Phil Hay has admitted that the plan since last week was to have Michael Skubala in for both of Leeds United’s relegation six-pointers, with a view to potentially seeing out the season.
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After failing to land a permanent manager following the sacking of Jesse Marsch, Leeds decided to hand the reins to Skubala, who managed to pick up a point over two games against Manchester United but then flattered to deceive away to Everton where Leeds failed to register a shot on target.
That dire performance at Goodison Park appears to have forced Leeds’ hand, as they’ve now appointed former Watford manager Javi Gracia on a flexible contract that will likely be good for both parties.
It perhaps shows the lack of faith there was all along in Skubala – who is an inexperienced first-team manager – but also highlights the lack of planning, as he was seemingly all set to take charge of this weekend’s game against bottom-placed Southampton.
The Latest: Skubala replaced by Javi Gracia
Hay was speaking on Monday’s edition of The Phil Hay Show about how Leeds had intended on handing Skubala the games against Everton and Southampton, only for the board to have since made a major U-turn.
He said: “Having told themselves that Skubala would have Everton and Southampton, that was clear – they didn’t commit to a fixed timescale and didn’t appoint him until the end of the season when they announced him last week. But the intention was absolutely for him to have both of these games.
“The intention was that if these two games went well, then in ideal circumstances, he would take them through until the end of the season, he would keep them up, and he would give them the opportunity in the summer – which is a far better time of year to be trying to recruit a permanent head coach – to run that process again and hopefully to get who it was that they wanted.”
The Verdict: A clear lack of planning at Leeds
It will be worrying for fans that Leeds have now quickly changed their tune in the space of 24 hours by going from backing Skubala to now handing the reins to an out-of-work manager in Gracia, whose last job was out in Saudi Arabia.
Gracia last managed in England back in 2019 when he was manager of Watford and managed to win just 25 games in the Premier League and lost 29, which doesn’t scream he will be able to turn things around.
However, he managed to keep the Hornets up and take them to an FA Cup final, so he would be by no means an underqualified successor to Marsch.
With Gracia coming out of left field in the race to fill the Leeds hotseat, the fact he has managerial experience and a bit of Premier League nous should see him as a better pair of hands than Skubala.
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