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• I apologise I didn’t do better – Sam Allardyce says sorry after Leeds relegated

  Leeds boss Sam Allardyce apologised to the club’s fans after a 4-1 home defeat to Tottenham confirmed their Premier League relegation.

  Allardyce, who Leeds had turned to in desperation with four games remaining, also urged the club to quickly resolve their ownership issue to aid their bid to bounce straight back from the Sky Bet Championship.

  The former England manager said he had no regrets about taking on the job and will sit down with the board next week to discuss whether he will stay in the role.

  Allardyce said: “I can’t say I’ve enjoyed it. I’m glad I came back. I tried my best to get Leeds out of trouble, but I can’t enjoy anything when I don’t win.

  “We didn’t leave a stone unturned and it’s really sad that Leeds is in this position and to the fans, I apologise that I didn’t do better and the players didn’t do better.”

  Leeds issued a statement shortly after the game also apologising to the club’s supporters for a “painful” relegation.

  It read: “We apologise to our fanbase that the performances this season have not seen the club consolidate our status as we had all hoped.

  “However, Leeds United remains in a strong position to build a team that can challenge for promotion from the Championship next season.

  “We know things have not been good enough, we know we have to improve, but please be assured that behind the scenes we have worked hard to ensure that the past will not be repeated.

  “Our focus is now on how we get straight back to the Premier League. ”

  Leeds majority shareholder and chairman Andrea Radrizzani is understood to have stayed in Italy as the club crashed out of the top flight.

  Harry Kane’s brace and goals from Pedro Porro and Lucas Moura ensured Leeds’ three-year stay was over and Jack Harrison’s second-half effort for Leeds was scant consolation for their fans, who vented their fury at the board throughout the match.

  Speculation is mounting over whether a consortium Radrizzani is reported to be part of is poised to complete a takeover at Sampdoria and so expedite the sale of his shares in Leeds to American co-owners 49ers Enterprises.

  Allardyce said: “I can tell them (the Leeds board) what I think needs to be done and then they can say what they think.

  “Obviously, how is the club going to go forward? And who with? Because we all know about whether it’s going to be bought or stay the same, what’s going to happen?

  “That’s probably the first factor that needs to get sorted out before you even speak to me, if you’re going to speak to me.”

  Spurs, who missed out on a place in Europe next season despite Sunday’s result, will also begin their search for a new manager and interim boss Ryan Mason said some “huge decisions” would have to be made by the club.

  Mason, who has won two of his six games back in temporary charge, said: “First of all it’s to understand who we want to be and where we want to go, going forward.

  “Then it’s realising who fits that, members of staff and also players as well. It’s an important few weeks now and hopefully we make the right decisions.”

  Mason added: “We have quite big squad. Whoever is in charge in pre-season, there are a lot of players and decisions to make.

  “Obviously the bigger picture is disappointment over how the season has gone as a whole because we’ve finished outside of Europe for the first time in a long time. We need to make sure that doesn’t happen again.”

• Frank Lampard believes Chelsea standards have slipped as cheerless campaign ends

  Frank Lampard said he believes the standards at Chelsea have dropped after he signed off as interim manager with a 1-1 draw against Newcastle.

  The result means Lampard failed to register a single home victory during his second spell in charge, with his last win as manager at Stamford Bridge still a 3-1 triumph over West Ham in December 2020.

  It took a Kieran Trippier own goal, the defender deflecting the ball into the net midway through the first half, to cancel out Anthony Gordon’s early strike.

  This was at least an improved performance from Chelsea, particularly in the second half where they played with an attacking initiative rarely seen under Lampard.

  The young trio of Noni Madueke, Lewis Hall and substitute Carey Chukwuemeka especially played with the maturity to take charge of the game and drive their team on, after a first half in which Newcastle had made Chelsea look ordinary.

  That has happened too often this season, especially at home where there have been six Premier League defeats and only 20 goals scored, the same number as Bournemouth and three fewer than relegated Leicester.

  Lampard said he had recognised early in his tenure that leadership and cohesion were lacking among a bloated squad, and hoped that a new manager – expected to be Mauricio Pochettino – would be able to slim down and galvanise the first-team group.

  “The standards collectively have dropped,” said Lampard. “I can be honest about that now that it’s my last game, I might not see some of them that much anymore.

  “The standards of the collective for a club like Chelsea have to be at the maximum or you won’t be physically competitive enough, or you won’t be able to play at a high level… high speed in a way that the Premier League demands.

