CRAIG HOPE: Sam Allardyce might have accelerated Leeds’ problems – and accused the players of ‘professional suicide’ on his way out – but Victor Orta must also face scorn for the club’s sorry relegation
- Leeds were relegated under sorry circumstances despite Sam Allardyce’s spell
- Allardyce needed six points from four games, but took only one in that time
- Former sporting director Victor Orta must also face scorn for his role at the club
He was the firefighter who turned up with a jerry can full of petrol. Maybe Sam Allardyce is now more accelerant than saviour.
In sifting through the ashes of Leeds United’s relegation, there are others deserving of far greater scorn. Sporting director Victor Orta was given too much power for too long.
But Allardyce needed six points from four games to keep them up, and he took just one. Of his last 34 matches as a Premier League manager, he has won four.
Did he walk into the impossible job? Bloody hard, but not impossible. Not when they should have beaten a Newcastle below their best on a day Elland Road turned its fury into furious support. Not when, with their fate still at their own feet, they went to play a West Ham distracted by Europe and defended as if their own minds were elsewhere. And not when the final game brought the promise of Tottenham, a team who last won away in January.
By then, though, Leeds were as good as done. Confirmation came after just 90 seconds when Harry Kane scored for Spurs. So much for Big Sam’s teams keeping it tight. Here, he picked a side with six defenders and not one of them was anywhere near England’s best striker.
Sam Allardyce was tasked with the difficult job of keeping Leeds United safe, and failed
Victor Orta (C) must take some blame for the fate of Leeds, as the previous director of football
Maybe it was that the players Allardyce inherited were broken beyond repair. But come the end of his short tenure, Leeds were getting worse, not better.
Elland Road was vicious on Sunday, yet those worthy of the biggest shoeing were not there. Orta, sources at some of his former clubs will tell you, is a myth. He spent a lot of money making Leeds weaker, and owner Andrea Radrizzani should have sacked him far sooner than the start of this month.
Take the January signing of striker Georginio Rutter, a club record £36million. At West Ham, a match in which Patrick Bamford was injured after half an hour and Rodrigo was hobbling around come the second half, Rutter remained on the bench, reduced to handing tape to those who were coming on.
On Sunday, a supporter threw the 21-year-old’s shirt back at him after full-time. It could not have been because it was sweat soaked. Rutter’s season finished with zero goals from one start and 10 sub appearances.
But just about every signing has failed to improve Leeds. Orta replaced Kalvin Phillips and Raphinha with Marc Roca and Brenden Aaronson last summer. The former plays a lot but rarely plays well, while the latter has not scored a goal since August.
Club record signing Georginio Rutter did not score any goals, and was not liked by the fans
Allardyce hit out following Leeds’ 4-1 defeat, accusing the players of ‘professional suicide’
Orta insisted that they stick with Jesse Marsch, too, an eminently likeable man, just not a very good manager. Then came Javi Gracia, another charming chap. His team was charmless. And so, with one last roll of the dice, they went for Allardyce.
To journey from Marcelo Bielsa to Allardyce in just 14 months felt like swapping your librarian wife for Bet Gilroy. It was not just on-the-pitch recruitment that Leeds got badly wrong.
Fireman Sam used Sunday’s 4-1 defeat to empty that jerry can, accusing the players of ‘professional suicide’. He said: ‘We messed up again. We gifted them goals with huge, unforced errors. That probably says it all for Leeds this season. I wanted to go out with a sense of pride today, but unfortunately, I didn’t see that.’
No pride. No idea. That just about captures Leeds United’s season, and most of those involved in it.
