BREAKING: Leeds United sack Javi Gracia and replace him with Sam Allardyce

Sam Allardyce has been named the new manager of Leeds United, after the club decided to sack Javi Gracia in the wake of their loss to Bournemouth.

Rumours started to swirl at the weekend, after Leeds had been hammered 4-1 by Bournemouth, that Gracia was going to be sacked by the club.

He'd only joined in February, following the sacking of Jesse Marsch, under a year after the American had replaced Marcelo Bielsa.

The Spaniard won only three of 12 games and oversaw a record breaking month in April, with the team conceding 23 goals across their games, to leave them buried deep in the relegation battle.

Owner Andrea Radrizzani appeared to take the blame for everything that had gone wrong at the club following the loss to Bournemouth, sliding into a fan's DMs over the problems.

📰 #LUFC can confirm Javi Gracia will leave the club, with our remaining four games overseen by experienced head coach Sam Allardyce. We thank Javi and his team for their efforts under difficult circumstances.

— Leeds United (@LUFC) May 3, 2023

On Tuesday, the club sacked director of football Victor Orta, the man who brought Gracia to the club and oversaw the January transfer window that has not helped.

And they followed that on Wednesday by getting rid of the manager, and bringing in Allardyce for the final four games of the campaign.

In a statement, the club said, "Leeds United can confirm Javi Gracia will leave the club after 12 games in charge.

"Zigor Aranalde, Mikel Antia and Juan Solla, who joined alongside Gracia, will also leave the club.

"We thank Javi and his team for their efforts under difficult circumstances.

"The remaining four games of the season will be overseen by experienced head coach Sam Allardyce."

Certainly the former Bolton Wanderers manager had plenty of experience of keeping clubs in the top tier, until his most recent job in the Premier League.

The 68-year-old was in charge of West Bromwich Albion when the club went down in the 2020/21, behind closed doors season, ending his record of never being relegated.

He will certainly have an extra incentive to keep Leeds up in the next month, with reports that he will earn £2.5 million in a bonus for avoiding relegation.

The Yorkshire club only have four games left of the season, whilst they currently only sit above the relegation zone, ahead of Nottingham Forest, on goal difference.

They face title chasers Manchester City on Saturday, at the Etihad Stadium, followed by Champions League hopefuls Newcastle United at Elland Road.

After that is a visit to fellow strugglers West Ham United, before they host Tottenham Hotspur on the final day of the season.

It's fair to say that Allardyce has his work cut out for him.