'Too upset to come out' - Comedian describes Marcelo Bielsa's Leeds United Thorp Arch exit

The Argentine coach was sacked by the Whites on Sunday morning, a day after the 4-0 defeat by Tottenham Hotspur at Elland Road. Leeds will replace Bielsa with American Jesse Marsch, with 12 games left in the Premier League season.

Richardson, who spoke on on Channel 4's Sunday Brunch about what a loss to football Bielsa's exit from Leeds would be, sat at home on Sunday night watching videos appear on social media of fans saying goodbye at the gates of Thorp Arch training ground. On Monday morning he decided he needed to try and do the same and made the journey to Wetherby.

"I still don't know if it was the right decision or not," Richardson told The Square Ball podcast."He was there, he came in his car, he didn't stop on the way in and he wasn't in there very long, I didn't think, for the gravity of the situation. One member of staff came out very angry, in tears, swearing a lot about what had been done to us and how he was the best manager we've ever had."

When Bielsa emerged from the training ground he didn't get out of his car to see Richardson and the handful of supporters who had gathered because, the comedian said, he was too upset.

"He came out and the car didn't stop," said Richardson.

"It got halfway down the drive and he'd obviously said 'pull over I should do something'. His driver came out with little pre-signed cards and said 'he's too upset to come out of the car' and that was that. He drove off. I think that was probably the last time I'll lay eyes on him in the flesh. That's why I went up. The time I went was against them [Manchester United] and I can't have that be the last time I lay eyes on him, after defeat. So I went up just in case.

"Watching last night I was just saying 'I should be there.'

"I wrote him a little card and passed it to his driver. I wrote it in Spanish, it said thank you isn't enough but it's all there is. Then I listed all the things I was glad for, none of it football, his integrity, bringing us together, making us believe a team was more than if we won some football games or not. I'm glad I went."

Supporters gathered at Elland Road on Sunday to chant Bielsa's name, while others got the opportunity to pose for pictures and shake Bielsa's hand at Thorp Arch as he and his staff prepared to make their exit.

Bielsa spent three-and-a-half-years at Elland Road, leading the club back to the Premier League and igniting the city's passion for the Whites after years in the EFL wilderness. He led them to a top-10 finish in the top flight last season but struggled to get the same performances and results this season as injuries seriously hampered his small squad.

Club owner Andrea Radrizzani called Bielsa's sacking the hardest decision of his time at Leeds.