Leeds United's prospective new owner wants Brian McDermott back as manager

Telegraph 1/2/14
Massimo Cellino says he did not have the authority to sack the club's head coach and is trying to contact him to urge his return
By Simon Austin
Prospective Leeds United owner Massimo Cellino now says he wants Brian McDermott back as the club’s manager, just a day after informing him he was sacked.
The dramatic U-turn caps a farcical 48 hours at Elland Road. McDermott received a call on Friday night from a lawyer representing the Cellino family, informing him he had been dismissed and would receive the details in writing.
In a subsequent interview, Cellino explained he “didn’t have any choice” but to sack the popular manager because he had done “everything to get fired”.
But little more than 12 hours later Leeds chairman Salah Nooruddin phoned McDermott, explaining the lawyer did not represent Leeds and that Cellino was not yet the owner of the club. Speaking exclusively to The Telegraph, Cellino explained he wanted McDermott back at Elland Road.
“I want the coach back and have been trying to call him,” the Cagliari owner said. “I don’t mind this coach. How could I sack anyone anyway? I need the approval of the Football League before I own the club.
“GFH are still running Leeds United. They did not want Brian as manager but didn’t have the courage to sack him.” There are major doubts as to whether McDermott, who was only nine months into a three-year contract, would want to return in any case. He was advised not to attend Saturday’s 5-1 victory over Huddersfield or to make any comment on his situation.
Twenty minutes into the second half, Leeds issued a statement that said McDermott was still manager of the club.
The 53-year-old has been advised to send a series of key questions to Leeds managing director David Haigh and not to attend training on Monday unless he receives satisfactory answers.
Cellino had pushed for former Middlesbrough and Cagliari defender Gianluca Festa, a close confidant, to be on the Leeds bench for their 1-1 draw with Ipswich on Tuesday. McDermott refused and this, as things stand, seems to have been his last game in charge of the club.
Festa also attended training at the club’s Thorp Arch training ground twice last week, but Cellino, 57, claims he had never wanted Festa to replace McDermott. “Festa was not here to coach the club, just to make the translation with the players,” he said. “Festa has never run a club before. I have never had him coach a team in Italy before, so why would I want him to coach a major club like Leeds?”
Cellino says he bought a 75 per cent stake in the club on Friday lunch time and is frustrated at the Football League’s delay in ratifying his purchase.
“I have already paid for the shares and the papers are with the Football League,” he said. There were players from Italy and France ready to join the club on Friday, the deals were agreed.
“I can’t do anything and I’m really p------ off,” he said.
The Football League released a statement on Saturday saying it required information from Cellino’s company, Eleonora Sport Limited, before it could ratify the purchase of the club.
Cellino has two convictions for fraud in Italy and there are doubts about whether he would pass the Football League’s fit and proper person test.
The League Managers Asscociation sees the case as potentially a “watershed moment” for the Football League.

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