I relate to that. I've stated often that he made me fall in love with football again. Not easy after 16 years of mostly watching Leeds through my fingers, fearing the worst.
Bielsa Sacked
- Thread starter ristac
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We as fans felt a connection with him, something that hasn't happened in years with the amount of dross that came before him. I don't know if the new man in will have the same effect. Only time will tell. I'm just wondering how the same players who let MB down can suddenly become world beaters and save us from the drop.
I'm planning on writing Bielsa a short note of thanks, which I'll pop through his door, so he gets it. Also planning to cheekily invite him out to dinner when I visit Buenos Aries at the end of the year, but it's a fingers-crossed, Santa type of invite - it'll never happen, but imagine it did!
I can also deliver mail / email directly for anyone else planning to write to him, if you want to write to him too, & would prefer not to get lost in the inevitable mailbags-fest that'll go via the club.
I can also deliver mail / email directly for anyone else planning to write to him, if you want to write to him too, & would prefer not to get lost in the inevitable mailbags-fest that'll go via the club.
Let’s see how the new guy does against Chelsea Man City and Arsenal
That’ll be the true test, if we get 9 points out of those 3 then I will accept that Radrizzani made the right call.
Pissed off and I intend to remain pissed of
That’ll be the true test, if we get 9 points out of those 3 then I will accept that Radrizzani made the right call.
Pissed off and I intend to remain pissed of
Marcelo Bielsa and Leeds United: It wasn’t meant to end like this
By Phil Hay
On the Sunday after Leeds United’s recent defeat by Everton, Marcelo Bielsa got out of bed and took himself to mass. As a practising Catholic and a resident of Wetherby, it was not unusual to see him in his local church but this particular Sunday called for some soul-searching. The Premier League season had been gruelling and Bielsa was bearing the weight of it but a 3-0 loss at Goodison Park cut as deep as most results.
With hindsight, the game on February 12 came to feel like a tipping point. Leeds were under pressure to win it and bring their season to heel but it was lost with a whimper: the wrong line-up, positional errors that Bielsa owned up to and not enough fight. Over 90 minutes the team looked troubled. In the boardroom at Elland Road, the wind was turning against him; not dramatically or viciously but to the extent that the idea of replacing Bielsa in the summer was now the prevailing mood. A new season would most likely mean a new head coach, unless a resurgence changed the landscape again.
What nobody anticipated was the sharp acceleration of anxiety that led to Bielsa’s dismissal, a quick fortnight later. One minute there was confidence that if nothing else, Leeds would have it in them to fend off relegation. The next minute that confidence had gone. The murmuring about imminent change began rumbling on Thursday evening, in the 24 hours after Leeds lost 6-0 at Liverpool.
Removing Bielsa from his position was a public relations minefield. It went without saying that the finest manager the club had fallen for this side of Howard Wilkinson, a coach revered in Leeds like almost no one else, was not a manager the club could sack with impunity. But the out-of-control concession of goals, the structure of the team, the confidence of the squad, Bielsa’s judgment itself; all of it was worrying the club’s hierarchy, compounded by an ever-worsening Premier League table. Leeds were contemplating ending his reign before Saturday’s game against Tottenham Hotspur and a brittle, 4-0 defeat led to a parting of ways by Sunday morning.
Bielsa signed off from his final match, his 170th in charge, with a respectful shake of Antonio Conte’s hand and a subdued walk to the tunnel, the silent finish he least deserved. The defiance from the stands in the second half gave the impression of a crowd who sensed they were nearing the end of the Bielsa era, though defiance is something Elland Road does well whenever times are hard.
Bielsa leaves the pitch at Elland Road for the last time (Photo: JON SUPER/AFP via Getty Images)
In exiting like that, the 66-year-old was nothing if not consistent, taking his leave with as few histrionics as he did on the night when Leeds were as good as promoted in 2020. “Of course,” he replied when he was asked if he could yet regain control of the season but his expression implied that his own concern was growing.
He has been, to the last, a reluctant showman, someone who could not fathom his own popularity or forgive his own failings, even if they became more difficult to articulate as results turned sour. People in the street would call him God and Bielsa would wag his finger at them, unable to accept the comparison.
To the public, he was private but accessible, low-key but politely affable, and Yorkshire quickly became his home. He moved out of his famous flat above the chiropodists this season and into a nearby house overlooking the River Wharfe, happy in those surroundings. He had a street named after him, beer named after him, murals of him painted on various walls and love unlimited. But for all that, who knows if Bielsa will be back in these parts or how often? Who will have the chance to say goodbye? It was often said that when Bielsa moved on, he would rapidly make himself scarce.
The emergence of Jesse Marsch, the former RB Salzburg and RB Leipzig manager, as Bielsa’s probable successor — an appointment Leeds would like to secure rapidly, with an announcement due on Monday — shows that a change has been brewing in the background. Marsch, 48, was a leading candidate to take the job at Elland Road at the end of this season, if Leeds and Bielsa parted company, but his out-of-work status and close relationship with director of football Victor Orta made expediting talks simple.
Marsch’s teams have a reputation for pressing and dominating possession, two things Bielsa’s squad have been trained for relentlessly. The American is a close fit in that sense, albeit on the back of an unsuccessful struggle to inherit Julian Nagelsmann’s Leipzig.
Marsch is expected to take over at Leeds (Photo: Jan Woitas/picture alliance via Getty Images)
The best-case scenario for Leeds is that Marsch conducts a quick refresh, extends some warmth to players who need reinvigorating, and makes enough of the last 12 matches to keep the club safe. The worst-case scenario is that the transition from coach to coach asks too much in a short period and fails to halt imploding form, casting the decision as a mistimed error.
Had Marsch been poised to replace Bielsa this summer anyway, there might be advantages in him getting his foot in the door before his first pre-season gets going but sources close to him are clear that he sees himself as a coach of Premier League standing. The club would be a different proposition in the Championship. And aside from anything else, succeeding Bielsa means filling a monumental void, culturally and aesthetically.
Bielsa, as his position weakened, was not dragged down by outright mutiny. There were niggles and frustrations and a frank conversation between him and Raphinha after the Brazil forward was substituted at half-time at Everton but the creep of doubt was incremental. Injuries became a huge burden on Leeds but at no stage did training ease off. Instead, it intensified, with murderball, the apple of Bielsa’s training eye, no longer limited to one session a week.
The club suggested loan signings like Donny van de Beek in January, a way of fleshing out a depleted squad, but Bielsa knocked them back. In a month like this one in which Leeds conceded 20 goals, unflinching tactics became a bone of contention for the board too. A source close to one of the players described them as “exhausted” by the pressure of a system that was no longer functioning consistently.
Very little of this was new and Leeds had spent the previous three years extolling the virtues of Bielsa’s single-mindedness — the fastidious commitment to specific methods, a picky approach to the transfer market, a refusal to flip-flop. Single-mindedness was the basis of his impact at Elland Road but his reluctance to adapt when results suggested that adapting was necessary posed the question in the boardroom of whether the decline in form might take them down; about whether deference to Bielsa was leading to paralysis.
There was very little point in challenging him on specific principles because challenging principles was the equivalent of telling Bielsa that faith in him was waning, a strategy akin to nudging him out of the door. Voicing a loss of confidence meant doing what Leeds eventually did and removing him from his post.
Single-mindedness underpinned Bielsa’s regime (Photo: Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images)
The irony for Bielsa is that he was convinced last summer that he and the squad were in ideal shape for his fourth season at Leeds. He lost weight and took on a personal training programme, deciding that the stress of the Premier League and coaching in general demanded a stricter focus on his own fitness.
The physical data produced by his players in pre-season was better than in any previous summer. He pushed again on the infrastructure front by convincing Leeds to match a new state-of-the-art pitch at Elland Road by laying the same surface at their training ground. Very few of his proposals for improving facilities were resisted. The suggestion that Leeds create a small putting green for the players at Thorp Arch was one of the few things the club declined to do. In return, Bielsa spent more than £100,000 building a gym for non-playing staff at Elland Road.
The football, though, regressed this season, to the naked eye and statistically. Leeds were no longer the same attacking machine and no longer able to compensate for porous defending by scoring goals. Injuries ravaged their squad and did not relent, a brutal strain on resources that took out three pillars of the team in Kalvin Phillips, Patrick Bamford and Liam Cooper. Their last clean sheet, at home to Crystal Palace in November, is one of only three to date.
Bielsa was drawn into ideological arguments over his choice of line-ups and substitutes, manifested in his regular use of Tyler Roberts over Joe Gelhardt. All of Bielsa’s final four fixtures saw at least two substitutions before the start of the second half, the mark of a team that would not pick itself. The effort of the players encouraged him but tactically he could not deny that his plan was falling short. “Positive things are contagious,” he said after full-time against Spurs. “So are negative things.”
