Gary Neville has claimed that Leeds United have shown their "desperation" with their decision to hire Sam Allardyce for the final four matches this season, after he labelled the interim manager as "hilarious" for comparing himself to Jurgen Klopp, Pep Guardiola and Mikel Arteta.
Leeds announced on Wednesday morning that Allardyce would take charge of the Whites on an interim basis for the remainder of the season. The 68-year-old has matches against Manchester City, Newcastle United, West Ham United and Tottenham to contend with in his bid to keep the club out of the bottom three.
And Neville for one was shocked when he heard the news that Allardyce had been offered the job in the first place.
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"I couldn’t believe it at first, to be honest with you,” he told the Gary Neville Podcast. “You talk about Leeds United, the desperation that we’re now seeing.
"Look, I’m a club owner and I’ve sacked managers. But the desperation that we’ve seen this season in the Premier League is mainly due to the fact that teams are so worried about losing that income and going down.
"We’re seeing some of the maddest football decisions we’ve ever seen and it’s crazy. This Leeds season has been as crazy as it gets.
"Obviously Jesse Marsch stayed for a long time, Javi Gracia comes in, doesn’t work but then gets sacked and Sam Allardyce comes in for four games. The sporting director [Victor Orta] goes for Leeds...What we've seen at Leeds is symptomatic of the desperation that's existing to prevent teams from going down.
"Sam Allardyce was probably never expecting that call [for the job], or maybe he was! His interview today [Wednesday] I thought was hilarious. I actually put some laughing emojis [on Twitter] when he said 'I'm the equal of Klopp, I'm the equal of Pep, I'm the equal of Arteta'. Ultimately that's Big Sam, that's his confidence, that's his character.
"It sounds shocking when you hear that and it sounds like madness. And then I think a few of the responses that came through straight away saying that it takes the pressure off the players as the headlines are all about him and what he said, because it is an outrageous thing to say.
"Pep Guardiola will probably go down as one of the top managers of all time, Sam Allardyce won't. But he said it., 'I'm the equal with Pep'. He's had massive experience but ultimately that's just wrong isn't it."
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