ROBBIE KEANE HAS said that Leeds United would have had a better chance of avoiding relegation if Sam Allardyce’s management team had been appointed earlier in the season. 

Allardyce, with Keane as one of his assistants, was appointed with four games of the season remaining. The club failed to avoid the drop, finishing 19th, five points behind Everton in 17th.  

“Unfortunately, we probably came in a little bit too late. It would have been nice if we’d have got in there earlier, I think it would have been a lot different,” Keane said. 

“The experience was great, apart from the results, but we knew we were going to be up against it with the teams we were playing.

“It was great to work with Sam, with the experience that he has, to just learn how he is with players and with staff – he’s got a really good way about him and you can see why he’s been very successful.” 

Keane told Betway: “You can only learn from these managers who have got the experience he’s got, who can do what he has done over the years in these situations.

“He’d probably admit himself that we came in too late, and if the timing was a little bit earlier, I think we could have made a huge difference.”