Sack Bielsa

It became a money making machine as soon as Sky got involved and the rest of the media circus.

Let's not kid ourselves too much, if we managed to get a Sheikh Rattle n Roll to bank roll the club and we bought in a cream of top players, were always finishing in the top 4 of the Premiership and frequently qualifying for Europe, are we saying that our collective moral compasses for fair play and to hell with the big money, would get in the way of enjoying the success that we have craved for in what seems a lifetime? No, it wouldn't. Whether we like it or not, football fans are fickle and generally react to here and now and if that meant the trophy cabinet bulging with silverware, not matter the source of funds, the vast majority would take it.

Yes, its a cynical appraisal, but this is football today and it's not going to change for a very long time (unfortunately).

What's done is done, Bielsa will always be in our hearts and never forgotten, but it's time to move on.

In a previous post I was pretty doom and gloom at what this would mean for the team, however no point dwelling on the negative. The best thing that can happen now is that the lads stay in the Premiership which would be a fitting farewell to Bielsa, given that these players are still his. So if it is to be Marsch, let's get behind him and the team and see them over the line. MOT.

Just looked back there at MB's very first league team against Stoke (won 3-1)

Peacock-Farrell

Ayling Berra Coops Douglas

Kalvin

Pablo siaz Klich Ailoski

Roofe

Subs

Bamford

Roberts

Dallas

Magic Hat

Harrison

Blackman

Lewis Baker

8 still at LUFC

3 effectively retired

11 players out of 18 in almost 4 years and if people recall Stoke were one of the favorites to go up that season

There is absolutely no doubt in my mind we had a manager that had integrity, a decent moral compass, and was a genuine nice guy. I wasnt around ER or TA for MB's tenure like the vast vast majority of people typing on keyboards since we heard of the Marcelo's departure. What im basing my beliefs are on the messages of people who were, the players, the staff inside TA, anyone connected to the Club on a day to day basis, they ALL say the same thing

HE BROUGHT OUT THE BEST IN EVERYONE AND HE MADE THEM BETTER FOR THE LENGTH OF TIME HE WAS AT THE CLUB.

I saw Kalvin's post on twitter last night, i read Liam Cooper piece, i read Joffey's mom post thanking Marcelo directly for giving her son the opportunity to fulfill his lifelong dream to play at the highest level, i see hundreds of fans WANTING to go to ER & TA last night just to say their goodbyes in person.

The Board of LUFC have taken a decision to part ways with MB, ok they have business interests at stake and so too will the shareholders and yes money matters but as TGO just posted is this what sport / football is destined to become, a money train?? because if it is then make no mistake about it the Arabs / the Russians / the Yanks (in it already) will take over, where will the beautiful game be then, where will the ordinary joe soap go to see his football at prices he can afford. NO WHERE

I has heartened in Klopp's post match interview when talking about his goalkeeper (young lad from Cork) a lad that played all through the league cup campaign versus picking his number one goalkeeper at Liverpool

he said yes it was a tough decision but how can you look at the guy in the eyes and tell him he isnt good enough for the final,

BUT what struck me most tho was Klopp's line

im a football man yes but im also a human being i'd like to think the human side of me won today.

I would like to think there are some people still in football that have the same decent core values as MB.

Excuse some of the language but I thought this was very eloquently - and passionately - put!

His principles of playing beautiful football were the most important thing to him, more important than playing for the result. How many managers were as humble as him or as loveable? His stubborn streak is frustrating but also admirable, especially in times of "money buys success" culture.

I do hope we hear from the man himself and how (hopefully) he has enjoyed his time with us. Knowing him now as we do, he'll probably say it in perfect English!.

There are strong rumours that Angus Kinnear is going to resign as he was against the sacking of Bielsa. Although Radz made the statement, it seems that the decision was delivered by the 49er's as they panicked regarding the Premiership survival and their future plans.

I guess if and when he does go and provided he hasn't signed any non-disclosure agreement, we may know the truth.

Yep, we'll do just that mate.

The last 2 sentences speak for all of us. Let's break bread on that. 🍻

Soopa,

FIrst and foremost, I didn't ask you to explain, let alone justify to me as to why the board saw it fit not to bring in more quality players to the club.

I merely pointed out what your seemingly beloved board failed to do and yes I pointed towards what you call a few bloopers.

