With just two games left of their 2022/23 Premier League season, Leeds United remain in the relegation places and a drop into the Championship appears almost certain.
Sam Allardyce needs to rally his troops to at least one win from either their away fixture at West Ham United on Sunday, or their final game of the season, at home to Tottenham Hotspur.
Even that may not be enough for the Elland Road outfit because if the teams around them also pick up points, the status quo could remain the same.
‘Big Sam’ clearly has it all to do, and although the first-team haven’t yet won under his tutelage, they’ve played well against both Man City and Newcastle United.
With West Ham very likely to rest players now, given that they’ll have one eye on the Europa Conference League final against Fiorentina, there’s every chance that Allardyce could go back and haunt one of his former clubs.
If things had been different, however, he may never have been given the chance to do just that.
According to The Athletic (subscription required), the Leeds hierarchy were actually discussing a ‘fairytale’ reunion with former coach, Marcelo Bielsa.
The report states that the Argentinian was aware of those discussions though, in the end, they never amounted to anything.
There’s a saying in football too that you should ‘never go back,’ and it’s probably best in this instance that the club didn’t follow up on any initial thoughts.
Bielsa’s name will long be associated with the club for all of the right reasons, and potentially being in charge when they are relegated would’ve left a stain on his CV.