Why Leeds manager Bielsa sits on a bucket in the dugout
English journalists have welcomed legendary manager Marcelo Bielsa to British football by asking him about sitting on a bucket.
The new Leeds coach watched his side’s 3-1 win over Stoke City while watching the game from the comfort of a bucket, thrillingly fashioned into a seat by turning it upside down, and was immediately quizzed about the habit by the press.
He explained to the waiting crowd that, ‘It belongs to the folklore you find in football. You want me to tell you more than what it is. It’s just a bucket. I have nothing to add. It’s a comfortable bucket.’
It is hard to tell if those contradictory statements, that it is both folklore and nothing at the same time, are an indication of his inscrutable genius at play yet again.
And Leeds United could soon raise money from an unexpected source after they received offers to sponsor the bucket.
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Bielsa has been pictured sitting on unusual objects over the course of his career, in which he has not won a major title in two decades, and he has repeated the same feat as he starts his career in England. At Marseille, the managerial genius sat on an icebox. It is believed he sat on a chair during his press conference.
And now, Leeds have been offered the chance to sell sponsorship for the bucket to potential suitors.
According to The Daily Mail, businesses called clubs as early as 9am on Monday morning to get the chance of some impressive brand awareness.
Rotherham’s manager Paul Warne was both discombobulated and non-plussed by the bucket, with the possibility that there was an element of mind games going on.
Warne said: “Sitting down on that thing’s a bit weird.
“To be honest, when it started, I can’t lie, I was a little bit nervy and I’m thinking, ‘phh, how’s it going to go today?’
“I thought ‘I just need a little sit down for a minute’, but because he’s sitting down, I’m sitting down and I’m waiting for the press to go ‘oh, he’s copying him!’
“So I thought I’ve got to stand up, stay standing up. I jumped up straight away. But his looks more comfortable than my ice box. It’s a class bit of kit that. I’m pretty impressed.”