Don't want to pick a fight, but I've just said that I aknowledged what the board did in recruting Bielsa.

Furthermore I never said MB was a god, far from it.

I often said he made mistakes in his loyalty & belief in certain players.

And regarding his tactic(s), there's in fact only one. I critised him for that and the fact that he often, in making one sub he shifted 3 or 4 players into different positions.

Don't know if you read any points I've made about Roberts, I've always maintened that he wouldn't get into another premiership squad, let alone the starting 11.

Having said that, how many mins has Roberts really had this season? I don't like the player (at all) but blaming him alone or his selection for our peril is again stretching the truth/reality.

Having Klich in midfield isn't the real problem, the lad his best position is high up the pitch but with plenty of injuries he was often used in other (deeper) positions. A lack of options forced MB to play him in there.

An empty midfield wouldn't have happened if we perhaps had signed one or two central midfielders. But how long has it been since we actually signed a central midfielder?

Regarding the man to man marking, it was working rather well when we had all our quality players available. The system pretty much failed because of the lack of available quality players, not the system in itself!

So who's to blame for that?

So afterall I've kind of tried to justify why I blame the board. I've not once said MB was beyond reproach.

Could go on and on, but to what avail.

Seemingly in your eyes the board are faultless.

To make things perfectly clear, I do not consider the board to be evil or MB to be a god.

If I was to follow you're logic, the board effed up in appointing MB in the first place.

I'll give it a rest, because somehow we're just all after the same thing.

Hopefully with LUFC remaining a Premiership outfit!

Thank you for our beautiful football Marcelo.... we'll never play like that again unfortunately.

When it clicked it was brilliant to watch....

I hope fans stand outside his home chanting his name to show him how much he is appreciated.

I hope this is his last job at his age as it must be so stressful working on his dossiers and tactics.... good luck MB.

Hopefully a statue will be built for him outside the ground somewhere....

Players should be able to adapt quickly to a new system. Those who play international matches will not play the man marking system they are familiar with at Leeds.

'I will still be singing my heart out, as we nosedive through the Championship and probably into Division 1.'

For goodness sake, 1972Glory, calm down and have a cup of tea!

I take a different view, that a new coach will release all the pent up frustrations of playing for MB and that we'll win at Leicester. Four or five wins from 12 is not impossible and should secure us PL. Next season is next season!

I think deep down we all knew probably Bielsa had gone as far as he could with the players available to him and that this would have been his last season, saying that he did not deserve to leave in this manner. He is a humble sole, so will probably be crestfallen at not being given the opportunity to try and rescue the situation.

I have never witnessed football they way that we were capable of playing and will miss it and Bielsa. Club before self has always been the way, so this is yet another chapter in the long suffering saga of Leeds United supporters.

I will still be singing my heart out, as we nosedive through the Championship and probably into Division 1.

Thanks for the memories Marcelo.

Be interesting to see the new managers first line up. I have a feeling it will be a little different.

A tweak to the defence, ie attacking the ball, a change of striker by using Gelhardt and hopefully dropping Llorente for Creswell. The former has turned into a right basket case recently.

Good luck to the new guy. You have some big boots to fill.

never forgotten

It’s been said before, but with the play’ers available it will take a miracle to get the team playing well. If Bielsa still had the players’ confidence, he might have saved us. But a new manager who probably will drop the only system the players know, that is the man-marking, it’s gonna be a very tough call. Bielsa did get the most out of players like Klich, Dallas, Cooper and Bamford, and the team over-achieved, as long as they were physically able -exactly three seasons And then the tiredness and injuries took their toll and finished the beautiful era. Here’s hoping for a miracle as well as for the mad-house Leeds used to be not to return.

Be careful what you wish for

Sorry Soopa 'Bullshit'is maybe too strong a word to use.... what I meant was: Rad should have pulled Bielsa into his office and said "look Marcello,I know you like a small squad but this is ridiculous... 3 of our best players are out...including our captain and our midfield general... we need reinforcements and I am instructing Orta to use his network to find us a couple of players to fill in the gaps while they are out...i know you think highly of the youngsters but we need experienced players who can handle the pressure and make a difference... please make use of them at least until we get Cooper,Phillips and Bamford back"

Sacking Bielsa is fookin mental!

Does anyone really believe we should not lose against the likes of Manscum, Scousers, City and Spuds etc., even with a full team available, never mind a greatly depleted squad?

