Simon Jordan hits back at Jesse Marsch to his face after Leeds United excuses shared
Simon Jordan has hit back at former Leeds United manager Jesse Marsch after the latter shared excuses about his sacking at Elland Road.
Marsch was sacked as Leeds head coach last February after one year in the job, as reported by Sky Sports (7 February 2023).
The club, who were above the Premier League relegation zone only on goal difference at the time, went on to suffer relegation.
“I don’t believe I should have been sacked, because if you look at the metrics, at the time we were trending in the right direction,” Marsch said on the Up Front with Simon Jordan podcast (11 January). “Shortly after I left, it fell off a cliff and the chaos ensued again. Did we achieve as much as I wanted to? No.”
Jordan then interjected: “Seven wins, Jesse, a 21% win record. That’s going to get anybody canned,” with Marsch replying: “Of course, it’s going to put things under stress.” Jordan responded: “So what are you talking about trending then?”
Marsch replied: “I’m talking about when you look at both the eye test, by the metrics, by everything that we were doing to try to put the team back on track to what we wanted to become. We were moving in the right direction. We did good work and we were in a good place and it’s a shame for me. My heart was broken.
“In the end, I don’t blame Andrea [Radrizzani], I understand that because we didn’t get the results that I think we should have gotten it put everything in jeopardy.”
Tough time
Marsch was always going to be up against it from the very start at Elland Road, having come in to replace the iconic Marcelo Bielsa.
But things certainly went well for the American in the beginning, with Marsch keeping the Whites in the Premier League after joining in February 2022.
A year later, however, and he was already out of the job, with the Elland Road club struggling to pick up any momentum at all under the manager.
Marsch was quickly replaced by Javi Gracia, but that move certainly didn’t work out, with the latter then replaced by Sam Allardyce.
All managers gave it their best last time out, but they could not prevent the club from being demoted to the Championship.
Things are, however, looking much brighter under Daniel Farke, with the German doing his utmost to get the Whites back into the big time as quickly as possible.
In other Leeds United news, 49ers Enterprises have opened the door for a defender to return to Elland Road as a Whites development emerges.