Leeds United Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours

JokerD

A lad from TSB is on WACCOE and has said this in response to someone saying they thought the whole thing was off....

"It was dead as a dodo, but things changed across the day after Harvey got back from Monaco."

JokerD

Latest L.U.S.T statement

LUST - Update

Further to our reports earlier today that the proposed takeover of Leeds United has collapsed, we have been working to find out more details about the situation.

We were told that in the last few days negotiations between Leeds United and the potential investors were delicately poised, and that yesterday Shaun Harvey flew to Monaco for discussions about the deal. This morning we were informed that the deal for a takeover of the club had collapsed.

As soon as we were able we shared news of this development with our members and with the wider Leeds United fan base, who have been anxiously waiting for updates since the club�€™s last statement in June.

As the day has progressed, we have done all we can to get a full picture of the situation at Elland Road. What has become clear to us is that events are moving quickly, and that urgent discussions have been taking place in the light of this deal�€™s collapse.

Those discussions have resulted in this evening's statement from Leeds United on their official website, which has confirmed that the period of exclusivity agreed with a potential investor has ended.

The statement goes on to say that Leeds United are happy to continue discussions with this investor on a non-exclusive basis, and we are encouraged that the opportunity is still there to conclude a deal that had reached an advanced stage, but had looked to be over this morning.

We are also pleased to read in this statement that Leeds United remain willing to listen to approaches, and we welcome this positive stance. As we have stated previously, Leeds United Supporters' Trust have spoken with several parties interested in the future of Leeds United, and we are pleased that the door appears to be open for them to come forward.

At L.U.S.T. we remain committed to our Vision Statement and the desire our members have for change at Leeds United. While we are disappointed that the uncertain situation at Elland Road looks set to continue, we will keep doing all we can to help bring about a positive future for Leeds United.

As ever, we will update the fans with developments whenever we can.

downthemiddle

All is not doom and gloom for Leeds fans today

Katie Taylor
MOT

punk77

Looks like LUST are keeping their powder dry for now. Hard to imagine Harvey could be the hero in all this.

JokerD

Diouf apparently trained with us today

Zaph

JokerD wrote: »

Diouf apparently trained with us today

It never rains...

fanzhiyidan

JokerD wrote: »

Diouf apparently trained with us today

if that's icing, I'm never eating cake again!

championc

JokerD wrote: »

@TheSquareBall
Buyers tell @APOPEY that they will come back to the table if originally agreed terms are met. Ken moved goalposts at last minute. #lufc

Add to this the Club statement tonight
"The Club remain happy to continue discussions, but not on an exclusive basis, so as not to prevent other options passing.
.
.
The Club will continue to be receptive to approaches from potential new partners who can establish that they have the necessary credentials."

Are we just seeing the final hands of a game of poker ? So how desparate are new potential owners especially if the door is now "seen" to be open for another buyer ?

A real investor who sees a great opportunity to make a healthy return isn't going to turn their back on such a deal ........ nor is Bates likely to turn his back on £60m or whatever it might be.

And lets face it, Bates will never be able to show his face in Yorkshire let alone anywhere near ER ever again.

Jimmyboss

punk77

fanzhiyidan wrote: »

if that's icing, I'm never eating cake again!

Icing??? I'd be happy enough with just plain cake right now. If Warnock can get the best out of Diouf then I think he can give us some of what we're lacking and, he's free, which is about all we can afford right now. Get him in. Everybody else hates Leeds, Warnock and Diouf so it's a match made in heaven. The 'sewer rat' could thrive at Leeds and I could see him becoming a fans favorite. Remember another despised player named Vinny Jones and the impact he had. If Warnock is willing to work with this guy then that's fine with me.

event

JokerD wrote: »

Latest L.U.S.T statement

LUST - Update

Further to our reports earlier today that the proposed takeover of Leeds United has collapsed, we have been working to find out more details about the situation.

We were told that in the last few days negotiations between Leeds United and the potential investors were delicately poised, and that yesterday Shaun Harvey flew to Monaco for discussions about the deal. This morning we were informed that the deal for a takeover of the club had collapsed.

As soon as we were able we shared news of this development with our members and with the wider Leeds United fan base, who have been anxiously waiting for updates since the club�€™s last statement in June.

As the day has progressed, we have done all we can to get a full picture of the situation at Elland Road. What has become clear to us is that events are moving quickly, and that urgent discussions have been taking place in the light of this deal�€™s collapse.

