Cellino To Start Discussions For New Boss

Last updated : 06 June 2014 By .

Phil Hay reports in the YEP that Cellino insisted he was committed to appointing a domestic head coach after the Whites parted company with Brian McDermott last week.

The club’s Italian owner, who has been linked to little-known coach Dave Hockaday, is assessing his options in the wake of McDermott’s departure from Leeds United.

Hockaday – a former Watford assistant who recently managed Forest Green Rovers – emerged as an obscure candidate for the vacancy within 24 hours of McDermott leaving.

Cellino,however, is understood to have been angered by the flurry of betting last weekend which brought Hockaday’s name into the open.

But his latest comments appear to rule out a range of foreign possibilities, including Gianluca Festa and Massimiliano Allegri, the ex-AC Milan boss.

Cellino told Sky Sports: “I am meeting three British coaches for talks (tomorrow) and want to get someone in place soon.

“I have always said I wanted a British coach. I am a man of my word and that is still the case.

“I want someone to take care of the preparation of the team, the training, the tactics, not the recruitment or the contracts – which I will take care of. The job is a coach, not a manager, which is an important difference.”

United’s players, all of whom met Cellino one-to-one at Elland Road on Monday, are due to start pre-season training on Thursday, June 26.