Leeds United got a lot wrong last season, that’s for sure.
Indeed, you don’t get relegated without making a few bad decisions, and perhaps the most glaring error Leeds made was in the dugout.
They stuck with Jesse Marsch for too long, and then the hiring of Javi Gracia was a disaster.
Angus Kinnear has now come out to speak about this situation on The Square Ball Podcast, and he says that Leeds probably should’ve hired Sam Allardyce instead of Gracia at that time.
Big Sam should’ve been hired
Kinnear gave his verdict on Allardyce.
“Do you think on reflection it would have been better off going for Allardyce at the point of getting rid of Marsch?” Kinnear was asked.
“I think Sam would have probably have been, because he is the ultimate pragmatist, I think he would’ve probably have given us a better chance at that stage, but that’s in hindsight so,” Kinnear said.
Could’ve saved them
As much as we hate to be cliché about this, we genuinely have to think that Sam Allardyce could’ve saved Leeds if he were hired earlier.
As Kinnear says, he’s the ultimate pragmatist, and even in the four games he did have, he came close to performing a miracle.
He’d have gotten a win against Newcastle if it weren’t for an absolute brainfart from Junior Firpo in that game, while he can also count himself very unlucky to have not got a win against West Ham, while Allardyce’s Leeds also pushed Manchester City hard too.
Say what you will about Big Sam, he’s very capable of getting results at this level, and if he had more time at Leeds, perhaps they’d still be in the Premier League.
Karl Robinson didn’t call Allardyce a ‘tactical genius’ for no reason.