Leeds set to sack Gracia and in talks with Allardyce

Leeds United are set to sack manager Javi Gracia and are in talks to appoint former England boss Sam Allardyce as his replacement.

The Director of football Victor Orta is also set to leave the club.

Leeds are 17th in the Premier League, above the relegation zone only on goal difference, with four games left this season.

Gracia, appointed in February as Jesse Marsch’s successor, has won only three of 11 league games in charge.

Leeds have lost four of their past five matches and face leaders Manchester City on Saturday.

Spaniard Gracia joined Leeds on a “flexible contract“, but the board is considering bringing in former Bolton, West Ham and Everton manager Allardyce.

The 68-year-old has been out of work since the end of the 2020-21 season when his West Brom side were relegated from the Premier League, the first top-flight relegation of Allardyce’s career.

Leeds face arguably the toughest end to the season of the clubs battling relegation, with City and Newcastle up next before a visit to West Ham and then Tottenham at Elland Road to end the campaign.

They conceded 23 goals in April – a Premier League record for a single month and the most by any top-flight side since Birmingham also let in 23 goals in April 1965.

After Sunday’s 4-1 defeat by Bournemouth, the Leeds United Supporters Advisory Board issued a statement of no confidence in the club’s management.

Spaniard Orta was appointed by Leeds chairman Andrea Radrizzani in 2017, and was responsible for the hiring of former head coach Marcelo Bielsa, who led them to promotion to the Premier League after a 16-year absence.

Radrizzani also brought in Marsch after Bielsa’s sacking in February 2022 but, while the American kept Leeds in the top flight last season on the final day of the campaign, he was sacked in February.

BBC