da pinnacle： Leeds United have been dealt yet another setback in their managerial pursuit and could now be forced into a panic appointment…
When was Gerrard linked to Leeds?
da betsson： That man could be Steven Gerrard, as the 42-year-old seems like the only coach who’s unwilling to rule himself out of the job.
Having seen both Andoni Iraola and Carlos Corberan snub the offer to manage at Elland Road, the latest name to fall by the wayside is former Ajax boss Alfred Schreuder.
Although it marks another disappointing moment for the Whites, they had seemingly gotten off the hook by avoiding potential disaster over hiring a manager with a reputation for falling out with players. However, with reports last week suggesting that Leeds might still go in for Gerrard, they remain in a worrying state of confusion.
Would Gerrard be worse than Schreuder?
In their desperation for a new manager, it seems that Andrea Radrizzani and Victor Orta have finally hit the bottom of the barrel when it comes to finding someone to fill the vacancy.
Just over a week since Jesse Marsch’s dismissal, U21s boss Michael Skubala has now overseen two Premier League games and seems poised to take charge of a third, given the glacial progress of the hierarchy’s search.
Although the club may be receiving scorn for their patience, the conclusions to which they are arriving are even more infuriating.
As if Schreuder wasn’t a risky enough candidate already, with his well-documented dressing room spats and awful results for Ajax, now Gerrard enters the race as one of the few viable candidates remaining.
His failure at Aston Villa remains fresh in the memory given his October sacking, having won just 13 of his 40 matches in charge and earned an abysmal 1.18 points per game – not to mention that he was significantly backed across two transfer windows, in which he recruited poorly.
He was lambasted for creating a Villa team which was “clueless” in attack, according to journalist Josh Bunting.
Even Schreuder had returned a 1.65 points per game average this season before he was sacked in January for a winless league run which stretched back to October, similar to Gerrard’s dismissal following two wins in 12 Premier League matches.
The two coaches share unwanted similarities, but at least Schreuder boasts some European pedigree, having managed in the Champions League this season.
Gerrard has already failed in England and was on track to drag Villa into a relegation battle, with them only outside the relegation zone on goals scored when he was sacked following a 3-0 thrashing by Fulham. There seems little to suggest that he could now keep Leeds out of it.