Those discussions have resulted in this evening's statement from Leeds United on their official website, which has confirmed that the period of exclusivity agreed with a potential investor has ended.

The statement goes on to say that Leeds United are happy to continue discussions with this investor on a non-exclusive basis, and we are encouraged that the opportunity is still there to conclude a deal that had reached an advanced stage, but had looked to be over this morning.

We are also pleased to read in this statement that Leeds United remain willing to listen to approaches, and we welcome this positive stance. As we have stated previously, Leeds United Supporters' Trust have spoken with several parties interested in the future of Leeds United, and we are pleased that the door appears to be open for them to come forward.

At L.U.S.T. we remain committed to our Vision Statement and the desire our members have for change at Leeds United. While we are disappointed that the uncertain situation at Elland Road looks set to continue, we will keep doing all we can to help bring about a positive future for Leeds United.

As ever, we will update the fans with developments whenever we can.

realistically, that says nothing really

JokerD

L.U.S.T Chairman........

"I refuse to comment on time frames but in this case mate i cant possibly see how a conclusion cant be close, the deal is so advanced and so delicately poised it has to reach a conclusion."

JokerD

Article in the YEP by Phil Hay....
By Phil Hay
Published on Friday 10 August 2012 10:08

And so the familiar question: where do Leeds United go from here?

Forward, would be Ken Bates’ answer but the 80-year-old is ever the optimist. To some inside Elland Road and many on the outside, the takeover which ran into trouble yesterday was a deal that had to happen; a deal the club could not afford to lose. But lose it they might – and on the eve of the season too.

It is nothing new for Leeds to be seeking financial investment but in Bates’ seven-and-a-half years as chairman they have never chased it as vigorously as they have this summer. A sizeable injection of cash was not merely welcome at Elland Road. All the signs said it was crucial for the good of this season and the long-term stability of the club.
United are not a penniless entity but their budget is increasingly tight. It was that financial pressure which rewrote the plans of their manager, Neil Warnock, to sign numerous players before the end of May and many more before pre-season began on July 11. Put simply, Leeds did not have the cash he needed; hence the appetite for external funding and discussions with those willing to invest.

The consortium from the Middle East who began discussing a buy-out in May have money. United confirmed as much in the statement they published on June 26, revealing that the unnamed group were performing due diligence and inspecting the club’s accounts.
The statement read: “Our discussions have left us very comfortable that they have the financial resources to support the club and will have no issues in satisfying the requirements of the Football League’s Owners and Directors Test.”
So, rich enough and fit and proper; tailor-made, in other words, to assume control of Leeds in its present state. From there a takeover was matter of time, or so the assumption went. Two legal sources who worked on the due diligence process told the YEP at the end of June that a deal was effectively in place, dependent only on standard formalities.
Leeds made no comment in the six weeks that followed their statement of June 26 but the silence was intentional, at least to begin with. The club took the view that they would say something when they had something meaningful to say, rather than flood the media with holding statements.
But doubts crept in after last weekend’s friendly against Preston when Warnock admitted he had no cash to buy a new striker or a right winger, the missing pieces from his puzzle.

The suggestion that the takeover might be in trouble was given more credence when United chief executive Shaun Harvey flew to meet Bates in Monaco on Wednesday, an apparent attempt to move the agreement towards a conclusion. Instead, the deal wobbled badly.
The reasons for that wobble are unclear. One legal contact told the YEP that the terms of the sale were altered by Leeds at the last minute, causing the buyers to lose patience. Another source claimed the buyers themselves had made additional demands. Both insisted, nonetheless, that a settlement was still achievable. Leeds gave the same impression in a statement issued yesterday afternoon, 73 days after the saga began.
Harvey’s commitment to securing investment this summer has been absolute. People who know him talk of a man under heavy stress these past three months.

It was he who showed an American consortium around Elland Road and Thorp Arch in May and he who courted the group from the Middle East once they arrived on the Americans’ coat-tails. He has taken no holiday since the end of last season. That fact alone suggests he saw the value of external funding after a Championship term in which United tailed off and finished 14th.
Where a failed takeover would leave him is unclear. It appears that under the terms of the proposed buy-out, Bates would sever ties with the club but Harvey would stay on as chief executive, at least in the short-term. Yet Bates, it seems, is not ready to go on the basis of the offer which came to a head on Wednesday night. He might yet be persuaded.

