LEEDS UNTIED MANAGER David Hockaday was sacked after just six games in charge of the troubled Championship club on Thursday.
Hockaday was the surprise choice to replace Brian McDermott as boss of the fallen English giants in June, but only 10 weeks later he has already been axed by the club’s controversial Italian chairman Massimo Cellino.
The 56-year-old’s only previous managerial experience was an unsuccessful spell with non-league club Forest Green.
That lack of Football League knowledge, combined with constant reports that Cellino was taking a hands-on role with signings and team selection, left Hockaday fighting an uphill battle from the moment he arrived at Elland Road.
He started with a 2-0 defeat at Millwall and eventually lost four of his six games in charge, leaving his side languishing just above the relegation zone.
The end for Hockaday came less than 24 hours after an embarrassing 2-1 defeat to League One club Bradford in the League Cup second round and four days after Cellino backed out of a decision to sack him in the wake of a 4-1 humbling at Watford.
Cellino said at the time that he had chosen to blame himself and not Hockaday, but the man known in Italy as the ‘manager eater’ didn’t wait long to pull the trigger.
The decision also puts first-team manager Neil Redfearn in the strange position of being Leeds United caretaker manager for the third team in three seasons. John Giles weighed in on the decision on Off The Ball tonight, and doesn’t seem too enamoured with the Leeds owner.
-Additional reporting by Will Slattery
