Ex-Leeds United forward Noel Whelan has insisted that Karl Robinson and Darrell Clarke turning down the Whites job shows a lot about how the club is being run.

The Yorkshire giants, who are yet to offer Steve Evans a new deal, are openly on the lookout for a new head coach.




MK Dons boss Robinson and Bristol Rovers manager Clarke were both heavily linked with succeeding Evans at Elland Road.

But the pair turned down Leeds’ approaches to extend their associations with their respective clubs, while another of the Whites’ managerial targets, John Sheridan, joined Notts County from Oldham Athletic.
 


And Whelan thinks Leeds owner Massimo Cellino’s never-ending interference in strict footballing matters played a key role in the managers knocking back the club’s approaches.

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“You are turning Leeds United down when you are manager of Bristol Rovers and manager of MK Dons”, he wrote in his column in the Yorkshire Evening Post.

“And no disrespect to those two sides but generally and usually when somebody gets that opportunity, you jump at it.

“That says to me that these managers at other clubs are happier staying where they are because they don’t like the way the club is run.

“That tells you that they think the job is more safe at MK Dons and Bristol Rovers and the ship is sailing more smoothly than it is at Leeds – and rightly so.

“Everyone can see that this is not the way you run a club."

And Whelan feels that Leeds have been earmarked out as a club nobody wants to manage.

“It seems like nobody wants the job and that’s the stumbling block. Generally, you go to a club, the chairman brings you in and then allows you to get on with your job.

“This isn’t the case at Leeds United – you are not allowed to get on with your job, there is too much interference and as a manager that’s the first thing you think about.

“If you want to fail at your job you want to fail because you have not done things right your way – not because you are not doing it right the chairman’s way.”

Evans, whose Leeds future is still hanging in the balance, took charge of the club in October and guided them to a 13th-place finish in the Championship, 15 points adrift of the playoffs.