The dismissal of a coach who was untouchable for so long will pose awkward questions of the directors at Leeds. Were they right to assume that the investment they made in new signings on the back of their promotion season would largely see them through two years? Was last summer as busy as it should have been and did drawing a blank in the search for a central midfielder set the tone for a dressing room that clearly needed one? When they spent, did enough of the signings work? Should they have argued more vociferously for Bielsa to take on extra resources if they thought more resources were needed? And ultimately, could this premature conclusion have been avoided?
Bielsa regularly answered those questions by fighting the club’s corner. They had invested sufficiently, he would say, and more than enough for him and the team to be doing better. They had backed him on cosmetic and structural changes to the training facilities and his authority as head coach was absolute, free of interference from above.
But over time a gap developed in the peak-years zone of the dressing room, with an old guard growing older and a younger core too far away from their prime, and the priority for Leeds if they do stay up will be to build a squad more suited to the Premier League than this season’s has been. They have known all along that any transition from Bielsa would involve substantial recruitment on the playing side, providing his successor with a different hand to play with, and that fact is staring them in the face.
With Bielsa, it was as he promised: Plan A to the last, even when his man-to-man set-up came under the most severe pressure. The players stuck at it because in so many cases, Bielsa’s football was the making of them: athletes who thought they had a low ceiling inspired to smash it spectacularly. Some made it into international football on his watch. Many saw their earning potential rocket and most experienced technical and tactical improvement, punching above their perceived weight.
Elland Road did not turn on Bielsa (Photo: Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images)
The personal gains filtered down to others outside the dressing room, like the security guard who won a Fiat 500 in Bielsa’s last Christmas raffle. So many people owed him something, not least a crowd who never turned on him. They valued the drive and immersed themselves in the education, hoping the ride would continue forever.
The partnership between Leeds and Bielsa was built on the quality of his football but there was more to it than football alone and if that sounds twee, ask the people who followed it from start to finish. Walk around the city and look at the imprint he is leaving on it or wade back through the years when the only direction Leeds were going was straight over a cliff. Much of his work was art and brilliantly conceived.
Bielsa and Leeds were almost the definition of chaos theory: a coach who some considered to be unmanageable colliding with a club who many considered to be unmanageable and both of them finding glory in each other.
It is ending like this, in a manner nobody wanted because, as Bielsa would say, perfection is reserved for God. The congregation, to a man, are mortal.
Warren S.
5h ago
129 likes
The Athletic's part in the comms 2mins post match was disgusting.
Graham W.
5h ago
75 likes
bullshit. they are reporters
doing there job
Graham W.
5h ago
8 likes
same radz who got us up and sorted the club out after years of ****?
Daniel M.
5h ago
Agreed. Come clean if the was an embargo.
Warren S.
5h ago
26 likes
BS Graham. Phil Hay has made a fast buck from Bielsa. He owed Marcelo better than what went out in his name yesterday.
James D.
5h ago
13 likes
Spot on, shame on Phil and it'll be the end of my membership with the athletic
Christian B.
4h ago
35 likes
Journalist reports news as he gets it, what's surprising about this?
James C.
4h ago
7 likes
Got to agree, the loss of faith and negative comments from Phil have been increasingly concerning.
Wendy R.
4h ago
5 likes
Subscription won’t be renewed.
Sam D.
4h ago
14 likes
Journos doing their job unfortunately. Direct your anger at the club - Radz and the yanks are experienced and the leaks would have been part of the pr plan. Completely unprofessional and so rude to a man who deserved at the very least for this to be done like gentlemen.
Andrew M.
4h ago
3 likes
@Warren S. Child...
Mark H.
4h ago
84 likes
Holy ****. These comments are wild. I'm not a Leeds fan but they were the only other team other than my own Hammers that I'd go out of my way to watch.
You can't seriously think a journalist reporting how obviously rubbish Leeds have been this past few weeks is the reason he was sacked? Extraordinary.
And if he was, that says more about the owners then it does reporting what everyone can see with their own eyes!
Jonathan R.
4h ago
21 likes
Shame on Phil for what? Getting a story and reporting the facts. The prevailing mood was that Bielsa would be fired. It would have been remiss of Phil not to do his job.
Chris G.
3h ago
11 likes
Mark totally agree the comments on here about Phil are not really fair for someone doing his job like he has for years and years.
Warren S.
3h ago
2 likes
He was not reporting a news event. He was part of the leak. Totally disrespectful to Bielsa.
Tom S.
3h ago
12 likes
@Warren S.
You've lost your head here, mate.
Jacob W.
3h ago
8 likes
@Mark H It’s mental isn’t it, looking in from the outside. There must be some strange narratives doing the rounds in their fan base.
Patrick O.
3h ago
8 likes
I would say I was also angry at Phil yesterday when he broke the news. It was nothing personal I just needed to lash out and Phil was there. Obviously don't feel that now but I can see where you are coming from Warren. I would say I would much prefer Phil breaking it or writing this article on Bielsa's time then some of the ex pro's and reporters who have no idea of our bond and connection with Bielsa. He transcended all normal boundaries for me and to then watch MOTD call him arrogant, or Merson saying **** like he was pulling the wool over our eyes. Completely clueless, based on no facts or any understanding of the situation. It's those ****ing pricks that I despise.
Andrew L.
2h ago
1 like
Give over you wet lettuce.
J T.
2h ago
Pipe down you melt. It wasn't great but i assume it was mandated.
Daniel O.
1h ago
Superb use of a much forgotten personal insult.
Sean N.
1h ago
2 likes
@Warren S. That's not how journalism works. Phil was doing his job. There's a lot of "shoot the messenger" energy in the air right now, and it doesn't reflect well on our supporters.
Daniel Y.
1h ago
Cancelled mine yesterday too. It won’t renew and I won’t be back. The anti-Leeds agenda from London is bad enough but this felt opportunistic and sly from Phil and the Athletic.
Neil F.
36m ago
2 likes
What on earth are you talking about? Leeds fans are insane
Ed W.
31m ago
1 like
That is seriously unfair. Would you prefer if he lied and said everything is wonderful?
Maybe you should grow up.
Shay C.
30m ago
Compared to the Everton & Newcastle journos on this forum, Phil gave Leeds & Bielsa an easy ride. Hard questions needed to be asked and more scrutiny placed on the resources provided by Orta. But don’t kill the messenger in this instance.
Michael G.
5h ago
49 likes
Only people to blame are the majority owner and the CE who whofully under-invested in the last two transfer windows simply to shore up profits for selling equity. It is now going to bite them on the bum in May.
Have already shelled out for my season ticket 22-23. Past caring which division we are in.
John W.
4h ago
11 likes
Or perhaps Bielsa isn’t the managerial messiah he is spoken about as? He has one league title in a fairly middling managerial career that has ended with another underwhelming exit
Mark D.
4h ago
34 likes
@John W. Oh do p1ss off and take your trolling elsewhere
John W.
4h ago
8 likes
It’s not trolling, the reality is that he is an average manager. Just because he can philosophise about tactics doesn’t make him some kind of footballing legend - and his managerial track record supports that view. Always frustrated me that the media deified him for some reason when his achievements don’t support that...
Paul M.
4h ago
18 likes
What are you on about!? Bielsa turned down every player offered, wanting a small squad. If the people upstairs had gone over his head and signed them anyway then that's a sign the don't trust the manager. Without Radrizzani Leeds would be nowhere. Without Orta they wouldn't have secures Bielsa. Just accept in the end Bielsa fell on his sword no matter how hard and sad it is. Let him be remembered for what he did for the club, and now let the directors appoint the successor and see a influx of players in the summer.
Mark D.
3h ago
3 likes
@John W. Yeah good man, some fella on The Athletic comments section has seen right through him. Radz and Orta will be on to ye soon to hire ye as a consultant.
Richard F.
3h ago
20 likes
An average manager? Taking Championship players and the 3rd lowest wage bill in the PL and insisting they play a Champions League style of football.... is anything but average. He took on the challenge and maybe without the extra stress of Covid affecting all but maybe the hardest worked team in the PL the most, he may have got away with it. Intransigent but wonderful. Anything but average! He will always be welcome in Leeds and at Elland Road, where he will be politely embarrassed by the large statue erected in his honour. Gone but never forgotten.
Sazid K.
3h ago
2 likes
@John W. Yes yes, you certainly know more than Pep Guardiola about managers
Jacob W.
3h ago
2 likes
@Richard F Champions League style of football?! The only team that played a comparable way in recent seasons in the CL were Atalanta and they got smashed 5-0 by an injury ravaged Liverpool. It’s plain for all to see his tactics did not work. It was an admirable attempt and there’s no shame in admitting it didn’t work out.
David D.
3h ago
2 likes
”Philosophising about tactics” is exactly what has made him a footballing legend, inspiring many of today’s top managers.
He may not be a top manager himself but that’s another story.
David D.
