Leeds go mad for El Loco as Paul is put on the scrapheap
Marcelo Bielsa, the former Argentina head coach who lasted two days in charge at Lazio and resigned one game into a season at Marseille, would appear to be perfectly suited to Elland Road’s revolving-door policy.
If ever an organisation seemingly operated by the adage that ‘you don’t have to be mad to work here – but it helps’, then it is Leeds.
Appointing the often abrasive 62-year-old might at first sight appear to be the footballing equivalent of adding petrol to the fire, but Bielsa is set to be offered a chance to take the poisoned chalice at the troubled Championship club, who face fresh ridicule as they launch the search for a 10th manager in four years.
Former Leicester manager Claudio Ranieri, 66, who recently left French side Nantes, is also under consideration should Leeds miss out on their first choice.
When Andrea Radrizzani completed his takeover 12 months ago, it was hoped the Keystone Kops approach to running a football club employed by previous owner, madcap Italian Massimo Cellino, was at an end.
Despite making a positive first impression, the club appears to be descending into farce once more, as the Milanese media mogul seeks to appoint the third manager of his brief and increasingly erratic reign.
The decision to jettison Heckingbottom with indecent haste comes on the back of the wave of negative publicity from Leeds’ hugely ill-advised postseason trip to Myanmar, and before that the embarrassing U-turn over a new badge which saw the club mocked mercilessly on social media, with England wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow, a lifelong supporter, among the thousands of critics, labelling the redesign ‘shocking’.
Punch-drunk Leeds fans must wonder what kind of fiasco block, as he went on to admit, is that he has just signed a new five-year contract at Tottenham worth £8.5million-a-year.
That is a £42.5m commitment that Spurs chairman Daniel Levy will see no reason to negotiate.
Crucially, despite his ambitions, Pochettino is unlikely to challenge that stance. “I live in the present, there is nothing more important than that,” he said yesterday.
He then told El Confidential: “In this case it doesn’t depend on me – I have just signed a long contract at Tottenham and I’m very happy there.
“We are all growing together. Now I want to focus on planning the next season and keep a distance from everything that is being talked about.”
Germany boss Joachim Low was more definitive about his links to the Real job. “I can completely rule it out,” he said. awaits them next, after Heckingbottom, assistant Jamie Clapham, head of fitness Nathan Winder, analyst Alex Bailey and celebrated set-piece coach Gianni Vio paid the price for winning four of 16 games as Leeds limped home in 13th spot, 15 points behind the top six.
In a bizarre twist, the 40-yearold, who is set to fly back from holiday in Greece today having secured a hefty severance package, could return to his old club Barnsley as football’s managerial merry-go-round continues. In a statement, Leeds managing director Angus Kinnear said: “Our objective is to bring in a head coach with more experience.
“Paul has conducted himself in an exemplary manner despite results not going as any of us had hoped. We’d like to thank him for his commitment and passion and we are confident of making a quick appointment.”
Of Leeds’ last eight managers only Garry Monk, in 2016-17, has lasted the entirety of the campaign.
Bielsa, who has been out of the game since being suspended and then sacked by Lille in December after six months at the helm, has been praised by Manchester City’s Pep Guardiola and described by Spurs’ Mauricio Pochettino as his “football father”.
The Argentinian’s compatriot Matias Almeyda, the 44-yearold former River Plate head coach who is set to leave Mexican club Chivas Guadalajara, is also under consideration should Bielsa decide that even ‘El Loco’ would be mad to take the plunge at Elland Road.