Tag Archives: takeover

Corporate Clowns Fighting Over Leeds United as Fans Suffer – by Rob Atkinson

Posted on 28/01/2014 | 25 comments
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The interested parties

Finally, the silence has been broken – what we have been waiting for in terms of hard information, or at least a statement from one of the main protagonists, has at last come to light.  It’s a breaking of the impasse – but not in a good way.  What we have heard is an unedifying tale of wrangles over the terms of an agreement apparently struck last November.  It seems that the Flowers/Haigh/Un-named Others “Sport Capital” consortium found something, or maybe several things, not to their liking after the initial agreement for the sale of 75% of the GFH holding.  Various elements, it is said, were “not as originally described”.  Sport Capital therefore made a “revised” (i.e. lower) offer, which GFH have turned down, seemingly preferring to listen to other suitors, with a certain Italian prominent among the names being noised about.

In other words, it’s a mess.  In fact “mess” is really far too kind a way of describing the utter shambles, the embarrassing pantomime, that has been this takeover so far.  Quite apart from the humiliating spectacle of watching our great club being fought over by a bunch of incompetents, there are a few odd matters arising out of all this.  Not the least of these is the Sport Capital statement “We were fully justified in revising our bid because a number of things have come to light which were not as originally described“.  Now that does seem bizarre, because – let’s not forget – the Sport Capital Consortium and the existing GFH ownership have David Haigh in common.  So if Sport Capital have uncovered something nasty about the club, something that would justify a reduction of the offer which closed the original agreement – then why and how wasn’t Haigh aware of this before?  He was, after all, a senior figure in the running of the club this past year.  Even Andrew Flowers, big wheel in the club’s main sponsors Enterprise Insurance, should have had some level of knowledge.  There’s a rotten smell here, somewhere.

It’s a little odd too that Sport Capital, having (as some might say) reneged on the terms of the original agreement, are now accusing GFH of “breaching their covenant” in talking to other interested parties.  GFH are also accused of breaching their covenant with the fans – whatever that means – but it’s unlikely after today’s revelations that those fans will be confining any expressions of displeasure to GFH alone.  To the fan in the street, sick to death of being messed around by a series of chancers playing fast and loose with Leeds United – an institution of the English game, by the way – it would appear that all parties concerned are conspiring to make of our club a laughing-stock, an embarrassing soap-opera which does little but heap shame and humiliation on the heads of its loyal and fanatical supporters.

It’s difficult to take sides on the little information available, even since Flowers decided to speak out.  But the impression that goal-posts have been moved is not easy to avoid.  Flowers also said  “This boils down to much more than money but GFH have chosen to ignore that”.  But isn’t that slightly disingenuous?  To the selling party, it’s always going to be mainly about the money, surely?  Even though GFH were intending to retain a 10% stake, they will still have an interest in realising what they can for the chunk of the club they’re selling.  For Sport Capital to reduce their offer – and then cry foul and scramble for the moral high ground when the sellers refuse to lower the price – seems, to say the least, a little naïve.  And after all – if it boils down to much more than money – why have Sport Capital reduced their financial offer after an agreement had been reached?  There is much more here than meets the eye, much that we still don’t know on the basis of Flowers’ statement which – let’s face it – is only going to represent a one-sided point of view.  So when he, and Haigh, dismiss rival bids as being bad for the club and the fans – can we really trust their objectivity in a matter where they indisputably have a vested interest?

Meanwhile, hard on the heels of this new storm, Brian McDermott has had the task of trying to field a team that will stop the on-field rot by getting a result at Elland Road against Ipswich.  To say that the prevailing circumstances are not conducive to team preparation is a masterly feat of understatement.  I will try to raise the enthusiasm to write something about the Ipswich game later, but it’s hardly my prime concern right now and I freely admit that.

McDermott has been looking and sounding distinctly glum this past day or so, and all you can feel for the guy is deep sympathy – the sympathy you’d feel for any professional trying to do his job hamstrung and hindered by the manoeuvres of the crass amateurs in the chain of command above him.  Brian wants the matter swiftly concluded and, he emphasises, in the best interests of the club.  Give the guy an award for common-sense, a quality notably lacking elsewhere in what’s going on.  Reading between the lines, you can tell that Brian is half-expecting to be a casualty of whatever outcome we eventually get.  But he’s got his head down, doing his best in a difficult situation and he deserves the support of every true Leeds fan for as long as he’s at the club.

