Marcelo Bielsa’s tenure as Leeds United head coach has come to an end after 170 matches and more than 1,300 days at the helm.
After a run of six matches without a win in the Premier League and 20 goals conceded in the last five, the Whites are 16th in the league table and edging closer to the relegation zone.
Andrea Radrizzani watched Tottenham Hotspur inflict a 4-0 defeat at Elland Road on Saturday in what has proved to be the final straw at the top of the club.
With 12 matches in the current campaign remaining, Radrizzani and his director of football Victor Orta must now find someone to secure the club’s top-flight status.
Leicester City await in another lunchtime kick-off next Saturday before a critical double-header at Elland Road with Aston Villa and bottom-club Norwich City.
Bielsa departs Elland Road as one of the finest managers in the club’s history after ending a 16-year exile outside the top flight with a Championship-winning season in 2019/20.
The Argentine, who spent longer with Leeds than any senior club side in his career, took Leeds from the middle of the second tier to the middle of the Premier League within three years.
His legacy is likely to be remembered as fondly as the likes of Don Revie and Howard Wilkinson, but this season brought the first serious questions about his future with the club.
With his latest contract expiring in the summer, there were always doubts about whether he would continue into another campaign, but Radrizzani and the board have moved with almost a third of the season still to play.
Injuries have plagued a campaign which never got going. A six-match winless run began the season, but since then wins have come in fits and starts with no consistently good form to speak of.
