For the second time this season, Leeds United FC have sacked their manager. On February 6 they fired Jesse Marsch, today they have removed his replacement, Javi Gracia.
Leeds United are the fourth team to fire a second manager this season; Southampton, Chelsea, and Tottenham Hotspur are the other teams to have done so.
A statement on the club website reads:
Whites confirm new head coach.
Leeds United can confirm Javi Gracia will leave the club after 12 games in charge.
Zigor Aranalde, Mikel Antia and Juan Solla, who joined alongside Gracia, will also leave the club.
We thank Javi and his team for their efforts under difficult circumstances.
The remaining four games of the season will be overseen by experienced head coach Sam Allardyce.
Allardyce has managed over 500 Premier League games in a managerial career stretching 29 years and he brings a wealth of knowledge in fighting for survival, having guided a number of his previous clubs to safety.
His first experience of the top-flight came with Bolton Wanderers, who he would guide into Europe for the first time in the club’s history.
Following this, he went on to manage Newcastle United, Blackburn Rovers and West Ham United, earning promotion to the Premier League in his first season with the Hammers.
Over the past decade he has successfully helped Sunderland, Crystal Palace and Everton avoid relegation from the Premier League during short-term stints.
Allardyce will be assisted by former MK Dons, Charlton Athletic and Oxford United manager Karl Robinson.
His first game in charge of the Whites will be Saturday’s Premier League away trip at Manchester City.
Javi has been at the helm for twelve League matches. He goes with a record of three wins, two draws and seven league losses.
In a very busy April Leeds United played seven games, of which they were victorious in one, and drew another. They lost five, and by quite a margin; twice they were beaten 4-1, once 5-1, and once 6-1. They kept a clean sheet only once in Javi's tenure, a 1-0 victory against Southampton. An aggregate of eight goals scored against twenty-three conceded in only seven games would put many managers under pressure, and Sunday's 4-1 reversal to Bournemouth was a loss too far for the board.
Not that the decision to remove Javi has been without dispute. The club's Director of Football, Victor Orta left the club early tuesday. It is thought there was disagreement between the Orta and the board with regards to removing Javi and ultimately Orta lost the argument.
As Director of Football Victor Orta had been with Leeds United since 2017. In that time the club regained Premisership status after a thirteen year hiatus. Their first year back led to a credible ninth place finish and the club hoped to solidify and move forward from there.
That proved a difficult prospect and in their second season back in the EPL the coach who guided the team out of the Championship, Marcus Bielsa, was fired with the team 16th in the league.
New boss Jesse Marsch kept them in the EPL, but they finished in 17th place. When he was fired earlier this season the club were sitting 17th in the league. Today, with four games remaining, they sit 17th in the league.
It could easily be argued that the clubs footballing direction has been misaligned over the last two years and maybe it was time for the person objectively in charge of that needed to go.
Leeds United are now left with 4 games to rescue their season and reboot for 2023/24. With the leagues bottom five teams covered by only six points there are no guarantees, even with bringing in Sam Allardyce.