The former Leeds United boss says Massimo Cellino didn’t have a hand in.
Speaking to journalist Simon Austin, former Leeds United boss Steve Evans has dismissed suggestions that Whites owner Massimo Cellino helped him lose weight.
The 54-year-old manager replaced Uwe Rosler at Elland Road last October and the Scot was a noticeably slimmer man by the time Cellino decided against offering him a contract extension in May, leading to Garry Monk’s appointment.
Evans transformed himself and Leeds’ fortunes during his eight-month stint in West Yorkshire – a double success when you consider the stress of working under the ruthless Italian, who has hired seven different managers in two and a half years.
He is now Mansfield Town manager but Evans says that it is “quite funny” when he hears suggestions about how his former employer helped him on his weight-loss journey, insisting that he took it upon himself to shift the pounds.
“The weight loss was something I undertook myself, just before Christmas last year. I’ve lost about four and half stone all in all,” he said to journalist Simon Austin. “Living away from my family and eating late was taking a toll. I was going to watch games three or four days a week and my health was not the best. I made a conscious effort to change that.
“I’ve heard people say it was Mr Cellino who told me to lose the weight, which is quite funny really. We used to go for dinner a few times every week. I’d only have soup and he’d be saying ‘Steve, Steve, come on, have some pasta.’
“But he treated me with respect from the moment I walked in the door. It takes a long time to change people’s perceptions of you.”
Evans was considered rather unlucky not to win a new deal with Leeds, but fans can’t complain.
Monk has proven an inspired appointment by Cellino and the Whites sit fifth in the Championship table as promotion back to the Premier League looks quite possible at the moment.
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