You honestly wonder how much more the fantastic fans of Leeds United are prepared to take.  If you got a couple of the more cynical type of satirical sitcom writers together, and asked them to pen a series about a football club setting out its stall to take the mickey out of its large and loyal fan-base, then they wouldn’t even be able to imagine or approach the farcical reality that now confronts us.  We deserve a lot better than this; but it’s a situation that has gone on now, with a few changes in the principal cast, for quite a few years.  In this time, we have seen clubs that suffered alongside us in the bowels of League One go on to comparatively great things.  Southampton, Swansea – even Norwich.  For heavens’ sake, Norwich have managed to prosper with three-quarters of our League One midfield and our top-scorer of last season warming the bench.  Reality would be funny if it wasn’t so utterly sickening.  For many, of course – the sad acts out there whose chief pleasure is to see Leeds United wounded and suffering – it is funny, in fact it’s riotously amusing.  And this all adds to the depression and misery for our fans, people who live and breathe Leeds United, people though who seem to be the least significant factor in the thinking of those who are wrangling over a great club.

It has to stop, and stop soon.  Clearly, this transfer window – despite the lies we were told last month and for most of this – is not going to be of any real help to us, and therefore this season is yet another write-off.  The only realistic aim now is to make sure we stay in this league, hoping that the ownership issue can be sorted out to leave us with a regime that can support the club’s immense potential and the fans’ justifiably sky-high ambitions.

That should be the bottom line, but right now it appears nothing more than a pipe-dream.  The clowns fighting over Leeds do not deserve any more of our faith or patience.  They don’t deserve to be associated with such magnificent support.  So step aside, clowns – and let’s have somebody in who knows their football, loves the club and has the will, imagination and financial muscle to take us forward.

There must be somebody like that out there, surely.

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Leeds United Owners Need to Start Playing Straight With the Fans – by Rob Atkinson

Posted on 25/01/2014 | 30 comments
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The fans: the BEST asset of Leeds United

Whoever is currently in charge at Leeds United – and the answer to that question is quite frankly anyone’s guess – they do appear to have a dim awareness that the mood out here in fan-land is not entirely sunny and bright.  They seem a little hurt, not to say bewildered, about this.  Plaintive tweets have been seen, assuring us that hard work is going on and that the West Ham bid for our club captain of seven days standing has been turned down.  That nice prospective Tory MP Mr Haigh would like to remind us all that “we made our intentions clear in the summer” – when of course a succession of bids for Rossco from Smogland were turned down, before a new four-year contract secured the services of our lethal marksman – or so we thought.

All in all, the view from the Elland Road boardroom of the various dissident elements out here appears to be that of a rueful parent bemoaning the ungratefulness of spoiled children.  We’ve done all this for them, they seem to be crying woefully, and see how they repay us!

So are we being ungrateful?  Are GFH/Sporting Capital/Signor Cellino/A.N.Other right in thinking that their sterling efforts are being thrown back in their faces by an unappreciative rabble?  Let’s look at a couple of the main issues.

Firstly, the burning issue on everyone’s mind for some time now.  The takeover.  Now we’ve been told various things about this.  It was all done and dusted, waiting only for Football League approval, and things would be in place in time for the transfer window.  We were told this in December; then the forecast changed slightly, and word was that things might just drag over into the start of January – but that Brian’s transfer plans were not affected, and there was a list of targets for board consideration.  Things dragged on.  Now we were told that it was still on track, just i’s to be dotted and t’s to be crossed.  Brian was looking at four players.  Then we heard that the Football League had asked for more information, that the club was co-operating fully, oh and here’s two loan wingers to shut you lot up.  By this point we’d gone out of the Cup at lowly Rochdale, and we were about to be subjected (with the aid of our two game-changing pacy wide men) to a history-busting defeat at Sheffield Wendies.  Now, here we are in the last week of January, the takeover appears no nearer, the best news we’ve had for ages is a narrow defeat at home to Leicester, there’s been talk of a dodgy Italian convicted fraudster, we’ve had promises of good news for the week just gone (must have missed that) and transfer talk is starting to turn, with a weary inevitability, to the summer window.  Pie in the sky, by and by.

