Pundit reveals Jesse Marsch sack date as Leeds ‘putting out feelers’ to replace under-fire manager
Darren Bent feels Leeds United manager Jesse Marsch is living on borrowed time with reports that the powers that be are working on his successor.
Marsch, 48, replaced Marcelo Bielsa in the Elland Road hotseat last season. Initial scepticism was replaced by optimism as the American guided his charges to Premier League safety. They achieved that on the final day of last season.
And seven points from the opening three games of 2022-2023 suggested that better times might be around the corner.
However, heading into the weekend’s fixtures, the Whites had slumped to 18th in the table.
They have not won a top-flight encounter since beating Chelsea 3-0 on August 21. And two points from eight games has seen the manager’s position thrust into the spotlight.
The Elland Road outfit are currently on a run of four straight league defeats.
And Marsch told reporters this week that he is ‘sick’ of taking nothing from games where his side were the better team.
Doubtless the fans see it the same way, with boos ringing out around Elland Road after the 3-2 loss to Fulham.
Leeds travel to Anfield to take on Liverpool on Saturday evening. That will be a tough task.
But Bent feels it is the following fixture at home to Bournemouth that will be D-Day for Marsch.
“If they get beat at Liverpool, which I think they could do, if they get beaten by Bournemouth with that big gap of the World Cup coming up, I think they’ll move on from him,” he told talkSPORT.
“If they don’t get three points from those games, he’ll get the sack. They need to beat Bournemouth.”
Plans afoot to find Marsch successor
Marsch has remained bullish but honest about the situation Leeds find themselves in.
However, if he does survive in the post after the Cherries encounter, the West Yorkshire outfit then travel to face Tottenham.
That match will herald the World Cup break for Leeds and give the board time to source a new manager.
But a report by Football Insider suggests the club has already started the process of selecting Marsch’s replacement.
It states that the Premier League strugglers are ‘putting out early feelers’ in order to get the right man.
And the report adds that the Leeds hierarchy are ‘paving the way’ for a new manager and have a list of ‘potential replacements’.
Marsch looking for answers
There are clearly problems at Leeds that need fixing sooner rather than later. Confidence is huge in sport and football is no different.
Marsch confessed that he is trying everything to turn things around.
He is looking into the team’s travel arrangements, adding coaching staff and using psychologists to try and bring back some positivity.
Whether that will turn around results only time will tell.
The former RB Leipzig coach has cut a frustrated figure on the sidelines in recent weeks as points continue to slip away.
He appears up for the fight but, if reports are to be believed, it may already be too late to salvage his job.