Andrea Radrizzani is losing patience with manager Thomas Christiansen and is ready to wield the axe if Leeds United’s results do not immediately improve, according to the Sunday Mirror.
The newspaper claim in their print edition (12 November) that people close to United’s Italian owner claim he could soon end Christiansen’s reign “unless there is a dramatic change”.
The Sunday Mirror #LUFC pic.twitter.com/pl2CjjmUYk
— #WALMOT (@WALM0T33) November 12, 2017
The Sunday Mirror add: “Christiansen, who comes from a family of dancers, is nearing his last waltz”.
It is said that Leeds’ forthcoming fixtures against fifth-placed Middlesbrough and leaders Wolves are pivotal to Christiansen’s future.
The Dane has overseen a run of seven defeats from eight matches in all competitions that has seen his team slip from first to 10th in the Championship table and just four points above 17th place.
Questions are beginning to be asked of the manager and there were some knee-jerk reactions from disappointed supporters in the immediate wake of the defeat at Brentford eight days ago.
Radrizzani had showed his full support on social media for Christiansen and the Leeds staff in a home defeat against Derby County five days earlier but was silent in the immediate wake of the setback at Brentford.
OPINION
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. The plug would already have been pulled. But the new sole owner is unlikely to be a man of infinite patience, either. Leeds’ slump has been alarming and, although Radrizzani has been at pains to stress that he is building a long-term project, handing four and five-year contracts to nearly all the first-team players, and backing his coaching staff to the hilt, the club have publicly stated they want a top-six finish this season. It appears that Christiansen will get his marching orders if Leeds lost to both Boro and Wolves next week.