Secondly, there’s this Ross McCormack thing.  Just because we resisted the Smoggies’ overtures in summer, we apparently need our wrists smacked for daring to get all het up when a bid is received from some no-hope East End outfit for our skipper and top-scorer.  Leeds United appear to be wondering: what all the fuss is about?  Why are these people complaining and getting up in arms?  After all, it’s not as if we have a history of selling vital players for a song to Premier League strugglers in January – is it?  Oh, hang on…

West Ham will probably be back – there’s still a week to go and they may just share that annoying habit, common to clubs with some shred of ambition, of being persistent in trying to sign quality players and improve their squad.  You see this kind of thing everywhere these days: clubs splashing the cash, if you’ll pardon the vulgarity, and buying players all over the shop.  It’s enough to give a prudent outfit like Leeds United a bad name.  And you only have to look back over the past few transfer windows to notice that Leeds don’t indulge in all of this “new signings” shenanigans.  No, sir.  They just promise to, that’s all.  And promises are made to be broken.

That’s the nub of it, really.  If the powers that be at Elland Road really want to know why some of us out here are less than happy with the way things are being run, they really need to look to themselves – and try and avoid a few less-than-helpful practices.  For instance – and this is especially important for people who have set their stall out with “transparency and fan engagement” as buzzwords – could we have a bit more straightforwardness, and a few less tantalising tweets, coy hints, teasing smileys and irrelevant bollocks about coffee mornings with random billionaires?  That would be nice.  And again – if you’re going to make promises about transfer targets and takeover completions – why not keep a few of them?  That would possibly go towards filling the credibility vacuum that you currently inhabit.

What the fans really want, in the extremely short term, is to be treated like adults rather than as unruly and demanding children whose expectations have to be carefully managed, lest they become recalcitrant and ill-behaved.  All of this drip, drip of promising but ultimately false rumours will not get us anywhere.  No more Red Bull jokes, please.  Likewise, less of the details about coffee-based pre-prandial engagements – unless there’s something likely to come of it by way of solid investment and the funding of some ambitious plans.  Contrary to what you might think, you suits in the boardroom, we’re all grown-ups out here, and we want to be dealt with fairly and squarely, rather than fed a diet of condescending rubbish designed to obscure what’s really going on.

If Ross McCormack is still a Leeds United player by the end of January, I’ll be happy, if a little worried about his future in the summer and beyond.  But don’t expect me to be all ecstatic just because one preliminary bid has been turned down – recent history has taught me, and others out here, not to be quite so gullible.  It’s taught us to expect the worst of Leeds United, for then we won’t be quite so disappointed when the worst happens – as it has over the recent past, with unfailing regularity.  And don’t expect us to be grateful when promises are made and broken, when expectations are raised and then sent crashing down.  There’s no use pouting away in the boardroom about how unappreciative we all are.  Treat us as adults, tell us straight, stop peddling crap – and then see how the attitude changes.  It’s worth a try, gentlemen, surely?

Just at the moment, all the McCormack talk dominates other matters, and we’re being invited to be happy that a bid has been turned down.  Meanwhile, the last few days of this window slip by, and while we all wait and see if the Hammers come back with an improved bid, we’re not nagging you about takeover completions and inward bound signings – are we?  Well some of us are, and we’ll continue to do so, whatever smokescreens may be put up to deflect us.

There’s an old saying from across the Atlantic: “The wind blew, and the crap flew, and for days the vision was bad.”  Count on it, Mr Haigh & Co – most of the fans of Leeds United are a lot more clear-sighted than you might wish to believe.

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Vita, Leeds United, l’Universo e Tutto? – di Roberto Atkinson

Posted on 22/01/2014 | 36 comments
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Massimo Cellino – Leeds takeover??

Reports coming from out of Italy tonight, notably in the La Gazzetta dello Sport and the Corriere dello Sport, strongly indicate that Leeds United AFC has been taken over by Cagliari president Massimo Cellino. Both papers claim the deal for the Championship club is essentially complete, although news outlets in the UK are being somewhat more cautious.

