Leeds United owner Massimo Cellino on Steve Evans: 'Sometimes I'm not happy with my wife and I don't divorce her'

Brian McDermott, Dave Hockaday, Darko Milanič, Neil Redfearn and Uwe Rösler have been sacked in recent times

Leeds owner Massimo Cellino (Getty Images)

Leeds United owner Massimo Cellino had admitted the Yorkshire club’s poor form has made him a “very sad man” but denied claims he is planning to replace manager Steve Evans with former Italy captain Fabio Cannavaro.

The former Cagliari chairman had considered sacking Evans after the 4-1 humiliation by rivals Huddersfield Town on Saturday, in front of a 29,311 home crowd, which leaves them languishing in 13^th in the Championship table.

Brian McDermott, Dave Hockaday, Darko Milanič, Neil Redfearn and Uwe Rösler have all been sacked at Elland Road since Cellino first arrived on the scene in January 2014.

Evans appears to have been handed a stay of execution, however, until the end of the season with Leeds 15 points adrift of a play-off berth.

Cannavaro recently stepped down as manager of Al-Nassr in Saudi Arabia and has been suggested as one of the candidates to assist Fabio Capello if the 69-year-old replaces Antonio Conte as Italy head coach after the European Championship.

Cellino addressed the reports during an interview with Sky Sports on Thursday morning, saying: “I'm a very sad man with the results this season but sometimes I'm not happy with my wife and I don't divorce her, so I'm certainly not looking to replace Steve Evans at the moment.

“I won't make any changes until the end of the season. Then I will look at how the whole season went and make a decision. I'm not considering replacements.”