3h ago
9 likes
Atalanta, and Leeds last season, clearly punched above their weight partly because of tactics. The fact that some very rich clubs with elite players eventually beat them, doesn’t change that.
Matthew C.
1h ago
2 likes
@Richard F.
Where is the statue of Howard Wilkinson? Or because that was accomplished during a less emotionally reactive non social media age don't we care about his significant achievements now?
Kevin R.
5h ago
44 likes
Something needed to change and it wasn't going to be Bielsa, so I think this was inevitable.
Paddy G.
5h ago
14 likes
Glad you all knew he was going before Tottenham or whenever. Did it help your book sales Phil?
Patrick O.
5h ago
77 likes
I was angry at Phil yesterday, maybe because he broke it but he didn't have a role in this and his job is to report Leeds United news, the good, the bad, and the ugly. We can't blame the messenger, we need to unite now, take stock in the summer and get behind the team.
James C.
4h ago
8 likes
Reporting the news is one thing, making it is another. I can't help feeling the clear loss of faith exhibited by Phil over the last few weeks and his increasing, unwarranted negativity, has hastened this terrible day.
Ross M.
4h ago
59 likes
Really? In the last two weeks, we’ve conceded 17 goals and scored two. It would require Pravda level journalism to put a positive spin on that. I don’t think Phil can be accused of making the news, he is not in the starting 11 or on the coaching staff.
Charles B.
4h ago
2 likes
Agreed
David H.
4h ago
34 likes
What a strange statement, do you really believe Phil Hay's loss of faith in Bielsa hastened his departure.? He's just a reporter for Christ sake, he's doing what he's paid to do, report on leeds utd. Please people get a grip. Bielsa has been brilliant and his place in Leeds history is guaranteed but this season has been a disaster so far. We can argue till the cows come home as to why this has happened but if we're all being honest we all know the problems are never just one thing or one person. Lack of investment at particular moments, injuries, small squad, lack of adaptation, opposition working us out etc are all parts of the reason. Some of these issues could be aimed at the board or Orta but the majority are of Bielsa's making and unfortunately he's paid the price as the manager ultimately must do.
Mark D.
4h ago
4 likes
@James C. Yeah you're right. The lads werent bothered by the results on the pitch at all but id say once Radz and Orta saw some of Phils comments, they decided enough was enough
Andrew L.
3h ago
7 likes
I’ve never seen any evidence that Radz or Orta turn to Phil to make their decisions. Phil doesn’t even support Leeds, he’s a journalist who asks the necessary tough questions when we’ve shipped so many goals on the bounce
Philip M.
3h ago
Absolute nonsense
Sean N.
1h ago
1 like
@James C. That's ridiculous. The board members aren't sitting around saying to each other "Does Phil Hay of the Athletic think he should go?" And as for "unwarranted negativity," how many 7-0 and 6-0 defeats are fine in your mind before some negativity is called for?
Chris G.
5h ago
151 likes
Hope the fans calling for his head on here are happy now. The man had dignity, gave everything he had for the club and deserved the chance to keep us up. Fans have short memories. Thanks Marcelo for giving us our club back - gone but never forgotten and I'm so sorry our board treated you this way.
Ryan B.
4h ago
2 likes
Well said
Jon G.
4h ago
1 like
@Chris G. Completely agree with you comments regarding the fans on here - not so much the board. I don't think they had much choice unless you believe what the same fans have been saying about recruitment responsibilities
Chris G.
3h ago
4 likes
See you point Jon and I guess the argument comes down to whether people feel the man marking system bielsa deploys can work in the era where flexible formations are the norm. Doesn't matter what players you have if they get pulled all over the pitch out of possession. I really thought last year bielsa had adapted his approach slightly but recently it's been the rise of the two up front against us and that massive gap in midfield as be got pulled all over the place. For me it's just proves how key Phillips was to him. Without him we have never been the same side throughout the whole bielsa era
Sam I.
1h ago
1 like
As always, the Princess Bride says it better than I ever could…
The Ancient Booer:
Boo. Boo. Boo.
Buttercup:
Why do you do this?
The Ancient Booer:
Because you had love in your hands, and you gave it up.
Buttercup:
But they would have killed Westley if I hadn't done it.
The Ancient Booer:
Your true love lives. And you marry another. True Love saved her in the Fire Swamp, and she treated it like garbage. And that's what she is, the Queen of Refuse. So bow down to her if you want, bow to her. Bow to the Queen of Slime, the Queen of Filth, the Queen of Putrescence. Boo. Boo. Rubbish. Filth. Slime. Muck. Boo. Boo. Boo.
Bryn M.
5h ago
22 likes
Viva Bielsa!
Richard L.
5h ago
63 likes
It's the young translator I feel sorry for.
Christopher M.
5h ago
Andy H.
3h ago
1 like
best comment by a mile
Daniel O.
1h ago
Won’t someone think of the children
Warren S.
5h ago
11 likes
Radz is solely acting in the best interests of his own personal balance sheet
Another chancer of an owner, who made one right decision to appoint Marcelo and we thank him for that.
And he seeks sells the club to Americans as if that is in the best interests of the club.
The problem with no fan representation in the boardroom remains a problem for the game.
It allows chancers like Radz to get reflected glory.
He owes the £400m valuation entirely to Bielsa.
Bielsa made him richer.
Radz should receive a verbally hostile reception at ER pre match and post match.
Get Stanningly Taxis to take him back to Meelan.
Craig C.
4h ago
5 likes
Knew when we wouldn’t stump up the cash for Rodrigo de Paul, that radz was a chancer.
We had the chance the seriously build on last season with some quality players and bought firpo and Dan James.
Mark D.
4h ago
13 likes
@Warren S.
"Radz is solely acting in the best interests of his own personal balance sheet"
Of course he is. Like every single football club owner except for the Oil states. What would make you think otherwise?
Warren S.
3h ago
As always the narrative of the club statement openly avoids that obvious reality though.
I thought it therefore worth stating the bleeding obvious the directors refuse to say
Patrick O.
5h ago
72 likes
Have not read yet but just want to place on record that I really thought our club was better than this. Opinions differ (I for one thought he would dig us out) about Bielsa but the club handled it terribly. We lost a bit of our soul today. We need to unite now but I fear this move will split the club and fans. I had tears when I saw the club were going to part ways at FT yesterday, and have had a sense of emptiness ever since. This one will take a while to get over. MOT.
Philip D.
4h ago
2 likes
We’ll said
Ian K.
5h ago
14 likes
This lies absolutely at the feet of the board and the disgraceful recruitment policy over the past few years. Those programme notes of Kinnears, even at the time looked foolish, in hindsight even worse.
The question is, what coach can get better out of the squad? It's threadbare and without a premiership quality midfielder in it. Dallas, klich and forshaw are championship level players, or prem squad players. They aren't capable of dominating premier League opposition. That isn't going to change in the run in.
Daniel M.
5h ago
9 likes
If we go down now, it’s on Radz. Stupid move.
Graham O.
5h ago
88 likes
Thank you Marcelo for your class, wisdom, integrity and humility. This isn’t the way it was meant to end however I do agree with the decision.
However my principal concern right now is for you, I hope the decision doesn’t hurt you too deeply, you’ve given us all so much joy, happiness and belief these last 3 1/2 years that we will never be able to repay you. But I suspect you prefer it that way.
Like the Don & Wilko you will always have a special place in our hearts.
Good luck in the future and farewell.
But, we’ll always have Stoke!
Damien T.
5h ago
3 likes
Well said. Some comments on here are unbelievable but I couldn’t have put it better myself.
Chris C.
4h ago
11 likes
Yes, well said Graham O. I believe you speak for many of us. Marcelo has given us all so much over his tenure, so much to thank him for, to be remembered forever.
Please, Leeds fans, stop the blame game NOW, we ARE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER. Stay united , we have 12 games to save this season, Marcelo has put everything into this club & the best way to repay him atm is to pull together & all play our part in keeping us in the premiership
Ryan B.
4h ago
4 likes
We're not though, are we? If it truly was an "all in this together" mindset they'd have let him see out the season. It's more a "we're all in this together if you're somehow achieving the impossible but as soon as we have a low patch you can do one" kind of sentiment.
Henry C.
4h ago
4 likes
Brilliantly said Graham, lots of thoughtfulness and class in your comment. Not a Leeds fan but I have utmost respect for Bielsa. Best of luck!
Bel
3h ago
1 like
Ryan, why is the standard of not getting humiliated in every game "achieving the impossible"?
Patrick O.
2h ago
Well put Graham
Michael S.
5h ago
15 likes
Viva Bielsa
Hartley H.
5h ago
7 likes
The board have shown us what they are all about absolutely disgusting behaviour. It Seems like everyone knew this was coming behind the scenes but the manager himself. Biesla made the club great again and now this is gonna break it
Thomas L.
5h ago
11 likes
Bull sh*t. Deserved to go on his own terms
Simon E.
