Saving Leeds United from the drop will be Sam Allardyce’s crowning escape act and he’s calling on the spirit of Marcelo Bielsa to pull it off. On the eve of the penultimate home match of this terrible season, with the club second from bottom and staring relegation in the face, Allardyce wants his players to summon the strength, energy, will and entertainment they produced under the iconic Argentine.
Fourteen months have passed since Andrea Radrizzani sacked Bielsa, who agreed terms on taking Uruguay’s head coach role this week, and the Whites have been unable to stem the flow of poor results in his absence. For the second consecutive season, Leeds are fighting for their top-flight lives.
The latter part of Allardyce’s career has been built upon his dependable ability to get crisis clubs out of trouble. Blackburn Rovers, Sunderland and Crystal Palace were all pulled away from the bottom three by Allardyce, but Leeds would top them all.
