'The only way' - Leeds United boss Javi Gracia on contract length and dressing room respect theory

Tuesday's press release revealed that the Spaniard had agreed a 'flexible' contract, which evidently leaves sufficient scope for both parties to reassess the arrangement depending on the outcome of their remaining 15 Premier League games.

Leeds' initial targets, as they sought to replace Jesse Marsch, included highly-rated Rayo Vallecano boss Andoni Iraola and Dutch top-flight leading Feyenoord head coach Arne Slot, neither of whom could be lured from their current roles. Iraola is out of contract in the summer, however, and Leeds were also left with the impression that Slot, along with fellow candidate Marcelo Gallardo, could also become available at the end of the season.

Plan B was for Under 21s boss Michael Skubala to remain in caretaker charge of the side, potentially until the off-season, until a desperately poor performance in the 1-0 loss at fellow strugglers Everton refocused the board on a more permanent solution and an experienced figurehead. Gracia, formerly of Malaga, Watford and Valencia, has also worked in Greece, Russia and Qatar in an extensive managerial career.

The Whites head coach is yet to meet the media since his appointment. On Tuesday, the day of his unveiling, club officials were working to secure a work permit hearing in order for him to commence working with the team and taking training. But he's spoken previously about contracts and their relevance to his dressing room mandate.

He arrived at Watford in January 2018 tasked with keeping them in the top flight, which he did, handily. A 14th-place finish and an impressive start to the following season led to a four-and-a-half-year contract extension with the Hornets.

Speaking to Guillem Balagué on The Premier League Show during his time at Vicarage Road, Gracia was asked if the new deal had made a noticeable impact upon the players and how they perceived the surety of his position.

"I don't think so," he said.

"I think my players respect me because I respect them, I try to help them every day to improve and get good results. It's the only way they respect the manager. I don't think they respect the contract, they respect you if you deserve it."

Marcelo Bielsa once said that players give their all to a leader with an understanding that, in return, they will win and when that doesn't happen, confidence in the leader weakens.

There was never any sense that a Leeds group who gave the Argentine everything ever stopped playing for his successor Jesse Marsch, even when their winless Premier League streak persisted for as long as it did. Similarly, there is no reason to believe that they won't make every effort to give Gracia what he asks of them.

Whatever it was that Skubala tried to get from them, in possession, at Everton, Leeds did not produce and suggestions that only the home players assumed responsibility for the result on the pitch are given credence by the scoreline, the way they game went and the complete absence of shots on target for the Whites. The result, as well as the performance, did not reflect well on anyone involved. After the game a former Leeds player questioned whether the ambiguity surrounding Skubala, his caretaker title and how obviously results-dependent his grip on the role would be – circumstances he did not create but found himself in – might make it difficult for him to read the riot act in any meaningful and impactful way.

As with Bielsa and Marsch, results and performances will dictate the length of Gracia's stay but his view is that any failure to record the necessary wins will place a responsibility on his shoulders to find another way.

"With good results everything is better, with bad results you need to change different things and you need to adapt and to find a way to do your job well," he said.

And key to that will be a culture that was rarely, if ever, an issue under Bielsa and did not appear to be problematic for Marsch.

"Maybe you can have good players but if you don't feel that togetherness, you won't be able to achieve anything important," said Gracia.

"In this moment if we [Watford] are getting our results this season it's because we feel as a family, we enjoy together, we suffer together."

Leeds have suffered mightily at the hands of the Premier League this season. Gracia's mandate is to change that so that Elland Road can once again enjoy its football. Taking him at his previous word, the terms interim, flexible or temporary should be no barrier to that.