Leeds United: Managerial ins and outs won't lead to success '“ Andy Ritchie

IT REMAINS to be seen whether Steve Evans stays as Leeds United head coach or does not have his contract renewed, but for me, the one thing that Steve does deserve now is a quick decision.
Steve EvansSteve Evans
Steve Evans

They can’t keep him hanging on. I would say that once the season is over – with the final games of the regular Championship season taking place – if the owner wants to get rid of him, get rid of him.

It’s as simple as that; Steve will need to know what he is doing for next season, so if he isn’t at Leeds, he can have a look at other places.

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I would expect Steve to be the sort who will plan to return to management quickly if he does go and is not the sort to be out of work for too long.

Regarding Steve’s position, it is a bit of courtesy as well in terms of clarifying his future.

For me, the Leeds fans must be banging their heads against a brick wall, not knowing if the manager is going to be there next season or not and all the players must be thinking that as well.

It just saddens me. It is what it is, but I do not think all this changing of managers is the formula for success.

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You look at Leicester and what can be achieved with a bit of consistency and stability.

But we have been talking about those things not being there at Leeds for how long ... Even before Massimo Cellino took over, you felt things weren’t right.

But look at it now, how many managers and coaches have they had in the last few years.

It’s crazy. They have got to somehow see that is not the way to go.

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Obviously, the big story this week has been Leicester’s Premier League title success and it is just been brilliant – from the manager right down to all the players; every single one of them deserves credit along with a lot of people behind the scenes.

The only other person who, for me, deserves a bit of a mention as well is Nigel Pearson as he kept Leicester up at the end of last season and had the basis there of a good side.

Claudio Ranieri has obviously come in and seen that there hasn’t been much wrong and built on it.

I do feel a bit sorry for Nigel as he deserved a bit of credit for it, even though others have done it. He is a bit of a forgotten man if you like.

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In terms of overall achievements in the history of sport, Leicester’s feat has got to be right up there with the best of them.

Everyone has spoken about the players there and the disappointments that they previously had in their careers and it was a little bit like us at Oldham in terms of a number of players there who had been rejected by other clubs.

When we got in the Premier League, we had that belief.

No-one can say Leicester have not deserved it with the way they played and I saw Wes Morgan also speak about the team spirit being a big factor in their consistent season this week.

I do think that still goes a hell of a long way, even though you don’t see it in too much in many leading football teams now. The way Leicester fight for each other reminds me of some of the teams I played for, especially Oldham. We would go that extra mile for each other.

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I think I also read somewhere that Leicester players said they were also all like brothers, which is brilliant.

Leicester have been awesome and I take my hat off to them.

Leeds obviously finish their own season at Preston today, while other sides in Yorkshire such as Sheffield Wednesday and Hull City are now looking forward to the play-offs and there’s also Middlesbrough.

Sheffield Wednesday may have had a few managers over the years, Middlesbrough less so.

But what you do see there is a bit of stability in the background which all successful sides need.

That does translate to the nitty-gritty side, which is the football.