Nothing has been heard from Leeds United FC so far, nor from GFH or David Haigh himself. Doubtless more news and reaction will follow tomorrow.  There have been suggestions that Cellino would not find it a straightforward matter to pass the “fit and proper person” test – but at a club for whom Ken Bates was deemed fit and proper, nothing is impossible.

Meanwhile, reports that David Haigh woke up this morning to find a horse’s head in bed next to him are reckoned to be exaggerated.

TOMA or no TOMA – Noi tutti amiamo Leeds!!

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Drip, Drip, Drip as the Water Torture Goes On for Leeds Fans – by Rob Atkinson

Posted on 22/01/2014 | 35 comments
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Dear Mr Haigh – some answers, please

This blog has posed the question in the recent past: what exactly is holding up the latest Leeds United takeover?  But however earnest that enquiry was, I did think that by now there would have been some clarity, some answers – maybe even some of the oft-foretold good news after the dotting of i’s and the crossing of t’s. And then, we could move swiftly in the transfer market with still almost two weeks to go – and perhaps resurrect what is turning into another season of crushing disappointment.

But no. Instead of things getting better, they appear to be on the point of becoming worse.  Instead of some welcome clarity, all is obscured confusion, with rumour and counter-rumour flying about like lost souls in some Leeds fans’ purgatory.  After everything else that has gone on since our last real high point – promotion from League One in 2010 – this drawn-out continuation of unresolved anguish and uncertainty seems almost calculated to cause the maximum stress to anyone out here who loves the club, exposing us to ridicule after we’ve been heard to express optimism in the wake of this or that promise or optimistic smiley tweet from one or other of our prospective owners.

It wouldn’t be so bad if some of this incessant to-ing and fro-ing wasn’t avoidable.  If, for instance, we were just dealing with the inevitable complexities of due process that go along with any major deal, we could perhaps smile bravely and deal with it.  But it’s the coy little hints, the periodical hints and promises that elevate the situation from the mundane level of irritation and disappointment to a needless peak of exquisite cruelty.  Did we really need the Red Bull comments to tantalise is?  Do we really need to know about morning coffee with a billionaire if coffee is all it turns out to be??

Now we are getting indications that the whole thing might be about to collapse, having been previously assured that it would all be done early this window and that, in any event, any delay in completion would not hamper Brian in the transfer market.  And there’s the old refrain striking up again: “business is difficult to do in January”.  That, and the new doubts about the takeover endgame are vying with each other as to which negative piece of information can best sicken and dismay the loyal fans out here, waiting for something good to happen.

It seems likely now that this will drag on, until another transfer window has been safely negotiated with no inconveniently expensive signings, just a couple of loans.  Once again, the suits will be able to heave a sigh of relief.  The most significant announcements from the club lately have been of a sale in the club shops of cut price winter woollies.  Ring-a-ding ding.

It’s difficult sometimes to say – which is the worst aspect of this situation?  Supporting a club that has no apparent ambition to compete with the other clubs in the same division, smaller clubs that are forever out-stripping us in investment and the will to win?  Or being made mugs of time and time again?  Leeds United do not even appear to bother finding new excuses; refinements of the same old ones we’ve all heard before will apparently do, as far as they are concerned.  It’s enough to make the most loyal of fans angry.  I’m loyal, I have Leeds United engraved on my heart – but I’m spitting feathers at what the fans are being expected to put up with.

It’s time some for definitive statement to be made.  Clauses requiring discretion and confidentiality are all well and good, but they don’t address the morale of the fans, and they do nothing to ease the growing unrest and annoyance out here.  Players and staff come and go, even the stadium isn’t forever.  But the fans as a body are the continuous thread running through the history of the club.  We ARE Leeds United – so show us due respect and sort this embarrassing mess out – or at least treat us like adults, end this maddening drip, drip, drip water torture situation – and tell us what’s what.

That’s surely not too much to ask for, is it?