5h ago
12 likes
Sad. I’m just sad. My wife has left me alone whilst I grieve.
Daniel S.
2h ago
@simon E. I am to, woke up to this news and it's just devastating. I wish we could do a send off for him. He doesn't deserve to go quietly, he's done so much for Leeds, not just the club but the city as well.
James D.
5h ago
4 likes
Sack the board, ridiculous decision to change manager now. We should have showed trust in Bielsa and given him.a chance to turn things around especially as the key players and the spine of the team will be back in a few weeks. Sad day for Leeds and a terrible decision
Thomas C.
5h ago
5 likes
Bielsa was always going to break before he’d bend. A real shame, his approach, in the championship and premier league, was deeply refreshing, and pretty much unique as far as I could see
Matt B.
5h ago
5 likes
Whatever your opinion, he will be missed!
Praneet C.
5h ago
8 likes
A close friend who's in media has worked with Andrea, Andrea is a cold blooded deal maker. The timing of this decision is pathetic. No one expected any results from these 3 matches. Players are getting back to fitness in March and the most important set of fixtures await. I was not happy with Bielsa but without him our chances of relegation just went up a notch.
Paul S.
5h ago
29 likes
Well I think that’s a disgraceful decision by the Leeds management team. They are equally culpable and should hang their heads in shame. Whilst it was going well they all presented themselves as one super-aligned team, desperate for some of Bielsa’s magic to rub off on them, all taking the credit for getting him to and keeping him at our club. The least they owed Bielsa was the chance to save our season as key players returned and with a run of easier fixtures around the corner. The timing is cynical and in my opinion self-defeating anyway. The two parties signed a one year deal and Bielsa would have stuck to it as he is a man of honour unlike those he’s left behind. Bielsa will remain in my heart and I’m sure in the hearts of many other Leeds fans long after they’re forgotten.
Hayden E.
5h ago
11 likes
We were never going to get anything from Man U Liverpool or Spurs ( all aspiring top 4 clubs ) but with winnable run of games to come , this move is classless and without integrity , like the badge fiasco the board have completely misread the feelings of the majority- or as I suspect don’t care so long as the Americans are happy — very very sad day
Michael E.
4h ago
10 likes
Watford managed to draw with Man Utd, at Old Trafford. Burnley beat Spurs
Sean N.
1h ago
@Hayden E. We got four points from the same fixtures last season.
Noah K.
5h ago
64 likes
My thoughts are that wthout Bielsa our chances of avoiding relegation lessen, the likelihood of us retaining key players in Raphinha and Kalvin lessen, and our connection with the club as fans lessens significantly too.
I'm 35 and these last three seasons have been the best time I've ever had as a Leeds United fan. As someone who has followed Leeds from the highs of the Champions League to the depths of League One and seemingly endless stagnation in the Championship, Marcelo rekindled my love for the game, love for the city and love for the club. Today is a deeply sad day.
Thank you so much Marcelo. You gave the club, the city, the players, staff, youth team, community, and us fans something bigger than I've ever experienced as a sports fan. Thank You.
James H.
4h ago
7 likes
Noah, I’m 41 and feel exactly the same. You have summed it up absolutely beautifully. We owe this man so much. It shouldn’t have ended like this.
Seb M.
4h ago
5 likes
31 year old here who lives in Paris and has been a Leeds fan since I can remember (Leeds born family), this resonates with me and I fully share the fact this has been the best period of my lifetime, exhilarating games and a model of a coach whose boots will be tough to fill.
Marcelo has given some magic back to us that is hard to describe and I can only hope that it carries over throughout the club in the years to come, we don't deserve to go back to the dark ages.
Thank you Bielsa
John H.
3h ago
3 likes
@noah K. Great comment. Supporting Leeds for maybe 25 seasons. I'd say 5 at a push have been enjoyable. 3 of them have been thanks to Bielsa. What he has done for Leeds and all Leeds fans was magnificent. Hero
Mark D.
5h ago
4 likes
New manager is going to have to being in an entirely new backroom team as well, yes? Bielsa got paid one huge lump some from which he paid everyone. So its safe to assume that none of the current backroom team have contracts. That is a huge concern, there will be absolutely no continuity at all really
Elliott W.
5h ago
3 likes
Radz can **** off the scummy tw*t
Simon Z.
5h ago
5 likes
For the last few years I have loved Bielsa as much as any Leeds United figure since I fell in love with the club as a 5 year old in 1972. This is gut wrenching, but so were the constant drubbings and the utter lack of competitiveness. I cannot understand how transfer window after transfer window passed and it seemed almost like the only investment we made was wingers. I’m very confused today and very sad.
Joel B.
2h ago
1 like
I’ve loved watching Leeds as they have ascended with Bielsa. I do have to say that I expected this day to come too. He is revered by many players and coaches alike, but he hasn’t stayed long in one place. It’s a one task to come in and teach his methods and build results as the team’s ability to perform increases. It’s a whole different job, like trying to overhaul the engines on a 747 while it’s flying, to manage losing good players to richer clubs, renewing the squad as players age, dealing with opponents’ tactics as they find ways to counter yours, etc. He hasn’t got a lot of experience at the issues faced by long term managers.
Damien T.
5h ago
3 likes
This is so sad. Marcelo has been the best thing to happen to us in a generation. Sadly inevitable I guess due to our form and no replacement for Bamford in the transfer window. Thank you for everything Marcelo, the man who gave us hope.
Vince S.
5h ago
4 likes
The overwhelming majority of supporters want Bielsa to stay. We can all see how he's transformed the club, and the players. He's not only a great manager but a great man as well. Shame on the board for doing this.
Matthew C.
57m ago
1 like
1
@vince S.
I wanted him to learn and adapt, but he didn't and wouldn't so this was inevitable. Similar story over most of his club career.
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By Phil Hay
On the Sunday after Leeds United’s recent defeat by Everton, Marcelo Bielsa got out of bed and took himself to mass. As a practising Catholic and a resident of Wetherby, it was not unusual to see him in his local church but this particular Sunday called for some soul-searching. The Premier League season had been gruelling and Bielsa was bearing the weight of it but a 3-0 loss at Goodison Park cut as deep as most results.
With hindsight, the game on February 12 came to feel like a tipping point. Leeds were under pressure to win it and bring their season to heel but it was lost with a whimper: the wrong line-up, positional errors that Bielsa owned up to and not enough fight. Over 90 minutes the team looked troubled. In the boardroom at Elland Road, the wind was turning against him; not dramatically or viciously but to the extent that the idea of replacing Bielsa in the summer was now the prevailing mood. A new season would most likely mean a new head coach, unless a resurgence changed the landscape again.
What nobody anticipated was the sharp acceleration of anxiety that led to Bielsa’s dismissal, a quick fortnight later. One minute there was confidence that if nothing else, Leeds would have it in them to fend off relegation. The next minute that confidence had gone. The murmuring about imminent change began rumbling on Thursday evening, in the 24 hours after Leeds lost 6-0 at Liverpool.
Removing Bielsa from his position was a public relations minefield. It went without saying that the finest manager the club had fallen for this side of Howard Wilkinson, a coach revered in Leeds like almost no one else, was not a manager the club could sack with impunity. But the out-of-control concession of goals, the structure of the team, the confidence of the squad, Bielsa’s judgment itself; all of it was worrying the club’s hierarchy, compounded by an ever-worsening Premier League table. Leeds were contemplating ending his reign before Saturday’s game against Tottenham Hotspur and a brittle, 4-0 defeat led to a parting of ways by Sunday morning.
Bielsa signed off from his final match, his 170th in charge, with a respectful shake of Antonio Conte’s hand and a subdued walk to the tunnel, the silent finish he least deserved. The defiance from the stands in the second half gave the impression of a crowd who sensed they were nearing the end of the Bielsa era, though defiance is something Elland Road does well whenever times are hard.
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Bielsa leaves the pitch at Elland Road for the last time (Photo: JON SUPER/AFP via Getty Images)
In exiting like that, the 66-year-old was nothing if not consistent, taking his leave with as few histrionics as he did on the night when Leeds were as good as promoted in 2020. “Of course,” he replied when he was asked if he could yet regain control of the season but his expression implied that his own concern was growing.
He has been, to the last, a reluctant showman, someone who could not fathom his own popularity or forgive his own failings, even if they became more difficult to articulate as results turned sour. People in the street would call him God and Bielsa would wag his finger at them, unable to accept the comparison.
To the public, he was private but accessible, low-key but politely affable, and Yorkshire quickly became his home. He moved out of his famous flat above the chiropodists this season and into a nearby house overlooking the River Wharfe, happy in those surroundings. He had a street named after him, beer named after him, murals of him painted on various walls and love unlimited. But for all that, who knows if Bielsa will be back in these parts or how often? Who will have the chance to say goodbye? It was often said that when Bielsa moved on, he would rapidly make himself scarce.
