Ranking Leeds United’s 8 Premier League managers by their win rate

Quick Reads

Jesse Marsch manager of of Leeds United. during the Premier League match at Molineux, Wolverhampton. Wolverhampton, UK. 18th March 2022.

Planet Football
28th October 2022

Jesse Marsch is under intense pressure at Leeds United. But how does his record compare to their other managers of the Premier League era?

The American faced the unenviable task of stepping into Marcelo Bielsa’s shoes. Not only did the Argentinian get the club promoted after a wait of nearly two decades, but he led them to the best points tally for a newly-promoted club since Ipswich Town in 2000-01.

But Bielsa’s Leeds suffered second-season syndrome and the Argentinian was unceremoniously axed following a run of heavy defeats in February 2022.

Marsch promptly arrived and steadied the ship enough for Leeds to survive, but he’s failed to steer them to clear water. The Whites continue to look like relegation-battlers and if they remain in the bottom three he may not remain in the post much longer.

We’ve gone through the stats of all eight of them to rank them purely based on their Premier League record, so the club’s situation at the time is not taken into account.

It also means the figures in competitions outside of the Prem don’t count, which means the record of Howard Wilkinson’s fantastic 1992 title-winning team is not included.

With the win percentage as the decisive factor, who emerges as number one?

8. Eddie Gray

Games: 26
Wins: 6
Draws: 7
Losses: 13

Goals Per Game: 1.12
Goals Against Per Game: 1.85
Win Percentage: 23.08%
Points Per Game: 0.96

7. Jesse Marsch

Games: 23
Wins: 6
Draws: 6
Losses: 11

Goals Per Game: 1.13
Goals Against Per Game: 1.60
Win Percentage: 26.08%
Points Per Game: 1.04

6. Peter Reid

Games: 20
Wins: 6
Draws: 3
Losses: 11

Goals Per Game: 1.6
Goals Against Per Game: 2.3
Win Percentage: 30%
Points Per Game: 1.0

Does anyone know the formation Peter Reid used for the #lufc win at Arsenal on this day in 2003?

Can't get my head around it when I look at the starting XI.

Assume it was 4-4-2… but knowing Leeds against Arsenal it could well have been 6-3-1…pic.twitter.com/5UnpTk7McB

— Joe Short (@_jshort) May 4, 2020