Leeds boss: Football forgets ...and Carlos is paying price

UNDER-FIRE Carlos Carvalhal has Leeds boss Thomas Christiansen’s sincere sympathy.

But Christiansen admits he is not surprised the Sheffield Wednesday boss is fighting to save his job because of the brutal nature of football these days.

Former Sporting Lisbon boss Carvalhal’s head is on the block – despite revitalising the Owls and guiding them to the play-offs in each of the last two seasons.

And the pressure on the Portuguese, 51, will be crushing if his side suffer a derby defeat at home to bitter Yorkshire rivals Leeds today.

Hillsborough fans are already screaming for Carvalhal’s head, following beatings by arch-enemies Sheffield United and then Birmingham in the last week.

And Elland Road head coach Christiansen, 44, said: “There is no patience in football these days.

“Results are the be all and end all – the only thing that matters is winning. I know Carlos. I have seen his team and how they perform.

“You could guess, just from watching them, he’s a European coach who has adapted to England.

“He has good ideas and he seems a good man. But, again, we all depend on results and it’s normal in football, when you lose a few games, the pressure builds.

“Football doesn’t have memories. Look at Claudio Ranieri, what he did at Leicester and what happened to him.

“He wins the Premier League one season, then is sacked the next. And when he was sacked, everybody seemed to forget he achieved something extraordinary.

“That is football. When you win matches, people forget defeats. When you lose them, people forget the wins.

“Initially, you have a plan. In my situation, a two-year contract with an option for three. That is my guideline.

“But you also have to face reality and, if I hadn’t started this well, I could have been gone and those plans mean nothing.

“But I accept this risk. And not just me. Every manager, every coach who comes to a new club, has to accept that.

“If the board or the chairman doesn’t like what he sees, he will sack the coach. All you can do is give your best.

“Imagine you are a salesman. You are given some goods to sell and a target to hit. If you don’t hit the target, what will your boss do?

“He will find someone who can. Football is a business, just like any other. You have to deliver if you want to stay in a job.”

The former Barcelona striker has certainly done that for Leeds since he arrived from the Cypriot outfit APOEL in the summer.

He has already put together a side that looks capable of taking the Elland Road club back to the top flight with a brand of football that excites.

So how has he done it?

Christiansen said: “First of all, you must adapt. You have to know about the league, how they play, what they do, the history of your club.

“Then you have to see how your ideas will fit in to that.

“I have a lot of ideas about how to play – that is why I was appointed – but I am not here to commit football suicide.” ■■The Owls have only won one of their last six league games against Leeds (D2 L3) since beating them 6-0 in January 2014. ■■Leeds haven’t won back to back league games at Hillsborough since April 2000, when they won three on the bounce. ■■This is the fifth league meeting between the teams on a Sunday – Leeds have won all the previous four, in January 1992 (6-1), November 1998 (2-1), April 2000 (3-0) and August 2006 (1-0). ■■Sheffield Wednesday haven’t lost back-to-back league games at Hillsborough since April 2014. ■■Leeds have lost their last two away games in the Championship, last losing three in a row on the road back in December 2014. ■■Leeds have won all six of their league games in which they’ve scored the first goal this season, but have lost both in which they’ve conceded first.