Thank you, it makes me proud that such an honour is bestowed on me. Seriously. Because if any organization deserves apologists, defenders and fervent loyalists, it's LUST, the representatives of the Leeds United fanbase. I can understand why a group like LUSC would be maligned after the Peacock debacle and ticket prioritizing etc., but it seems really curious and freakish to me how selfless and passionate Leeds fans at the Trust are being slandered on a daily basis by pixel samurais. They've achieved a lot of good, and very little indeed bad. A couple of unreliable titbits from their sources has been about the sum of their wrongdoing, and that will still have been passed on after verification and with good intentions. As for the good, they have been a focal point for the protests which have played a part in driving Bates out. They have assessed the accounts and shown the unprofessionalism of the club. They have spoken to the GFH and other prospective bidders, helping persuade them to further their interest and enter negotiations with Bates with a view to due diligence (even if some of those parties melted away after the GFH exclusivity clause). They have forced Bates' and GFH's hand, getting them to finally speak about the deal in public so the fans got some much-deserved info. They have dismissed the lies from Bates and his stooge Castles in the media. They have contributed to the atmosphere at Elland Road in games against Leicester, Brighton and Hull. They have brought hope to thousands. Looks PREEETTY one-sided to me.
WE ARE THE FANS, WE ARE THE CLUB. SIDE BEFORE SELF. FANS BEFORE OWNERS. IN LUST WE TRUST. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ I'd love to see a photoshop of Billy grabbing bates by the collar!
Indeed! And one of the Vinnie Jones piccy scything through a kid, but smashing his studs through Bates' cruciate ligaments instead.
They had us all convinced that they were in the know, and had said: "all will become apparent very soon" from May. Then we have been drip fed snippets, which were then picked up by all the lazy journo types and quoted as fact. They made a massive mistake this week saying that GFH were now the buyers and not the frontmen for the deal and had been for the last 6-weeks because the people who had exclusivity were now out. This then had everyone delving into GFH accounts and panic mongering because they were intimating that GFH had no cash. It was this cock-up that forced GFH to slap Cooper down and say they were always involved from day one. This makes him look ridiculous and makes all his earlier statements look suspect. For all we know his insider at GFH may well be Bates or Harvey, and they've had a laugh at his expense. Whoever that person is, has fed him crap and he's taken it as fact, which makes him know exactly the same as everyone else and proves he's not in the know like he's professed.
On the veracity of the source, it's a matter of who you trust more: Leeds fans or businessmen whose strings are being pulled by Bates until the deal can be done. It's probably true that GFH's backers are out for the time being, but the panic and account analysis is caused by the lack of info the club and GFH have provided rather than anything, which is a shame because it turns geniuses into idiots. Under normal circumstances, it doesn't take a genius to work out that even a loss-making company could run this club successfully provided they didn't take huge dividends themselves and rape rather than reinvest. But with the Man City fetishism Sky and the other apparatus of modern football have managed to glorify, and the ricidulous notion that an owner must be rich in order to be an improvement, it led to this mad hostility against GFH, and then when they passed the buck to LUST under Bates' orders, against fellow Leeds fans.
EG you seem to be under the impression that Bates rules the world. I think you must be a closet Bates fan.
He rules the takeover deal, to some extent. Never forget that he is the kind of man who would rule the world with an iron fist if he had the chance though. "The Romans didn't build a great empire by organising meetings. They did it by killing anyone who got in their way." - Guess who said that one? Look at what he planned to do in the British Virgin Islands. He was to literally buy 90% of the island of Anegada, using violence to evict anyone who got in the way of his developments, no matter how many years their families had owned houses and farms on that land. Look at how he stole money off thousands of Irishmen. Look at his meetings with the true racist and utter scumbag Ian Smith, the PM of the oppressive apartheid state of Rhodesia. I don't think he rules the world, but I think he wants to, and should be shot down as such. His influence, and attempted domination of anything standing in front of him should not be underestimated or underplayed.
I listed more than five in the same post you just quoted. Are you really that bothered about me ranking them in order of importance?
Look at it this way, even if LUST were lying, why would GFH decide it was so important to come out and rubbish a very positive and complementary statement? It seems a lot of people are allowing themselves to be manipulated by Bates. This reeks of "say they're lying or you've breached Non-Disclosure" to me.
My bad, I stopped after you said they have done a lot of good I didn't get to the reasons I was under the impression that they have never organised one? They have lied that we will be bust without investment come May By their own admittance they never introduced GFH, they didn't even know GFH were in talks since June they assumed it was only the last 6 weeks. Are we any nearer to a deal, are we any nearer to the truth?
