Is it too early to start dreaming....?

Yes would be the answer. Me and my big mouth. The final line of my previous post dared to believe that the mess in accounts would finally be sorted on Friday, and for better or worse, we would have ownership sorted and be able to move on.

Instead, typical for Leeds at the moment, we can't even do this right. Bates did get enough support at the creditors meeting for his bid....by 0.02%! So, we have to have a rec-count. What I want to know, is if he doesn't get enough support, and neither does anyone else, then WTF happens?

Anyone here an expert in insolvency proceedings?

Creditors meeting.

Today is D-Day folks. The BBC has announced that five different groups have lodged bids in the creditors meeting. Count 'em, thats five. Bates, one. Morris, two. Revie, three. Now it gets tricky. Supporters Trust (maybe), four. God knows who else.

The YEP reports that the man behind Revie's bid is the WORLD'S 5th richest man, ruler of Dubai and all round good egg, Shiek Maktoum. He owns loads of other stuff (thorugh D.I.C) and nearly bought Liverpool if you're interested. The theory goes that Bates buys Leeds with loads of debt. Option 1 is to get back in premiership, clear debts and sell club for healthy profit and retire to Monaco for good. Option 2 (which is now being played out) is Bates buys Leeds, they fail to get promoted (and in this case relegated), go into administration, clear all the debts, look like a promising investment (good facilities, one club city etc) and Bates sells club for healthy profit and retires to Monaco for good.



Sounds reasonable. Bates is no spring chicken and is money orientated. A good offer and he would probably sell as he has no real connection with the club. Basically he did the same at Chelsea over a longer period. Bought them when they were penniless, restructured the finances, did the ground up a bit and sold it on when he got a good offer. Although it is worth noting that Chelsea were very much still in debt when he sold up.



I've no idea how genuine Revie's (and possibly the mystery Sheik's) bid is but if, and it's a BIG if, panned out like it's rumoured to, then we would be laughing all the way back to the Premiership.



Is it too early to start dreaming again?

Book Review

What's this you say, a Leeds fan able to read? Surely not?! But, alas, it is true. I greatly enjoy reading and so it is somewhat strange that it has taken me this long to get around to purchasing and reading the critically aclaimed novel The Damned United by David Peace.

It tells the story of the tumultuous 44 days that Brian Clough managed Leeds United. I've yet to finish it having only started on the train this morning but I'm already engrossed. I've listed other Leeds books I own below and a brief summary. If any readers would like to recommend other books, oh hell and VHS or DVDs, then please do so in the comments.

The Unforgiven - A dark tale of how one of England's greatest teams became the most despised in the country. A classic expose of the Revie era.

Leeds United: Player by Player - A good insight into the greats and not-so-greats that have pulled on the famous white (and not so famous blue and gold) jersey since the year dot.

And, er....that's it I'm afraid. Like I said, please recommend others for my education and I promise to give them and you a mention.

No news is...?

Good news or bad news? There has not been a lot to blog about over the last week but today sees some press coverage. Pappa Smurf was on the radio yesterday and has laid down the law as he sees it. "Vote for me or kiss goodbye to your football club" seems to be the message. It is not hard to understand why when you read an excellent article in today's Guardian which highlights the ever more labyrinthine financial plight of the club. I urge you to read it and then leave any thoughts you might have in the comments section.

For Bates to not be in control of the club after June 1st's meeting of the clubs creditors will take nothing short of a miracle. Faceless off-shore bank accounts and consortiums with unknown directors control enough of the clubs debt to veto anyone else other than Bates despite his derisory offer of just 1p in the £1. Why will they do this? No-one really knows - my hunch is they have links to Bates but so far no-one has been able to find them.

