Andrea Radrizzani has apologised for hiring Thomas Christiansen as Leeds United manager and revealed that he wanted to sack the manager sooner than he did.
The Leeds United owner shared that as Christiansen didn’t succeed at the club, it had proven to be a mistake to hire him.
“Anything that doesn’t work is a mistake so yes, I did make a mistake,” said Radrizzani in an interview with the Yorkshire Evening Post.
“I apologise to the fans and the club, and for my experience I need to learn and analyse better my choice before making it.
“At the same time, he seemed to be someone successful and fresh who could match with the new phase of the club, my new management and the new freshness around the team.
“But if you watch the games we conceded so many chances early on, in the first few minutes, this is a sign that mentally the players are not relaxed.
“They are stressed and this is why I could feel that probably the manager was not transmitting security and confidence.”
Christiansen was dismissed after Leeds lost 4-1 to Cardiff City on Saturday and left the club sitting in 10th.
The Danish manager only spent seven-and-a-half-months in charge of the Whites, but in his first seven games as manager he took the club to top of the Championship.
Radrizzani went on to confess that he wanted to the sack the manager sooner than he did and shared that he gave the manager many chances to save his job.
“I waited for a long time before taking the decision and gave him many chances,” said the Whites owner.
“Already at the beginning of January I was really keen to change.”
Paul Heckingbottom was confirmed at Christiansen’s successor at the club on Wednesday, with Leeds posting an official statement about his appointment on their website.
OPINION
Radrizzani’s comments are as surprising as they are shocking. The owner didn’t need to apologise about appointing Christiansen as for at least a little while it looked like a successful gamble. The Danish manager did better than anyone expected and it’s shame that it didn’t work out. Christiansen’s winless run of seven games saw Leeds drop out of the play-off positions as other club’s in the league took advantage of their poor form. The Championship is a tough league and any side is capable of going on seven game winless run. Hopefully, the Leeds owner won’t be apologising for appointing Heckingbottom any time in the near future.