What explosive Premier League relegation curveball appointment would mean for Leeds United

The American held talks with Saints on Monday, so say The Guardian, but the YEP understands their admiring glances in his direction began long before that, even prior to Nathan Jones' removal from St Mary's.

Looking on from afar it was difficult to shake the feeling that Jones was talking his way out of a job just as much as he was managing his way towards the exit. One win in eight, coupled with statements that must have had his superiors cringing in unison with the fanbase, did for the Welshman.

Marsch, who was winless in seven and took serious flak for some of the things he uttered into microphones throughout his tenure at Leeds, could be Jones' replacement.

Whether or not he could, as the third man in the Southampton hot seat this season, replicate his Leeds United 2022 relegation escape, is an unknowable mystery. It worked out for him with the Whites, just about, in the nick of time, and the Premier League table suggests the Saints are in for a similarly close brush with the drop. Marsch overplayed it in the media a little when he joined Leeds, and risked the ire of a fanbase still pining for Marcelo Bielsa, but he did correctly read the room and deduce that the players were running on fumes and living on the edge of their nerves, before seeking to address that. What it will take at Southampton is a galvanising of a squad given a hard time of it in the press, rightly or wrongly, by their previous manager.

Yet if he gets the job, no matter how it turns out, it will be pure box office from a Leeds point of view and not simply because he will return to Elland Road to face the fanbase that wanted him out and the club that lost faith in him.

Marsch was, in Victor Orta's eyes, a natural successor for Bielsa in a footballing sense. He was, according to Angus Kinnear, the outstanding candidate in the club's bid to evolve from the Argentine. Just shy of a year after his appointment, Leeds no longer saw Marsch in the same light and sacked him. To the surprise of many, Marsch has kept his own counsel ever since, with no social media posts or statements given to the League Managers Association.

A new job, a new set of microphones and that visit to Elland Road would change that, of course, because the questions would come and Marsch has always been good value with his answers - even if the content was sometimes debateable. Could he keep himself on a tight leash, as he did regarding transfer talk throughout January?

His former players, who have also sustained a remarkable collective online silence when it comes to Marsch since his sacking, would face interesting questions too. It’s thought senior players remain on good terms with the coach and there was never any hint or suggestion of anyone downing tools during his tenure, but was everyone having him and his methods? A penny for Mateusz Klich’s thoughts, or indeed anyone willing to speak their mind on the matter.

The prospect of his team scoring goals or suffering officiating injustices in front of a braying Elland Road crowd and his subsequent touchline behaviour could be an irresistible mix. Would he celebrate against his former club? He would have every right but the performative nature of some of his antics during and after games makes you wonder what he would do in almost any scenario.

He'd be managing against his boys, his players, those he knows better than almost anyone, in Tyler Adams, Brenden Aaronson, Rasmus Kristensen and Max Wober. And regardless of who takes his place at Elland Road, a game against Marschball, in the atmosphere that's to be expected, would be frenetic and fractious.

Make no mistake, all the talk linking him with the US Men's National Team job makes sense but Marsch, as he told us repeatedly, likes the rhythm of club football. He loves being in and amongst it in training every day. Should a European top flight opportunity arise then expect him to give it due consideration, because you can be quickly forgotten should the next job not materialise immediately. Getting a second crack at the Premier League would not to be sniffed at, for it's not afforded to all. Getting a job at one of Leeds' relegation rivals before they appoint his replacement would also be quite a thing.

Then there's the possible outcomes, the conclusions that will be drawn and the arguments that will rage. Some of those outcomes are as unthinkable at Elland Road as the idea of Bielsa taking over Everton and keeping them up at Leeds' expense. But should Marsch get this job, even if it can hardly be disputed that he had to go, the bottom of the table will become a proving ground for theories about that decision to sack him, the plan Leeds had in place for such an event and his general ability as a manager.

Speaking in 2020 Marsch addressed the plight of American coaches in European football, saying: “I know that everyone over here is working as hard as they can to earn that respect every day and almost prove everybody wrong and help us step-by-step as Americans here in Europe in this massive sport to establish ourselves.” More than once, at Leeds, his desire to prove people wrong about his countrymen in this sport, reared its head. Even if no Leeds United chip exists alongside that one, on his shoulder, Marsch will be fighting to prove all his Elland Road naysayers wrong.

This season is already poised for a headlong rush into the unknown and an ending as noisy and dramatic as last season. Chuck Marsch back into the mix and stand well back, it could well be explosive.