Okay, firstly I have signed up to LUST because I want to be part of something to believe in. However, this bolshi attitude is beginning to worry me. All this talk of "we're close to the players, talking to investors...blah blah blah" is starting to look like nothing more than posturing to gain credibility. I am starting to wonder if the people behind LUST have personal, ego driven agendas. Here's why. I really don't like these "revelations" from players apparently coming to LUST to share their "feelings". If this is actually taking place, it is damn poor decision making by LUST to go public with this information. Why? What would any potential transfer target think? LUST are portraying a Leeds United dressing room in total disarray, and if its not then this kind of negative information will soon ensure it is!!!! Look, one thing is a given, footballers are a cowardly bunch who will always blame everything else but themselves. Give them a reason to play badly, not sign a contract, and by gum they will jump at the chance. Oh, and this is not me talking, this is Warnock in his Sheff Utd fly on the wall documentary. No matter how bad things may seem to us on the outside, if LUST have genuine inside info its just crap to out it as if Leeds are ****ed in the dressing room. It lacks intelligence and suave. If this is how LUST will behave, trying to get involved in a game of one-upmanship with Bates, well then they are not really acting in the best interests of the supporters. Sorry, don't have time for ego trippers, bad enough with Bates in charge. We all know Bates is not who we want running our club, but to start involving players in the argument is just plain stupid. I may be wrong, but it seems LUST are simply in the business of picking a fight with Bates to gain kudos. Hope I'm wrong, just don't like the negativity of involving players, especially those we would like to sign new deals with the club.
I hope this all works out for you guys truly but any investor or purchaser will want every t crossed and every i dotted before they make any kind of involvement or agreement with Ken Bates,He is a crook in every sense of the word, i personally think he has with his twisting and weaving knitted himself a complexed cobweb involving all his welling and dealings over the last 7 yrs made it almost impossible to unravel and get to the crust of what is what and what goes where,People investing massive amounts of money into this venture will have checked his CV and anyone in their right mind would simply refuse to deal or trust the man, Also i think that if there was anything in the pipeline that a statement surely from him assuring everybody (staff, management,players.)that matters are in hand would not go amiss but nobody has heard a thing from the great man himself, I hope i am wrong and this all gets sorted for all your sakes but i would not want KB to pee on me if i was on fire cos he would probably sue me for taking the piss. just my humble opinion
Disagree BS. LUST want a place at the table and have been denied. They have done very well so far and telling the fans that the players agree with lust is another way to get more fans signing up. what you will have to accept is that mistakes will be made along the way. If you choose to walk away over one tactic that you feel is flawed, that says more about you than them.
I disagree - Looking around other forums, the LUST facebook page and twitter it has had the opposite effect, there certainly seem more fans not happy with LUST making this announcement than those supporting it. I can totally see and understand where BS is coming from. I signed up a while back and I will continue to support them and I also agree with your other comment Elmo that mistakes will be made along the way and I think this announcement is one of those mistakes, fingers crossed LUST learn from this.
http://soundcloud.com/lufctrust/lust-chairman-gary-cooper-on Listen to Gary Cooper's Radio Leeds interview. It's only 10 minutes. The player's contacted LUST via their own intermediaries, and the implication is the players wanted LUST to make it clear to the rest of the world that this is how they felt. As GC states, the manager has already stated he is frustrated with what is going on (and he has made that clear a lot), the captain and best player has made it clear he does not trust the lies he has been fed, none of our 3 best players (Clayton, Snodgrass, McCormack) have signed contracts and all are likely to leave with one put on transfer list, White has not signed a contract and is walking away despite depserately wanting to stay, the fans have made it clear, now an intermediary organisation has made it clear many of the rest of the players are unhappy. Open your eyes. This is pressure on Bates. This club is falling apart from the inside. Don't try and shift the blame to the messenger, cos that's all that people are doing here.
Yes keep the pressure on Bates but in the right way, I still feel the announcement was a mistake, sorry I just can't see it any other way. I respect your opinion and I realise it is not going to change on the subject. There is far too much speculation being mixed with facts and it is damaging because it clouds issues. White is reported to have been offered £10k a week, I say he isn't worth more than that so I would let him bugger off is he wants more, it doesn't smell of someone desperately wanting to stay. Warnock is frustrated at what is going on, we all are, it could be that he is frustrated that the talks are taking so long and he wants it sorted so he can crack on. Any other circumstance and I dare say he would have walked by now, the fact we haven't secured any of his targets and he is still our manager spells a little hope that just maybe he is waiting to see the outcome of the takeover. We all have our own opinions on everything, mine is that there is a right and wrong way to get Bates out or put pressure on and the player statement wasn't one of them.
