Current board (minus resigning treasurer) re-elected for the next three years. Gary Cooper still chairman. For another three years. Lies and slander dismissed. Including complex look into the 'six weeks ago', 'broker to buyer', 'four million' and general 'you know **** all/say too much' lines of bullshittery. LUST factfile to be published with all the facts after the NDAs and buyout are nullified. LUST have four sources, and cross-reference everything to ensure verification. The Trust continues to go from strength to strength. Delighted to be even a small part of it. Join now for free at lufctrust.org
NDAs in takeovers are normally in place for at least five years. I don't care who LUST spoke to, they didn't speak to the people signing the deal, and that's all that matters. They didn't introduce GFH to Bates....and so on and so on. Their credibility is shot to pieces, the majority of Leeds fans will never join them so they may as well just reinvent them as a regional branch or something like that because they will never be the officially recognised representatives of Leeds fans. Ain't no coming back from this fiasco!!
By the way, LEEDS FANS can listen to a replay of the meeting here: http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/26075416 Well we don't know how long this one's for, and whether LUST will be able to avoid parts of it anyway. Apparently it only applies to certain facets of the takeover process, so the stuff they've voluntarily withheld can be revealed at that point too. Their credibility is at an all-time high with reliable sources in important places, a growing membership and a growing profile. And you lot fume behind your keyboards as they go from strength to strength. I suggest you deal with it before you look like forever! And now for something completely different. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you The Hall of Lame: Wasn't going to pass up this chance to gloat, was I? Three more years, mofos! Ha ha ha.
You see exodus, the reason we don't want to be associated with LUST is exactly your behaviour...calling us mofos? Why? Just because we think Cooper has behaved poorly? Just because we have turned our backs on LUST as a credible group? Very poor form exodus, take a good look in the mirror and honestly ask yourself if LUST is good for the club!!
Oh. I thought it was all the other lies you've been peddling that have now been discredited, which is the reason I posted this 'take that'. Yes, because he hasn't. Yes, because they still are one. Done. The answer was a resounding 'yes', and seeing the reflection of my impeccably handsome self was a pleasant experience too. Thanks BS.
Billy is right, it's exactly this kind of childish behaviour that alienates people. Of course a supporters body is a worthwhile thing - though LUST isn't a trust as it isn't holding any assets and certainly not any assets of Leeds Utd. Therefore, it isn't a trust, it's a club. Now I don't know Gary Cooper personally, I don't know if he's a saint or a dickhead, or somewhere in between. All I see is what he says and how he acts, and in those regards, he has acted like a small man at the big table. It's hard to avoid the impression that Gary has been indulging in as much self-promotion as representing the cause of the fans. The people at GFH have chosen, whatever their reasons, to publicly deny close links with Gary and LUST. Simply looking at the bare facts, that makes him and LUST look foolish. Now I don't want to see anyone, who supports Leeds Utd, be pissed on, especially by a middle eastern bank with dubious financial practices, so I'm disappointed that GFH has acted in this way, when a quiet word in someone's ear could have dealt with the situation. Equally, they could have been more forthcoming with what is going on. LUST need to behave a little more professionally, GFH need to accord Leeds fans a little more courtesy. However, whatever the ultimate truth of the matter, it does us, as Leeds fans, no good whatsoever, to be turning on each other in the fashion outlined above.
Leeds 18 / Jerel / Exodus Grow up & respect debate, I personally don't understand where your coming from. Why can't LUST just come out with their proof or admit they were lying......? Why do you ruin your own credibility with posts like this, I don't mean to be rude but your backing a dead horse.
I am not addressed here, but would like to give it a go. Quite simply - LUST has been a positive force in effecting a change in ownership of Leeds United and us fans being aware of these developments a lot earlier than we others would have been. 1. They were not lying. 2. They do not want to betray the confidence in which teh information was shared with them. Some people appear to have the need to read them more than once.
I stand by that comment Exodus - The TRUE fact is that they started to lose support long before the joint statement, I have seen people who supported them before this weeks events now saying that they are going to remain cautious and not follow them blindly, that is understandable. If at their AGM they cannot discuss and see where they have gone wrong along the way and ask themselves why have they managed to alienate people and try to amend that then it shows they are more interested in back slapping one another trying to prove a point with a "please sir I have proof" (You yourself have said you don't agree with the way they have gone about a lot of things). I want the T/O to go through, I want the new board to bring us funds and a team to create success, I don't care if it is with LUST or without. If you respect and admire LUST so much then you need to change your attitude Exodus because you are just alienating people all the more by putting them on a pedestal as a group who can do no wrong. Johnny - Although I don't believe they were lying this time around they certainly were about the club will not make the end of the season without funding and I personally believe the £4m injection into players and wages was also a fib
Not making it through the end of the season is an opinion. The £4m injection into players and wages made sense given we lost out on Ward as we had no money according to NW and then suddenly we were able to sign 3 or 4 players.
Opinion - Yes but you can't deny LUST didn't try and make it sound like fact in an attempt to scaremonger support. Injection - Which players, the ones after we sold Clayton and Lonergan? Go through the events, watch after each sale we signed a player of equal value. Snodgrass left, some say £750k up front, days later we sign Peltier. Peltier said in an interview he had been waiting to sign for nearly 8 weeks, he doesn't know why the delay but had started to believe it wasn't going to happen. We released and sold more players than we signed, wage bill is lower, we signed the value of players that we sold all apart from Pearce who I assume was signed with funds received in January for Howson.
