Richard Keys has given himself a pat on the back for predicting Marcelo Bielsa’s sacking as Leeds United manager.
Leeds parted company with Bielsa on Sunday morning, a day after the crushing 4-0 home defeat by Tottenham in the Premier League.
Bielsa has legendary status at Leeds after taking them up from the Championship and securing a ninth-placed finish last season.
But a rotten run of four heavy defeats, by an aggregate score line of 17-2, saw chairman Andrea Radrizzani make the difficult decision to sack Bielsa after three and a half years in charge.
"This has been the toughest decision I have had to make during my tenure at Leeds United, taking into account all the success Marcelo has had at the club," said Radrizzani.
Leeds are 16th in the Premier League, two points above the relegation zone, with 12 games left to play.
Former Sky Sports presenter Keys, who now fronts beIN SPORTS’ coverage from Qatar, has never been enamoured with Bielsa and has managed to get his smugness over via his recent tweets.
He wrote on Saturday night: “This is unsustainable for Leeds. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Bielsa sacked tonight. They’re going down if they don’t do something.”
After Bielsa was indeed sacked, he added : “Looks like I did know what I was talking about after all….”
Leeds look set to appoint Jesse Marsch as Bielsa’s successor as they pin their hopes on the former RB Leipzig boss to steer them away from the drop.
Marsch had success with Red Bull Salzburg before getting the Leipzig job, but Keys is not convinced by his credentials.
HAVE YOUR SAY! Who should Leeds appoint to replace Marcelo Bielsa? Comment below.
Keys is a long-time advocate of Sam Allardyce and believes he’s the perfect man for the job in Yorkshire.
"I would be on the phone to Sam Allardyce as we speak and say we only have one objective, Sam, and you've done it many times... just get us safe!" Keys said on beIN SPORTS.
Allardyce has been out of a job since stepping down as West Bromwich Albion manager at the end of the 2020/21 season following relegation from the Premier League – the first of his long career.
Keys’ partner in crime Andy Gray was in agreement with his colleague and doesn’t think Marsch is up to the job at Leeds.
"[Marsch] pretty much knows nothing about the Premier League - not worked in it and not plied his trade in it," Gray said.
"And you ask him to come into the most difficult league in world football and say, 'Rescue this team' that's [down] there at the moment confidence-wise and belief-wise.
"You ask a guy, untried at this kind of level, to do that."
