They chanted in support of Eddie Gray, the former club hero who was replaced by Kidd as O'Leary's number two last year, prompting chairman Peter Risdsdale to march over to the away section to try and placate supporters.

O'Leary has now scaled down Kidd's role on the training ground, and admitted that Kidd "lets them [the players] get away with things that I don't think he should."

The Leeds boss clarified that Kidd will remain as his right-hand man, but that the old arrangement of Kidd starting training and O'Leary arriving after an hour will end.

The Irishman told the Daily Telegraph: "When the boss is not there, training is never the same. There's always more tempo when the boss is there.

"Brian's sessions are interesting. But if he is one per cent short from being the complete coach, it is that he could be a little bit more confrontational with the players."

Leeds held a press conference on Monday where Alan Smith, Rio Ferdinand and Nigel Martyn all lined up to defend Kidd and O'Leary himself also hit back at the fans' campaign against Kidd.

He said: "Have you ever heard so much lunacy as fans wanting to get the number two out? The buck stops with the number one. Brian's a soft target."

However, O'Leary has now scaled down Kidd's involvement with the players. He also admitted that "there are definitely going to be a few players going out in the summer to freshen it up".