Furious Sam Allardyce blasts Victor Orta decision he wasn’t ‘big enough’ to make at Leeds United — Leeds United News 5/3/25
Will Butcher
Sam Allardyce was in charge for just four matches as Leeds
United manager as Angus Kinnear rolled a desperate final dice in order to try
and keep Leeds in the Premier League back in 2022-23.
It proved too little, too late. The damage had largely been
done by Jesse Marsch before his sacking after a 1-0 loss to Nottingham Forest
in February 2023, with the American’s tactics and signings proving inept.
Javi Gracia replaced him after a three-game interim spell
under Michael Skubala and after a good start to his spell, Gracia was sacked
following a 4-1 loss to Bournemouth after a 5-1 hammering by Crystal Palace.
So, Allardyce was handed the reigns for games against
Manchester City, Newcastle, West Ham and then Tottenham. Allardyce watched
Leeds lose three of his four games in charge, drawing with Newcastle.
Had Allardyce been appointed as a replacement for Marsch
instead of Gracia, who knows what might have happened. But that is hypothetical
and ultimately, Leeds were relegated to the Championship.
Speaking on his No Tippy Tappy Football podcast, Allardyce
says he believes he would have kept Leeds in the Premier League had Orta been
“big enough” to hire him with 12, 13 or 14 games left in the season.
“Should have been 12, 14 games if the director of football
would have been big enough to pick an Englishman to come and do the job, the
manager they brought in was Spanish,” Allardyce said, on Orta.
“Eventually, they turn to me with only four games to go and
they did get rid of that director of football. With more time, I would have
kept their Premier League status. I was so disappointed,” he added.
“Especially with the Tottenham game because we’d seen an
upturn. Lost to Man City 2-1, threw it away against Newcastle at home, West Ham
had an opportunity but Tottenham was a real disappointment.”
Sam Allardyce explains why he chose not to stay at Leeds
United
Whether Allardyce was given the opportunity to remain in
charge at Leeds remains unclear, with the likelihood being that he was always
going to be replaced whether Leeds stayed up or were relegated.
Allardyce however, says it was his decision not to remain
because he was wary of being replaced amid The 49ers takeover having been the
victim of new owners replacing managers following their take overs.
“Why didn’t I stay? With the club changing hands, was I
going to just be left with the new owners coming in and getting rid of me? I
had that at Newcastle, Blackburn. I really didn’t want that again. Fantastic
club.”
While Allardyce failed to keep Leeds up despite everything
going against him, his replacement Daniel Farke looks set to get Leeds back
into the Premier League with The Whites five clear of Burnley in third.