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Ghost of Transfer Windows Past Haunting Worried Leeds Support – by Rob Atkinson

Posted on 16/01/2014 | 31 comments
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Ashley Barnes – blocked by GFH and gone to Turf Moor

If there’s ever a time that no self-respecting Leeds fan is going to come over all misty-eyed and nostalgic for, it’s any one of the last few January transfer windows.  These post-Christmas peaks of excitement have been anything but for United fans in the past few years – and there are now just the vaguest stirrings of discomfort arising out of the growing suspicion that this one may, ultimately, be no different.  In recent times, the diet for the long-suffering Leeds United support has been pretty lacking in variety come window time.  Large helpings of reassurances, seasoned with well-worn platitudes and promises that melt in your mouth but do little to satisfy that incessant, gnawing hunger for squad reinforcement.

So far this January, we have been told that the takeover (still awaiting its “imminent” Football League ratification) will have no effect on the availability of funds for manager Brian McDermott to go out and get what we need.  There have been two morsels landed, both traditional Leeds loanees, but with the possibility of permanence come the summer – depending on what league we’re in.  We’ve also been told that Brian wants to get the deals done early, rather than waiting for that climactic final day, when Sky get all excited, fans of other clubs gather outside their stadia to heckle harassed TV reporters – and Leeds fans pretend not to care and that they have other stuff to do.  The thing is, most of January has already slid by – with just those two wingers, the ones who looked so lost and lonely at Sheffield Wednesday, signed-up so far.

Still, the reassurances come.  There are just i’s to be dotted, t’s to be crossed, before TOMA becomes a renewed reality.  Work has been going on backstage and we are to hope the fruits of that will be seen “in the coming days”.  But the main headline is of GFH blocking a move for a striker that BMcD wanted to bring on board, even though the measly half-mill required was apparently washing around in the club’s coffers.  That’s certainly caused some consternation out here in fan-land, and it’s not difficult to see why.  Have GFH blocked this one because we’re back in dare-to-dream territory, and aiming higher than the likes of the admirable Ashley Barnes?  Or is it for some less palatable reason?  Either way, the lad’s gone to Burnley and our Brian was presumably left less than chuffed.

We really have to hope that this isn’t going to be yet another transfer window where much is promised and yet very little is delivered.  The icy fingers of doubt are beginning to make themselves felt, though, insistently tapping us all on the shoulder while a cold voice whispers in our ear “Haven’t you heard all this stuff before?”

The next couple of weeks might not be make or break for United’s promotion prospects – it may well be that those are doomed to dwindle for yet another season, and we’ll be invited to look ahead with optimism to 2015.  Or 2016, or … well, you get the picture.  But those same couple of weeks could be very significant indeed as far as the grossly over-stretched trust and confidence of the United fans are concerned.  If nothing significant happens – yet again – after all those promises, hints and reassurances – yet again – then surely questions will be asked, not least the pertinent enquiry: “Are you lot taking the mick?”  Because we’re fast approaching that time of the window when we start expecting to be told what a wonderful thing the emergency loan window is, or the summer transfer window, where plans are “already well advanced”.

Quite frankly, we have heard it all before.  Please get real, United.  Please don’t toy with our hopes and fears.  This sort of thing really has happened far too often already – and it’s becoming rather boring.

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Looks Like Today is Leeds United Takeover Day – by Rob Atkinson

Posted on 15/01/2014 | 7 comments
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TOMA complete?

The protracted second takeover in a year of Leeds United looks as if it will be made official today, according to a story carried by Reuters.

According to the news agency, Bahrain-based investment firm Gulf Finance House (GFH) has agreed a partial sale of its stake in English football club Leeds United   The firm said in a statement on Wednesday that the sale was agreed with British investors, whose details the firm did not specify in a bourse statement. The investment firm did not provide details on the stake value or the size of the stake sold.

No confirmation was made of the necessary Football League approval, though it would be highly unusual for the above announcement to be made if that were not now a foregone conclusion, and further developments on this front might well be expected later today.

Leeds United meet Championship leaders Leicester City on Saturday, fresh from a dismal run of results after several poor performances.  The club has been linked heavily with Reading’s want-away striker Adam le Fondre this week, as well as free transfer prospect Luke Moore, formerly of Swansea and Aston Villa.