The emergence of Jesse Marsch, the former RB Salzburg and RB Leipzig manager, as Bielsa’s probable successor — an appointment Leeds would like to secure rapidly, with an announcement due on Monday — shows that a change has been brewing in the background. Marsch, 48, was a leading candidate to take the job at Elland Road at the end of this season, if Leeds and Bielsa parted company, but his out-of-work status and close relationship with director of football Victor Orta made expediting talks simple.
Marsch’s teams have a reputation for pressing and dominating possession, two things Bielsa’s squad have been trained for relentlessly. The American is a close fit in that sense, albeit on the back of an unsuccessful struggle to inherit Julian Nagelsmann’s Leipzig.
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Marsch is expected to take over at Leeds (Photo: Jan Woitas/picture alliance via Getty Images)
The best-case scenario for Leeds is that Marsch conducts a quick refresh, extends some warmth to players who need reinvigorating, and makes enough of the last 12 matches to keep the club safe. The worst-case scenario is that the transition from coach to coach asks too much in a short period and fails to halt imploding form, casting the decision as a mistimed error.
Had Marsch been poised to replace Bielsa this summer anyway, there might be advantages in him getting his foot in the door before his first pre-season gets going but sources close to him are clear that he sees himself as a coach of Premier League standing. The club would be a different proposition in the Championship. And aside from anything else, succeeding Bielsa means filling a monumental void, culturally and aesthetically.
Bielsa, as his position weakened, was not dragged down by outright mutiny. There were niggles and frustrations and a frank conversation between him and Raphinha after the Brazil forward was substituted at half-time at Everton but the creep of doubt was incremental. Injuries became a huge burden on Leeds but at no stage did training ease off. Instead, it intensified, with murderball, the apple of Bielsa’s training eye, no longer limited to one session a week.
The club suggested loan signings like Donny van de Beek in January, a way of fleshing out a depleted squad, but Bielsa knocked them back. In a month like this one in which Leeds conceded 20 goals, unflinching tactics became a bone of contention for the board too. A source close to one of the players described them as “exhausted” by the pressure of a system that was no longer functioning consistently.
Very little of this was new and Leeds had spent the previous three years extolling the virtues of Bielsa’s single-mindedness — the fastidious commitment to specific methods, a picky approach to the transfer market, a refusal to flip-flop. Single-mindedness was the basis of his impact at Elland Road but his reluctance to adapt when results suggested that adapting was necessary posed the question in the boardroom of whether the decline in form might take them down; about whether deference to Bielsa was leading to paralysis.
There was very little point in challenging him on specific principles because challenging principles was the equivalent of telling Bielsa that faith in him was waning, a strategy akin to nudging him out of the door. Voicing a loss of confidence meant doing what Leeds eventually did and removing him from his post.
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Single-mindedness underpinned Bielsa’s regime (Photo: Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images)
The irony for Bielsa is that he was convinced last summer that he and the squad were in ideal shape for his fourth season at Leeds. He lost weight and took on a personal training programme, deciding that the stress of the Premier League and coaching in general demanded a stricter focus on his own fitness.
The physical data produced by his players in pre-season was better than in any previous summer. He pushed again on the infrastructure front by convincing Leeds to match a new state-of-the-art pitch at Elland Road by laying the same surface at their training ground. Very few of his proposals for improving facilities were resisted. The suggestion that Leeds create a small putting green for the players at Thorp Arch was one of the few things the club declined to do. In return, Bielsa spent more than £100,000 building a gym for non-playing staff at Elland Road.
The football, though, regressed this season, to the naked eye and statistically. Leeds were no longer the same attacking machine and no longer able to compensate for porous defending by scoring goals. Injuries ravaged their squad and did not relent, a brutal strain on resources that took out three pillars of the team in Kalvin Phillips, Patrick Bamford and Liam Cooper. Their last clean sheet, at home to Crystal Palace in November, is one of only three to date.
Bielsa was drawn into ideological arguments over his choice of line-ups and substitutes, manifested in his regular use of Tyler Roberts over Joe Gelhardt. All of Bielsa’s final four fixtures saw at least two substitutions before the start of the second half, the mark of a team that would not pick itself. The effort of the players encouraged him but tactically he could not deny that his plan was falling short. “Positive things are contagious,” he said after full-time against Spurs. “So are negative things.”
The dismissal of a coach who was untouchable for so long will pose awkward questions of the directors at Leeds. Were they right to assume that the investment they made in new signings on the back of their promotion season would largely see them through two years? Was last summer as busy as it should have been and did drawing a blank in the search for a central midfielder set the tone for a dressing room that clearly needed one? When they spent, did enough of the signings work? Should they have argued more vociferously for Bielsa to take on extra resources if they thought more resources were needed? And ultimately, could this premature conclusion have been avoided?
Bielsa regularly answered those questions by fighting the club’s corner. They had invested sufficiently, he would say, and more than enough for him and the team to be doing better. They had backed him on cosmetic and structural changes to the training facilities and his authority as head coach was absolute, free of interference from above.
But over time a gap developed in the peak-years zone of the dressing room, with an old guard growing older and a younger core too far away from their prime, and the priority for Leeds if they do stay up will be to build a squad more suited to the Premier League than this season’s has been. They have known all along that any transition from Bielsa would involve substantial recruitment on the playing side, providing his successor with a different hand to play with, and that fact is staring them in the face.
With Bielsa, it was as he promised: Plan A to the last, even when his man-to-man set-up came under the most severe pressure. The players stuck at it because in so many cases, Bielsa’s football was the making of them: athletes who thought they had a low ceiling inspired to smash it spectacularly. Some made it into international football on his watch. Many saw their earning potential rocket and most experienced technical and tactical improvement, punching above their perceived weight.
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Elland Road did not turn on Bielsa (Photo: Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images)
The personal gains filtered down to others outside the dressing room, like the security guard who won a Fiat 500 in Bielsa’s last Christmas raffle. So many people owed him something, not least a crowd who never turned on him. They valued the drive and immersed themselves in the education, hoping the ride would continue forever.
The partnership between Leeds and Bielsa was built on the quality of his football but there was more to it than football alone and if that sounds twee, ask the people who followed it from start to finish. Walk around the city and look at the imprint he is leaving on it or wade back through the years when the only direction Leeds were going was straight over a cliff. Much of his work was art and brilliantly conceived.
Bielsa and Leeds were almost the definition of chaos theory: a coach who some considered to be unmanageable colliding with a club who many considered to be unmanageable and both of them finding glory in each other.
It is ending like this, in a manner nobody wanted because, as Bielsa would say, perfection is reserved for God. The congregation, to a man, are mortal.
Warren S.
5h ago
129 likes
The Athletic's part in the comms 2mins post match was disgusting.
Graham W.
5h ago
75 likes
bullshit. they are reporters
doing there job
Graham W.
5h ago
8 likes
same radz who got us up and sorted the club out after years of ****?
Daniel M.
5h ago
Agreed. Come clean if the was an embargo.
Warren S.
5h ago
26 likes
BS Graham. Phil Hay has made a fast buck from Bielsa. He owed Marcelo better than what went out in his name yesterday.
James D.
5h ago
13 likes
Spot on, shame on Phil and it'll be the end of my membership with the athletic
Christian B.
4h ago
35 likes
Journalist reports news as he gets it, what's surprising about this?
James C.
4h ago
7 likes
Got to agree, the loss of faith and negative comments from Phil have been increasingly concerning.
Wendy R.
4h ago
5 likes
Subscription won’t be renewed.
Sam D.
4h ago
14 likes
Journos doing their job unfortunately. Direct your anger at the club - Radz and the yanks are experienced and the leaks would have been part of the pr plan. Completely unprofessional and so rude to a man who deserved at the very least for this to be done like gentlemen.
Andrew M.
4h ago
3 likes
@Warren S. Child...
Mark H.
4h ago
84 likes
Holy ****. These comments are wild. I'm not a Leeds fan but they were the only other team other than my own Hammers that I'd go out of my way to watch.
You can't seriously think a journalist reporting how obviously rubbish Leeds have been this past few weeks is the reason he was sacked? Extraordinary.
And if he was, that says more about the owners then it does reporting what everyone can see with their own eyes!
Jonathan R.
4h ago
21 likes
Shame on Phil for what? Getting a story and reporting the facts. The prevailing mood was that Bielsa would be fired. It would have been remiss of Phil not to do his job.
Chris G.
3h ago
11 likes
Mark totally agree the comments on here about Phil are not really fair for someone doing his job like he has for years and years.
Warren S.
3h ago
2 likes
He was not reporting a news event. He was part of the leak. Totally disrespectful to Bielsa.
Tom S.
3h ago
12 likes
@Warren S.
You've lost your head here, mate.
Jacob W.
