On 26/06/2013 13:03, Nicholas Armit wrote:
I know this is supposed to be a Leeds list, but is this all just bollocks?
http://www.idradebeleeds.com/latestnews/more-uncertainty-for-leeds-united/
The never ending saga: More uncertainty for Leeds United
Posted on June 26, 2013 by Leah Waller in Featured,
The desperation is growing amongst Leeds fans as tweets to board members
David Haigh and Salem Patel are increasing. What started out as a
positive outlook on the impending transfer window has quickly turned to
panic, and with communication between owners GFH and the Leeds faithful
at an all-time low the worry is justified.
It’s been a year since we first learned of GFH-Capital, a Dubai based
investment bank who have expressed nothing more than to take our club
back to the delights of the English Premier League, and since then very
little has changed in terms of ambition and promotion prospects. We’ve
managed to acquire a good manager with Brian McDermott, a man who
continues to give us a glimmer of hope with his ability to get the best
football out of our players and can find able footballers at a decent
price. He needs to be financially supported though.
McDermott has made it known that he has several new faces lined up to
join the mighty whites, and attended a meeting six days ago with GFH
representatives to discuss finalising the deals. Fans were expecting
Brian to be given the go ahead during these talks, with signings sure to
follow over the coming days. Sadly, nearly a week on and no new
additions have been made to the dithering squad, suggesting a lack of
funds available to the manager and a lack of ambition from the owners.
Although no official word has come from the meeting, certain occurrences
have made it clear that talks didn’t go as McDermott would have liked.
The first being that we’ve not signed any of the players who have agreed
to come to the club, everything is settled other than the transfer fee
and wages; aspects that only GFH can complete. Brian McDermott has done
all he can, he’s tied up deals before the team is due to return for
pre-season as promised, all he’s waiting on now is the money to conclude
the transaction.
Bolton centre back Matt Mills has been linked with a move to Yorkshire
since the beginning of the summer, Bolton have attached a 1 million
pound price tag on the defender. It was heavily reported that we were
set to buy Mills, but Leeds haven’t spent a seven-figure-sum on a player
since 2006. After the high profile meeting to discuss budget the reports
soon shifted from a buy to a loan, further indicating McDermott hasn’t
received the backing he was initially promised.
GFH have never promised to spend big on players, but they have promised
to do what it takes to launch a promotion push, and signing steady
players should be the top priority. Since completing their buy out from
Chairman Ken Bates, they’ve stressed that they are looking for
‘strategic investors’ to help solidify Leeds as a top Premier League
team. With their accounts available to the general public it didn’t
take long for fans to realise that the company isn’t as wealthy as first
thought, and investment would be key for the club to improve. It’s now 6
months down the line and with only 13.3% of the club sold and investment
talks quickly drying up, a spending spree is looking more and more unlikely.
This isn’t a surprise to me. What kind of business man would be willing
to invest their money into a project like Leeds, where the only way
they’ll get a return on their investment is promotion to the Premier
League? Especially when not even the owners will take that risk, why
would an investor take all the risks for GFH to share the rewards? It’s
apparent that GFH are looking to make the money they spent on the club
back as soon as possible, whilst still retaining some shares in the
club. If their business plan works, and enough shares are bought to
cover the cost of buying the club, they’ll end up with free shares, the
value of these shares will dramatically increase if Leeds are successful
with promotion to the Premier League. However, this won’t happen unless
ambition is shown in the transfer market and without money to spend how
can ambition be shown? It’s a vicious circle that can only be ended with
investment.
Rumours of another take over have emerged, but the legitimacy of these
rumours is unknown. A quick take-over would be the best scenario, we’d
get rid of GFH who don’t seem to know anything about running a football
club and manage to keep some fans quiet with empty promises and £90 off
a season ticket and we could have an owner who has the financial ability
to finally take us back to the top flight. Sadly, after years of
disappointment and despair, the ‘best scenario’ seems impossible.
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