And invite realistic offers? Or do you believe he should stay and keep doing the... er... work. And before all the opposition fans vote that he should stay. Be more innovative with your humour, ya boring ****s.
Im not sure what type of chairman we need at this point in time. If he sells then we go into the unknown with no real knowledge of the way the club will be run. Thats why i voted unsure
Would you not rather take the incredibly minor risk that we get anyone worse than him? I certainly would. All we need is someone who can get the team promoted and listen to the fans' concerns. If they rebuy ER and TA, bonus. If they start being a dick, we'll cross that hurdle when we come to it, but it still can't be any worse than seven more years of THIS.
Leeds-18, THIS is not as bad as what it could be. Yes there are massively overpriced tickets which does seem to not only be driving fans away but not promoted younger crowds going to ER. Yes, he does not consider the fans when making comments (e.g. the morons comment) Yes, we have a wage cap. But I guarantee not many teams in this league have a better one. We do lose players, but you are aware that we wouldn't have accepted the bid for Howson unless Grayson gave the all clear. Im not sure whether you fully understand Ken Bates' role at the club. Its easy to point fingers at people when things go wrong but because we constantly buy up and coming talent, it is tough to keep hold of em when prem clubs come calling. Its one of the facts of the football pyramid. Bringing in players like Fabian Delph and Townsend costs a hell of a lot more money than you'd think as well. Which means we cant spend that money on transfer fees, personally i disagree with this approach but there are upsides to it. Grayson gets the money and he decides what he wants to do with it. All of money does go on other things but you do need to spend money on other things as well. Leeds United is a big club and running costs come with that. Thats not to say that i agree with eveything he has done because i dont. There is a lot of questionable things but I really think fans are over reacting to it. Hell, I over reacted when i heard howson was being sold
Only the team slipping down the table could make it worse, to state the obvious somewhat. But off the pitch, things are as bad as ever. And I mean that, as bad as ever. Along with dozens of other reasons. I'll copy the rant I put when talking to Chesh on the other thread: I'll reiterate the charges against him: promised to rebuy ER and TA - failed, promised to get us Premiership football if we paid Premiership prices - failed, promised to find investment - failed and slagged off investors who come to him instead of him actively seeking them, called fans morons, said he wanted to kill the club, charged the unfairest prices in world football, failed to invest properly in the team, relegated us to the lowest point in our history, sold Delph and failed to reinvest the fee, paid 750k into a failing radio business which means we can't listen to our team on public radio and are forced to hear **** cmmentary, paid his lawyer mate Taylor 500k, took 5m out of the club in unexplained 'other costs', building a 70m hotel scheme which will fail even worse than his one at Chelsea and will burden us with debt for years to come, killed off our home atmospheres with pricing which incentivizes non-singers to go in the most passionate stands and Nazi stewards, watched good players leave with a shrug of the shoulders, tried to deflect blame onto fans and manager when he knows the buck stops with him. Than 11k? I call bullshit. No, I'm not aware of that. And even if he did, it was only because he's in a situation where he's been fooled into thinking that selling players is good for the club. It's Bates-driven, plain and simple. Parker admitted that the club 'need the money'... well why?! His role is to make Leeds United successful. He has been one of the biggest barriers to that in the club's history. And correct, as well, when they are ultimately responsible. And Bates is. How have Palace managed to keep Zaha then? It's not a fact of football, and we're not a small club like Scunthorpe who are some sort of conveyor belt for players. Well, we are now, but we shouldn't be. Promise the players Premiership football. Demonstrate ambition. Give them incentivizing clauses in their contracts. Hell, just give them the going rate - that's all they ever seem to be asking for. You're confusing frugality with intransigence. Shaun Harvey's negotiating technique is inflexible and archaic. Fact of the matter is, success costs money in football. We have money, but refuse to buy success with it. Instead we lavishly purchase failure, and I'm not just talking about loanees and journeymen on the pitch. Both of those will have a significant amount paid for by Villa and Tottenham. It's in their interests that we take the players after all. We made about 750,000 from the Arsenal clash. That means we could pay Delph and Townsend 20k a week EACH for the next 17 weeks till after the season ends and still have a significant portion left over. It doesn't cost much money at all, relatively speaking. We exceed our breakeven point for every home game which pays for the running costs (i.e. ER and TA rent). And by the way, our wage bill is estimated to be between 35-50% of turnover. That's uncompetitive, especially if we have a wage cap. It's obvious that more money could be put towards transfers, and I remind you of the money that's gone missing in various ways that I mentioned in my rant above. It's unforgivable. It's inexplicable. There are no excuses for our transfer policy, none whatsoever. Even if you think it's just us 'running a tight ship', Bates has still clearly been trousering and wasting millions. I don't think fans are reacting to it enough. If we were in the 80s again or from Greece or some equally passionate country, Bates would be fearing for his life right now. As it is, there are still fans at Elland Road who barrack those shouting 'Bates out'. I'll say it again: what he's done to this football club is irreconcilable. He's the enemy of Leeds United and the obstruction to us ever being good or having a heart in our club again.
