By George Overhill

18th Feb, 2023 | 5:51pm

Sky Sports pundit expects Michael Skubala to be removed as Leeds United board panics after defeat at Everton

Michael Skubala will no longer be in charge of Leeds United after defeat at Everton with the board now likely to “panic”, according to Tim Sherwood.

The Whites were poor as they lost 1-0 against their fellow relegation strugglers, with the caretaker boss unable to get a performance out of the players to match back-to-back outings against Manchester United.

With Victor Orta and Angus Kinnear in attendance at Goodison Park, Sherwood expects a reaction imminently in the struggling manager hunt.

Speaking live on Sky Sports Soccer Saturday (18 February, 5.34pm) Jeff Stelling asked: “Tim, can you see any difference in Leeds under Michael Skubala than Leeds under Jesse Marsch?”

“No, not at all,” replied Sherwood. “I think that’s the last we see of Michael Skubala to be honest. I think they’ll react, you know what owners and chairmen are like, they panic.

“I think they’ll make a decision, I think they need a manager in there as soon as possible to give them a chance, especially in light of the results we’ve seen today.

“They’ve got dragged right back into it. I think he’ll go back and do the [under] 21s. It’s been a tough job for him, he’s had two very difficult games but they performed better against Manchester United than they did today.

“It was almost a must-win game for them, it was a winnable game, it was there for the taking but you have to give credit to Everton.”

Big problems

The decision to sack Jesse Marsch has shown the club were woefully unprepared to replace him and already three games have gone by without a new man in place.

Skubala looked to have provided a new-manager bounce of sorts with a point at Old Trafford, and even the defeat at Elland Road showed fight.

But the loss at Everton was well below par, and the failures in the manager hunt are suddenly looking all the more glaring if the caretaker team cannot be relied upon in crucial matches like this one.

Whatever plan there was to get a new manager in has gone nowhere productive, and the options available are a long way off first choice.

If Skubala had managed a win at Goodison it would have taken some pressure off, and he even would have been in the running to take charge until the summer.

But the performance was as concerning as the result on Merseyside, and now the hierarchy have got a big decision on their hands as to whether they leave the current situation to rumble on any further.

Skubala never intended to be in this position so it is difficult to criticise him too heavily, but the board has major questions to answer for having put him in the firing line with a team in danger of getting relegated.

In other Leeds United news, click here to see breaking, around-the-clock updates on Leeds’ search for a new manager in our interactive live blog.

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