"Sounds a bit harsh" - Simon Jordan weighs in on Daniel Farke, Leeds United sack debate | OneFootball

Simon Jordan has given his view on whether Leeds United should sack manager Daniel Farke ahead of their return to the Premier League.

Former Crystal Palace owner and talkSPORT pundit Simon Jordan believes Leeds United should sack manager Daniel Farke if they do not trust him to keep the club in the Premier League.

After missing out on promotion last season, Leeds secured their return to the top flight last week, and they can wrap up the Championship title and reach the 100-point mark with victory at Plymouth Argyle on Saturday.

However, just days after the Whites' promotion was confirmed on Easter Monday, Daily Mail journalist Mike Keegan revealed that the club were weighing up whether to part company with Farke this summer due to concerns over his poor record in the Premier League during his time at Norwich City.

According to the Guardian, Farke is set to hold talks with Leeds chairman Paraag Marathe over his future, and Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Roger Schmidt and Davide Ancelotti are all believed to be under consideration as potential replacements.

Farke insisted last week that he was not concerned by the speculation about his position, stating that he has "no time or energy to waste on any rumours or gossip", but members of the board have "privately expressed doubts" about the German's ability to manage in the top flight, and Marathe reportedly "needs to be convinced" that he is the right man for the job during the upcoming discussions between the pair.

Simon Jordan reacts to Leeds United, Daniel Farke sack talk

While Jordan praised Farke for achieving promotion with Leeds, he admitted that he was simply completing the job he was expected to do, and he stressed that the club should not hesitate to make a change if they have reservations over whether he can keep them in the Premier League.

When it was put to Jordan on talkSPORT that the Whites should stick with Farke next season, he replied: "If the owners think it's the right thing.

"His job was to get Leeds promoted, that's what he was brought in to do.

"He was given the prerequisite tools, he probably has one of the biggest budgets in the division.

"Last year they didn't achieve it, Ipswich Town came from League One and went straight through into the Premier League.

"They might have come down again, but they took the spot that Leeds, for all intents and purposes, should have been operating in last year.

"He got them promoted this year, that was his job.

"So with respect, I know it sounds a bit harsh, but he did the job that he was brought in to do.

"Those were the standards he was set, and that was the task he was asked to perform and the job he took.

"In the same way that the Bournemouth owner thought that Gary O'Neil wasn't the right fit after working the oracle, I'm pretty sure there would have been some dissenting voices, maybe I'm wrong, at Bournemouth, but they're not dissenting now, are they?

"The Leeds owners will have the same ideals as the fans which is that we want the best version of the football club, but we want it in the Premier League.

"If they think that someone is better equipped, not some flight of fancy or some indulgence or some cultural thing that we've seen before when Swansea put in an American manager or when Acun Ilicali put in a manager that he liked at Hull and they've suffered as a result of it.

"When owners make those sorts of decisions, by all means castigate them, but if these guys think that the best version of Leeds is not with Daniel Farke, he will depart with a nice paycheck, a big reputation and go again.

"The Leeds fans have to accept that owners often make decisions because they think it's the right thing to do for the football club."

Leicester City should act as a warning to Leeds United over Daniel Farke

Given Norwich's struggles in the Premier League under Farke, it is easy to see why the Leeds board have concerns about his ability to manage in the top flight, but he was given virtually no money to spend at Carrow Road, and it was always going to be an uphill battle for him to keep them up.

Aside from their brief wobble last month, the Whites have been the dominant side in the Championship this season, so it would be a huge gamble for the club to part company with Farke, who is clearly popular with both his players and supporters.

While Enzo Maresca was poached by Chelsea rather than being sacked, the plight of Leicester City this season in the Premier League underlines the danger of changing managers following promotion, and Farke should at least be given the opening few months of the campaign to see how he performs before a decision on his future is made.