Highlights of the report sent to creditors outlining the money owed make interesting, if not downright frightening, reading. We owe everyone from Leeds Met Uni to a mobile disco company to St Johns Ambulance to, god only knows why, Danny Mills. I liked Danny, decent lad, decent player and seemed to be in the "Leeds mould" but he hasn't played for us since 2003 and we still owe him money. How did Bates not sort this out? There are more questions to ask than I have time to think of, let alone write. I have no idea how long this will take to sort out and the more I learn the more uncomfortable I begin to feel about Bates and his shadowy dealings. There are not many people who have good things to say about the man. He saved Chelsea only to nearly ruin them again before Roman stepped in with his roubles. I pray the same does not happen here.

Gang of 4

According to the club website, 32 of the 36 squad players have agreed to defer their wages until June 1st in order to facilitate administration. The remaining four will have their wages paid by the creditors in the meantime.

I, for one, would like to know who they are.

Updated: Squad for next season

On the proviso we don't get taken over by some oil-rich Sheik who buys us Lionel Messi, who do you think will be in our squad for next season? I've given my list below but I'd love to hear others thoughts on the matter.

Sullivan - Gone

Ankeren - Would like to see him stay: young and decent

Stack - Back to Reading

Lund - Stay please, back up.

Crainey - Gone

Kishishev - Buy from Charlton

Gray - Buy from Blackburn

Richardson - Stay

Heath - Go

Derry - Stay

Marques - Not sure, don't think he'd survive the lower leagues

Sa - Gone

Madden - Stay

Delph - Stay

Douglas - Think he'll go. Won't want to play in League One

Thompson - Return to Celtic, signs for Championship team

Westlake - Could be useful if he makes the effort - Stay

Lewis - Too old. Go.

Einarsson - Stay

Nicholls - Hahaha....GO!

Bayly - Stay, try not to get sent off.

Rose - Intoduce to first team gently.

Carole - Stay

Flo - Go.

Healy - Sell. He won't play for us in League 1. Sanchez will buy him for Fulham for a couple of million.

Johnson - Back to Wolves.

Cresswell - Please stay. Pleeeeaaaassssse

Kandol - Might be the lad's year to shine. Stay

Beckford - Ditto.

Blake - Dunno, maybe stay.

Howson - Stay

Elliot - Stay

So, by my calculation we still need a few players to shore up the defence, one or two decent mifielders and maybe one more striker. Oh well, one can dream.

Update: Those in bold. Sully, Crainey and Sa are all released along with youngster Hird who had not made a senior appearance. Clearly judged not to be up to scratch. I think Sa should have stayed but otherwise I'm content. Just make sure wwe bring in some half-decent players to replace those going.

All time XI....sort of

I need a bit of light relief. Everyone has done all-time best XIs before and it would be pointless to repeat them. I got thinking about a different sort of XI though. Initially it was one of players who turned out to be great only after we had sold them. Then it moved to players who had been great but ceased to be so as soon as we bought them. I couldn't quite decide between the two so ended up with an amalgamation. The team we had to sell post O'Leary/Risdale obviously has some candidates for quality players being sold off early but wierdly when I thought about it, loads of them have, in fact, never been as good since (Viduka, Bowyer, Woodgate, Kewell, Smith, Robinson etc etc) so they don't feature. I do need help though. In my 4-4-2 I'm missing a central midfielder. Suggestions and corrections in the comments please.

Goalkeeper - David Seaman. Started as a schoolboy at Leeds as understudy to Lukic. Sold to QPR for almost nothing. Went on to be one of the best keepers England have ever had.

Rightback - Dennis Irwin. Promising youth team player judged to lack experience to pull us out of the old Div2. Sold to Oldham and became a ManUtd legend earning 70 Champions League appearances.

Leftback - Jim Beglin. Amazing at Liverpool. Solid defender who basically got crippled by a freak tackle. Ended career at Leeds. Was never the same after injury.

Centreback - RoqueJunior!!! World cup winner. ACMilan regular. Came to Elland Road during a rather tumultuous period and was, without mincing my words, shit.

Centreback - David O'Leary. Often forgotten that he played for Leeds as well as managing them. Not surprising really. A rock at Arsenal for nearly a decade but was an ageing, injury prone donkey by the time he arrived under Wilkinson.