3h ago
8 likes
@Mark H It’s mental isn’t it, looking in from the outside. There must be some strange narratives doing the rounds in their fan base.
Patrick O.
3h ago
8 likes
I would say I was also angry at Phil yesterday when he broke the news. It was nothing personal I just needed to lash out and Phil was there. Obviously don't feel that now but I can see where you are coming from Warren. I would say I would much prefer Phil breaking it or writing this article on Bielsa's time then some of the ex pro's and reporters who have no idea of our bond and connection with Bielsa. He transcended all normal boundaries for me and to then watch MOTD call him arrogant, or Merson saying **** like he was pulling the wool over our eyes. Completely clueless, based on no facts or any understanding of the situation. It's those ****ing pricks that I despise.
Andrew L.
2h ago
1 like
Give over you wet lettuce.
J T.
2h ago
Pipe down you melt. It wasn't great but i assume it was mandated.
Daniel O.
1h ago
Superb use of a much forgotten personal insult.
Sean N.
1h ago
2 likes
@Warren S. That's not how journalism works. Phil was doing his job. There's a lot of "shoot the messenger" energy in the air right now, and it doesn't reflect well on our supporters.
Daniel Y.
1h ago
Cancelled mine yesterday too. It won’t renew and I won’t be back. The anti-Leeds agenda from London is bad enough but this felt opportunistic and sly from Phil and the Athletic.
Neil F.
36m ago
2 likes
What on earth are you talking about? Leeds fans are insane
Ed W.
31m ago
1 like
That is seriously unfair. Would you prefer if he lied and said everything is wonderful?
Maybe you should grow up.
Shay C.
30m ago
Compared to the Everton & Newcastle journos on this forum, Phil gave Leeds & Bielsa an easy ride. Hard questions needed to be asked and more scrutiny placed on the resources provided by Orta. But don’t kill the messenger in this instance.
Michael G.
5h ago
49 likes
Only people to blame are the majority owner and the CE who whofully under-invested in the last two transfer windows simply to shore up profits for selling equity. It is now going to bite them on the bum in May.
Have already shelled out for my season ticket 22-23. Past caring which division we are in.
John W.
4h ago
11 likes
Or perhaps Bielsa isn’t the managerial messiah he is spoken about as? He has one league title in a fairly middling managerial career that has ended with another underwhelming exit
Mark D.
4h ago
34 likes
@John W. Oh do p1ss off and take your trolling elsewhere
John W.
4h ago
8 likes
It’s not trolling, the reality is that he is an average manager. Just because he can philosophise about tactics doesn’t make him some kind of footballing legend - and his managerial track record supports that view. Always frustrated me that the media deified him for some reason when his achievements don’t support that...
Paul M.
4h ago
18 likes
What are you on about!? Bielsa turned down every player offered, wanting a small squad. If the people upstairs had gone over his head and signed them anyway then that's a sign the don't trust the manager. Without Radrizzani Leeds would be nowhere. Without Orta they wouldn't have secures Bielsa. Just accept in the end Bielsa fell on his sword no matter how hard and sad it is. Let him be remembered for what he did for the club, and now let the directors appoint the successor and see a influx of players in the summer.
Mark D.
3h ago
3 likes
@John W. Yeah good man, some fella on The Athletic comments section has seen right through him. Radz and Orta will be on to ye soon to hire ye as a consultant.
Richard F.
3h ago
20 likes
An average manager? Taking Championship players and the 3rd lowest wage bill in the PL and insisting they play a Champions League style of football.... is anything but average. He took on the challenge and maybe without the extra stress of Covid affecting all but maybe the hardest worked team in the PL the most, he may have got away with it. Intransigent but wonderful. Anything but average! He will always be welcome in Leeds and at Elland Road, where he will be politely embarrassed by the large statue erected in his honour. Gone but never forgotten.
Sazid K.
3h ago
2 likes
@John W. Yes yes, you certainly know more than Pep Guardiola about managers
Jacob W.
3h ago
2 likes
@Richard F Champions League style of football?! The only team that played a comparable way in recent seasons in the CL were Atalanta and they got smashed 5-0 by an injury ravaged Liverpool. It’s plain for all to see his tactics did not work. It was an admirable attempt and there’s no shame in admitting it didn’t work out.
David D.
3h ago
2 likes
”Philosophising about tactics” is exactly what has made him a footballing legend, inspiring many of today’s top managers.
He may not be a top manager himself but that’s another story.
David D.
3h ago
9 likes
Atalanta, and Leeds last season, clearly punched above their weight partly because of tactics. The fact that some very rich clubs with elite players eventually beat them, doesn’t change that.
Matthew C.
1h ago
2 likes
@Richard F.
Where is the statue of Howard Wilkinson? Or because that was accomplished during a less emotionally reactive non social media age don't we care about his significant achievements now?
Kevin R.
5h ago
44 likes
Something needed to change and it wasn't going to be Bielsa, so I think this was inevitable.
Paddy G.
5h ago
14 likes
Glad you all knew he was going before Tottenham or whenever. Did it help your book sales Phil?
Patrick O.
5h ago
77 likes
I was angry at Phil yesterday, maybe because he broke it but he didn't have a role in this and his job is to report Leeds United news, the good, the bad, and the ugly. We can't blame the messenger, we need to unite now, take stock in the summer and get behind the team.
James C.
4h ago
8 likes
Reporting the news is one thing, making it is another. I can't help feeling the clear loss of faith exhibited by Phil over the last few weeks and his increasing, unwarranted negativity, has hastened this terrible day.
Ross M.
4h ago
59 likes
Really? In the last two weeks, we’ve conceded 17 goals and scored two. It would require Pravda level journalism to put a positive spin on that. I don’t think Phil can be accused of making the news, he is not in the starting 11 or on the coaching staff.
Charles B.
4h ago
2 likes
Agreed
David H.
4h ago
34 likes
What a strange statement, do you really believe Phil Hay's loss of faith in Bielsa hastened his departure.? He's just a reporter for Christ sake, he's doing what he's paid to do, report on leeds utd. Please people get a grip. Bielsa has been brilliant and his place in Leeds history is guaranteed but this season has been a disaster so far. We can argue till the cows come home as to why this has happened but if we're all being honest we all know the problems are never just one thing or one person. Lack of investment at particular moments, injuries, small squad, lack of adaptation, opposition working us out etc are all parts of the reason. Some of these issues could be aimed at the board or Orta but the majority are of Bielsa's making and unfortunately he's paid the price as the manager ultimately must do.
Mark D.
4h ago
4 likes
@James C. Yeah you're right. The lads werent bothered by the results on the pitch at all but id say once Radz and Orta saw some of Phils comments, they decided enough was enough
Andrew L.
3h ago
7 likes
I’ve never seen any evidence that Radz or Orta turn to Phil to make their decisions. Phil doesn’t even support Leeds, he’s a journalist who asks the necessary tough questions when we’ve shipped so many goals on the bounce
Philip M.
3h ago
Absolute nonsense
Sean N.
1h ago
1 like
@James C. That's ridiculous. The board members aren't sitting around saying to each other "Does Phil Hay of the Athletic think he should go?" And as for "unwarranted negativity," how many 7-0 and 6-0 defeats are fine in your mind before some negativity is called for?
Chris G.
5h ago
151 likes
Hope the fans calling for his head on here are happy now. The man had dignity, gave everything he had for the club and deserved the chance to keep us up. Fans have short memories. Thanks Marcelo for giving us our club back - gone but never forgotten and I'm so sorry our board treated you this way.
Ryan B.
4h ago
2 likes
Well said
Jon G.
4h ago
1 like
@Chris G. Completely agree with you comments regarding the fans on here - not so much the board. I don't think they had much choice unless you believe what the same fans have been saying about recruitment responsibilities
Chris G.
3h ago
4 likes
See you point Jon and I guess the argument comes down to whether people feel the man marking system bielsa deploys can work in the era where flexible formations are the norm. Doesn't matter what players you have if they get pulled all over the pitch out of possession. I really thought last year bielsa had adapted his approach slightly but recently it's been the rise of the two up front against us and that massive gap in midfield as be got pulled all over the place. For me it's just proves how key Phillips was to him. Without him we have never been the same side throughout the whole bielsa era
Sam I.
1h ago
1 like
As always, the Princess Bride says it better than I ever could…
The Ancient Booer:
Boo. Boo. Boo.
Buttercup:
Why do you do this?
The Ancient Booer:
Because you had love in your hands, and you gave it up.
Buttercup:
But they would have killed Westley if I hadn't done it.
The Ancient Booer:
Your true love lives. And you marry another. True Love saved her in the Fire Swamp, and she treated it like garbage. And that's what she is, the Queen of Refuse. So bow down to her if you want, bow to her. Bow to the Queen of Slime, the Queen of Filth, the Queen of Putrescence. Boo. Boo. Rubbish. Filth. Slime. Muck. Boo. Boo. Boo.
