Javi Gracia got sacked as Leeds manager on his birthday in painful phone call
Being replaced by Sam Allardyce with just four games to go will have been painful enough for Javi Gracia - but he also learned of his Leeds United sacking via a call on his birthday
Javi Gracia has revealed Leeds United gave him the boot over the phone on his birthday.
The Spaniard's Elland Road exit was confirmed yesterday (May 3) with Sam Allardyce appointed on a short-term deal until the end of the season, which will pocket the veteran Premier League firefighter £500,000 guaranteed plus a £2.5million bonus if he can keep them up.
It was earlier this week on Monday, however, that Gracia received the sack - which just so happened to be the day he turned 53 years old - having been rung by club owner Andrea Radrizzani following their 4-1 defeat to Bournemouth 24 hours earlier.
READ MORE: Four best 'great escapes' from Sam Allardyce ahead of four games to save Leeds from drop
“It was my birthday, May 1. It was a phone call," he told The Athletic. “It was a call to explain the situation.
"It was all handled correctly by the club. I have to accept the decision from the club’s owner and that’s it."
Gracia picked up 10 points in his first six games after taking charge, but followed that up with a run of four defeats in five - conceding 18 goals in that time.
Who would you back to keep Leeds up more - Gracia or Allardyce? Let us know in the comments section.
He highlighted the shock 5-1 home defeat to Crystal Palace last month as the turning point, adding: "I had the feeling that the players felt a little like a boxer who had been hit, who is down for a few moments and wants to get up but he is not able to.
"It transmitted something negative that did not correspond with what I believe my players really are."
Gracia left along with director of football Victor Orta, whose loyalty to the man he employed costing him his job too.
There's no hard feelings from the former, who said he'd be watching on from home as Allardyce takes Leeds to face Manchester City in the first of their final four remaining games.
"I will be with my children, who will have their Leeds jerseys on and chanting ‘Up the Whites’," Gracia declared.
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