Leeds Utd

Kingp35

yeah I cant really see us finishing in the top 6 at this stage unless we put together an extra special run which is a bit unlikely. I think its all about gaining stability for the club tihis season in resolving the debts and the takeover talk and then the real push for promotion can begin next season.

Kingp35

As some of you may not have heard there has always been a second consortium in talks withe the leeds board about a possible takeover. This consortium is headed by a man called Norman Stubbs who is a leeds business man and above all a leeds fan. His consortium solely consists of leeds fans. It was revealed by Gerald Krasner that he never took the sainsbury bid serious and that all along he thought that it was just a spoiling tactic to hold up talks with the stubbs consortium which was the only bid that he was taking serious. It turns out that these talks have been on going and are now reaching an advanced stage. A statement has been released by Mr. Stubbs this morning which reads:

-from www.leedsunited.com-
"The Stubbs Consortium have had constructive discussions with the Football Club today.

"A successful conclusion to the transaction is dependant on negotiations with a number of third parties. We expect that these negotiations will take approximately 7-10 days. Everyone’s aim is to deliver a positive outcome for the benefit of the club."

Lets hope something positive becomes of it

quarryman

Kingp35 wrote:

It was revealed by Gerald Krasner that he never took the sainsbury bid serious and that all along he thought that it was just a spoiling tactic to hold up talks with the stubbs consortium which was the only bid that he was taking serious.

seee i don't get that. why spoil another consortium's bid if you weren't going to put one in yourself. doesn't really make sense.

Zaph

Well one reason to try to spoil the other bid would be so that Stubbs and co. would just get fed up with the whole thing and pull out, leaving Sainsbury as the only remaining potential buyer, possibly at a lower price than originally offered if the club was desperate enough. Clearly Stubbs wasn't playing ball and was prepared to carry on negotiations despite Sainsbury's messing. Let's hope he decides it was worth his while waiting.

The Muppet

quarryman wrote:

let's not get carried away here. the best i can see Leeds doing is getting enough points to survive administration and relegation.

-leeds supporter.

Its looking bad for Leeds this evening with reports that they are to go into administration on friday, The future looks very bleak for this once greeat club.

Zaph

Where are you getting that from? I've searched all the obvious sites and can't see any mention of that.

The Muppet

zaph wrote:

Where are you getting that from? I've searched all the obvious sites and can't see any mention of that.

I dont have an internet link for you Zaph.

Sorry

Zaph

No worries. I really hope it's nothing more than a rumour and that the Stubbs consortium take over as soon as possible. We're in enough crap without having 10 points deducted.

The Muppet

zaph wrote:

No worries. I really hope it's nothing more than a rumour and that the Stubbs consortium take over as soon as possible. We're in enough crap without having 10 points deducted.

Close call. Leeds agree a last minute deal with Ken Bates to take over so no administration today. Love him or loathe him Papa Smurf could be just the man for the job, he certainly has the relevant experience. Good luck Leeds.

Ardent

Kingp35 wrote:

Leeds desperately need someone to take them over but one man I definitely do not want as chairman is Ken Bates. Any approach from him or a consortium including him must be rejected or tbh i can only see matters getting worse!!

You're not going to be a happy bunny today!

KdjaCL

Ardent wrote:

You're not going to be a happy bunny today!

indeed, hope krasner gets on with him.


kdjac

Kingp35

Well it looks the man I didnt want to take over has taken over. As of 2.27am this morning friday the 21st of january the The Forward Sport Fund consortium headed up by that man Ken Bates has bought a 50% stake in the club giving them the majority shareholding and thus leadership of the club. Most of the current board with the exception of Peter Lorimor will be stepping down fron their positions.

I have to admit that this deal does save the club financially although I am not entirely sure about the exact details of how much the club was sold for or how much of the debt has been gotten rid of if not all of it. Ken Bates is a very dodgy character and wasnt somebody I wanted to head up Leeds but if the situation was as dire as it was made out to be then a deal had to be done. The man does have alot of experience with chelsea and after buying them for £1 he did build them up to be a big club although when he left the club they had massive debts just like leeds had. It remains to be seen what his plans for the club are and whether he has the best interests of the club at heart and I have to see im not too confident about this. Only time will tell. He has stated though that a number one priority of the new board is to buy back elland road and the thorpe arch training ground which is the home of leeds united. I have to respect the man for doing this as I cant see leeds playing anywhere else and the thorpe arch academy is one of the best in the country.

Finally I want to pay homeage to Gerald Krasner and the outgoing board. They have done a tremendous job a job that many financial experts said was impossible. Everyone said it was ineveitable that leeds would go into administration but the board climbed mountains to ensure this didnt happen and cut the clubs debt from £103m to just under £24m in less than a year. Thats a remarkable achievement and 80% of the clubs probelms have now been resolved and its Ken Bates job to rectify the rest. The board will be staying on for a few months to ensure a smooth change over of the club. I just to say Thank you to Gerald Krasner and all the board for doing an unbelievable job and saving my club.