Bryn M.
5h ago
22 likes
Viva Bielsa!
Richard L.
5h ago
63 likes
It's the young translator I feel sorry for.
Christopher M.
5h ago
Andy H.
3h ago
1 like
best comment by a mile
Daniel O.
1h ago
Won’t someone think of the children
Warren S.
5h ago
11 likes
Radz is solely acting in the best interests of his own personal balance sheet
Another chancer of an owner, who made one right decision to appoint Marcelo and we thank him for that.
And he seeks sells the club to Americans as if that is in the best interests of the club.
The problem with no fan representation in the boardroom remains a problem for the game.
It allows chancers like Radz to get reflected glory.
He owes the £400m valuation entirely to Bielsa.
Bielsa made him richer.
Radz should receive a verbally hostile reception at ER pre match and post match.
Get Stanningly Taxis to take him back to Meelan.
Craig C.
4h ago
5 likes
Knew when we wouldn’t stump up the cash for Rodrigo de Paul, that radz was a chancer.
We had the chance the seriously build on last season with some quality players and bought firpo and Dan James.
Mark D.
4h ago
13 likes
@Warren S.
"Radz is solely acting in the best interests of his own personal balance sheet"
Of course he is. Like every single football club owner except for the Oil states. What would make you think otherwise?
Warren S.
3h ago
As always the narrative of the club statement openly avoids that obvious reality though.
I thought it therefore worth stating the bleeding obvious the directors refuse to say
Patrick O.
5h ago
72 likes
Have not read yet but just want to place on record that I really thought our club was better than this. Opinions differ (I for one thought he would dig us out) about Bielsa but the club handled it terribly. We lost a bit of our soul today. We need to unite now but I fear this move will split the club and fans. I had tears when I saw the club were going to part ways at FT yesterday, and have had a sense of emptiness ever since. This one will take a while to get over. MOT.
Philip D.
4h ago
2 likes
We’ll said
Ian K.
5h ago
14 likes
This lies absolutely at the feet of the board and the disgraceful recruitment policy over the past few years. Those programme notes of Kinnears, even at the time looked foolish, in hindsight even worse.
The question is, what coach can get better out of the squad? It's threadbare and without a premiership quality midfielder in it. Dallas, klich and forshaw are championship level players, or prem squad players. They aren't capable of dominating premier League opposition. That isn't going to change in the run in.
Daniel M.
5h ago
9 likes
If we go down now, it’s on Radz. Stupid move.
Graham O.
5h ago
88 likes
Thank you Marcelo for your class, wisdom, integrity and humility. This isn’t the way it was meant to end however I do agree with the decision.
However my principal concern right now is for you, I hope the decision doesn’t hurt you too deeply, you’ve given us all so much joy, happiness and belief these last 3 1/2 years that we will never be able to repay you. But I suspect you prefer it that way.
Like the Don & Wilko you will always have a special place in our hearts.
Good luck in the future and farewell.
But, we’ll always have Stoke!
Damien T.
5h ago
3 likes
Well said. Some comments on here are unbelievable but I couldn’t have put it better myself.
Chris C.
4h ago
11 likes
Yes, well said Graham O. I believe you speak for many of us. Marcelo has given us all so much over his tenure, so much to thank him for, to be remembered forever.
Please, Leeds fans, stop the blame game NOW, we ARE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER. Stay united , we have 12 games to save this season, Marcelo has put everything into this club & the best way to repay him atm is to pull together & all play our part in keeping us in the premiership
Ryan B.
4h ago
4 likes
We're not though, are we? If it truly was an "all in this together" mindset they'd have let him see out the season. It's more a "we're all in this together if you're somehow achieving the impossible but as soon as we have a low patch you can do one" kind of sentiment.
Henry C.
4h ago
4 likes
Brilliantly said Graham, lots of thoughtfulness and class in your comment. Not a Leeds fan but I have utmost respect for Bielsa. Best of luck!
Bel
3h ago
1 like
Ryan, why is the standard of not getting humiliated in every game "achieving the impossible"?
Patrick O.
2h ago
Well put Graham
Michael S.
5h ago
15 likes
Viva Bielsa
Hartley H.
5h ago
7 likes
The board have shown us what they are all about absolutely disgusting behaviour. It Seems like everyone knew this was coming behind the scenes but the manager himself. Biesla made the club great again and now this is gonna break it
Thomas L.
5h ago
11 likes
Bull sh*t. Deserved to go on his own terms
Simon E.
5h ago
12 likes
Sad. I’m just sad. My wife has left me alone whilst I grieve.
Daniel S.
2h ago
@simon E. I am to, woke up to this news and it's just devastating. I wish we could do a send off for him. He doesn't deserve to go quietly, he's done so much for Leeds, not just the club but the city as well.
James D.
5h ago
4 likes
Sack the board, ridiculous decision to change manager now. We should have showed trust in Bielsa and given him.a chance to turn things around especially as the key players and the spine of the team will be back in a few weeks. Sad day for Leeds and a terrible decision
Thomas C.
5h ago
5 likes
Bielsa was always going to break before he’d bend. A real shame, his approach, in the championship and premier league, was deeply refreshing, and pretty much unique as far as I could see
Matt B.
5h ago
5 likes
Whatever your opinion, he will be missed!
Praneet C.
5h ago
8 likes
A close friend who's in media has worked with Andrea, Andrea is a cold blooded deal maker. The timing of this decision is pathetic. No one expected any results from these 3 matches. Players are getting back to fitness in March and the most important set of fixtures await. I was not happy with Bielsa but without him our chances of relegation just went up a notch.
Paul S.
5h ago
29 likes
Well I think that’s a disgraceful decision by the Leeds management team. They are equally culpable and should hang their heads in shame. Whilst it was going well they all presented themselves as one super-aligned team, desperate for some of Bielsa’s magic to rub off on them, all taking the credit for getting him to and keeping him at our club. The least they owed Bielsa was the chance to save our season as key players returned and with a run of easier fixtures around the corner. The timing is cynical and in my opinion self-defeating anyway. The two parties signed a one year deal and Bielsa would have stuck to it as he is a man of honour unlike those he’s left behind. Bielsa will remain in my heart and I’m sure in the hearts of many other Leeds fans long after they’re forgotten.
Hayden E.
5h ago
11 likes
We were never going to get anything from Man U Liverpool or Spurs ( all aspiring top 4 clubs ) but with winnable run of games to come , this move is classless and without integrity , like the badge fiasco the board have completely misread the feelings of the majority- or as I suspect don’t care so long as the Americans are happy — very very sad day
Michael E.
4h ago
10 likes
Watford managed to draw with Man Utd, at Old Trafford. Burnley beat Spurs
Sean N.
1h ago
@Hayden E. We got four points from the same fixtures last season.
Noah K.
5h ago
64 likes
My thoughts are that wthout Bielsa our chances of avoiding relegation lessen, the likelihood of us retaining key players in Raphinha and Kalvin lessen, and our connection with the club as fans lessens significantly too.
I'm 35 and these last three seasons have been the best time I've ever had as a Leeds United fan. As someone who has followed Leeds from the highs of the Champions League to the depths of League One and seemingly endless stagnation in the Championship, Marcelo rekindled my love for the game, love for the city and love for the club. Today is a deeply sad day.
Thank you so much Marcelo. You gave the club, the city, the players, staff, youth team, community, and us fans something bigger than I've ever experienced as a sports fan. Thank You.
James H.
4h ago
7 likes
Noah, I’m 41 and feel exactly the same. You have summed it up absolutely beautifully. We owe this man so much. It shouldn’t have ended like this.
Seb M.
4h ago
5 likes
31 year old here who lives in Paris and has been a Leeds fan since I can remember (Leeds born family), this resonates with me and I fully share the fact this has been the best period of my lifetime, exhilarating games and a model of a coach whose boots will be tough to fill.
Marcelo has given some magic back to us that is hard to describe and I can only hope that it carries over throughout the club in the years to come, we don't deserve to go back to the dark ages.
Thank you Bielsa
John H.
3h ago
3 likes
@noah K. Great comment. Supporting Leeds for maybe 25 seasons. I'd say 5 at a push have been enjoyable. 3 of them have been thanks to Bielsa. What he has done for Leeds and all Leeds fans was magnificent. Hero
Mark D.
5h ago
4 likes
New manager is going to have to being in an entirely new backroom team as well, yes? Bielsa got paid one huge lump some from which he paid everyone. So its safe to assume that none of the current backroom team have contracts. That is a huge concern, there will be absolutely no continuity at all really
Elliott W.
5h ago
3 likes
Radz can **** off the scummy tw*t
Simon Z.
5h ago
5 likes
For the last few years I have loved Bielsa as much as any Leeds United figure since I fell in love with the club as a 5 year old in 1972. This is gut wrenching, but so were the constant drubbings and the utter lack of competitiveness. I cannot understand how transfer window after transfer window passed and it seemed almost like the only investment we made was wingers. I’m very confused today and very sad.
