Is this the end of Leeds United’s prosperous era?
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Ask any Leeds United fan if their club is cursed and they will tell you with a straight face that it certainly is. This reasoning goes back 50-odd years after legendary former manager Don Revie suggested this might be the case owing to a poor run of form.
As you can imagine, with this seed of doubt planted by the club’s most influential figure in its history, every time Leeds endures a barren run of form or suffer from inexplicable boardroom decision-making, talk of the supposed curse resurfaces.
The unshakable ‘curse’
In 2015, former Leeds owner Massimo Cellino was so concerned that the club could be cursed following eight months without a home win, that he asked Monsignor Philip Moger of St Anne’s Cathedral, Leeds to sprinkle holy water on the center circle and in the dressing room in order to be finally rid of it. What happened over the next 90 minutes in Leeds’ resulting home game did little to expel the notion that a curse had been hanging over the club after the Whites won for the first time in eight months. What’s more, is that they did it against Cardiff City, a team Leeds hadn’t managed to beat in over 30 years.
Essentially, that should have been that, right?
The reality is that Leeds was not an instant success story despite holy water being liberally sprayed around Elland Road. In fact, the club continued to desperately struggle in the first division for a number of years afterward. Indeed, it was false prophet after false prophet at Leeds who went through three new managers in as many years after 2015 in a bid to find some sort of salvation. With all hope lost for a club that had spent 14 years out of the top flight, Leeds eventually turned to Marcelo Bielsa to take charge; finally, the messiah had arrived in West Yorkshire.
Leeds find their man
Two years later and the Argentine tactician had done what no man had been able to do before him after leading Leeds to promotion to the Premier League by winning the league. It was an achievement that ended a 16-year hiatus from the top flight and rightfully saw the Whites top the sports news headlines around the world – this time, for the right reasons.
In particular, it was the style in which Leeds secured promotion to the Premier League that made them the talk of the sporting world, having played a free-flowing brand of soccer that was designed to entertain the fans. It was such a success that Leeds soon became the neutrals favorite team despite being a club that had typically thrived on being unliked. Yes, the Bielsa years from 2018 to 2022 were truly remarkable for so many intriguing reasons.
From quirks such as asking his players to pick up litter in order to understand the sacrifices supporters make, his instance on a healthy living lifestyle, to the way he demanded his team put fair play above winning, Bielsa made Leeds the most praised club in the world.
All good things come to an end
However, the cruel winds of change would blow again for Leeds in February 2022 when the Leeds board fired Bielsa after a run of poor results. Many Leeds fans to this day are still confident in their belief that the 67-year-old would have kept the Whites in the Premier League but that sentiment was not shared in the Elland Road boardroom.
Instead, the club opted to hire Jesse Marsch as they fought to preserve their Premier League status. Marsch was successful insofar as Leeds was able to avoid relegation courtesy of the last kick of the season when they beat Brentford in the most dramatic turn of events.
Once the euphoria had died down and the off-season began, however, there was an overriding feeling that the American’s managerial philosophy was not conducive to long-term success in the Premier League.
That proved to be the case as Marsch would be fired in early February 2023 – less than a year after he was given the role. From there, the Whites appointed Javi Gracia in another desperate attempt to avoid relegation but after just two months, Gracia was sacked with four games to go of the season; Leeds had descended into total chaos again with relegation now looking unavoidable. The latest sports betting markets for relegation from the Premier League back this summary up with Leeds at just -163 to return to the Championship as of the 2nd of May. The infamous curse has evidently not gone away.
It may have been short-lived, but it does look like Leeds’ prosperous era is now over with a return to unfathomable on-field results and inadequate planning in the boardroom. Will this cycle ever stop?
Leeds’ last throw of the Allardyce
The answer is that Leeds’ current think tank hopes it won’t get to that as they turn to Sam Allardyce to produce a miracle over their last four games of the season by keeping the West Yorkshire club in the top fight. Admittedly, staying in the league will keep the bad times at bay and crucially, will also give Leeds another chance to continue to learn from their mistakes by building on the foundations Bielsa had put in place.
The stakes couldn’t be higher and Leeds will be hoping that for once, they have luck on their side. Without it, the club will sink back into a reality they spent decades trying to free themselves of.
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