Hi Leeds United fans, my name is Rob McGrattan and I am a student at Southampton Solent University. I am currently writing my dissertation project on The Championships Finances between 2005-2009. As part of my project, I am doing a case study on Leeds United amongst others. I am wondering whether, fans would be able to give me their views on Peter Ridsdale in his time at your club and your views on the financial mismanagement that resulted your club entering Administration. All views would be welcomed. All the best for the remainder of the season.
He should never have been appointed at such a high level, I mean he came from HR Director at Topman for ****sake. Clubs manage with debt but he made the debt unmanagable by signing ****e, we were offered fowler or ronaldinho for 12 million oleary chose fowler and we also had chance to sign Lampard for 6 million Oleary chose not to! Poor management in all parts of the club
He is the classic example of what happens when a gamble goes wrong. He gambled. We were "living the dream". We were living on the promise of a top 4 finish & Champions League footy each year. We were paying silly money & we had farcical contracts, so much so, that we couldn't afford to keep some 17 year old bloke called Lennon when he'd played a couple more games & we weren't in the champions league. He & others around at the time did not put anything in place for the day when we missed out on CL footy, hence the slide to L1 & the fire sale of our best players, including the best of our academy. Until recently, our midfield could have been Lennon, Howson, Milner, & Delph, all of whom could conceivably form an England midfield in the future.
Hi Rob, have you read Peter Ridsdale's book? He was a fan and wanted the best for the club and its fans but he was very naive and he will go down in history as a huge failure. His actions pale in comparison to his successors, including and especially Ken Bates.
I don't think so JLA. Without Ridsdale & what he did, Bates would never have appeared on our horizon.
Boggers, you appear to be writing about cause and effect. I have written about what each's intentions appear to be and their resulting actions. That is my opinion and I have tried to debate it to death with others mostly on other boards. I don't intend to, and will not, do it here. You are free to believe whatever you want to believe.
It is very simple JLA. Ridsdale gambled by living the dream. He put in place hopeless contracts. It was based on the idea that the money was there so long as we were in the champions league. No plan was in place for the possibility of us not being in the Champions league. When we failed to qualify, the debts mounted & we had to sell both our best players and our youth. Whilst Bates took over part way through our downward slide, we didn't hit rock bottom until we arrived in L1. Bates took a long while to put finances back in good order AND ensure our debts were reduced to a more manageable amount. Had Ridsdale not got us into near bankruptcy, Bates would never have been able to get involved. Clear enough for you now?
Thanks for playing Boggers was this not clear enough for you: "That is my opinion and I have tried to debate it to death with others mostly on other boards. I don't intend to, and will not, do it here. You are free to believe whatever you want to believe."
Peter Ridsdale did exactly what the fans wanted, he supported the manager without question. He was no more guilty of financial mis-management than many other chairman of the time, he just got the fans backlash for the "living the dream" comments. We can only blame him for not saying no, now we blame Bates for not saying Yes (I would not want the chairman's job). At the time Leeds were flying high its worth noting Tottenham under Daniel Levy were borrowing 80 million just to break into the top places. The gamble they took paid off and they used a portion of that money to buy up our players on the cheap (Keane & Lennon). Leeds Unitied's troubles really started when nervous investors tried to cash in quick and get their money back. Ridsdale's position became untenable with players been touted around every club as we looked vulnerable, but we were doomed as soon as John McKenzie took over and started the wholesale panic which effected the fans, banks & playing squads confidence. We were left servicing stupid debts and should have entered administration whilst still in the Premiership, but we were instead sold off the a group of muppet's lead by an insolvency specialist who claimed an interest in the club, but they just finished off the asset stripping (Ground, Young Players etc) before trying to cash in on what was left. This led onto Bates who they only offered 50% of the club to in the hope of making more money in the future, Bates did not go along with the plan and got full control & avoided paying them any money via a creative administration. So I for one don't blame directly Peter Ridsdale for what happened, it was just unfortunate that Leeds was the lesson that football had to learn.
As I see it: - Peter Ridsdale tried to do his best for the club and the fans. He over-extended us, had no Plan B and blew it in a major way. - Ken Bates saw an opportunity for himself and any partners he may have had/does have and is milking the club for all its worth. One had good intentions for the club, the other has good intentions for himself. One's history has been written, the other's is a work in progress and he will be judged later. Let's hope that this time we are not as surprised as last time.
Just when you think enough water has passed under the bridge.....someone brings up Peter Ridsdale. D'oh
de·mise   /dɪˈmaɪz/ Show Spelled [dih-mahyz] Show IPA noun, verb, -mised, -mis·ing. noun 1. death or decease. 2. termination of existence or operation: the demise of the empire. Who is that team playing at Elland Road in the Championship?
JLA, I think you may find yourself in the minority here. Your obviously entitled to your views and opinions but what Ridsdale did was ****ing stupid. Bates may be looking out for himself but leeds are moving forward as a football club and we have no threat of the financial troubles we had that were directly caused by Ridsdale If you look out for the club and fail, your a failure. If you look out for yourself and the club move forward, your a success.
No, but I don't think anyone did, no fan fully understood the consequences of what was going on but as the chairman you should understand the consequences. He failed at his job. If your a business man, you need to understand the spending of money and if you are borrowing money you need to understand what that entails and you MUST have backup plans. You will never convince me otherwise on Ridsdale, the fact that he has failed at so many clubs is enough to show how **** he is at running football clubs
Josh, I don't disagree with you on Ridsdale at all. It seems we have a different view on the current chairman. We may not understand the depth of the damage he has done/is doing, contemporaneously, just as we did not when Ridsdale did.
JLA, as I read it, you're saying that it doesn't matter what someone does, as long as they've got good intentions. Bugger, I've really misunderstood that guy Hitler. He did it all for the good of Germany.
Whitejock, youo may want to try to read it again. I did not condone what Peter Ridsdale did and your analogy is nothing short of disgusting. There is also no need to make fun of Boggers name.