Joel B.
2h ago
1 like
I’ve loved watching Leeds as they have ascended with Bielsa. I do have to say that I expected this day to come too. He is revered by many players and coaches alike, but he hasn’t stayed long in one place. It’s a one task to come in and teach his methods and build results as the team’s ability to perform increases. It’s a whole different job, like trying to overhaul the engines on a 747 while it’s flying, to manage losing good players to richer clubs, renewing the squad as players age, dealing with opponents’ tactics as they find ways to counter yours, etc. He hasn’t got a lot of experience at the issues faced by long term managers.
Damien T.
5h ago
3 likes
This is so sad. Marcelo has been the best thing to happen to us in a generation. Sadly inevitable I guess due to our form and no replacement for Bamford in the transfer window. Thank you for everything Marcelo, the man who gave us hope.
Vince S.
5h ago
4 likes
The overwhelming majority of supporters want Bielsa to stay. We can all see how he's transformed the club, and the players. He's not only a great manager but a great man as well. Shame on the board for doing this.
Matthew C.
57m ago
1 like
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@vince S.
I wanted him to learn and adapt, but he didn't and wouldn't so this was inevitable. Similar story over most of his club career.
From day one the football he had us playing was an absolute joy to behold.
it wasn't always plain sailing of course and there were plenty of bumps in the road during that first season and in fact every season. Sometimes the wheels fell off and we weren't at the races but you knew it was just temporary and after a week on the training ground we'd be back playing our own unique brand of football.
Let's call this the 13th season of the so called "big 6". Has anyone ever lost all 12 fixtures against them? When Huddersfield were relegated with 16 pts they got 1 point against scum so can't imagine it's been done. Got to be due something!!
I for one is gutted he has gone. This was the best football we have ever played and what a joy to watch too. I don't know how to express my feelings yesterday after a poor run. I always had faith in Bielsa I just don't think he had the players at hand to do what was needed. I'd love to know the real reasons in not recruiting in January if it was Bielsa's decision to not take what was on offer in the window he has fell on his own sword. His stubbornness to try to get through a injury ragged season without a bigger squad under our circumstances was a step to far.
As on changing tactics it was not in his DNA it was his way and how he thought the game should be played and my god we had so many more happy days than sad days. Injuries have killed our season In which Bielsa seemed very stubborn in improving on. it was his way and sadly it was just a step to far.
I for one will be ever grateful in what he has done he took us out the mere playing football everyone loved to watch and gave us a promotion every other man failed to do. when it clicked my god did it click but when it went wrong my god it did go wrong. but, it was what us fans came to live with because the good days were outnumbering the bad.
The last couple of season's will be very tough for anyone coming in to match. we were the entertainers.
Now it's time to graft we have a Premier League place to save. Side before self we can't dwell we have a massive run in now. Bielsa has gone it's a new chapter and we don't have time to think what has went wrong. we aren't down yet we have plenty of games to put this right. Whoever comes in has a massive job to do he has to hit the ground running because there will be no honeymoon period.
Thank you Marcelo Bielsa thank you for bringing a Joy to Leeds United Thank you for giving me some of the highs of my Football supporting life. Whatever you do next I wish you every success you will always be held in the highest regard as being the best Manager so far in my Lifetime running my beloved Leeds United. Thanks for the memories.
As on changing tactics it was not in his DNA it was his way and how he thought the game should be played and my god we had so many more happy days than sad days. Injuries have killed our season In which Bielsa seemed very stubborn in improving on. it was his way and sadly it was just a step to far.
I for one will be ever grateful in what he has done he took us out the mere playing football everyone loved to watch and gave us a promotion every other man failed to do. when it clicked my god did it click but when it went wrong my god it did go wrong. but, it was what us fans came to live with because the good days were outnumbering the bad.
The last couple of season's will be very tough for anyone coming in to match. we were the entertainers.
Now it's time to graft we have a Premier League place to save. Side before self we can't dwell we have a massive run in now. Bielsa has gone it's a new chapter and we don't have time to think what has went wrong. we aren't down yet we have plenty of games to put this right. Whoever comes in has a massive job to do he has to hit the ground running because there will be no honeymoon period.
Thank you Marcelo Bielsa thank you for bringing a Joy to Leeds United Thank you for giving me some of the highs of my Football supporting life. Whatever you do next I wish you every success you will always be held in the highest regard as being the best Manager so far in my Lifetime running my beloved Leeds United. Thanks for the memories.
We as fans felt a connection with him, something that hasn't happened in years with the amount of dross that came before him. I don't know if the new man in will have the same effect. Only time will tell. I'm just wondering how the same players who let MB down can suddenly become world beaters and save us from the drop.
I think a big part of it as that you know exactly what you were going to get with bielsa. In an interview or when speaking to the media, all these modern managers are media trained and just give your typical soundbites and you know that more often than not they don't really care or are just using clubs as a stepping stone. With Bielsa, as well as a nice human being you know he cared and he gave it his all and he'd be hurting at the results. This is before all the stuff that he did in the community and all the time he gave to the fans.
I guess it's a question do you want to role with a guy who is family and got you there or do you want to sell your soul to an outsider who is no guarantee either.
If I wanted to read twatter pish or Athletic pish or whatever it is, I'd have gone & looked for it. Enough pish on here as it is. Unless he redeems himself, Hay is dead to me. He's proved he knows nothing more than any of us does, plus he's been whipping up negativity all year.
Afternoon all. Absolutely gutted Bielsa has gone.
The football he gave us was electric and I'll be ever grateful for that but there's so much money in the PL that boards get nervous.
The recent results have been disastrous, not just losing by the odd goal, we're getting smashed to bits.
I think the worst thing I heard was Marcello saying that he put out a defensive formation in the first half against Spurs and look what happened.
Then why did you do it?
How can a spanner like Dyche or Fat Frank make their team difficult to beat but Marcello can't?
How can he get out thought by Fat Frank because they pissed on us?
I know the injuries have crippled us this season but it's in dire times like that you need an experienced manager to look at what he has and do what he needs to do.
We could very well still go down because I'm not sure we have the players to stay up but I think Marcello was lost. What he said about the first half against Spurs worried me.
The football he gave us was electric and I'll be ever grateful for that but there's so much money in the PL that boards get nervous.
The recent results have been disastrous, not just losing by the odd goal, we're getting smashed to bits.
I think the worst thing I heard was Marcello saying that he put out a defensive formation in the first half against Spurs and look what happened.
Then why did you do it?
How can a spanner like Dyche or Fat Frank make their team difficult to beat but Marcello can't?
How can he get out thought by Fat Frank because they pissed on us?
I know the injuries have crippled us this season but it's in dire times like that you need an experienced manager to look at what he has and do what he needs to do.
We could very well still go down because I'm not sure we have the players to stay up but I think Marcello was lost. What he said about the first half against Spurs worried me.
I'm in a FB group, you'll be amazed at some of the pictures and stories. One family had a selfie with MB and the story goes they had left their phone at home. MB used his own phone for the selfie, he asked what their phone number was and he sent the image via SMS.... NO other manager or coach in the world would have made their mobile number available to a fanWe as fans felt a connection with him, something that hasn't happened in years with the amount of dross that came before him. I don't know if the new man in will have the same effect. Only time will tell. I'm just wondering how the same players who let MB down can suddenly become world beaters and save us from the drop.
Someone just posted a picture of Bielsa leaving TA they said he was in tears but still stopped to sign merchandise
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He reports Leeds stories - People are blaming him for Bielsa's departure
It doesn't surprise me Ristac, that was the type of person he was. I'm still feeling empty at the moment and it'll be strange not to see him in charge at the Leicester game.
It doesn't surprise me Ristac, that was the type of person he was. I'm still feeling empty at the moment and it'll be strange not to see him in charge at the Leicester game.
I feel we needed a change but now I am feeling guilty.
It's just a game, maybe we should have seen the season out with him. I just don't know mate, just seeing all the love for him on social media makes you realise that he has taught the fans that there is much more to it than just a result.
My wife doesn't like football, she walked in earlier all upset that Leeds have sacked him saying "what a lovely man, I hope you get relegated now"...
If that was a goodbye to the players then I wonder how many could truly look him in the eye.
Some of the players are not fit to wear the shirt. That man dedicated his life to this club at the expense of his family. They've sold him down the river.
The hardest part for me will be closing the Bielsa era and supporting the same players who have ultimately let the club and this man down. Some I will never forgive.
As for the new coach. We've got to get behind him. It's not his fault. Hopefully he can give the place a lift and drag enough out of this inept squad to keep us up.
The players though.....
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well I hope we don't get relegated.
E
Exactly some have just got to lash out when upset. Bielsa may have been a great man and by all accounts was. But football is a results business and we are just that now a money maker for investors.