A statement on the club’s official website has announced that Michael Skubala will continue to lead the first team “for the club’s upcoming fixtures”, without saying exactly how many.

The statement also said “Paco Gallardo and Chris Armas will carry on supporting Michael, alongside the backroom team already in place. Skubala, Gallardo and Armas have overseen two positive performances over the last week against Manchester United and will lead training ahead of this weekend’s Premier League game against Everton at Goodison Park”.

And Skubala himself said “I have really enjoyed the experience and the team and staff have responded well. I know I speak for Paco and Chris when I say that it is an honour to be on the touchline at this club. We will continue work tirelessly to help to push on up the table in the short term, whilst the board focus on the long term future of the team.”

Which is nice, but of course the club hasn’t really got much choice, given the ongoing failure to land any other head coach. Radz’ promise that we will be seeing the white smoke is taking a while to come good. The first approach we made was for Rayo Vallecano’s Andoni Iraola, but the Madrid club’s sporting director has now confirmed that Iraola is staying put until the end of the season.

He has a release clause in his contract of around £7m, which Leeds were willing to pay, but David Cobeno told Radio Marca “He has given us his word until the end of the season. Sometimes a person’s word weighs more than money, and Andoni has shown as much.” Vallecano are trying to get Iraola to sign an extension to his current deal, but he is under no obligation to sign it, so Leeds might be able to tempt him next season if we stay up.

According to the Athletic, the only other manager for whom we made a formal approach was Feynoord’s Arnie Slot, but the Dutch league leaders refused to allow Leeds to speak to him and himself said “I will stay with Feyenoord. I can say that with this one.” Carlos Corberan was one of the other names bandied about, but Phil Hay said that although he is admired at Elland Road they didn’t come close to considering an approach even before WBA offered him a new improved contract.

Next up was Alfred Schreuder, who was at Elland Road on Sunday along with his agent. According to Dutch paper De Telegraaf, a deal to hire him was virtually done, but Radrizzani pulled the plug at the last minute. This was a difference of opinion at the top echelons of the club after Orta was keen on the appointment, but Radz acted after a negative reaction from fans who had heard of Schreuder’s failure at Ajax and dull style of football.

Speaking of dull football, the latest name to emerge is former Spurs and Wolves manager Nuno Espirito Santo. The Portuguese got Wolves promoted and steered them to a comfortable mid-table finish and an FA Cup semi-final in his first season in the Premier League.

But Santo never managed to kick on from there, and only lasted seventeen games in an unimpressive spell in charge of Tottenham. He now plies his trade at Al-Ittihad in Saudi Arabia, but the Times has reported that Leeds have had an interview with him, though we would have to pay compensation of £5.3million to get his services.

And the Times have also reported that we have spoken to another Portuguese who is presently in the middle east, in the shape of Pedro Martins, who is currently managing Al-Gharafa in Qatar. He won the Greek league three times in four seasons with Olympiacos, though a poor run of results led to a parting of the ways last summer. Previously he was the manager of six different clubs in Portugal, taking a several unfancied sides to European qualification, which might well appeal to the powers that be at Elland Road.

And one more experienced coach who has been linked with us in the media is Gerardo Martino, who led the Mexican national team at the recent world cup, but left that job after the tournament. His CV is a little more high profile than some of those mentioned, as he was in charge of Barcelona for a year, and has also managed the Spanish national side, as well as leading club Newell’s Old Boys.

Lionel Messi has said of him in the past “I like Tata Martino. He is a great coach, he gets his teams playing well and we all respect him.” Argentine outlet TNT Sports claim that Leeds have now made contact with the 60-year-old and that Martino has not turned Leeds down just yet, but would rather take over a new team at the end of the season, when he would have time to build a squad in his own image.

And finally, the ever-reliable The Sunday People have claimed that Leeds are “plotting a move to hire Steven Gerrard”. Which would be rather desperate, so hopefully there is nothing in this.

And so the search goes on. Phil Hay has confirmed that today’s announcement doesn’t mean that Skubala has been appointed until the end of the season, but the board regard him as a better option than hiring an interim coach before the next permanent appointment can be made. Watch this space.

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