Phil Hay: Leeds United impressed by key managerial candidate after strong interview

The running for the Leeds United manager’s position looks to be coming to a conclusion very soon, and Patrick Vieira’s interview has helped his cause significantly.

As Leeds aim to tackle the Championship with the right approach to get promoted straight back to the Premier League at the first time of asking, they are going to need to get their managerial appointment nailed first and foremost.

A host of candidates have been named in the running throughout June to succeed from Sam Allardyce, and it has come to the point where the club needs to be making a decision.

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Patrick Vieira to Leeds?

Heavily linked with the job in the last couple of weeks has been former Crystal Palace manager Patrick Vieira.

The Athletic’s Phil Hay has now revealed that in the midst of this week’s interviews, Vieira impressed the Elland Road hierarchy:

“Patrick Vieira came strongly into the reckoning latterly and Leeds knew he might be keen because they had been made aware of his interest in the job at Elland Road back when Jesse Marsch was sacked in February.

“Though Vieira was still at Crystal Palace at the time, his relationship with Palace was close to running its course and the thought of taking charge at Leeds appealed to him. He is said to have presented very strongly this week, although Leeds were pleased with the interviews as a whole.”

Who will be Leeds’ next manager?

Vieira will get a lot of criticism for how his time at Selhurst Park ended, with that shot on target drought a real concern.

However, they had a wretched run and injuries to contend with, while he was caught in a rut of trying to to become more pragmatic, undoing everything that was so impressive about his first season.

It was a learning curve for him, and I’d expect him to have more chance of finding a real attacking, possession-based style at Leeds in the Championship.

Whether he gets the job remains to be seen, though.