Despite securing the loan signings of Cameron Stewart and Jimmy Kebe last week, Leeds suffered an embarrassing 6-0 defeat to local rivals Sheffield Wednesday in a televised game on Saturday.  The TV cameras will again be present for the Leicester City clash.

It remains to be seen whether any completed takeover will loosen the Elland Road purse-strings for more team strengthening.  Boss Brian McDermott had ruled our further incomings ahead of the Foxes match, but that has not stopped intense speculation surrounding Moore and le Fondre.  It may well be that other names will now be put forward, but McDermott likes to have business completed before making any comment.

Leeds United stand 11th in the Championship, only a few points outside of the play-off zone.

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Back to Basics for Leeds United: Move On & Keep Fighting – by Rob Atkinson

Posted on 12/01/2014 | 45 comments
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Never mind yer Latin mottos

One thing those defeated Leeds players will be sharply aware of today; most of the football world will be laughing at them for their abject surrender at Hillsborough.  That’s not a pleasant thing to know, it’s even less pleasant for a Leeds fan to say.  But it’s a fact and one we have to acknowledge before, as a collective, we can put the horror of this new year so far behind us, and start to move onwards and upwards.

I say “as a collective” because it’s not just the players who have to recover from a shattering blow such as this.  It’s the fans too – we’ve all been getting it in the neck from delighted followers of other clubs ever since the final whistle blew to signal United’s worst defeat for 55 years.  The problem for the fans is that we have no means at our disposal whereby we can address the matter directly – if sleeves are to be rolled up, if air is to be cleared, if basics are to be got back to – then it’s the players and the coaching staff who will have to grasp those nettles, bite those bullets and somehow drag themselves up from historical depths of despair and defeat.  The fans just have to hope that this will happen, and happen soon.  It’s left to us to exhort our heroes onto greater efforts, or possibly just to squabble among ourselves as has been seen on various internet forums.  But whatever the limitations in our options, the fans are hurting and the fans are humiliated – it’s to be hoped that the players are being reminded of this salient point at some stage of today.

“Back to Basics” is a fairly obvious mantra to be chanting today, and it’s what Brian McDermott seems be running with.  That’s understandable, particularly for anyone who witnessed the full horror of United’s display against a team in Wednesday they should have beaten with something to spare.  Leeds played as if they thought ball control was a discipline to be exercised in a monastery.  They looked about as comfortable in possession as a shell-shock victim trying to juggle live hand grenades.  It did very much look as though the basics of the game at this level – passing, trapping a ball, getting rid – were indecipherable mysteries to the men in those tacky “gold” shirts.  Is all of this truly down to a lack of confidence?  Or is there a deeper malaise?

Leeds United at the moment are a living, breathing contradiction in terms.  One part of the organisation oozes confidence and optimism, churning out new initiatives and new ideas, communicating messages of hope and a brighter future through numerous social media outlets.  This is the vibrant, innovative United that is announcing link-ups with the 49ers and hinting at redeveloping the stadium for our inevitable return to the top.  The relentless message of positivity and optimism has so far yielded only two loan deals to enhance the squad – but there is still that tantalising promise of more to come.  Possibly.  But not before the Leicester game.

The other side of United is the ugly duckling that waddled its way unhappily around Sheffield Wednesday’s manor yesterday, shot at from all sides, uncomfortably aware of its own hideousness and unable to do anything about it.  There were no signs that this ugly duckling might ever grow into a beautiful swan, as the fable tells us it should.  We’re left with the feeling that, being Leeds, fables don’t apply.  The contrast of this self-loathing, pessimistic, on-field United with the public face of the post-Bates Leeds is as stark as it is puzzling.  If we’re on our way back with a bright future ahead of us – why isn’t this remotely reflected by the product on the park?  Why do the players look as if they’ve forgotten how to pass, how to defend, how to tell one end of a football from the other?