It will not surprise United’s owner – still in possession of a 72.85 per cent stake – that a section of the club’s support want him to leave. That much was shown by the protests which began at the start of last season and continued until the appointment of Warnock called a truce of sorts.
There were impromptu demonstrations and organised ones too. The relationship between the club and their fans deteriorated to an impossible extent and it will demoralise Warnock intensely if he is asked to throw himself into next season with protests all around him. He has fought all summer to build a connection with a fanbase whose disillusionment last season knew no bounds.

Interviewing Warnock at Thorp Arch on Monday, I was compelled to ask him about the takeover.
He said that the process had been so drawn out that he had long worked under the assumption that nothing would change. He was right to do so and through a combination of persistence and patience, his squad is almost in place.

Bringing it together seemed all but impossible at the end of May when Leeds were dragging their heels in raising £400,000 to buy Joel Ward from Portsmouth. At that stage, even Warnock doubted his chances of filling most of the vacancies.
But in doing so, he has made promotion less fanciful than it once appeared. He is close to having the squad he desired.
He received help, of course, and not only from his club. United’s would-be buyers were actively involved in talks aimed at preventing Robert Snodgrass’ £3million move to Norwich City – fruitless though those efforts were – and they are thought to have contributed to financing the extension of Aidan White’s contract. They have not been impassive as the summer unfolded.

Their input will go no further than that unless they and Leeds can reconcile their differences. In the meantime, the concerns are tenfold: can United, minus investment, allow Warnock to bring his squad up to full strength before the end of August? Can they pay for a new deal for Ross McCormack?

And will funds be available for the January transfer window, assuming Warnock needs players when it opens? But the threat to the takeover poses a more fundamental question, that of the bond – or lack of it – between United’s current owner and large parts of the club’s support.
Last season proved that the bond was broken. What chance of Leeds moving forward while the status quo remains unchanged?

It was something more than filthy-rich buyers which many fans craved this summer.

They wanted a fresh start.

J Cheever Loophole

Bringing it together seemed all but impossible at the end of May when Leeds were dragging their heels in raising £400,000 to buy Joel Ward from Portsmouth. At that stage, even Warnock doubted his chances of filling most of the vacancies.

I know I shouldn't, but it's when I read lines like this that I can't help but think of the vast sums needlessly squandered on players in the past, who simply were not needed.

What would Leeds give now for the money spent, between transfer and wages, on someone like Robbie Fowler for instance?

JokerD

McCormack is in contract talks today.

KJ

Is the match on any tv channel tomorrow?

JokerD

http://www.itv.com/news/calendar/update/2012-08-10/leeds-united-supporters-trust-speak-about-the-clubs-future/

Interview with Gary Cooper, talks about yesterday's events etc.

JokerD

Lots of stories flying about that Diouf has signed and could play tomorrow.

JokerD

KJ wrote: »

Is the match on any tv channel tomorrow?

No it's not on as far as I know

Fozzie Bear

Takeover back on again.....

BBC report

JokerD

Hmmmmmm?????

JokerD

Phil Hay‏PhilHayYEP
El-Hadji Diouf is in the building...walking along the touchline at Elland Road as we speak #lufc

JokerD

JokerD

http://www.leedsunited.com/news/20120811/diouf-signs-up-for-united_2247585_2878199

Signed on a non-contract basis

JokerD

Team:
Kenny, Byram, Peltier, Pearce, White, Green, Norris(C), Austin, Varney, McCormack, Becchio

KJ

I wonder why it isn't on the official website yet? Maybe cos there is only so much bad news we can take.
Oh it's just popped up on my phone now. He is a massive twat but hopefully he will do a job.

JokerD

KJ wrote: »

I wonder why it isn't on the official website yet? Maybe cos there is only so much bad news we can take.

It is, I posted it a few posts up.

JokerD

2-0 Becchio and Varney

event

Online audio stream anywhere?

JokerD

4-0 Norris and McCormack pen

JokerD

Looked like McCormack's celebration was him mimicking signing a new contract, hopefully anyway.

championc

Fozzie Bear wrote: »

Takeover back on again.....

BBC report

What was that I said on Thursday about this just being a poker game !! If it makes business sense and also makes new owners a decent return on their investment then it's always very likely to happen.

JokerD

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/4482939/Leeds-United-takeover-set-to-go-ahead-despite-a-late-snag.html

Mushy

Now Im getting hopeful again. It cant end well.

As for the match, good convincing win. Hope for the same come next Saturday.

