Here are the latest Leeds United evening headlines on Wednesday, 25 May.
Cellino plans Clotet swoop
Massimo Cellino is set to rehire former Elland Road coach Pep Clotet as his manager at Brescia, according to TuttoMercatoWeb. The unpredictable former Leeds owner appointed Clotet at his Serie B club for the final three months of the 2020/21 season but the pair went their separate ways after Brescia lost in the first round of the play-offs to Cittadella.
Clotet went on to join fellow Serie B outfit SPAL last summer but was sacked in January with the club only three points above the relegation zone. Cellino, meanwhile, turned to former AC Milan and Italy striker Filippo Inzaghi as his new head coach but he lasted until the following March before the enigmatic 65-year-old appointed Eugenio Corini - a man he sacked twice during the 2019/20 season and looks poised to fire again after Brescia's latest play-off setback, this time to Monza at the semi-final stage.
Cellino's thirst for dismissing managers has diminished little since leaving Leeds, where he sacked six - Brian McDermott, Dave Hockaday, Darko Milanic, Neil Redfearn, Uwe Rosler and Steve Evans - from his arrival in West Yorkshire in January 2014 to May 2016 when he appointed Garry Monk who, with Clotet as his assistant, survived a whole season before the Cagliari-born entrepreneur sold the club to Andrea Radrizzani. Clotet had previously worked at Swansea under Monk and Michael Laudrup.
Reportedly out of loyalty to Monk, Clotet turned down the manager's job at Brentford in 2015, but the pair guided Leeds to a seventh-placed finish in the Championship - one position outside the play-offs. Monk subsequently resigned and, after Thomas Kristiansen was appointed as the Whites new boss, Clotet left before being unveiled as Oxford manager that July.
The 45-year-old Spaniard lasted little more than six months at the League One outfit before being sacked after winning just 12 of his 36 games at the helm. Two months later, Monk made Clotet his assistant again when he was named Birmingham boss, with the latter becoming head coach in the summer of 2019 after the former's sacking.
The pair then fell out and Monk refused to shake Clotet's hand when the Blues played his Sheffield Wednesday outfit that November. Monk claimed he had made an "error of judgment" in working with the Barcelona-born coach, while suggesting his former number two was untrustworthy.
Clotet left St Andrew's by mutual consent with four games of the 2019/20 season remaining after failing to win any of his previous 11 matches and, how long he lasts in 2022/23 if he is handed the Brescia reigns again by Cellino remains to be seen.
Duo gain international calls
Centre-back Charlie Cresswell has been called up to the England Under-21 squad, while Diego Llorente has been drafted in to Spain's senior squad as a replacement for injured Manchester City defender Aymeric Laporte. Cresswell, 19, will be hoping to feature against Czech Republic, Albania, Kosovo and Slovenia during a busy schedule of fixtures between June 3 and June 13.
Llorente, meanwhile, could be needed for his country's Nations League contests against Czech Republic (twice), Portugal and Switzerland. Joe Gelhardt and Sam Greenwood, meanwhile, have been overlooked for England U21 selection.
Richards lobbies for Marsch backing
Former Leeds United youth-team defender Micah Richards has insisted manager Jesse Marsch must be backed when the transfer window reopens next month. Having come in from RB Leipzig in February following the dismissal of Marcelo Bielsa, the American has not yet had a chance to demonstrate his recruitment acumen, with new faces desperately needed to avoid another battle against the drop in 2022/23.
Richards said on BBC's Monday Night Club: "In terms of Marsch, he’s done a brilliant job but can he get the players in that can take the team forward. He’s going to need backing and that’s what they need."
