THE ink on Peter Reid's eight-game contract had barely dried when one worried Leeds United fan outside Elland Road yesterday spoke of his greatest fear.

"He might relegate two teams in the same season," the fan said, as Reid was talking about his pride at replacing Terry Venables.

Of course, Leeds are unlikely to suffer the same fate as Sunderland in two months' time.

And so long as he guides his new club to the two wins that will guarantee they remain in the Premiership, Reid and Leeds might just make perfect partners.

For all Venables' coaching credentials, one got the impression as Leeds' season crumbled around his ears that he had lost control.

He was dealt a bad hand in having to sell so much talent (wags suggested he was bringing out a new brand of chocolates: Terry's All Sold).

But their FA Cup performance at Sheffield United a fortnight ago was so passionless and limp that the manager had to be held responsible.

Chairman Peter Ridsdale wasn't the man who failed to motivate his players for their biggest game of the season, which they lost 1-0.

Leeds' display that day resembled some of Sunderland's efforts in the final few months of Reid's Wearside reign.

The St James' Park surrender in September, for instance, when Reid's players applauded his pre-match team talk and then brought disgrace on the club.

But, given a new squad to work with, Reid should oversee an almost instant transformation in the fortunes of a team that is still packed with internationals.

Venables is a calm, methodical coach who tries to make his players perform at their peak with gentle encouragement.

Reid, on the other hand, is an in-your-face kind of manager. He rattles cages and gets the best out of limited resources.

Look at how he turned Sunderland's bedraggled squad from Division One strugglers to champions in the space of just 14 months in 1995 and 1996.

Leeds' perilous financial plight might even work to Reid's advantage, should he impress sufficiently to remain in charge next season.

He brought relative success to Sunderland with a series of value-for-money signings, and it was only when he spent £22m in ten months that it went horribly wrong.

For all their cost cutting, Leeds' squad is still much better than the one he left behind for Howard Wilkinson to inherit last October.

If you doubt the truth of that statement, consider this: how many Sunderland players would get into a team containing the strongest XI from both sides?

After their turbulent season, Leeds need someone who will take the situation by the scruff of the neck and drag them, kicking and screaming, into the future.

Reid will do that; Venables simply wasn't cut out for such a task.

The Londoner comes out of the sorry episode with credit for conducting himself with dignity.

But the Scouser can now highlight Venables' failings by taking Leeds back to the forefront of English football.