Tarquin1970

@PhilHayYEP: Interesting week for the takeover ahead: talks on Friday btwn #lufc and buyers described to me as "v positive". Deal not dead by any stretch

Leeds Fan and Sun Journalist: @AndrewHaigh: @andywood_86 Yep, comes from good journalist with good sources. Very confident it will now go through.

punk77

'I get knocked down, but I get up again'

Tubthumping by Chumbawamba has been replaying in my head since yesterday:D:D:D Perfect song for the last few days.

It feels like we're in end-game with the T/O and I'm feeling confident and positive again :eek:

JokerD

A Gary Cooper comment on WACCOE:

"all i can say is that on Friday our contact with the buyers was incredibly confident and could see no other outcome mate"

Carcharodon

Dont even care about takeover anymore, just want to try and enjoy the new season.

JokerD

Paynter to wrap up his Donny move today.

punk77

JokerD wrote: »

Paynter to wrap up his Donny move today.

FFS, here we go again. Beckford, Gradel, Howson, Snodgrass and now Paynter. When will it ever end. I wouldn't be surprised if we end up replacing him with a talent-less journeyman like Maynard :pac:

Bye,bye Billy. Thanks for all the memories and don't forget to shut the door on the way out.

Tarquin1970

@TSSLUFC: Some guy on WACCOE claimed terms of takeover have been agreed, @BillyIsGod (Gary Cooper, LUST) vouched for his credibility. #LUFC

Can Anyone registered on WACCOE confirm?

punk77

TOMA thread is on fire atm with speculation that the deal has been agreed but NO confirmation that it has been signed. a brief summary from one poster:

1:Boozie says deal has been agreed but not sure if it's signed
2:BIG says Boozie is reliable
3:BIG says he has not yet spoken to his own contact
4:BIG's contact is different to Boozies

punk77

Latest post from boozie on WACCOE:



Right, since last week when Bates demanded more money at the last min there has been lots of negotiating to get the deal back on track. Last night/early this morning an agreement was made whereby both parties are happy with the terms on offer. I am trying to find out the exact stage we are at. This does not mean it is a done deal (we have been in this position before and Bates did his best to cock it up). However, the fact the disagreement has been resolved is extremely encouraging. It would be very unusual to re-negotiate terms and then not go ahead. When I hear more I will let you know, in the meantime don't bother sitting at the PC hitting F5, enjoy life.

punk77

Same guy posted this earlier. Sung to the tune of the Monkee's Daydream Believer:

I thought TOMA was only true in fairytales
Meant for someone else but not for me
Bates was out to get me
That's the way it seemed
Disappointment haunted all my dreams

Then I saw BIG's face, now I'm a believer
Not a trace of doubt in my mind
I'm in love, I'm a believer
I couldn't leave Leeds if I tried



Could become an anthem. Class :D:D

JokerD

Once again I manage to get to the gym early in the day and come home to this after reading WACCOE all morning.

The last time I got to the gym early in the day, I came home to 4 signings.

I'll try to get there early tomorrow so it's announced tomorrow afternoon.

punk77

LOL.

I know we've been there before but this feels different. I believe now that the announcement is imminent. Get yourself back to the gym:D:D:D

Zaph

tim_holsters

I’m happy enough at the arrival of Diouf, his past crimes and misdemeanours notwithstanding the guy is quality at this level. We’re lacking players with flair and technique so he fits the bill perfectly.

He also has bottle something which we most definitely lacked in numerous games last season, he was the second best player on the pitch for me when we played Donny at ER, although every time he got the ball whichever Leeds player was nearest to him was being encouraged to smack him hard by plenty of folk in the crowd.

If we can manage to get behind him and we get a good start and ER starts to buzz again he could really thrive here.

Bates Diouf and Warnock. Such an attractive trio for the neutral.

mooman

tim_holsters wrote: »

I’m happy enough at the arrival of Diouf, his past crimes and misdemeanours notwithstanding the guy is quality at this level. We’re lacking players with flair and technique so he fits the bill perfectly.

He also has bottle something which we most definitely lacked in numerous games last season, he was the second best player on the pitch for me when we played Donny at ER, although every time he got the ball whichever Leeds player was nearest to him was being encouraged to smack him hard by plenty of folk in the crowd.

If we can manage to get behind him and we get a good start and ER starts to buzz again he could really thrive here.

Bates Diouf and Warnock. Such an attractive trio for the neutral.

He must have serious bottle, signing after the abuse he got from Leeds fans

punk77

Looks like Cranie will sign for Barnsley.

http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11713/7989085

Pity. Thought he'd provide decent cover at the back,especially at CB, but he probably wouldn't have been happy to be just a squad player. Anyway, can't really blame him for wanting first team football.