So, it’s back to basics – to get these matters thrashed out.  Presumably, if any of the brighter sparks in the squad have their own ideas about the tactics being employed, then now is the time to air them.  We appear to be on the brink of playing in a whole new way anyway, with all our eggs so far this window being placed in the “attacking width” basket.  The two wingers recruited to that end rather sank without trace yesterday – understandably so, given the way the game went – particularly with what happened to Smith, who might otherwise have given the new lads someone to play to.  It really was all most unfortunate.  Back to basics, then – and see if the air can be cleared.  But I would hope that, as well as the manager’s three-word mantra, somebody will think to revive the older, two word motto in the picture at the head of this article, that hung so famously for so many years on the Elland Road home dressing room wall.  Keep Fighting, it told the players – and for the decade and more of Revie’s reign, that is exactly what the United players did, to devastating effect.

“Fight” was something visible only in the briefest of flashes yesterday.  Smith was perhaps over-zealous in the challenge that got him sent off.  Byram showed the right idea when he clattered into Kirkland in the second half.  Michael Brown epitomises “fight” when he plays, but he’s sadly prone to getting into trouble early and recklessly – and then walking a tightrope for most of any appearance he might make.  Fight, if it’s to be helpful, has to be shown with a moderating layer of common-sense – but no Leeds team will get far if it is so totally lacking as it appeared yesterday in those fighting qualities which, allied to world-class skill and unflinching togetherness, made the club a  global name almost half a century ago.  I suspect that the sign which once adorned the dressing room wall disappeared long, long ago – but that image is still as iconic as ever it was.  It’s something that the players of today need to look at and adopt if they are to equip themselves to avoid a repetition of yesterday’s spineless and clueless performance, so lacking in skill, technique, attitude and, above all, fight.

Whatever emerges from today’s meeting, we need to see a radically different Leeds United take the field against Leicester next weekend.  Let’s not kid ourselves – the players in our squad can play.  They can pass, they can retain possession, they can mark the opposition.  Yesterday, it just looked as though they couldn’t.  Next weekend is about correcting any such misleading impression – and it’s about fighting for the shirts, for the badge and for the fans.  Back to basics, fair enough.  But above all, Keep Fighting.

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That LUFC Investment Update in Full – by Rob Atkinson

Posted on 07/01/2014 | 21 comments
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News you already know update

  • Good Evening
  • We’ve been working hard and hope it’ll pay off
  • Andy Flowers is on board after his chastening Ashes winter
  • Erm….
  • That’s it, with regard to this one
  • Look, stop nagging OK?

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Leeds Takeover: What’s the Big Delay With FL Approval? – by Rob Atkinson

Posted on 07/01/2014 | 35 comments

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Still no news as I write of the ratification of Leeds United’s latest takeover, or TOMA – as it’s fondly known by the weary and hard-bitten cynics among United’s online support.  The delay is annoying to say the least; it could be described as incredibly irritating, or as adding insult to the injury of three successive defeats.  One might even be tempted to ask if the inevitable involvement of Shaun Harvey, ex CEO at Elland Road and now filling a similar role at the Football League, is helping or hindering matters.  Presumably, his is the rubber-stamp we are waiting for, and you might think that Harvey’s inside knowledge of Leeds United would smooth the path of progress.  Yet, if anything, the opposite seems to be the case.  Charlton Athletic have just had a delay and trouble-free approval of their takeover – we at Leeds continue to wait in an echoing silence.  What’s the problem?  Is someone simply taking the mick?

Some might be mollified by assurances from within the club that this irritating hold-up will not affect United’s transfer business within the current window.  Indeed, we are now told that we can expect two Premier League signings before the Wendies game next weekend.  Or, hang on, make that “at least one”.  The news changes by the hour, but the silence on the Big Issue rumbles on.

This needs sorting.  Whoever it is that has failed to get their finger out, they need to now give their head a shake and get a move on.  The dragging-out of this process is disrespectful to fans who have had more than enough to put up with over the last decade or so.  At the moment, the best place for a Leeds fan to look for anything cheery is Man U and their trials and tribulations, which do make for light-hearted reading and viewing as the media descend into a cloud of angst.  But, this comic relief aside, we want our own situation sorted out – and sharpish.

It’s difficult to imagine what purpose can be served by this delay.  It’s pointless to speculate as to whether or not Harvey and anyone else involved are even bothered by the feelings and misgivings of mere fans.  But whatever silly game of paper-shuffling they’re playing, it’s time to retrieve their heads from their fundaments and get on with it.  It was never funny, and now it’s just becoming silly.