Exodus, herein lies the problem for many of us. From the start we believed in what LUST were doing and applauded them for having a go at Bates. Recent events have done damage to what the initial aims were supposed to be, which has muddied the waters for many. When statements of fact are published one day, only to be ridiculed by the only people who actually know whats going on, it taints the hard work done earlier. Surely you can see that, and accept that yesterday's events have set LUST back months, because anyone thinking about joining will decide not to, also many already inside will be pissed off and do what many have already done and cancel their membership. Who's to blame, because its not people like me, or Ristac. GC published stuff that is blatantly wrong and even the YEP have it has headlines now. Indeed the weekly email many of us get from the club has it as a big story above the usual Flamingoland garbage. There are thousands who read that email, and the same with the YEP, which means a PR disaster I'm afraid, however well intentioned. It will take a lot of hard work to repair that damage I'm afraid
They haven't. But like I say, they've been a focal point for them, and provided organization, FSF protection and credibility to them. Where did they unequivocally assert such a thing? My point still stands. They have still been constructive in the takeover process, introducing contingency bidders and speaking with people inside the current exclusivity party. Yes to both. Every day more issues between the Bates party and the bidding party are resolved. Every day GFH and Haigh speak, the fans get to know more about the entire TOMA situation. Without LUST, I'm sure the buyout would still have happened, but it would have been in a weaker position to be completed. Which stuff was blatantly wrong from LUST, and is there really anything better LUST could have done than the current history of events? The non-statement yesterday was Bates posturing and threatening to be fussy about NDAs, and GFH non-commitally making out to have tried to distance themselves from LUST, although even that was unsuccessful if you look at what GC and DH have since said. You're basically saying that GC should resign just because Bates propaganda is successful with some sheep. I personally don't care if nobheads are influenced by that proven liar of an old scrotebag. According to the same logic, anyone Bates/LUFC criticized should be dropped just because those Macrons hate them by implication.
Doc and Ristac, with respect as we have almost always been in agreement, I am honestly surprised that you appear to have been taken in by the OS propoganda. If one reads the statement very carefully, one can see that the comments aimed at LUST are crafted in a way that can be interpreted in different ways. This has the "Made by Bates" stamp all over it - it is just what he has done over an extended period with us. A lot of equivocal hot air that we all interpreted in a way most favorable to the club, only for the outcomes to be totally different. With a choice of whom to believe - Ken Bates' controlled statement or LUST - it is really a no-brainer for me. Just look to motive - that should be sufficient.
Somewhere in one of the threads I have stated that I believe LUST probably have been in a conversation with someone at GFH probably not someone who matters or maybe even someone who is now an ex employee after all this - Both Salem Patel and Haigh from their own twitter accounts tweeted for their followers that there was an official announcement on the OS - They drew attention to it, they could have easily said something else or even followed it up, at the end of the day my money is on Haigh cutting ties with LUST once he has control. My support for LUST vanished before this statement Jonny, it doesn't mean I support Bates, I just feel LUST have got it wrong more times than right, I think they are too busy bigging themselves up and blowing their own trumpets, maybe Haigh feels exactly the same? Put it another way, I am 45 I have supported Leeds since I was 6-7 years old. If I had the money to buy Leeds and another few million to pump in for new players I would, I would be as happy as a pig in **** owning the club I support and hopefully funding a return for to the good times. I might even put a million to one side ready for a lawsuit as I enjoy a few match day programme notes swiping away at Ken and digging the knife into him with my comments Would I have the time of day for LUST - NO I wouldn't even give them an interview. I don't like their style or manner, I wouldn't let them state the obvious to me and when they first started I actually supported them. I am not saying I wouldn't invite or entertain close communication with other supporters, just not LUST in their current format. I would probably turn to twitter and facebook and get the real fans voices direct not cherry picked.
Hi Ristac, history will show that LUST emerged as a necessary counter to Bates & Mates on behalf of all Leeds United fans. I believe you are in agreement with that. I, an dmany others, firmly believe that without LUST, we may not have known about the investment/takeover activities as early as we did. Whether this is a good thing or a bad thing may be up for debate. Once Leeds United has an ownership that demonstrates that its intentions are for the betterment of the club and its fans, as opposed to just a self-serving vehicle, LUST may agree that its purpose in life has been fulfilled and there is no longer any need for it. We, as fans, would be very happy with that stae of affairs, as would LUST, I suspect.
Jonny, nobody on any leeds board can accuse me of being blind to Bates and his tactics. I said earlier that LUST had been blindsided and fallen into a big trap. That for me was always going to happen, and I moved away from LUST earlier this summer. i've applauded them for getting involved last season, but this season, for me they've done nothing but badly manage the media. GC isn't media savvy and is always too keen to get into print, or on the telly. This week he's had a PR nightmare, and yet nobody at LUST has accepted that, and indeed re-elected GC for another 3-years. I'm not bothered if Bates has engineered this, because I could always see him doing it, as he has done it for years. But the facts are that LUST fell into it and didn't see it coming. The vote last night will have been a postal vote in the main, I would guess. So in the post before this story broke, which means a lot of people will have voted differently last night if they were there. GC stating last night that the truth will be revealed once the takeover is complete, means trusting him. I cannot do that because he made a statement, knowing it was not from a proper source, which has backfired big time. he's made a few statements that are at best part stories, and at worst fantasy. So for me, due to a PR fiasco, GC should have stood down and hope they could rebuild some trust again. This is not just 1 or 2 former LUST supporters, this is a huge number of dissapointed fans. Also some of the posts from Exodus just confirms my opinion of the way LUST have operated. That bloke really knows how to alianate prospective LUST followers
I hear you and I know you have been firmly in the camp that has realized what Bates is about for a number of years. Have you listened to last night's meeting? I have not. Do you know if there was anyone willing to take over from GC?
