Brian McDermott has said he will not walk away from Leeds. McDermott was speaking after an extraordinary few days during which he was told on Friday he has been sacked by the prospective new owner of the club, but was then told, by the current owners, he was still in charge on Saturday.
McDermott took training this morning and insisted he couldn’t leave the club, despite the chaos of recent days.
"Some people in the game said to not go back, but there's no way I could leave the staff and supporters," he said.
"This situation should never happen to a football manager and let's hope it never happens again."
McDermott admitted the past few days had been a bizarre experience, saying:
"All along you think that's very odd," he continued. "You have to be the owner, so I did think it was very strange to say the least.
"Whether it was illegal or not I don't know, but whoever sacks the manager has to own the football club."
Cellino claims to have agreed on Friday to buy 75% of the club although the Football League have yet to approve his ownership.
Cellino has agreed to buy a 75% stake in Leeds but has yet to gain the approval of the Football League.
McDermott insisted he was reassured by the current club owners, GFH.
"As far as I'm concerned, I spoke to GFH, who are the owners of the football club, and I've had certain reassurances about my future," she said. "The running of the football club is down to me."
Club director and GFH Capital executive Salem Patel explained earlier on Monday that GFH were in the dark on any moves by Cellino and wanted McDermott to stay on as manager. Speaking with BBC Radio Leeds, Patel said:
"We want Brian back and we want him managing the club again.
"I was at home on Friday night and my wife started reading Twitter reports that Brian had been sacked.
"To be honest, I was shocked. I thought at least I would be privy to that information if it was going to happen.
"I called the chairman and he was equally surprised by the news.
"I called Brian and told him it was not something that was authorised by us. As soon as we found out, we reacted.
"We hired Brian, we hand-picked him and he has performed really well in the last year or so he's been here and we hope he continues to be our manager for the foreseeable future."