  “If you’re not together in the dressing room, and you’re not vocal in the dressing room, driving each other and competitive because I want your place and you want mine. Any top team has to have that.

  “When I came in very quickly I could see that wasn’t there enough. Of course a very good manager will help that, but everyone has to take responsibility, players and club alike.”

  Chelsea’s form has nosedived since Lampard was appointed on April 6, with problems that had been apparent under former manager Graham Potter having only been exacerbated.

  Todd Boehly’s whirlwind transfer activity during his first year of ownership has produced a squad of 34 first-team players that both managers have said proved hugely challenging to work with.

  It has contributed to Chelsea recording a first bottom-half finish since 1996 and a record low tally of points and goals scored in the Premier League era.

  “It’s clear there are things I would see that need to improve,” said Lampard. “A new manager will see with his own eyes and the beauty of it is he’ll have a pre-season to work with the team, they need that.

  “We’re not physically competitive enough. Newcastle are and we haven’t been. That’s a strong opinion that I have.

  “The squad has been too big, that’s the biggest challenge I’ve found day to day, coming in and working with big numbers, and with players who for whatever reason are disillusioned, whether for right or wrong that they’re not playing, (or) they might be leaving. Those situations can maybe be sorted out now and they have to be.”

  Newcastle manager Eddie Howe, whose team had already secured qualification for next season’s Champions League ahead of the game at Stamford Bridge, said a first season in 20 years in Europe’s top competition would help loosen the transfer restrictions placed on his club by Financial Fair Play rules.

  “FFP will impact what we do this summer,” he said. “Without Champions League football it would have been difficult to do much in the market at all. The fact we have that has given us a bit of a lift.

  “The most important people are the players we already have. I’m the type of manager who tries to get the best out of everyone under our employment. We’re looking to add quality, we’re not huge payers of wages in the Premier League, it makes it hard to attract the very best players.

  “We need more depth. With three games in a week next year we’re going to be stretched.”

• Leeds’ relegation confirmed as Harry Kane hits double in Tottenham win

  Leeds’ three-season stay in the Premier League is over after a 4-1 home defeat to Tottenham confirmed their relegation.

  Harry Kane and Pedro Porro scored early in either half to put Spurs 2-0 up and, although Jack Harrison reduced the deficit, Kane struck a game-clinching second in what could be his last game for the London club.

  Tottenham substitute Lucas Moura rubbed salt into Leeds’ wounds by waltzing through a porous defence in stoppage time to complete their misery.

  Leeds went into the final day needing not only victory, but for relegation rivals Everton and Leicester to drop points and, since they both won, the Yorkshire club’s 21st league defeat of the season was immaterial.

  The hosts have not kept a clean sheet since February and their hopes of doing so on Sunday went up in smoke in just the second minute.

  The ease with which Porro and Son Heung-min combined to carve open the defence typified Leeds’ season, with Kane finding space among headless chickens to hit the first nail into the home side’s coffin.

  Leeds fans responded to Kane’s 28th league goal of the season with raucous defiance, ‘We’re going down’ being one of their chants.

  Leeds’ players rallied and did their best to give something back to the Elland Road faithful, but in terms of confidence and quality they have long been running on empty.

  Robin Koch spurned their best chance, heading wayward from in front of goal from Rodrigo’s brilliant cross before Pascal Struijk’s shot was deflected for a corner.

  Adam Forshaw’s fierce drive was blocked by Davinson Sanchez and another Koch header curled the wrong side of a post.

  Leeds boss Sam Allardyce cut a forlorn figure in the dugout and saw his side waste further first-half chances as Rodrigo headed Forshaw’s cross off target and Rasmus Kristensen volleyed over.

  Tottenham continually threatened on the break without creating any more first-half scoring chances, but they soon remedied that.

  Just as they had done in the first half, Leeds conceded inside the opening two minutes of the second as Kane brilliantly set up Porro, who arrowed a low shot into the far corner from a narrow angle to put the visitors 2-0 up.

  Leeds gamely searched for a goal of their own and were rewarded when Harrison made space on the edge of the area to drill a low shot into the far corner.

  But within two minutes Tottenham restored their two-goal advantage. Sanchez’s simple long clearance caught Leeds’ defence all at sea and Kane curled a neat finish inside the far post.

  As Leeds fans vented their fury at their club’s plight in the closing stages, Moura – on his last appearance for the north London club – completed the scoring after a mazy run from halfway before chants of ‘Sack the board’ rang out through the home terraces.