But you're only talking short term. In the long run, Forest will play at a consistently higher that Brighton (and why are Forest struggling - lack of investment, hence they want Doughty out. Brighton have had investment). Same with Liverpool and Tottenham (although I don't think there is a massive difference in size between those two clubs to be fair - they're both ten 10). For a club with Leeds' fanbase, your have underachieved for eight years now, and will continue to do so until you are taken over.
I can't believe Reading have been taken over by some Russian Billionaire. With their fan base and attendances being what they are, I'm sure that if I was a Russian Billionaire with no allegances to any club looking to invest in a football club it would definitely be Leeds United as I personally think they have a better fan base than Man ****ty had. But anyway what do I know ?
Reading, as a club, is in a much much much better position than Leeds at the moment. Which is why this bloke has decided to take it over.
Leeds arent a very good club for a buyer at the minute. Out of date stadium, Fan protesting, financial problems, club underachieving. I think they need someone who is a Leeds fan to take over their as they are going to encounter alot of problems along the way. Reading on the other hand dont have these problems and was in the prem not that long ago
So why are you posting irrelevant ****e on this thread that has nothing to do with your little club or any of your players?
QUOTE BY PROUD FOX.. Nigel is trying to sort that out and we will no longer spend stupidly but has the damage already been done who knows. If Nigel doesnt feel he is getting a reasonable price he will get elsewhere. He has proved this with Billy Sharp by not offering stupidly high wages. Had Sven wanted Cameron Stewart we probably would have signed him already but Hull would of got around 4-5M for him. THE REPLY FROM ME WAS Billy Sharp did not want to move to leicester city..............and neither did cameron stewart SO WHATS YOUR PROBLEM ANDY KINGS TESTICLES ??? DOH [ neither did maynard ]
Tbh, we never got to speak with NM or CS, so with your theory, they don't want to play for any other club in the world. Sharp got offered and signed a better contract with donny, and he wasnt unhappy at donny, so stayed.
Whilst I agree that it would be great to see this and you could get scenarios where great managers like Clough get clubs from 2nd Division to European Cup winners, unfortunately, football has now changed to a stage where, for that to be possible, Sky TV, the Champions League etc. would all have to bite the dust and we both know that will never happen - at least not for a long time. To talk about football in general (I'm not suggesting that Leicester are about to go on and win the Champions League - well not yet anyway ), the only way you can go onto to compete at the highest level for a sustained period of time (which we all want for our clubs), is to spend money - like Man City. Yes there are exceptions like Spurs but if we're talking about constant, sustained success in the big competitions, Man City will always be there or there abouts whereas Spurs could easily falter away if/when Redknapp goes and if/when players like Bale, Modric can get higher wages elsewhere. It could be argued that the Premiership has been made more competitive by Man City and I'm sure if Leeds were in their position then you wouldn't be complaining. UEFA's Financial Fair Play, whilst it probably means well, will only succeed to widen this gap and speed up the creation of this football hierarchy that we're seeing developed. There is nothing wrong with spending money (all clubs spend money to try and improve their squad - just some spend more than others), it's just how well you spend it. We can probably say that, on the whole, Sven didn't do that. So we are where we are because of bad spending rather than spending itself.
Out of date stadium: Which is the 12th largest in the country and needs one stand doing, hardly falling down. Fan protesting: ... because of the current owner (fairly common sense that one) Financial problems: Since when? This is news to me Club underachieving: Also because of the current owner
They wouldn't have to bite the dust per se, it's just that the money shouldn't be given directly to clubs to do whatever they want with it; the FA should stipulate that it's all directed towards academies, grassroots, stadium improvements or whatever rather than astronomical wages and transfer fees. Yes I would. I don't want Leeds to monopolize power - hell, they had the best team in the world (arguably) in the 70s and couldn't do that in the tough climate of the English First Division. The Premiership has been made HARDER TO WIN for the average club, but that doesn't mean it's more competitive. Competitive implies competition - competition for the title. And there's very little of that when only four, five or six clubs realistically have a chance (if that many). Germany and France have still got competitive leagues, and we could too if we stood up to the oligarchy at the top of the Premiership and made sure that TV subsidies stopped. I agree that FFP needs to be met with a forcible redirection of funds as I described above, for it to work 100%. But it is still a step forwards since it means that clubs like Wigan won't have to go bust when the **** hits the fan and they're relegated, left with a wage bill which accounts for more than they even turn over (110% last season, wasn't it?) There also needs to be enforced limitation of external player funding, a wage cap and a transfer fee cap in my opinion. Call me a footballing socialist, but this unrestrained Manc duopoly is going to make England just the same as Scotland and Spain, which is even worse for competitivity than the present. And Proud Fox, all a new owner would need to do is rebuy Elland Road and Thorp Arch, give the stadium a quick facelift and Leeds would be ready again. Altogether, that shouldn't cost more than 30m. We make that much each year. Don't underestimate how big Leeds' fanbase still is and how appealing such a club is to men interested in football. With momentum and wise direction, Leeds could be right back at the upper reaches of the Premier League and soon.
I think what Proud Fox is trying to say is the financial problem lies with Ken Bates because hes a tight fisted git and doesnt want to spend his money on new players. He'd rather his Manager find him little gems who he can sell on at a massive profit and not really replace them.
If Leeds were a truly big club then they would have had no problems getting some serious investment by now. Investors seem to give them a wide berth. Why? I guess they just don't see the potential. This mentatlity has a knock on effect to their players. Any that have potential/ambition see their future elsewhere. Their ground is big - so what. The old Wembley was big but still needed tearing down.
Im not slagging off Elland Road im just saying as a foreign investor you would rather a modern stadium as to that. Ken Bates is your main problem, get rid of him and most of the other problems will sort themselves
