Perhaps it would be just desserts for Massimo Cellino if Garry Monk walked away from Leeds United.
Leeds United owner Massimo Cellino in the stands
Garry Monk is yet to sign a new contract at Leeds United, despite the club hoping the impressive head coach puts pen to paper on a new deal.
Fans will hope that the situation is merely a formality which will eventually get resolved, but the same feeling existed back in November, and now we reach March with no resolution in sight.
The situation for Leeds is a problem caused by club co-owner Massimo Cellino, whose hire and fire policy over the past three years has led him to this point.
Monk is Cellino’s seventh appointment at Leeds United, and after three years of having to make pay-offs to managers he had axed, perhaps felt prudent in offering Monk just a one year deal.
The disastrous Dave Hockaday, for instance, signed a two-year contract at Leeds. He was fired after two months.
Former Leeds United manager Dave Hockaday
Darko Milanic also penned a two-year deal, and lasted just six games. Uwe Rosler was appointed on a two-year contract, and was fired after three months.
It is little wonder then that Cellino’s nerve had gone, and he decided it would be more sensible to just offer Monk a one year deal, a sign he did not trust himself to give the manager the time he needs.
Yet this year something magical has happened at Leeds, Monk has turned the Whites into promotion contenders.
Cellino’s decision is at risk of backfiring, with a one year deal offering Leeds no protection in the case of Monk’s success.
Monk holds the cards and for once Cellino is left at the mercy of his manager’s decision, and not the other way around.
It would be painful for Leeds fans if he left, but for the neutral, it would be just desserts for Cellino if he walked away.
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