Angus Kinnear has admitted the Leeds United board have met to discuss the position of manager Thomas Christiansen.
The Elland Road managing director explained that Leeds have no plans to sack Christiansen but stressed owner Andrea Radrizzani “has really high standards” in a warning that the horror run will not be tolerated indefinitely.
In an interview with the Yorkshire Evening Post, Kinnear spoke highly of the Dane, 44, who steered the team to the top of the Championship in mid September but has overseen an alarming slump of seven defeats from nine league matches that has seen Leeds slip from first to 10th in the Championship table and just four points above 17th place.
“As a board we meet regularly and we’ve met to discuss the current form,” Kinnear said. “It’s a testament to Thomas that he’s never once discussed squad quality as being a problem.
“Andrea and the rest of the board have got really high standards and the results – and in some of the games the underlying performances – don’t meet with those standards.
“Naturally there’s concern because we need to stay in touch with the play-off places but we’re confident the ingredients are there to regain the form we had.
“The majority of well-run of clubs have the ability to suck up periods like this. It can be difficult because from a personal and emotional perspective, there’s nobody more disappointed after a defeat than Andrea.”
OPINION
The party line from Leeds is that Christiansen is safe. For now. But the manager should not count his chickens, as the pressure will mount to unprecedented levels if United lose to Middlesbrough, managed by ex-Leeds boss Garry Monk, this weekend. With a trip to big-spending leaders Wolves three days later, it is far from inconceivable that Leeds will lose both matches. Ultimately, Christiansen’s future rests in the hands of the Italian tycoon who has taken measured and popular steps to rebuild Leeds since taking sole ownership in May following the toxic reign of Massimo Cellino. No Leeds observer is in any doubt what Radrizzani’s predecessors’ response would be to the team’s current crisis. But the new sole owner is unlikely to be a man of infinite patience, either. He did not get to where he is by shying away from tough decisions. Despite Kinnear’s public backing, it is difficult to see any scenario other than Christiansen getting his marching orders if Leeds lost to both Boro and Wolves in the coming week.