Chris Sutton confused by what has happened to Jesse Marsch after Leeds sacked him

By Sam Preston

Chris Sutton has been left confused by the sacking of Jesse Marsch at Leeds and subsequent links with Southampton.

It looks like Marsch is going to be straight back into the Premier League, with the Athletic reporting he is the leading candidate at St Mary’s.

Sutton told the BBC’s Monday Night Club that he finds what has happened to Marsch since his sacking at Elland Road ‘odd’.

He found the timing of Marsch’s sacking odd, and also the approach by Southampton to get Nathan Jones in between two Red Bull educated managers.

Sutton on Marsch

Sutton said: “I actually have a bit of sympathy with Jesse Marsch and his sacking from Leeds.

“I know a lot of Leeds United fans agreed with the sacking, I thought the timing was really odd. But there is nothing to say that Jesse Marsch couldn’t have kept Leeds in the Premier League and I actually thought that even the game against Manchester United… I thought they were a bit unlucky.

“They didn’t take their chances, they have some talented players.

“So I do think it’s odd that he has been linked so heavily with Southampton and it’s sort of odd the mind-set that Southampton have got, that they want to replace like-for-like a month or two later with Nathan Jones in between.”

It seems like Leeds are now going to be battling with their former manager for survival, while they look for a new boss themselves.

Southampton’s managerial search looks set to be far swifter than Leeds’, although it remains to be seen if Marsch can keep them up.

It cannot be ruled out that Ralph Hasenhuttl comes to Elland Road, in a bizarre semi-job swap, although other candidates remain more likely at this stage.