THANK YOU!!!

Good luck too to Ken Bates and the new board. I suppose the man deserves a chance before I condemn him.Good luck to them and now all off field problems can be forgotten and the team can move forward.

quarryman

what he said

-q

Kingp35

On a side note liverpool have just completed the signing of scott carson. Im not sure of the fee as it is undisclosed but the rumour is that its £750,000 that will eventually rise to £1m. bit disappointed to lose a keeper with his potential have known how good he was for years. Excellent signing for liverpool bad loss for leeds. Still it was the clubs fault for not offering him a deal sooner.

http://www.leedsunited.com/article.asp?article=251161&blnFeedback=0&Title=Carson+Completes+Reds+Switch&navlid=newsroom

The Muppet

Kingp35 wrote:

On a side note liverpool have just completed the signing of scott carson. Im not sure of the fee as it is undisclosed but the rumour is that its £750,000 that will eventually rise to £1m. bit disappointed to lose a keeper with his potential have known how good he was for years. Excellent signing for liverpool bad loss for leeds. Still it was the clubs fault for not offering him a deal sooner.

http://www.leedsunited.com/article.asp?article=251161&blnFeedback=0&Title=Carson+Completes+Reds+Switch&navlid=newsroom

He turned down Chelsea as his chances of first team football was greater at Anfield, he must be a rare breed.

eirebhoy

The Muppet wrote:

He turned down Chelsea as his chances of first team football was greater at Anfield, he must be a rare breed.

I think the vast majority of young keepers would have chose Liverpool over Chelsea. Establised players may choose Chelsea, fair enough, but he won't make a name for himself playing in the reserves.

BTW, Leeds owe Robbie Fowler £2m, Danny Mills £1.8m and Nick Barmby £1m. :eek:

Kingp35

Leeds and stoke has just finished and leeds have won the game 1-0. it was a tight game and at the start of the season this type of game would have gone against leeds but maybe now a bit of luck is going our way.

Leeds have lost only 1 game in the last 8 now and believe it or not we are now only 6 points outside of the playoffs. it was a very good performance by leeds they were very sound defensively and were never really troubled. it did take an own goal to win the game but that doesnt matter.

So leeds are finally on the up.New owners and 3 points a good weekend I have to see. lets hope this form continues and we keep moving up the table.

quarryman

Disappointing result last night (2-0 to Derby) as they had been on a run of good form. At least the ten point deduction shouldn't factor in now so with a couple more wins they can stay in the Championship for another season. Make a push next year.

galactus

All Leeds fans seem to think the 10pt deduction is inevitable: why?

I know there were some rule changes but points deductions are rare. The last time I remember the rule being applied was when Boro didn't field a team (Robbo claimed the 1st team had flu). Also Barnet for got a 1pt deduction last season.

I seriously doubt the points deduction will apply, especially now Bates is on board.

The Rooster

Someone in one of the lower 2 divisions got a 10 point deduction this season for going into administation - Wrexham ?

I think quarrym meant that as new investors are now on board the risk of going into administation is now very low - so no need to worry about it any more.

Kingp35

yeah one of the lower teams got a ten point deduction all right not sure who it was. I dont think there ever was any serious threat of leeds getting relegated this season. The 10 points would have put alot of pressure on us but we still would have had enough points to get out of it imo.

yeah very disappointing result on wednesday i thought we should have at least been able to get a draw out of the game. This run that we were on had given me a bit of false hope that maybe we could get into the playofs but its pretty unlikely. We are only 6 points outside of the playoffs but every team has a game in hand now. to really give us any chance we have to beat brighton or thats it for the playoffs I think it was always going to be one season to stabalise the club and then go for the major prmotion push next season.

On a good nte i just bought tickets to the reading game and booked my flights tonight. cant wait should be a good game.hopefully we can win it

Kingp35

it was a good win for leeds on saturady beating burnley 0-1 and being the first team to beat them at home since october and also being the first team to score against them in 726 minutes of football. It was much needed and keeps the slight hopes of a playoff place alive.

Leeds dominated the game for 80 minutes but the same old arrived with the strikers not being able to take their chances. Countless opportunities were missed and this lead to a tense last ten when burnley finally started playing. Neil Sullivan saved a penalty in that time. Fair play the Gylfi "the iceman" Einarrsson who scored leeds goal. I think he will be a real threat from midfield having scored 16 goals from their last season. It was a good start for new signing Michael Gray too at left back. He slotted in well.

Leeds have almost completed the signing of West Brom forward Robert Hulse on an initial loan deal. He is a big strong target man and will provide leeds with much needed fire power up front if the deal can be completed.

On a further note Ian McNeill has rejoined the club as cheif scout. He was cheif scout under geoge graham and also for a time under David O Learyand is responsible for finding and bringing Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink to the club among others. Blackwell has given him immediate instructions to start looking for first team players with the hope of signing a further 3 players this season.
Lets hope he can unearth another Hasselbaink