"I was so disappointed" - Sam Allardyce takes aim at Victor Orta for what he did at Leeds United | OneFootball

Sam Allardyce oversaw four games in charge as Leeds were relegated from the Premier League in 2023

Sam Allardyce has blamed former Leeds United director of football for their relegation from the Premier League in 2023.

The ex-England manager was in charge for the final four games of the season at Elland Road, overseeing the confirmation of their demise to the Championship.

The Yorkshire outfit suffered three defeats from those four fixtures, ultimately coming 19th in the Premier League table.

Jesse Marsch and Javi Gracia were both previously in charge prior to the decision to appoint Allardyce for the final four games, with Leeds earning only 31 points from 38 games that season.

Sam Allardyce blames Victor Orta for Leeds relegation

Speaking on the No Tippy Tappy Football podcast, Allardyce claimed that he could’ve kept Leeds in the top flight if he’d had more time in charge.

He blamed the decision to appoint Gracia instead in February as the key reason why the club suffered relegation in 2023.

“Should have been 12, 14 games if the director of football would have been big enough to pick an Englishman to come and do the job, the manager they brought in was Spanish,” said Allardyce.

“Eventually, they turn to me with only four games to go and they did get rid of that director of football.

“With more time, I would have kept their Premier League status.

“I was so disappointed.

“Especially with the Tottenham game because we’d seen an upturn.

“Lost to Man City 2-1, threw it away against Newcastle at home, West Ham had an opportunity, got in front, but Tottenham was a real disappointment in the end.”

Leeds lost to Man City, West Ham and Spurs under Allardyce, finishing five points adrift of safety.

Daniel Farke is now on the cusp of guiding the club back to the Premier League at the second attempt, with the team currently top of the Championship table.

Victor Orta was crucial to Leeds’ relegation

Orta was the man that brought Marcelo Bielsa to Elland Road, so his time at the club does deserve some credit.

But the combination of signings and manager decisions made in the Premier League led to it being a fairly short stay back at the top level.

Allardyce only getting four games to salvage something from the season was never going to be enough either, and the necessary changes behind the scenes have been made since then.

Farke has been given a greater platform to build with, and now promotion looks likely to be secured this season, where the new owners can show that the right lessons have been learned for this next time back in the Premier League.