Leeds have announced Sam Allardyce will not be staying on as manager and will leave the club by mutual consent.
Allardyce, 68, could not save Leeds from relegation after being appointed in a last-ditch bid to keep them in the Premier League with four games of the season remaining.
A club statement read: “Leeds United and Sam Allardyce can confirm that both parties have mutually agreed for Sam’s spell at the club to end following the completion of the 2022-23 season.
“Sam joined the Whites for the final four games of the campaign and despite spirited performances against Manchester City and Newcastle United, the objective of staying in the Premier League was not reached.”
Allardyce said after Leeds’ last game of the season that he would talk with the club about whether to stay in the role, but has now confirmed he was unable to commit to a “long-term project” as they bid to bounce back to the top flight.
The former England boss said: “It has been an honour to manage Leeds United, a great club with an incredible fan base, who deserve to be in the Premier League.
“I have really enjoyed working with the staff and players at the club and I would like to thank Angus Kinnear for the opportunity.
“I’d also like to highlight the outstanding work of (assistants) Karl Robinson and Robbie Keane who have worked tirelessly over the past few weeks.
“At this stage in my career I am not sure taking on this challenge, which is potentially a long-term project, is something I could commit to, but I wish the club every success for the future and hope the club returns to the Premier League, where they belong.”
Leeds turned to Allardyce, whose former clubs as manager include Bolton, Newcastle, West Ham, Sunderland, Crystal Palace and Everton, after sacking Javi Gracia at the start of last month.
Gracia departed after just 10 weeks and 12 games in the role having replaced Jesse Marsch in February.
Allardyce arrived at Elland Road with the club sitting 17th in the table, outside the bottom three on goal difference.
Leeds lost his first game in charge at Manchester City and after a creditable 2-2 home draw against Newcastle, they surrendered their top-flight status with successive 3-1 and 4-1 defeats to West Ham and Tottenham.
Leeds chief executive Angus Kinnear added: “We thank Sam for being brave enough to step in and do all he could to save us.
“Sadly, it was not to be, but Sam, Karl and Robbie did everything they could to lift the mood at Thorp Arch and Elland Road and for that we are all extremely grateful.”
Leeds said they hoped to announce their new head coach “in the coming weeks”.
Liverpool to be sent audio from VAR controversy before it is released publicly
Liverpool will be sent the audio from Saturday’s offside controversy at Tottenham first before it is released publicly, the PA news agency understands.
The club are understood to have requested the audio related to the “significant human error” which led to Luis Diaz’s goal against Spurs being disallowed, having released a statement on Sunday saying they would explore their options given the “clear need for escalation and resolution”.
PA understands the goal was not given due to a miscommunication between VAR Darren England and the on-field referee Simon Hooper.
Professional Game Match Officials Limited is understood to have always been keen to release the audio in a bid to provide transparency, and that first and foremost it must go to Liverpool.
The organisation has not ruled out either airing the audio in the next ‘Match Officials: Mic’d Up’ programme which is scheduled for Monday next week, or possibly sooner than that.
England and his assistant VAR, Daniel Cook, have not been included among the officials for duty in the coming weekend’s Premier League fixtures.
He’s got everything – Levi Colwill says Mykhailo Mudryk can be ‘one of the best’
Levi Colwill believes Chelsea team-mate Mykhailo Mudryk can be “one of the best in the world” and hopes the winger can now kick on after scoring his first goal for the Blues.
Mudryk has struggled to tie down a starting spot at Stamford Bridge since his big-money move from Shakhtar Donetsk in January and, prior to Monday’s trip to local rivals Fulham, had not managed a single goal for his new club.
However, he finally broke his goalscoring duck with the opener in a 2-0 win at Craven Cottage and Colwill, who set up the goal with a fine pass, hopes it will do the 22-year-old Ukraine international the power of good.
“It was amazing, I’m so happy for him (Mudryk), luckily I found him,” Colwill said.
“Of course he deserves the goal. He’s a great player, he could be one of the best in the world and he needs to kick on from here and hopefully he can push on.”
Mudryk, who has now started the last three Premier League matches for Mauricio Pochettino’s side, was replaced at half-time against Fulham due to a niggle but defender Colwill felt the £88million man showed exactly what he is capable of before being forced out.
He added: “It’s been tough for him since he joined but during the first half he was amazing and I think everyone can see the qualities he has. We see it all the time in training, he’s such a good player.
“To come here and bring it for the first half was amazing and he has to build from it.
“He’s got everything. Everything you want as a winger.
“It’s tough coming from Ukraine to Chelsea and it’s a pressure he might not have experienced with the different culture too. So it’s always going to be tough but soon we’ll see the player he is.”
Mudryk’s 18th-minute opener against Fulham was quickly followed by an Armando Broja goal as Chelsea claimed only their second Premier League win of the season.
Broja started ahead of the suspended Nicolas Jackson up front and netted his first goal since returning from the cruciate ligament injury he suffered last year.
“I’m so happy for him, it was a long time he was out injured. He came back and has been working so hard to come into the side and score which is the best way to come back,” said Colwill, who believes having increased competition for places will help push both Broja and Jackson.
“One hundred per cent. They’re both great strikers so to have that battle day in day out for starting positions is going to be good for both of them, they’re both going to learn and when they come on the pitch they have got to take their chances.
“Armando has got everything, he’s a problem. I’d hate to play against him. He’s big and strong and takes his chances.”
Fulham boss Marco Silva felt his side were not aggressive enough which allowed Chelsea to strike twice in two minutes and claim west London derby bragging rights.
He said: “It’s a disappointing result for us in certain moments and in terms of performance. The first half was not aggressive enough on and off the ball. We were flat in some moments and were not dynamic.
“They got behind Harrison Reed, Joao Palhinha, our midfield and caused some problems for us.
“When the game was balanced they scored the first goal and we were too passive the way we reacted to Colwill’s cross and after that we were punished by another mistake by ourselves (Tim Ream).”
VAR officials involved in Spurs-Liverpool ‘error’ not selected for this weekend
The two match officials stood down from duty following Saturday’s incident that saw Liverpool wrongly denied a goal will not be involved in this weekend’s Premier League fixtures.
Darren England and Dan Cook were VAR and assistant VAR respectively when a “significant human error” resulted in Luis Diaz’s effort incorrectly being disallowed for offside in the Reds’ 2-1 loss at Tottenham.
Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) on Sunday announced the pair had been replaced for their next matches – England was due to be fourth official that day at Nottingham Forest v Brentford, with Cook to be assistant referee for Monday’s Fulham-Chelsea clash, but Craig Pawson and Eddie Smart stepped in.
And on Tuesday, England and Cook did not feature as the Premier League released its list of officials for matchweek eight this Saturday and Sunday.
Simon Hooper, the on-field referee for the Tottenham-Liverpool contest and fourth official for the subsequent Fulham game, is to be VAR when Everton host Bournemouth on Saturday.
After Diaz’s 34th-minute effort at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, when the score was 0-0, was disallowed PGMOL put out a statement saying “a significant human error occurred” and that a goal should have been given but “the VAR failed to intervene”.
The PA news agency understands Liverpool have formally requested the audio from PGMOL of the conversation between Hooper and England related to the incident.
Liverpool issued a statement on Sunday night saying they would “explore the range of options available given the clear need for escalation and resolution”.
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