PETER Reid goes into tomorrow's game with Blackburn Rovers knowing his job as manager of Leeds United is firmly on the line.

The former England international was summoned for a crisis meeting with United chairman, Professor John McKenzie, earlier this week and the topic dominating the agenda was how he plans to dig the club out of the hole they currently find themselves languishing in.

Leeds are a club in turmoil. They've made their worst start to a season since 1981, they are stuck in the bottom three of the Premiership for the first time in their history, and Reid hasn't got the funds to bring in new players, even if the transfer laws permitted him to do so.

It's a dire situation and Reid is probably just a couple of defeats away from getting the chop, even though he was granted a stay of execution this week.

But before the board make the manager carry the can, maybe they should take a long, hard look at themselves for the way they have overseen the club's decline.

I feel sorry for Peter Reid. Not only has he inherited a squad which has been stripped of its major assets, but he has also been denied any of the profits from those sales to buy in quality replacements.

Instead, he's been forced to go down the route of bringing in cheap foreign players on loan which, as I've said before, is a very risky business.

The big trouble with loan players is they have no affinity with the club. They come in, they do their stuff, and it doesn't really matter to them if the club gets relegated or not because they know they won't be there the following season.

It's no surprise to me, therefore, to see Leeds where they are now, although I strongly disagree with those who are calling for Reid's head on a platter.

I think he should be given until Christmas at the very least to prove himself.

Let's face it, if they decided to axe him now, who would they get in as a replacement?

The Leeds job has become a poisoned chalice. The likes of Martin O'Neill wouldn't touch it with a barge pole. So maybe it's a case of better the devil you know.

As for Rovers, they desperately need a result of their own tomorrow.

At the moment we seem to be struggling defensively.

The new signings Graeme Souness has brought in over the summer haven't gelled quite as quickly as he would have wanted but I think it's wrong to lay the blame firmly at the door of Lorenzo Amoruso.

At the end of the day, you start defending from the front and it's the responsibility of the whole team to try and be as resolute as possible.

If Amo really is a top player then he won't let a couple of mistakes get to him.

Jimmy Quinn used to get booed when he played for Rovers but he never let that affect his confidence, and Amoruso must show the same character.