As an outsider who would benefit from disarray at Leeds can I say that those criticising LUST seem to expect to see proceedings open out like chapters in a book, when even the simplest glance at anything to do with business, especially football and more so anything that Bates has had a hand in shows it's always far from that. With that in mind, I think LUST have earned a pat on the back for what they've achieved so far. From where I'm sat, there seems to be no attempts to mislead or egos searching for personal glory. Just my opinion, but LUST as a group are a factor in the discussions and are seen as A if not THE voice of the fans. My suggestion would be to build on this by letting that group know your concerns and listening to their answers. Pulling it apart now will only drag you down.
My view: 1. LUST was a good invention at the right time. Early on they were a useful thorn in KB's side. The fact he attacked them early on was a positive for me, that they were having an impact. (He could have just ignored them). 2. There is no other organisation trying to do what LUST could do, so another reason to be positive about them 3. some people seemed to start criticising them straight away. (Not all, I accept some gave them a chance first). I don't know why a Leeds fan would do that - unless it was "not invented by me" syndrome (aka jealousy) or due to a hopelessly unrealistic expectation of what LUST could achieve 4. on that point - what LUST can achieve, as they have no ownership and limited cash, and only represent a portion of the fans, is mainly act as a commuinication vehicle. They can talk to parties who will talk to them, they can analyse things in the public domain and publicise the questions, they can pose public questions to anyone who seems to be being less than open, they can keep a clear log of the developments so people can't spin their way out of things later, etc etc...... but they can't DO very much at all, other than influence opinions - of owners, potential owners, various authorities, and of ocourse the fans. 4. I though LUSTs early intervention were pretty good, but I think they are in danger of losing the plot, possibly under the pressure of expectations and criticisms. They are starting to make mistakes - prompting GFH to disown them was one that played into KB's hands, another one is one that the OP of this thread seems pleased about - it was a mistake re-electing everyone for more than 12 months. I reinforces the "jobs for the boys" charge that some are levelling at GC and co, that they seem more interested in the limelight and keeping control, than their original objectives. (Actually the 3 year thing was a BIG mistake, in my view, it changes my view of them). 5. As someone who is going to do tap all personally to help the LUST cause (reasons of lack of time and geographic location), I hope they can step back and regroup. They also need to make sure they have a more balanced leadership. Why is GC, if he's the chairman, doing all the talking? Why is there not someone with media experience doing some of that, I bet we have people like that who support Leeds, do they have a process to vet their statement before GC makes them etc etc? 6. bottom line, I support the LUST concept, but they have made some wrong steps, they need to get more professional or they will fade away. It may be with the new owners we may not need them so much anyway --- but we might, the new owners are an unknown quantity.
I'm still a member of LUST, having joined when some serious sabre rattling was needed to be done in Bates's direction, and they achieved that aim. Now that's been done I do think they need to take a more subtle approach, their initial aim was to instigate takeover talks, that's also come to fruition. No need to get involved in that side of things anymore. Once this seemingly never ending takeover is finally completed they'd still have a role to play with regards the new owners, but rightly or wrongly Cooper does seem to have lost respect and his presence as head of this group is having more of a divisive effect than uniting the fans. Time for a more professional approach and a more respected figurehead like Dom Matteo to take the helm, if only in a spokesman/media link capacity. Will see how things pan out over the coming weeks, until then, and until a few more truths come out, I'll give LUST the benefit of the doubt. Hopefully they'll learn from their mistakes.
The only way to combat the combative is by being combative. If people don't want to be laughed at, they shouldn't make such ridiculous assertions and insults towards fellow Leeds fans. Note that I'm not personally insulting anyone, unlike much of the anti-GC stuff. 1. There's a difference between 'not following them blindly' (which still implies a loyalty) and the outright overhaul that some people are needlessly proposing, when in fact the Trust has and continues to do a good job for Leeds fans, fighting to get our club back to its rightful place on high. 2. I (nor I suspect you) don't know what exactly was said in the AGM, but I'm pretty sure there will have been constructive criticism, and the Trust board will be evaluating it. 3. I don't think LUST have done 'a lot' of things wrong, only a few minor things, like the 'dare to dream' and 'point of no return' comments from GC before the Al Khalifa bid fell through and the GFHC backers melted away, but I've always maintained that with his information at the time, you can't hold it against the bloke too much. I do put them on a pedestal, as I do with all fellow Leeds fans who truly strive for the best for their club, and not only speak, but act on their convictions. Whether that be singing your heart out at a game, attending a protest, talking to club officials about how to improve the experience at Elland Road, or trying to forge a buyout. That deserves a lot of respect, and if people want to repay that hard work with insults and attacks, I will respond reciprocally. If people are civil and support the Trust, I will be civil too. Hat-tip to DMD who is rapidly exorcising the inner **** that I thought was his entirety, and actually being fair and unbiased about the good work the Trust is doing. For a rabid Leeds hater like him to be saying good things, just shows how an outsider's perspective is laudatory towards the work of LUST, without the red mist that can descend on Leeds fans when we think in our introverted way. No you're not. I believe the Trust and Ross McCormack on that one, rather than people with no information who shot it down with no sort of substance to their viewpoint.
ross mccormack, said from what he'd heard. Yet he heard it from lust. Am willing to bet £4m wasnt put into the club. £100 oK ???
