Jefferson Lerma brace saw the Cherries seal a vital victory in their own bid to avoid relegation.
BBC reporter Adam Pope shared on Twitter Gracia’s comments after the game, with the Spaniard admitting that he might not be trusted with the season’s final fixtures.
Hay has since suggested the board may as well roll the dice once more in what has been a “car crash” of a campaign, hinting that his time may be running out at Leeds.
“There was no fight in his words after Bournemouth, no convincing responses, no credible roadmap out of the desert. ‘I have to help my players play better,’ he said, which prompted the obvious question of how. ‘it’s my job,’ Gracia replied. Although you wonder for how much longer,” wrote Hay (The Athletic, 30 April).
“There is nothing which sums up a car crash of a year better than the realisation that if Leeds chose to roll the dug-out dice once more for the four fixtures that are left, they might as well.”
One last gamble
The board may as well throw caution to the wind and give Michael Skubala the job for the season’s final fixtures. Gracia won’t be at the club next season and the players are clearly not playing for him. They’re conceding goals for fun and the manner of the defeats are sack worthy.
Gracia almost certainly won’t be the man to turn things around and a reaction is needed. The board have so much to answer for and the mess at Elland Road is down to their dreadful decision-making over the past year. Jesse Marsch should never have been given the job; he should never have been backed. Furthermore, there was clearly no plan in hiring the American’s successor.
Where the board go now is anyone’s guess. Manchester City are next on the agenda. The worst could still be to come, with Pep Guardiola’s side in rampant form. Orta and the board should be planning for the Championship because right now, it’s hard to see where Leeds’ next point comes from.
In other Leeds United news, a contract announcement has been made in a Whites transfer race.