There's 2 ways of looking at the question; a) Should Bates put the club up for sale, based on the current quality of football played by Leeds Utd and the lack of finance to improve it? b) Should Bates put the club up for sale, based on the business plan he is currently working to, which has identified investments in building structures in and around ER, which Bates projects will make Leeds Utd financially safe/valuable in the long term? My vote would be to stay put, simply because he will not get the level of financial profit at this stage, that he may get in 2 or 3 years time. No business advisor would suggest to Bates and his partners that now was the right time to sell the club. I know nearly all the Leeds fans want the best players the club can afford on the pitch and do not see spending money on hotels, shops, pubs etc as anywhere near important to the club, and they are perhaps rightly feeling badly treated, especially when you consider how much money they invest in the club simply by supporting them. But this strategy might work, only time will tell. I would be very concerned about any Asian investment into the club, as they always appear to use the club as a means for their own business and whilst they invest heavily on the playing side of the business, the long term strategy is not good and I would worry that once the business people have had their fun, the club would become impossible to sell and ultimately would have to close down. I know Chelsea, Man City and Leicester fans don't see things this way, as they ride on the fun they are now having with all the money invested into their club, but the long run doesn't look good and I would worry what things might be like in 10 years time, and the investors want out, who will be able to afford the club is just one of the questions that needs asked. I hate Bates as much as any other Leeds fan, he is not a person I could do business with and in the times I have met him he has made me uncomfortable with his manner and uneasy about his business credentials. However, he has a plan and some people have invested into it, so there could be method in the madness we currently are suffering from.
"Both of those will have a significant amount paid for by Villa and Tottenham." Not sure about Delph, but I know for a fact that you are paying 100% of Townsends wages - which is the reason he went to you instead of us - nb we only paid 40% of it last season
TC you do chat **** it was in Tottenhams interest to loan Towsend to us id imagine it was 50/50 split, hell be on 25k a week Bates would only pay half that, Townsend has been **** since 1st game
LFIP As I can see it the only real benefit of Mr Bates, and there is some argument for it certainly, is that he has given your club stability. But surely the majority of fans want to see their beloved Leeds show intent to challenge the league. Selling of key players is not the best symbolic gesture. Therefore, by definition, purchasing players and keeping your best by offering better contract terms appears to be the solution but requires capital spending. As I see it, Leeds need to ask what type of Chairman would they want in place of Bates. We have proven that spending millions will not give overnight success (although all fans knew that anyhoo). So a balance between Bates and TOP is the ideal (however I certainly think Sven had a huge part in the financial nonsense over the summer)– who is he/she? But whilst stability may be useful…its not going to make you league destroyers. Sometimes I think you have to take a risk. As the saying goes “if you stand still in life, then life will simply pass you by”. I would say go for a new Chairman! P.s. I haven’t voted as its not my club
Pull up your fox Totally agree with everything you just said is that right? I feel a bit weird agreeing with you
The best for the club would be someone who wants to put back some self esteem into Leeds United for we are far from united with that cretin in charge the sooner he goes the better not just for the fans but for the people of Leeds . He is at best an embarssment and stain on this fine city ,.I would look to get someone who tells the truth which will be a big change and someone who wishes to invest long term not for the quick buck . I want the cretin investigated and kicked out of football .!
We can't get worse than Bates as most of the worlds worst dictators have now been executed. Wonder might the Americans come after bates, we can hope
