Leeds United board's unprecedented £200m gamble revealed as Whites abandon familiar territory

Sam Allardyce is longer in the tooth than all but one Premier League manager and into his ninth job as a top flight boss. Leeds fans – and club hierarchy – will hope the 68-year-old’s experience on and off the pitch can yield positive results in their four remaining fixtures this season, but even with his relegation-avoiding track record, it is an almighty gamble.

United’s ‘Big Sam’ Hail Mary is unprecedented. Over the past ten seasons, only three times has a club changed managers with fewer than four games to go. On each occasion, the outgoing boss was replaced by a caretaker, someone from within the club. In 2020, Nigel Pearson was sacked by Watford and supplanted by caretaker Hayden Mullins, despite having given the Hornets a fighting chance of survival. Mullins was unable to prevent defeats by Man City and Arsenal in their final two games of the season, leaving Watford playing Championship football the following year.