Bielsa free to be his own boss

MARCELO BIELSA’S refusal to sign a lucrative long-term deal at Leeds United is the latest refreshing, quirky detail of his reign.

While most managers would snap up a multi-year, multi-million pound security based on their current performance, Bielsa (above) does it differently.

He has a policy of not signing longterm contracts.

He has pledged to commit himself to Elland Road year-by-year, even waiting until hours before the new season kicked off before signing his current contract.

If that injects an element of panic, or at the very least, a bit of concern, into the boardroom at Leeds, then no one shows it.

Verbal agreements are in place for him to stay on next season and sustain his brilliant rebuilding of the club he guided back to the Premier League after 16 years in the doldrums.

And roots are growing in Yorkshire for the Argentine coach.

So why not demand security? Because Bielsa knows that long-term deals for managers are a sham.

No matter how many years they have left on their deal, 10 bad games and they will be history.

Many managerial deals will have a defined pay-off anyway, of a year’s salary as compensation.

So Leeds and Bielsa do it differently.

It keeps everyone on their toes. In the boardroom they have to keep their promise of continued investment in the transfer window.

Fail to deliver in the summer, and Bielsa could walk out on his own terms.

And directors will keep a healthy, analytical eye on Europe’s finest coaches so they know who would slot in best when he eventually goes.

It leaves no room for Bielsa to go stale, or to stop driving his players hard on the pitch and up the table. Everyone wins.

“Annual contracts do not mean I am not open to staying here longer...” he says.

They are also a strong signal that he backs himself – and at the age of 65, isn’t just greedily chasing one last big pay cheque.