Simon Jordan: Leeds United in ‘grave danger’ of relegation amid managerial appointment problems
Simon Jordan believes Leeds United could already be going down to the Championship amid their troubles with hiring a new manager, he told talkSPORT.
The Whites sacked Jesse Marsch (6 February) but are yet to hire a replacement after running into problems with shortlisted candidates Carlos Corberan, Arne Slot and Andoni Iraola.
The club have recently announced that Michael Skubala will remain in caretaker charge for upcoming fixtures against Everton and Southampton, and speaking on talkSPORT (16 February, 10:57) Jordan feels that the Yorkshire club are in “grave danger” of relegation because he thinks Dyche will keep Everton up.
“I always says that caretaker bosses aren’t the ones you should give the job to in the longer game,” he said.
“I say that about the caretaker managers themselves as much as the clubs, I say please don’t take that job because what you think you’re getting from the players is something completely different to what you’ll get when they figure out you’re the boss and not their mate.
“In this instance the caretaker manager for four or five games while they give themselves some breathing space to pull back and take a look at the situation, and maybe get a bump out of it for four or five games, which I think managers in this situation can do in the short-term, that might give them a little bit of salvation.
“But I think they’re gone anyway. Both of them [Southampton and Leeds].
“Well I don’t know if Leeds are because we have to see what Sean Dyche can do. My belief is that Sean Dyche will get them [Everton] out of trouble. That must mean, by consequence, that Leeds have to go. Or someone like Leeds.
“I can’t run two arguments at the same time. But the point is that I think Leeds are in grave danger, but I think their team is good enough to get out of it.
“And then of course I think Sean Dyche is good enough to get Everton out of it, but one of them is going to go.”
Yikes
Simon Jordan has never been one to talk up Leeds, so it’s no surprise that he isn’t giving us much hope in the battle against relegation.
We’ve got two wins from our last 13 fixtures in all competitions and haven’t won a game since November in the Premier League, so it’s clear that something isn’t right and needs to change for us to get out of trouble.
The performances under Skubala have been encouraging, but the results haven’t come and that’s been the problem even under Marsch this year.
Paul Merson described it as an “absolute joke” that he was sacked with no replacement lined up, and it’s hard to argue right now.
But there is definitely a world where both Leeds and Everton survive contrary to Jordan’s words. West Ham are only one point above us in the table right now, and while Nottingham Forest and Wolves have pulled away recently a poor run of form for them would see them right back in the mix.
If we can string together consecutive wins in the next two games we’ll create a gap between ourselves and the relegation zone, and build momentum, so all energy has to be on that rather than the manager situation and then we can address it again afterwards.
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