Three weeks ago, Gary McAllister was asked for his reaction to the news that Huddersfield Town and Carlisle United had dispensed with their managers.
"Unfortunately this is part of the job," he said. "The one certainty is that you're going to get sacked."
It is the mantra of every football manager and the condition under which they agree to employment. Stan Ternent and John Ward lost control of
their clubs so their clubs exercised the right to take extreme action.
A change of manager is not a guaranteed solution to ailing form, but it is so often the result.
Leeds United are unlikely to jump to that conclusion while the dust settles on their defeat at Histon, but the board at Elland Road cannot be oblivious to the sound of their manager's position being critically examined.
HAVE YOUR SAY AND HEAR THE VIEWS OF PHIL HAY AND ANDREW HUTCHINSON IN OUR WEEKLY LIVE LEEDS UNITED WEBCHAT - EVERY WEDNESDAY 1-2PM. SET A REMINDER BY GOING TO THE WEBCHAT PAGE NOW.It was ridiculous to think that, having commented on Ward and Ternent, McAllister would be addressing doubts about his own credentials less than a month later.
That was the reality on Sunday afternoon as, in a cramped press room beneath Histon's main stand, he looked the question in the eye and stated that, yes, he was still the right candidate for the job at Elland Road.
McAllister was bound to say that, but it was essential he did.
The loss to Histon was a humiliation for a man who prides himself on maximising the talent of his squad, but it was not the final straw for his tenure. Far from it.
More troubling than the question itself would have been any sign in McAllister's answers of personal uncertainty about his ability to achieve at Leeds United what he promised he would.
Yet the pressure being placed on him by sections of United's support is justified to a large degree. He must see that himself.
McAllister set out in pursuit of automatic promotion this season, but his team lie seventh in League One. He put a high value on a place in the third round of the FA Cup but saw it sacrificed against a Blue Square Premier club, the likes of which Leeds have never lost to before.
His defence is fragile and the club's results away from home during the past two months have been unspeakably poor. To say otherwise would be a distortion of the truth.
These are honest criticisms of a manager and his squad, and criticisms that can be made of every club in the country from time to time.
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