Ristac is right that we all have our own opinions. We are never going to have all the Leeds fans in full agreement. Yet LUST, LUSC, Thousands of Leeds fans & now the players all seem to agree on the fact that it is time for Ken Bates to step aside. I am sure this is the point LUST is trying to get across to Ken Bates, but its Ken's party and only he will decide when to move on, or if to stay... Oh what a tangled web we weave, When first we practise to deceive! My opinion is Ken Bates realises this, but is in too deep with the shell companies to let anyone audit the clubs accounts too closely. So getting investment or selling up has become too risky, we might have to wait until his health fails as it will harder to extradite him to face charges & he might sell up.
My opinion is Ken Bates realises this, but is in too deep with the shell companies to let anyone audit the clubs accounts too closely. So getting investment or selling up has become too risky, we might have to wait until his health fails as it will harder to extradite him to face charges & he might sell up. no one will invest with bates im sure i wouldnt or kiss goodbue to your dosh, it has to be a sell up with him well out of sight then you have a chance,,,
I fully agree with the statement. It shows a united front with the fans, manager and players all against Bates. It also lets the "the players are just greedy" crew know that the players are being treated badly and do actually want to play for Leeds United. No matter how much you loved a particular job, if your boss kept telling everyone how greedy and inept you are and you were earning a fraction of what you could be earning elsewhere would you actually stay?
It's obvious to anyone who gives it serious thought why they've released this stuff. It's to put pressure on Bates to sell. If he knows Warnock, the players and the fanbase have all turned against him, even he won't think his position is tenable if the "investment" talks collapse. And even if he does remin, these releases ensure the fans know enough that we'll finally start getting properly angry with the club rather than just protesting peacefully for change. I applaud the work of LUST and wish them the best even when unthinking cynics say they're in it for themselves. Says a lot that all the local and mainstream media with the exception of that obese **** Martin Samuels are tacitly on LUST's side.
Just my opinion but I doubt the tactic will work as Ken Bates loves it when its him against the world... Its good to know the players are behind us but we don't want to lose the dressing room spirit, like other people have pointed out most players are weak minded and have been protected by agents from the real world. If we are not careful they will blame their misfortune on off-field activities & down we go. I personally think the way to get rid of him is to cut the income or "sour the milk. The mistake we made was the season ticket cash we gave Bates to be able to continue. When will people learn??
What did I miss? Oh, the chance we might lose the dressing room spirit, ratehr than it has already disappeared many long months ago! You mean like when we went down from the Prem with a team of stars whoi should never have got relegated, and then when we were relegated to League 1, with a team that should have comfortably challenged for promotion? This is what happens when you **** it up off the field! I don't understand what you are trying to say. You know as well as anyone that if we cut the income (I really don't know what "sour the milk" means) we get players who are even worse, or whose bonus is cut, and whose morale dwindles, and we go down. If it takes another relegation to get rid of Bates, then so be it. We'll come back stronger, like Southampton after the Lowe debacle. Because we sure ain't gonna get another promotion to get rid of him!
I must admit, I couldn't understand people's hurry in renewing season tickets this time round. It's not like they were likely to completely sell out was it. It really was a golden chance to temporarily starve Bates of cash until he had moved on. It's beginning to look as though he really has few options open to him. I applaud LUST for the way they have handled themselves to date. Oh sorry, I should have said WE, as I AMA member
UN-named players, UN-named potential investors Sorry lads - being a new kid on the block like LUST IS, it wouldn't surprise me if this is all bull**** to drum up members. The investment bit worked in the clubs favor as it no doubt sold season tickets with the hysterical Leeds fans wetting their knickers because some "alleged" Chicago businessman is about to "invest" in the club!! You now have Bates pulling your tails and LUST pulling your plonkers
It's independent news sources that identified the Chicago group, and it makes no sense for an ant-Bates group to make something up to help Bates.
