Leeds United: talkSPORT pundit drops verdict on manager search

Former Leeds United player and current talkSPORT pundit Danny Mills has shared his thoughts on the Whites’ search for a new permanent manager. 

After getting rid of Jesse Marsch earlier this month with almost a year under his belt in the dugout at Elland Road, the Yorkshire club have been looking to appoint a new long-term head coach.

The Whites have been dealt some setbacks as they’ve seen the likes of Andoni Iraola and Arne Slot turn down the opportunity to manage the club.

With Michael Skubala in charge of the first team for the time being, the situation behind the scenes at Leeds has become the topic of discussion, with Mills being the latest to share his thoughts.

Speaking on talkSPORT, the former Leeds figure had this to say on the matter.

He said: “People keep turning it down left, right and centre. I think it’s a really difficult job because you’re going in there, the expectations are you’ve got to keep them up, simple as that.

“There’s plenty of games to go, but it’s a squad built by Jesse Marsch, [with] Jesse Marsch-style players. I would say a good manager going in there with big credentials doesn’t want relegation on his CV.

“You’re not in the relegation zone at the moment, but when you look at the way the team are playing and what’s been happening, you think there’s a distinct possibility you could easily get sucked into that.

“You know what most managers are like, ego comes first, that takes over more than anything else and they don’t want a relegation on their CV unless they’re going to be given a two-and-a-half-year deal.

“They’ll be thinking ‘no, I might as well wait until the summer, see what happens and then go in.’

“Again, it just goes to show that a lot of these clubs that have made these snap decisions, there’s no real succession plan and I find that the strangest thing when managers are getting sacked.”

With Leeds just one place and one point above the relegation zone heading into this weekend’s fixtures, it’s easy to see why some potential managers may not want to get involved in a relegation battle midway through a season.

Especially with a squad that have a lot of relatively new players that the previous manager brought in as Mills mentioned.

However, given the magnitude a club like Leeds has with such a passionate fanbase, taking charge of the team should not be as unpopular as it is currently being made to look given the lack of success in hiring a new manager.