We are light years behind the likes of the above in terms of quality and finances, who the fook do our board think they are kidding???

I feel sick to my stomach!😡

If it is true,I will be very sad to see him go... He single handedly brought back the belief that we can be a big club again and compete with the top teams.... his style of football has been a delight to watch for both us fans and the neutrals... even opposing managers have admitted that they love his style....

But sadly football is a ruthless business and although the style of play Bielsa has is very easy on the eye,It doesn't come without risks.... which we have all seen in the past few games.

But I agree with 'Guy' The owner and director of football (Orta) must take a huge slice of the blame... They knew the squad was decimated well before the January transfer window,yet did not bring any replacements in... and I do not buy into the theory that Bielsa was calling the shots with transfers... that is bullshit ... Rad and Orta are in complete control and should have backed him up with new players whether he wanted them to or not....If you ask me,they were guilty of believing Bielsa was a miracle worker and was capable of getting us out of relegation danger with players he had even without Cooper,Phillips and Bamford...But it has backfired on them big time,And of course as always the manager is the scapegoat.

It's been announced on the club website that LU and Marcelo Bielsa have parted company.

Now confirmed on Skysports, he has gone😔

Apparently there are going to be protests at ER around lunchtime today to get Bielsa to stay ( if indeed he is to depart).

You all do realise that this is made up story

Indeed Soopa, agree to disagree. In terms of responsibility I definitaly see it the other way around. MB not without mistakes but the majority of them were made by the board.

During the last window, MB clearly mentioned he would welcome new signings.

As with his players he certainly has shown his loyalty to that same board.

How many did they get over the line? None

I've never heard Bielsa saying go after this or that player (would have liked to see him much more involved), but he did play those they got him.

Alsco clearly remember reading our CEO's quote in one of the matchday programs about the playeris having to be better...

Couple of bloopers? Bouy, De Bock, Cibicki, Grot, Augustin, Casilla, Roberts, Costa, and then you've got the likes of Firpo, Llorente, Koch, Rodrigo, James either overrated or signed on inflated transferfees & wages.

Watch us trying to get rid of that overpayed bunch, no doubt we'll end up paying a substantial part of their wages, long after they've left the club.

If I'm not mistaken, we've got a proven track record in doing just that.

Soopa, I'm venting my anger and frustation at those in charge because they've let us down big time. It's aimed at you or any other fan.

We all feel the hurt.

Announced on Talksport tonight.

The Sun (sh*te paper) are reporting Bielsa gone, whilst The Guardian are saying the lawyers are in negotiation on the severance package. As regards Kamara, he does actually say that he has been told, as opposed to definately knowing, however no doubt amounts to the same thing.

Jesse Marsch seems to be the redeemer in waiting. Cannot say that his previous track record is anything to shout about!! Seems like out of the frying pan into the fire!!!

Chris Kamara tweeted that Bielsa is gone

.

There are 12 games to go, so would you stick or twist?. This is the impossible task facing the board. To sack Bielsa ( and as yet I've not seen anything on BBC/Sky to confirm the rumours), would cause an immense backlash from the fans, given the status that Bielsa has with us, on the other hand, if we continue to play as we are, relegation is practically guaranteed.

Despite that last run of games, there is still glimour of hope that our fate is still within our hands, so that gives the board hope that Bielsa can turn it around, however with the 49er's due to take control in 2024 and no doubt their business model based upon continued Premiership participation, they may feel a change now may give them the new manager bounce and get enough points for survival this year and regroup next season.

To my mind, Bielsa doesn't deserve to be sacked simply based on where he has taken us. That being said, I think that his job is done so my hope is that they retain him, he manages somehow to keep us in the Premiership and then he can make the decision to leave in the summer with his head held high and his legacy intact. I will be sad to see him go.

Without Bielsa we’re going down. Noone else can get better results out of the material available. What a shame, what a tragical day.

Enoch's quote

"I think the board has left him down by not signing anyone in January when they knew Phillips & Bamford were long term injuries."

Spot on mate!

Also Soopa, the board can say all what they want, expecting our U'23s to be ready for the Premiership is more than stretching it (were exactly are they in the league?).

The best from that lot are obviously the very young & talented Geldhardt & and what already looks a strong defender in Cresswell. The rest ... well, Hjelde looks rather promising and Jimmy has done well in a fair number of U'23 games.