I simply feel this announcement of players supposedly contacting LUST to voice their concerns is damaging to Leeds United, not Ken Bates. Even if it is true, its a senseless, selfish act. Anyway, are players actually going to go against their agents/advisors and speak to a supporters trust? Will they genuinely risk their careers by speaking out so publicly? Let's say, for example, that Jimmy Knob actually contacted LUST and said this and that about the club and the chairman, and down the line his name is outed (as it always happens this way), what manager in his right mind would ever want to sign Jimmy? What chairman in his right mind would ever allow his manager to sign Jimmy? What captain would ever want Jimmy in his dressing room? Sorry, this just doesn't add up, and for me LUST have acted just as poorly as Bates does. Seriously, this "player statement" is bloody idiotic, and as I've said before, negative and damaging. This won't force Bates to go, and if Bates does get the financial deal he wants and sells, this will not have been a victory moment. This selfish act is deplorable, it does nothing positive for the club I love, and simply serves to undermine the club. If Leeds players came to me and made negative comments I'd shut up and keep it to myself. If Scum players did it, I'd make an effort to get the info to as many people as I possibly could. Gary Cooper has NOT acted in the best interests of Leeds United or its supporters with this terrible act of mud slinging, and if he had any decency he would step aside and let someone else take over. Yes, of course we want info about our club, especially when we are all excited about the possibility of Bates finally ****ing off, but this is not info, this is simply a game of trying to get the better of Bates, and that is just wrong. You don't use "unnamed players" (what an easy thing to hide behind) to further your cause or to try and make yourself more credible to people, be they supporters of Leeds United, the media, potential investors or anyone else. What is LUST's actual agenda? Do they think they can get a place in the boardroom and influence decisions? If so, dream on. Bates may well be right, maybe we are morons, because only a moron would consider putting out such a damaging statement without thinking it through. I will remain a member of LUST, but I will look into the possibility of removing Gary Cooper from his position and stop him being a spokesperson. Bates needs to go, Harvey needs to go, Lorimer needs to go, but we don't need our players to go. GC, you need to think!!!
He loves it when he's against an easy and weak enemy. As it is, he's up against several players including the club captain, his own manager, the press, the Police, the Council and a very articulate and well-followed supporters' group. He's hating every second of it - would he really have put his radio mouthpiece on hold over the summer if he were back in the Bates vs Planet Earth dreamworld of just a season ago? Obviously, but that doesn't invalidate what an important revelation this is. This is the kind of news you'd expect from a club about to get relegated, not a promotion contender. Shows just how ****ed the team spirit already is, not by the doing of players or agents, but by the stingy old cancer Bates. Yeah, they're really going to reveal the identity of investors and jeapordize firstly the confidentiality agreements which means Bates could sue them, and secondly the whole takeover/investment process. And of course it would be prudent of them to name players who are unhappy - there'd be no repercussions for those players from Bates, eh? Sorry TC, but you don't know the Trust or anyone concerned with it. You've still yet to substantiate your Larry Tanenbaum rumour which I believe is a crock of ****e, and not even a funny wind-up. Stick to the Billy Paynter jokes in the future. What a stupid thing to say. Of course it's damaging to Ken Bates, and yes, Leeds United by implication are damaged, but it still amazes me how people don't get this simple notion SHORT TERM PAIN FOR LONG TERM GAIN. You need radiotherapy to get rid of a cancer, and guess what: there are some ****ing painful side-effects. If it means dishing dirt in this way then so be it. The news needs to spread that all is not well at Leeds, otherwise Bates will never get booted out. Senseless and selfish? Do me a favour. Not sure what point you're making. You're right, players will get their agents to speak with LUST, otherwise they'd get a bad reputation. But how that undermines what they're actually saying is beyond me. Sometimes you've got to go underground when you seek to overthrow an oppressor. You've not taken on anything I said in my last post at all, have you? It will compel the fans into forcing him to go if it comes to it. Most people are finally looking for actual proof that the managers haven't been backed and players are getting paid minimal amounts. Well this is that proof. There's been much talk of 'tipping points', but this actually would be the defining final straw for even the biggest fence-sitter in the Leeds United fanbase. "Deplorable"? I'm going to go out and say it: you're a ****wit mate. I've always thought your self-indulgent threads and boring essays on here were ****ing tedious, but this piece of 'look at me' bullshit goes beyond even that. Go look up deplorable and have a serious word with yourself about why you're applying it to an organization that works for every Leeds fan, and one that is the only light at the end of a ****ty, ****ty, messed up bastard of a tunnel. THIS RELEASE IS FOR THE GOOD OF THE CLUB. Best-case scenario: players get new deals and we have a core of a promotion-standard squad. Worst-case scenario: the fans force Bates out for good. Ooh, you controversial bastard. Bet you ****ed yourself to a bloody stump thinking about the responses this vicious and needless comment about a good, honest and hard-working man would get, didn't you? Their agenda with this is to force Bates to complete a takeover that looks in doubt. Failing that, to seek other potetial suitors. Failing that, to openly put the club on the market. Failing that, to admit his wrongdoings. The players approached THEM. Players that know that even if they leave Leeds, they will get a better financial offer elsewhere. Players that actually want to get this club where it deserves. Ignore their plea, and what kind of message does that send to them? That LEEDS won't stand by LEEDS in the battle against this old Chelsea ****, and pressure him into a defeat? Great idea, Einstein. I hope they - we - own the boardroom one day. Fan run clubs. It's you that needs to go, you serial sufferer of aimless, and quite frankly pitiful logorrhoea. Good move, LUST!
