Leeds only out of relegation zone on goal difference; Allardyce took over from Javi Gracia on Wednesday with just four Premier League games remaining; Watch Man City vs Leeds live on Sky Sports Premier League on Saturday from 2pm; kick-off 3pm
Friday 5 May 2023 18:07, UK
Sam Allardyce's appointment at Leeds shows their desperation, says Gary Neville, who believes the club's new head coach will have to "work a miracle" to take something from Saturday's trip to Man City.
Allardyce was appointed as Leeds boss on Wednesday with a four-game mission to keep the club in the Premier League. They are currently out of the relegation zone on goal difference.
The 68-year-old made headlines by comparing himself to Pep Guardiola, Jurgen Klopp and Mikel Arteta in his first press conference. That claim was branded "hilarious" by Neville, who says the price of relegation is forcing club owners to make panicked decisions.
"I couldn't believe it at first," said the Sky Sports pundit on the Gary Neville Podcast. "The desperation we're seeing now...
"I'm a club owner, I've sacked managers but the desperation we've seen this season in the Premier League mainly due to the fact clubs are so worried about losing that income, going down… we're seeing some of the maddest football decisions we've ever seen. And it's crazy.
"This Leeds season has been as crazy as it gets. Jesse Marsch stayed for a long time, Javi Gracia comes in, it doesn't work then gets sacked and Sam Allardyce comes in for four games, then the sporting director goes…
"It's getting more desperate. I think it's due to [the fact owners] commit when they're in the Premier League, they want to be in the Premier League, they've worked hard to get there but then the desperation to stay there is off the scale for some clubs.
"Allardyce, he was probably never expecting that call. Or maybe he was. His interview, I thought was hilarious. I think I put some laughing emojis against it when he said 'I'm the equal of Klopp, I'm the equal of Pep and I'm the equal of Arteta'. Ultimately that's Big Sam, that's his character.
"It sounds shocking when you hear that and it sounds like madness but a few of the responses come through saying straight away it takes the pressure off the players because the headlines are all about him and what he said because it's an outrageous thing to say. Pep Guardiola will go down as one of the greatest managers of all time, Sam Allardyce won't. He's had massive experience. But ultimately that's wrong."
With just days between Allardyce's appointment and the tough assignment of Premier League leaders Manchester City away, Neville says he expects the incoming boss to act quickly in terms of trying to build a survival spirit in the camp.
However, he doesn't expect that to be easy, given the team have lost five of their last seven, with four of those defeats being by at least a three-goal margin - and added that Allardyce will have to "work a miracle" to take something from the Etihad Stadium.
"I think he'll look at [West Ham's performance at Man City on Wednesday] and watch that very closely," said Neville. "He'll have been watching Leeds' last few games very closely. And he'll go with 4-5-1 or 5-4-1. I don't think there's any other way he can go.
"In his dreams he'll be thinking he can come here and get a point or somehow get a win and that would shock the world. It's something the Premier League could deliver and Allardyce could deliver. But I don't think he'll be thinking Saturday is the game where he picks up points.
"This will be the game where he wants to get to know his players and develop a spirit. And I'm sure he'll be doing some things to develop that spirit before the game on Saturday but you come here and Guardiola will think a little bit more about the game, what Allardyce and his coaching staff could do that's different, could they surprise us… but Leeds are very bad and have been very bad.
"They've got absolutely no discipline [in their play]. You're thinking what's he going to do to them in 48 hours, it would be the shock of all shocks but that's what Allardyce has to try to deliver. They're coming to one of the best teams in the world, certainly the Premier League, and they're ill-disciplined in the way they play, they're all over the place - everything you'd think an Allardyce team are not. He's got to work a miracle in these next days.
"There's an element of what Crystal Palace did with Roy Hodgson, with great experience. Roy has had a career where he's managed Liverpool and Inter Milan and taken Switzerland to the World Cup for the first time and managed England for four years. A stunning career.
"I'm not putting them in the same bracket. But Roy has brought a great calmness and assurance and confidence to Crystal Palace and I'm sure Leeds have looked at that situation and Dean Smith coming in at Leicester and thought we need someone who has been around the block and knows what it's like to be in that situation."
Saturday: Man City (A) - Premier League, kick-off 3pm, live on Sky Sports
May 13: Newcastle (H) - Premier League, kick-off 3pm
May 21: West Ham (A) - Premier League, kick-off 1.30pm
May 28: Tottenham (H) - Premier League, kick-off 4.30pm
