Fresh Leeds United managerial candidate represents swift departure from Plan B

The Spaniard emerged as a candidate to replace Jesse Marsch on Monday, having suddenly appeared as the bookies' favourite for the vacancy.

It's two weeks since the Whites sacked Marsch, less than a year after he succeeded Marcelo Bielsa. Marsch’s poor run of results this season, the performance at Nottingham Forest and the strength of the reaction from fans at the City Ground prompted a change from the board.

The club's initial attempts to bring in one of their top targets, including Rayo Vallecano boss Andoni Iraola, ran into a variety of difficulties which led to caretaker Michael Skubala being given both games against Manchester United and the the relegation battles with Everton and Southampton.

But Saturday's 1-0 defeat at Goodison, which prompted anti-board sentiment from the away support and left the club second bottom of the table, has been followed by reports that Gracia is in talks to take over ahead of the Saints clash at Elland Road.

Gracia's last job was with Qatari club Al Sadd but his Premier League experience with Watford included a pair of midtable finishes and an FA Cup final place. His September 2019 sacking by the Hornets came as a surprise, even with a poor start to the season. Since then he has managed Valencia and spent six months in Qatar.

The appointment of a permanent boss, or even an interim, would represent a swift departure from last week's plan to stick with Skubala, who impressed with the level of calm he brought to the role in the wake of Marsch's exit. The performances in the draw at Old Trafford and the 2-0 defeat by Manchester United at home, along with the players’ apparent acceptance of his simple messaging, gave the board confidence that the Under 21s head coach could get the necessary results in the basement battles to follow. If all went well, Skubala could then have stayed in the post until the end of the season.

Leeds failed to record a single shot on target during their defeat at Everton, however, and chants of 'sack the board' and '[Victor] Orta time to go' were aired by the away fans. Defeat this weekend by Southampton, themselves managerless and in the hands of caretaker Ruben Selles, would send Leeds bottom of the Premier League with 14 games remaining. The Saints picked up a valuable win over Chelsea on Saturday to move to within a point of the Whites.