Javi Gracia was one of four managers Leeds United went through during their Premier League season.
Gracia was appointed following a three-match interim spell from former Leeds U21s boss Michael Skubala, who replaced Jesse Marsch in the dugout.
However, Gracia lasted just over two months and 12 matches as he was sacked after a humiliating 4-1 defeat at Bournemouth, with Leeds staring down the barrel of relegation.
Sam Allardyce was brought in as a last-ditch attempt to save the Whites, but his return of just one point in four matches was no where near enough to do so.
Allardyce has spoken about what was wrong at Elland Road on several occasions since his time at the club, most recently criticising both Gracia and Marsch for destroying Leeds’ fitness levels.
Bamford makes Leeds prediction about Gracia
During his first few weeks at Leeds, Gracia did actually look capable of steering the Whites to Premier League survival.
Leeds won three of his first six league matches in charge under Gracia, but the final five were as bad as anything seen across the whole season.
Though Patrick Bamford has insisted nothing happened at half-time, Leeds’ collapse began in a second half mauling at home to Crystal Palace.
That 5-1 defeat began a run of just one point from a possible 15 available, with 18 goals conceded in the process.
However, speaking on the latest episode of the BBC’s 72+ Podcast, Bamford believes Gracia could’ve enjoyed some real success at Leeds had he been given more time.
He said: “You know what, it was a breath of fresh air [when Big Sam was appointed]. It was after Javi Gracia, and I got on really well with Javi and his staff. I felt a little bit unfortunate for him, because I felt if he had been given time with us, he had the right ideas and would’ve got us drilled well.
“But when big Sam is totally different to what we’d had in the last five years. I remember the first meeting, he just came in, shook everyone’s hand and stood at the front of the meeting room, in front of the board with a cup of tea, like a normal bloke.
“It was totally surreal, and then he just said basically our defence is terrible and we just need to stop conceding goals.”
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Leeds would’ve been relegated even with Gracia
Even after such a small amount of time in the job, Gracia’s position at Leeds had become untenable due to the abysmal set of results in his final few weeks.
To have been battered by both Bournemouth and Palace, who at one stage were also fighting relegation, showed he had already lost the dressing room.
Some Leeds players were reportedly unhappy by Gracia’s lack of detail in his team selection, and that was reflected by the performances on the pitch.
Gracia was a beaten man after that loss at Bournemouth and though Bamford may have got on with him, it didn’t look like many others did.
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