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Danny Mills has warned Leeds against reappointing Marcelo Bielsa as manager following their 'knee-jerk' sacking of Jesse Marsch.

Marsch was sacked by Leeds on Monday, less than 24 hours after they suffered a 1-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest, a result that leaves them one place above the relegation zone.

Marsch was dismissed as Leeds manager on Monday afternoon
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Marsch was dismissed as Leeds manager on Monday afternoonCredit: Getty

With two games against Manchester United on the horizon, the first of which you can listen to live and exclusively on talkSPORT on Wednesday, Mills revealed that the decision to part company with Marsch shocked him.

The ex-Leeds man defender: "I am surprised because Jesse Marsch was backed massively in the summer, he brought in a lot of his own signings.

"He was again backed in this window [January] with his own signings, players that he knows, has a sort of personal connection with.

"I just think the club have looked at what has happened at Aston Villa, what's happened at Wolves, what's happened at Everton over the weekend; that new manager bounce and thought a little bit of panic.

"Some of his interviews of late haven't been great, even yesterday saying 'we're not in a relegation battle, we're not even halfway through the season'. Well, both of those are factually incorrect.

"I just think they've maybe thought if this carries on, two games against Manchester United back-to-back, seen what's happened there before when Leeds have been heavily defeated.

Leeds' last win in the Premier League came back in November
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Leeds' last win in the Premier League came back in NovemberCredit: Getty

"Obviously United are in fantastic form at the moment, then I think the club are a little bit worried about where it might be going and they decided 'right, enough's enough'.

"Clearly there's no thought in who the next manager is going to be, it's a little bit of a knee-jerk reaction maybe to the weekend."

Former Leeds boss Bielsa was recently linked with the Everton job, which has now been filled by Sean Dyche.

The Argentine is a fan favourite at Elland Road, but Mills is against a return, saying: "Well he's only just got back on the plane, hasn't he? After speaking with Everton and wanting to run their under-21s for something like £11million-a-year, and let his other coaching staff do the first team...

"He might come back from Buenos Aires perhaps, just to have a quick meeting. I don't think that would be the right appointment. 'Bielsa-Ball' was tremendous, it was fantastic, but it does have its flaws.

Bielsa sealed the club's return to the top flight during his tenure
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Bielsa sealed the club's return to the top flight during his tenureCredit: AFP

"I don't think that's what you need to get out of a relegation battle. In fact that's what got them into a relegation battle in the first place, it's very, very difficult to play that type of football.

"You're down the bottom of the league because you don't score enough goals and you're conceding goals, simple as that. You've got to address one of those situations.

"You look at, whether you think it's right or wrong, you look at the appointment of Dyche at Everton. You're thinking 'well, he's going to stop conceding goals, he's going to make them very, very solid'.

"If Bielsa comes into Leeds, they might score one or two more goals maybe, but they didn't do that last time towards the end of his tenure, and they're going to concede loads.

"So is that going to improve them? I'm not so sure but, incredibly strange, 48 hours to go away to United. That could be disastrous for Leeds."

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