Outgoing Leeds owner Andrea Radrizzani has accepted the blame for failing to keep them in the Premier League but insists he is leaving the club in good hands.
Radrizzani’s six-year stint at Leeds saw the club promoted back to the top-flight before being relegated to the Sky Bet Championship at the end of last season.
He has now sold his majority share in the Yorkshire club to 49ers Enterprises, who will be tasked with providing the infrastructure to take Leeds back to the Premier League once again.
“It was a very sweet time in my life but unfortunately it didn’t end in the way I wished,” Radrizzani told Sky Sports News. “But I take with me a lot of nice memories and good friendship… it was a unique experience.
“The criticism over the club’s relegation is justified because I failed, so I’m happy to take this blame.”
Owners of the San Francisco 49ers, 49ers Enterprises already held a 44% stake in Leeds but has now completed a takeover.
Radrizzani believes the new owners are more than capable of delivering another successful stint for the club.
“I want them (supporters) to know that the club is in good hands,” he added. “I’m sure if they don’t bounce back immediately under the 49ers, I’m sure they will come back to the Premier League.”
Radrizzani refused to rule out one day buying another English club as he revealed the errors he feels he made in the timings of sacking former managers Marcelo Bielsa and Jesse Marsch.
Marcelo Bielsa was appointed by Radrizzani (left) and took Leeds back to the Premier League (Mike Egerton/PA)“He (Bielsa) actually said, ‘you should change me or you should change all the players because we can’t do better than that unless we make changes’,” Radrizzani continued. “I wasn’t brave enough to make such a decision after finishing ninth in the league.
“Jesse did a great job in that time but over a longer period I was expecting to see the coach come out and to show a similar playing style to Marcelo – personally, I wanted to make a change before the World Cup, then I was persuaded to hold on.
“I think it was a huge mistake as we had the slot of six weeks to make changes. Other teams successfully used this period but we ended up making the change in February, with very few options.”
Leeds would ultimately be relegated after Sam Allardyce replaced Javi Gracia for the final four games.
Man United could be without Toone until new year, says Skinner
Marc Skinner revealed that Manchester United could be without midfielder Ella Toone until the new year after she picked up a calf injury in training.
Toone has featured in five games in the Women's Super League this season, but is yet to register a goal or an assist so far this term.
The 25-year-old has missed United's last two games and was not selected in Sarina Wiegman's England squad for their upcoming friendlies against the United States and Switzerland.
She had previously appeared in a staggering 96 straight matches before missing United's WSL showdown with Leicester City last weekend.
But ahead of the Red Devils' meeting with league leaders Chelsea on Sunday, Skinner confirmed they would be without Toone for not only that game, but for the foreseeable future.
"We have three games [after the international break and before Christmas]. There's always the hope, but I think you balance and you go, 'right, if we can get her back, we get her back'," Skinner said.
"But we're just not going to rush her in this moment because it's a calf injury, it's your running mechanism. If we injure the running mechanism, it takes longer.
"So ideally we'd like her back for those games afterwards.
"The projection is she misses this game [Chelsea], she misses the international window, probably misses the first game after that, and then we'll see from there.
"But because it is such a short block of only three games, we'll assess whether it's worth that or actually resetting to come back after Christmas."
Al-Nassr 1-2 Al-Qadsiah: Aubameyang winner ends hosts' unbeaten run
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang hit the winner as Al-Qadsiah inflicted a 2-1 defeat on Al-Nassr in the Saudi Pro League on Friday to end their 21-match unbeaten run.
Cristiano Ronaldo's seventh league goal of the season put Al-Nassr ahead, but Al-Qadsiah replied swiftly through Julian Quinones before Aubameyang struck the decisive blow.
The hosts drew first blood in the 32nd minute when Ronaldo slotted home after Al-Qadsiah goalkeeper Koen Casteels had spilled a routine catch from Talisca's cross.
However, Al-Nassr's joy was short-lived when Quinones brought down Turki Al Ammar's delivery five minutes later, with the Mexcio winger firing past Bento to level the scores.
Quinones also played a part in the winning goal after brilliantly turning the ball back across goal from Nahitan Nandez's search pass to tee up a simple finish for Aubameyang.
The result sees Al-Qadsiah move level on 22 points with third-placed Al-Nassr, with Al-Shabab also level with them.
Stefano Pioli's Al-Nassr are six points adrift of defending champions and leaders Al-Hilal, who also have a game in hand.
Vlahovic out of Juventus clash with Milan
Dusan Vlahovic will miss Juventus' trip to Milan in Serie A this weekend and is also a doubt for the Champions League game at Aston Villa, head coach Thiago Motta has confirmed.
Vlahovic returned from the international break with a muscle problem in his left thigh, and the manager, after he confirmed the Serbian's absence for Saturday's game at San Siro, was asked about his chances of playing on Wednesday at Villa Park.
"I don't know. He definitely won't be there tomorrow. We hope to have him back as soon as possible," Motta told a press conference on Friday.
"Injuries are part of football. Now it's Vlahovic's turn, but we'll keep playing with the same principles, attacking and defending together."
Vlahovic is the latest of Motta's injury problems at Juventus. Argentine winger Nicolas Gonzalez missed the last six league games and is still unavailable, while Poland striker Arkadiusz Milik is a long-term absentee.
Brazilian midfielder Douglas Luiz will also miss the game with Milan and defender Juan Cabal recently suffered an Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injury, the same issue which will keep fellow defender Gleison Bremer out for the rest of the season.
"I'm really disappointed for Cabal because, like Bremer, he'll be out for a long time," Motta said.
"This is another reason to push ourselves, to commit that bit more so that these absences don't weigh too heavily."
Juventus go into the game as the only unbeaten side in Serie A but find themselves sixth in the standings in what is so far a very tight title race, with just two points separating Motta's side from leaders Napoli.
"It's very balanced and this is good for both us and the public," Motta said.
"We must all try to continue like this. We have to try to get as many positive results as possible."
Milan are one place behind Juve but six points off Motta's side.
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