Former Leeds United manager Steve Evans has spoken fondly about his time at the club and also praised Marcelo Bielsa for the 'brilliant' job he's done at Elland Road.
The 59-year-old joined the Whites in November 2015 to become Massimo Cellino's sixth permanent manager in just under two years as the club looked to rebuild after years of uncertainty.
Evans came into the position after guiding Rotherham United into the Championship, while he also led Crawley Town to the Conference title, racking up an impressive 48.1 win percentage in the process.
However, the Scottish-born coach came under increased pressure from the get-go in West Yorkshire and struggled to sustain a string of positive results to keep him in a job at the end of the season.
After winning 14 of his 38 matches in charge, Evans, along with his assistant Paul Raynor, was sacked by Cellino as Garry Monk was given the opportunity to steady the ship.
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Although some of Evans' downfall might've been because of Cellino's relationship with the fans, he has opened up about the Italian businessman, who spent three years as the club's owner.
He told BBC Radio 5 Live's EFL podcast: "A lot of people want to knock Massimo Cellino's time at Leeds, but he gave me the opportunity to manage one of the top-six clubs in British football. I had a good relationship with him.
"If you speak to Garry Monk, I think he'll also say if you went to say Massimo [Cellino], which I did most days and you see him, he was a shrewd businessman who knew his football, he knew players.
"If I mentioned [Joe] Jacobson at Wycombe, he would know you and Tom [King] at Millwall and Newport.
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"The problem he got bad press in is that Massimo didn't spend a lot of time living in Leeds as he had family in London. But he turned Leeds around in a way, he didn't invest but he found a fantastic owner in Andrea [Radrizzani].
"Look what has happened at Elland Road now and even in the dark days of Massimo when he was having fights with the broadcasters about rights and the money, I think I was in the middle of that at times.
"But he has eventually found someone who has taken the club to a new level. I have watched Marcelo [Bielsa] work many times since he's gone there, what a brilliant coach and what a brilliant honour."
Since leaving Leeds, Evans has gone on to manage Mansfield Town, Peterborough United and Gillingham, before leaving the Gills earlier in the month after two-and-a-half years at the helm.
