Sam Allardyce has taken the opportunity to underline the significance of the decisions facing the Leeds United board this summer. It promises to be a pivotal couple of months for the Whites as they attempt to recover and respond to their Premier League relegation in the right way, but there are still so many unknowns.
Supporters are no closer to knowing who will be filling the head coach and director of football roles at Elland Road, while clarity is needed when it comes to the ownership situation, too, with a 49ers Enterprises takeover being touted. Allardyce is well aware of the issues facing the club this summer having spent the last month trying to help them avoid falling out of the top flight.
Unfortunately, in the four games the former England boss had at the Whites helm, Leeds picked up just one point, with a 4-1 home defeat against Tottenham Hotspur seeing them relegated without a whimper. Leeds were already staring down the barrel of relegation when Allardyce was appointed at the club and despite a couple of improved performances, he couldn’t do enough.
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It remains to be seen whether the 68-year-old will be asked to stay on in West Yorkshire, with the head coach due to speak with the Whites’ decision makers later this week, but he has sent a message to the board about what must be done this summer.
“I have to just think about that decision,” he told the No Tippy Tappy Football podcast when asked whether his stint at Leeds had whet his appetite to continue managing. “It’s not a decision the club can make or I can make until we meet.
“The decisions need to be quite quick but the decisions they make now are imperative to the success of the club. They have to be carefully planned out and thought out and see what happens.
“They can rebuild the infrastructure, I think that needs it. Managing up is a very important part of being the head coach and who you’re working with and dealing with. That’s a major success for the football club going forward if we’re all pulling in the right direction in terms of the hierarchy of the football club from ownership, to directors, to director of football, commercial managers, financial director, all of pulling the same way with the same goal.
“The ultimate, it’s not a secret, is making sure recruitment is right. If the club doesn’t make sure recruitment is right then it doesn’t matter how good a coach or manager you are or how good an infrastructure you have, it will fail.”
Regarding a potential future at Leeds, he added: “I have to see what’s at Leeds United. I have to meet with them and we’re going to arrange that before the end of the week. They have to reflect on what’s happening at the top and then me to have a discussion with them and see where we go.”
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