Leeds boss Steve Evans must be given time, says Brian McDermott
Friday 30 October 2015 08:31, UK
Former Leeds manager Brian McDermott says new boss Steve Evans must be given time to make his mark at the Championship club.
McDermott took over from Neil Warnock in April 2013 but was sacked shortly after Massimo Cellino took control of the club in January 2014 before being reinstated a few days later.
The 54-year-old guided Leeds to 15th in the table in the 2013/14 season but was sacked by Cellino for a second time at the end of the campaign.
Dave Hockaday, Darko Milanic, Neil Redfearn and Uwe Rosler have all come and gone in the intervening period and with Evans having just taken over, McDermott spoke to Sky Sports News HQ where he discussed his time at the club.
"We had a couple of really bad results in January 2014 - we were fifth in the league at one point at Christmas but dropped down to about eighth or ninth - and lost really heavily at Sheffield Wednesday," he said.
"I got sacked on the 31st of January and was reinstated a couple of days later in February. So obviously, if you start off on that footing it is never going to be easy. Once you have been sacked once, the dressing room looks at you differently. They think, 'well, this guy is here on borrowed time', and that was how it felt.
"We kind of stabilised it and the last five games, we won three, drew one and lost one. I just wanted to have that opportunity to keep going but in my heart of hearts, I knew I wasn't going to get that chance."
Evans has guided Leeds to back-to-back 1-1 draws - away games at Fulham and Bolton - since taking over on October 19.
His first home game in charge comes in Thursday night's Sky Live clash with Blackburn and McDermott hopes Evans will be given time to turn the club's fortunes around.
"I know Steve Evans quite well and he kind of gets it at Leeds. He appreciates what it is to be Leeds United manager," he said.
"Steve is relishing the opportunity and I think he is the type of guy who could take it. He just needs to be given some time and he needs to be supported. They need to give him a year and see where he goes.
"If you consider that Leeds have not won in seven months at Elland Road, Steve Evans has talked about that being a disgrace, well it is really. Opposition managers should come to Elland Road and think, 'if you get a result at Elland Road, you have done well'.
"That's not been the case in the last seven months and obviously that's got to be addressed. They need to try and do that starting tonight. He needs time to build something. You need time and stability and that hasn't been given to any manager at Leeds over the last 18 months."
Watch Leeds v Blackburn in the Sky Bet Championship on Thursday night. Coverage begins on Sky Sports 1 HD and Sky Sports 5 HD at 7:30pm.
