Ex-West Ham and QPR man 'in frame' for Leeds United job amidst Daniel Farke sack pressure claims
A former Premier League star as a player and manager is reported to be in the running for another top-flight job
Four Premier League managers have already been sacked this season and more could be set to follow during a tense winter period for several clubs at both ends of the table.
The likes of Thomas Frank at Tottenham Hotspur and Arne Slot at Liverpool have begun to come under pressure after a run of poor performances and results, while relegation fears lead to constant managerial uncertainty at the other end of the division.
The latest man to fall victim to this is Leeds United boss Daniel Farke, who is believed to be under pressure at Elland Road after the Whites fell into the bottom three. The newly-promoted outfit started the season strongly but have lost six matches in seven, coinciding with upturns for West Ham United and Nottingham Forest – both of whom have a new manager at the helm – which have caused Leeds to drop into 18th place.
An early favourite to take over if Farke is sacked has emerged, in the shape of a former QPR and West Ham star.
Gary O’Neil ‘favourite’ to take over at Leeds if Farke sacked
According to reports by Football Insider, Gary O’Neil is the ‘favourite’ to take over at Leeds if Farke is dismissed in the coming weeks. The former Wolves and Bournemouth head coach was a midfielder in his playing days and won promotion to the Premier League four times, including with both QPR and West Ham.
O’Neil is reportedly valued by Leeds due to his experience managing in the top flight, with 88 Premier League games in the hot seat under his belt. Despite the poor start he suffered with Wolves which led to his sack last season, O’Neil is viewed as a promising young English coach with good tactical nous and understanding for the game, and was recently linked with a return to Molineux before they appointed Rob Edwards.
He could be seen as both a short-term appointment and a long-term project, meaning it is understandable that Leeds have him on their radar. The report continues that the Yorkshire outfit’s second-half performance during their 3-2 defeat at Manchester City has earnt Farke more time to turn things around, following previous reports that he had just two matches to avoid the sack. But he remains under pressure if things do not improve, quickly.
‘I’ve watched every Premier League game’ - O’Neil reflects on a year outside management
O’Neil, who represented both QPR and West Ham during his playing carrer, spoke in an interview with The Telegraph in September, reflecting on his managerial career so far and his ambitions for the future.
“I think it’s unique,” O’Neil said of what he has achieved. “You have to set your own targets because for both clubs that I went in at, the aim was to stay up. Bournemouth were newly promoted and Wolves had been in the Premier League for a while and they’d had some big success. But financially the picture was changing.
“We had set a bar of what we had been able to achieve – we beat Jürgen Klopp’s Liverpool, we beat Pep Guardiola’s Man City, we did the double over Chelsea, we beat Tottenham three times, all in my first two years of management with relegation-threatened teams. But I don’t think the bar is anywhere near where I’m aiming to shift it to.
“I’ve watched every Premier League game,” he continues. “I do two a day on wide angle [TV]. We get the full pitch. I’m used to watching games in that way as you can see how everything moves.
“You can’t afford to get left behind because the game moves quickly, tactically. So, keep an eye on everything that’s going on in the Premier League, watch every game, watch what people are up to. You feel like you have loads of time but, as I learnt last time, the phone can ring and you are in.
“There’s going to be some good opportunities that come up and I feel like I’m really in a position where I can hit the ground running.”