FORGET THE MADNESS AND SACKINGS, LEEDS ARE ON THEIR WAY BACK TO THE TOP
Nine bosses tried & axed ...but still set for top flight SAYS GARY MCALLISTER
LEEDS legend Gary Mcallister believes the club are heading back to where they belong – despite another outbreak of managerial madness at Elland Road.
Former Scotland midfielder Mcallister insists that owner Andrea Radrizzani has instilled an air of optimism in the West Yorkshire club in the eight months since he bought out his controversial business partner Massimo Cellino.
Radrizzani still felt obliged to sack Thomas Christiansen (right) earlier this month – and has made Paul Heckingbottom the 10th manager to take charge of Leeds in fewer than five years.
But Mcallister – the midfield star of Howard Wilkinson’s 1992 title winners – is sure that the 14-year rollercoaster ride that saw Leeds slip from the Premier League to League One is on a return journey to the top flight.
“I still have a real affinity for Leeds and to see where they are in the Championship is just mystifying,” said Mcallister.
He spent six years at Elland Road during a career that began with his hometown club Motherwell and included two spells with Coventry, as well as Liverpool and Leicester.
Mcallister added: “I still live in the city and, when I go for coffee with Peter Lorimer or Eddie Gray, we talk about what’s happened to the club and what we think will happen in the future.
“And, despite the fact that they have just sacked another manager, I really think they’re on an upward curve again.
“It’s clear the new chairman is really committed to getting the club back to the Premier League, where Leeds should be. One of the first things he did was buy back Elland Road and that gave every Leeds fan a massive lift.
“It was a huge statement of intent. Leeds fans have never deserted the club and always turn up in numbers.
“But they are a lot more comfortable spending their money at Elland Road because they now know it is all going to the club.
“Of course, it is all about results and sacking Thomas Christiansen didn’t look good.
“But Paul Heckingbottom has a good reputation and punched above his weight at Barnsley.” Leeds’ strong start to the campaign dissipated when Christiansen’s side picked up just two points from six games in a run that also brought a shock FA Cup exit at Newport. Heckingbottom’s first game ended in a 2-1 defeat at Sheffield United, but he can get the fans onside today when Leeds host promotion-chasing Bristol City.
Mcallister, whose own reign as Leeds boss lasted 50 games in 2008, said: “I met the new owner last year.
“It was 25 years since Leeds won the last First Division title and there were events to mark the occasion.
“I got to realise that he was aware of the history of the club. But what I really liked was that it felt like there was a definite plan to get the club moving in the right direction.
“It’s a huge club, steeped in history in a one-club city – and the potential is huge.”