It was also the board who came up with "signing new players"? they've got to be better than those we already got...".

What did they really mean by that?

At that rate, perhaps the like of Liverpool, Shitty & Chelsea would struggle, but we at LUFC? Really?!

Over the summer we got Firpo (upgrade on Alioski?), nope and signed another lightweight winger (we had plenty of those already).

Oh we also Jack signed on a permanent and replaced a poor & expensive goalie with another a cheaper equally poor flycatcher.

But no, your right the board didn't make any mistakes.

Bragging about having such good contacts with all sorts of big club leaders, but using those contacts in times of trouble?

MB's a stubborn man and he got some priorities wrong in persisting with the same tactic(s) against all teams (top 6 or not) and it didn't matter who was available. The overuse of the same players & loyalty towards certain players wasn't helpfull.

The board got us MB and I'll give them that, but he was the one who got us playing great football, eventually promotion + a great first season back in the big time.

He got us there with, let's face it, a fairly big number of also rans.

So in truth we punched above our weight and that's mostly down to one man.

The board gambled/hoped he could do it again.

Not made it to talk sport or sky

Just seen a tweet from Phil Hay which suggests Bielsa has gone.

If this is correct then it’s a sad day for the club. He has been amazing since the day he walked through the door. Sadly it’s a results business and we couldn’t keep getting hammered week in week out.

I honestly don’t know how I feel about this.

Well he's gone - only time will tell if it was the best decision.

The board is in between a rock and a hard place.

Bielsa seems unwilling to adapt his tactics and its too easy for the top 6 or 7 teams to pick us apart,you can't go man for man against teams like Liverpoo,City,Spurs,etc and follow their players all over the pitch,I saw it in the first game v Liverpool this season when Koch or Llorente was following Mane into midfield when they had the ball leaving huge gaps behind them,this has happened way to often this season and we have got punished.

If they sack MB who do they replace him with that will keep us up?The Marcsh guy who's favourite to replace him only lasted half a season in the Bundesliga with RB Leipzig,he did well in the Austrian Bundesliga but that doesn't really compare to PL standard.Who else is available and would come here?

I think the board has left him down by not signing anyone in January when they knew Phillips & Bamford were long term injuries.

I hope Bielsa stays til the end of the season but I don't think he will be here next season.

Also it would be really harsh to sack him after a really hard run of fixtures.

we were naive in defense today but at least showed some fight on the ball.on another day Dallas scored that tap in,we would have had 1,possibly 2 penalties or the Koch and Rafa shots hit the post and go in.

we are cursed with luck this season between injuries & sh1t refs/Var

Ultimately the board were gushing about the U23's but it's Bielsa that picks them (or not). James was undoubtedly a Bielsa request too.

Bielsa wanted the squad he has got (in terms of composition). The board don't keep picking Tyler Roberts, or ignoring the fact Klich is knackered, or that we don't defend set pieces, or that we keep man marking in a league that's sussed us out...

The injuries are nobodies fault (unless you subscribe to Bielsa's training being too harsh?) as not to blame the board either.

Overall Bielsa was a godsend to us at the time he came in - he was an inspired appointment. The legacy he will leave if/when he does go will be much deeper than the first team - even so we all have high expectations because of the job he did last year....

What the board now have to do is make a tough choice for the future of Leeds as a Premier League club - I don't envy them because if the do sack Bielsa they'll be hated by some, even more so if we still go down. If they decide to stick with him and we go down they'll be blamed anyway.

Soopa, you're probably much more in the know about those kind of things.

To me, in regards of transfer targets it always looked as if MB was hardly involved in it. In several interviews MB pointed to Orta's know-how of the market and how he trusted him to get players.

What I'm on about is after that first season back, Radz was saying all the right things, the ambition to become a permanent/steady premiership side, a European ambition over the next 3 to 5 years, expanding ER...

He certainly talked the talk!

But even after that brilliant start to life in the Premiership it was still very obvious that in order to build & secure our stay, we needed reinforcements.

In several positions there even wasn't a player in the side/squad (left-back, & playmaker) for for others (Philips/Bamford) there was no back-up.

Those gaps were obvious → I'm still waiting.

The players that were brought are either not good enough (Firpo's not a defender) and or for the one position (James) that we were loaded in.

Pre-season and the alarm bells were already ringing.

