Gary Lineker has claimed that one of the reasons Leeds United, Leicester City and Southampton were relegated from the Premier League last term was because they decided to change managers.
Leeds of course, went through a number of managers in the dugout. Starting with Jesse Marsch, we chose to sack the American in February. Michael Skubala took interim charge for the next three games.
Then, Javi Gracia came in until the final four matches of the season – before Sam Allardyce was brought in as a last throw of the dice by the Whites. Southampton also had four different spells during 22-23.
Ralph Hasenhuttl was sacked in November, Ruben Selles came in for one game, then Nathan Jones and then Selles returned until the end of the season. Brendan Rodgers and Dean Smith managed Leicester.
Match of the Day presenter Lineker believes changing managers was partly to blame for relegation as Leeds, Leicester and Burnley went down. Bournemouth and Everton stayed up, sticking with theirs.
“The teams that stuck by their manager, Gary O’Neil at Bournemouth and Sean Dyche at Everton, the teams that stayed up were the ones that actually stuck with them,” Lineker told the Rest Is Football.
“Leicester with Brendan Rodgers, the other two that were relegated changed their managers. There’s that thing, the grass is greener on the other side, you think you’re getting somebody a little bit better.
“But you’ve got to change the way you play, reintroduce someone. Sometimes there’s a little bounce, but I think statistically if you look at it, that’s a little bit of a myth and doesn’t necessarily happen overall.”
‘A myth’: Gary Lineker makes claim about Leeds United relegation
There is certainly some truth to what Lineker is saying. Constantly changing managers is not going to get you anywhere. But, Leeds had to sack Marsch – it simply wasn’t working, and going in one direction.
But the mistake we made was keeping Marsch until after the World Cup. If Leeds made the decision to change beforehand, bringing someone in to work with the players in the break, it could have worked.
Instead, Leeds struggled after the break and even after the bounce under Gracia, things looked as if they were only going to end in relegation and ultimately, that is what happened. Lessons to be learned.
Receive a digest of our best Leeds content each week direct to your mailbox