Stop messing about with our club, and do your jobs.

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Time For True Leeds United Fans to Get Positive and Support the Club – by Rob Atkinson

Posted on 05/01/2014 | 70 comments
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Elland Road packed with the faithful

Sometimes, a good old-fashioned cliché is the only thing to resort to, especially when things seem bleak and morale is low.  So I have a couple to offer that may help at this uneasy time when Leeds United stand on the brink of yet another new beginning and we’re all questioning what’s wrong in the club after one of the worst results in our entire history.  The two that spring to mind are “The darkest hour is the one just before the dawn” and “Let your faith keep you strong“.  There may well be others equally applicable.

The thing about clichés is that they wouldn’t be quite so hackneyed and frequently-quoted if they didn’t have that element of truth and common sense about them.  The central message of any such quotation as related to Leeds United right now must be that the club needs positive support in bad times even more than in good.  This is no time to spread despair and linger over the agony and humiliation – for such it surely is – of a defeat to an inspired but much lowlier team.  What we have to do now, as a massive collective of followers for one of the world’s most famous and fanatically-supported football clubs, is: stick with it.  Tough it out.  We’ve had bad times before, and ultimately they’ve helped make the good times even sweeter.

Rochdale was a bad experience, worst of all for the fans who made the journey and backed their men to put on a professional display for the shirts they were wearing and the badge on those shirts.  The fans that make these trips are the single most notable thing about the Leeds United of today.  They are a modern phenomenon, supporting a mediocre team with almost unfailing good humour and vociferous enthusiasm.  Fans of clubs we visit are in awe of the sheer passion these fantastic fans generate.  But clearly, any group of football followers will have a collective breaking-point.  That point was reached at Rochdale; the fans had had enough and they said so.  They expressed their anger and their pain in terms that even the most complacent and overpaid player could easily understand.  The manager was brave enough to emerge after the game and take his share.  He has expressed no disagreement, but has remained dignified and determined.  When success comes, Brian McDermott is the kind of man who will think back to yesterday at Rochdale so that he will not be carried away in the flush of achievement.  Brian is a steady man, and he will take on board the disappointment and suffering of those loyal fans.

But we’ve had our moan now.  It was a message that had to be sent out, and our representatives at Spotland duly obliged.  It’s done; let’s move on.  We stand on the brink of – quite possibly – a major upturn in the fortunes of Leeds United.  Just as efforts over the past year in team building are very much a work in progress, so the achievements behind the scenes and the changes wrought there are possibly slightly under-appreciated.  But Leeds United today as a club is a very different entity than the one labouring under the yoke of Bates’ last few months in charge.  This is something for which we should all be truly grateful.

Rochdale is gone, just as Histon disappeared into the past.  Not so long after Histon, we were winning at Man U – and this was at a time when that was quite a hard thing to do.  Rochdale will be remembered as a low point, but the highs which will follow are apt to be all the sweeter for that bitter experience.  Such are the slings and arrows of outrageous Leeds United.

Now we wait for the tangible results of all the backroom activity currently going on at the club and at the Football League.  We can justifiably wait with some excitement; the signs are good that the club is about to commence operations on a whole new level.  The FA Cup meant little to us this season, in reality.  The pride and feelings of the fans, granted.  But as a competition, it is one that we can manage without – just as long as our progress in the right direction is maintained.  That’s the cause in which we should be lending our support.  What’s about to happen might just be a massively significant time in the history of our club, and we must be seen to be behind the teams – the ones off the field as well as on it.  And we’re a team ourselves, a massive united group of fanatical supporters who all wish to be involved in the success of United.  Any team needs to pull together, and that’s just what we need to be doing, right now and going forward.

So please – put Rochdale behind you and get your chin up.  We’re Leeds and we’re proud even in those times when the team give us little reason to show that pride.  Players come and go, teams evolve.  Even management and owners aren’t forever.  But the club and the fans are bound together in perpetuity, and we must seek to go forward as a united force.

We Are Leeds, Marching on together.  We’ve had our ups and downs, but we’re going to stay with them forever – at least until the world stops going round.  Let’s remember that.

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