Then we got hit with all those injuries, with plenty of those being longterm.

In January, to me it looked that as per usual they decided to sit on their hands,

pointing out that new signings needed to be better than those already at the club. Our CEO was also pointing towards our worldclass U-23's.

Lame excuses.

Will always be grateful for what MB has done for us.

To me the board have let MB down big time, but at the same time he himself should have been more involved in our transfer business or more to the point the lack of.

A lot of credit has gone to Orta & his scouting team, but in truth it has been very much a mixed bag. Finding, selecting and finally bringing the right quality of players to the club has proven to be more miss than hit.

Considering how many players were and still are out injured, it's simply neglect of the biggest order from those power.

Jesse Marsch

According to Phil Hay, the board are considering a change in management.

Good to see all the support for Bielsa. One of the things I like about him is that he never criticizes the match officials, from what I have seen he is probably the most principled manager in football. I just hope he keeps us up.

Bielsa has gave me a type of football that has brought a smile to my face. However with all the injuries i do think he should have changed his tactics a little to accommodate these injuries.

Would i change Bielsa for someone else--No not at the moment. that would be the worse thing That could happen to our season right now

I agree with PapaSmurf. Bielsa is the only one who can save us. Still, Bielsa has made things worse than they had to be, and we would be better off had the team selections as well as substitutions not been so head-shakingly mysterious with:

1) players being played out of position (Ayling, Klich, James)

2) preferred players being played again and again instead of the more obvious choice (James/Roberts vs Gelhardt, Ayling vs Cresswell; Harrison vs Summerville/James)

3) reshuffling most of the defence and midfield instead of just making one-to-one substitutions.

I prefer to think of the good games against Chelsea and Villa, and to forget about the terrible Liverpool and Manchester (both) games. But the losses against Newcastle and Everton still are hard to take, and with the 4 or 6 points we should have had in these two games everything would have looked so much better.

I've predicted 20pts from our final 13 games which will keep us safe by about 10pts.... I've done it honestly with a couple of defeats and draws.

You can all chillax now.... 🎉🍻👍⚽

The quickest route to get relegated would be to sack Bieisla. In fact it would be guaranteed. But we neither have a sh1t or a stupid owner, so don't see that happening.

We all know, and the Board knows that MB can turn the team around in a couple of games.

I do think it likely players have lost faith/confidence in the system and it is too easy for other teams to take advantage of our man marking system.

If Bielsa will not change the system to shore us up defensively we will likely be relegated

I don’t subscribe to the fact that a replacement couldn’t do better.

Any coach worth his salt could change the defensive structure for the positive. Simple things like attacking the ball at dead ball pieces would help massively.

It seems the players have lost faith in the system. It must be soul destroying to use the same system when you keep getting hammered. Players must know that if something is changed or tweaked things would improve.

The warning signs were there in pre season. Goals conceded and the footballing flow wasn’t evident either. There have only been occasional flashes of last season’s football. Something is most definitely wrong.

Ironically towards the end of last season we tried a more counter attacking style and got some good results against the top teams. Why not revert back to this method? That it can be done shows how crazy this run of battering’s is because it didn’t need to happen.

A messiah for three years and a stubborn, myopic coach in the third. If he doesn’t change something he’ll consign us to the Championship once more.

I agree that sacking Bielsa is not going to happen or an option at this stage. Maybe he is relying on his star performers to come back and secure our survival, however by that stage I'm fearful that the task may be beyond redemption.

Given the chap that he is, I do expect him not to sign another contract at the club and leave at the end of the season. He has a style of football that is fantastic to watch when we are flying in attack, but defensively it's an absolute nightmare if we are not operating man 2 man at 100%. We can get away with it at Championship and lower levels, but the top teams simply pass their way around it and have a field day.

To my mind, Rapha seems to have already left for pastures new. Since his return from Brazil, amidst all the hyped potential valuation of him, he may as well stayed on the beach. Totally ineffective in attack and unable to defend when needed.

Klich, loved the energy that this guy has given us over the years, but he is now a busted flush and needs to be moved on.

Rodrigo/Firpo, major disappointments and not the type of players we need for trench warfare.

However to counterbalance this, there are a number of players who Bielsa has transformed into great players and he should be proud of this achievement.

I hope the new manager keeps some of Bielsa Ball as an attacking model, but ditches the man 2 man system to something more sustainable.