Rightmidfield - David Rocastle. Another Arsenal reject. Was an supreme passer and intelligent player until he put on a white shirt when he became a perennial sub. Never showed as much talent as hoped for.

Leftmidfield - Lee Sharpe. Narrowly overtaken at ManUtd by Giggs for the left midfield spot but had looked uperb in his youth. England caps. Came to Elland Road and was appalling. Got slow and fat. Now appears on Celebrity Love Island.

Centremidfield - Thomas Brolin. Easily wins the worst player ever award. Swedish star, Parma legend and destroyer of England in Euro'92. Sulking fatso at Leeds. Always remebered for wearing a giant bandage when playing for Crystal Palace against Leeds and being even worse than when we had him!

Centremidfield - ?????

Striker - Ian Rush. Liverpool legend. Scored for fun at Anfield and at Juventus. At 35 was too slow to make any difference. Should never have come to Leeds

Striker - Tore Andre Flo. Excellent at Chelsea. Good at Rangers. Bought by Wise to keep us up at the expense of Leeds-based band the Kaiser Chiefs. Got injured and never played. Therefore, rubbish.

That was quite cathartic. If all of those players played for Leeds in their prime, that would have been a bloody good team.

Players out, buyers in...

Wise and Poyet are having a belated spring clean and are clearing out some of the dead wood and some still living, healthy wood (if youa llow me to continue the metaphor). Hayden Foxe and Robbie Elliot are off and few tears will be shed. Foxe was useless and Elliot was mostly injured. Ian Moore is also leaving. I have no idea why. He expressed an interest in staying and as I have previously mentioned (and some commentators too) he played like he actually gave a damn. He would have been a decent player quality-wise in League One and I think Wise has made a big mistake. We shall see.

More finance news - is there any other type at Elland Road these days? Two new bids have emerged to rival Bates. As I mentioned before, both the creditors and the FA have to approve his purchase (sorry, re-purchase) of the club. Ex-director Simon Morris has launched a £10m bid on the promise of a £400m leisure complex and a new 50000 seater stadium. Don Revie's son, Duncan, has also put his name into the hat saying he has "middle-east" investors and that his only problem would be finding a manager good enough to take control of the team. Blimey. Now, don't call me a cynic, but in both cases - I'll believe it when I see the green, as the Americans would say.

Will the real Leeds United please stand up?!

Where to begin? It's not so much sport but finance that takes precedent I suppose.

Well, we are owned by Bates again. Sort of. I think. Some company, headed by Bates, bought us from KPMG. We have filed a Company Voluntary Act which absolves us of paying most of our debts and filed for administration with the FA. We are deducted ten points this season and start next year in League One with 0 points, just like everyone else. Now, and I say this as a loyal supporter, this makes a mockery of football.

The ten point penalty was introduced to prevent clubs being mis-managed and reneging on debts, and yet this is precisely what has happened. Not only that, but this is costing me money, and you for that matter. By not coughing up unpaid tax to the HMRC the taxpayer foots the bill. Bates is a disgrace and the FA should reject his takeover, but they won't. Wise is useless and should be replaced, but he won't. I am not optimistic about next year.

On an aside, we lost to Derby on the last day of the season. The fans behaved themselves, thankfully, by young Mr Bayly did not and marked his debut with a red card for a head butt. Twit. Can someone post in the comments what players we will have for next year (i.e. which are on loan and will go back, which will leave for pastures new etc) as quite frankly the extent of transfers and loans this year leaves me baffled.

Creative Accounting

BREAKING NEWS

BBC Radio Leeds are reporting that the club has this afternoon been placed into administration, effective immediately.

They further report that the club has then been re-purchased by a company associated with Ken "Pappa Smurf" Bates. The club suffers a ten-point deduction this season and begins anew in August, free of debt.

I association with this, the Leeds United Supporters Trust have also apparently announced that have the finances to make an offer for control of the club.

More when the dust settles.....I'm listening to my radio under the desk for more news!