Just seen this on twitter and it seems to say everything, Leeds Face Their Most Important Week In Recent History by Andy Peterson13 November 20124 Comments The ownership battle at Elland Road shows no sign of ending. Bates needs to sell up. The damage will soon become unrepairable... How to sum this up in a few hundred words? Put simply, the proposed takeover of Leeds United has moved from unrequited optimism (briefly) a feeling which slowly dissolved into frustration at the outright farce, before now ending up as something rightly seasonal; a pantomime, of which the joke is very much on the clubâs long suffering fans. Our villain is of course Kenneth W. Bates (Boo, hiss, etc.) the current chairman. Opinions on his efficacy in the role differ, from âSavingâ United from extinction in 2007 (His, plus a few hundred deluded hangers on) to delaying the inevitable administration the old set-up faced by a couple of years, time which â allegedly â he used to ensure that his bid would be the only viable option to avoid liquidation. The five years since then â excluding promotion from League 1 at the third attempt â have been an unmitigated failure by any yardstick. After being forced to sell the clubâs best young players, the bright and ambitious Simon Grayson was fired conveniently just after the transfer window had expired in February. Neil Warnock was hired to replace him, hardly a popular figure at Elland Road but probably one of the few coaches willing to take the job and all itâs career destroying paraphernalia. The old warhorse then presided over the clubâs worst seasonal home record in history, distancing himself in the media from the leftover players apart from the mercurial Robert Snodgrass, whom he wooed with the captaincy and promises of building a side around him to match the young Scotâs ambition. With an astute nose for bullsh*t, Snodgrass promptly demanded a move to Norwich. By this point even the thickest skinned executive would realise that his grand design was a white elephant. Leeds had been passed by Southampton, Swansea and Norwich from out of the depths, all well run outfits, but the Premier League continue to build their closed shop via ever increasing financial stimulus, to the extent that the status of being a âBigâ club â if thatâs what United actually are any more â outside of itâs gold plated corridors guarantees nothing. Had Leeds not suffered a fifteen point penalty due to the manner by which Bates engineered itâs exit from administration it wouldâve been back in the second tier after just one season, rather than constantly developing talent only to to have to then sell it off on the cheap. Two more years of playing Yeovil ensued. More⦠Leeds United: Caught Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sleaze? Leeds United: Tweeting, Interference & Why The Takeover Saga Is A Mess Cue âInvestorsâ. At one point takeover fever gripped West Yorkshire. But not for long. First mooted in May, a veil of secrecy had been largely drawn around negotiations due to a confidentiality agreement between the parties, however in June it was revealed that a subsidiary of Gulf Finance House, a Dubai based investment company, was in âExclusiveâ talks to relieve Bates of his majority stake in the club. And so we waited. And waited. And waited. Throughout this period people have thrived in the information black out, some with attention deficit syndrome via social media, some being journalists eager to speak into the enthralled vacuum. Probably the highest profile is Duncan Castles, a reporter generally believed to have a source inside the club (Allegedly this source is technical director and former Chelsea chief scout Gwyn Williams) and an individual that it would seem have a number of agendas, posting a series of stories regarding GFHCâs ability to fund the deal and even ludicrously about whether selling pies and beer at the ground would be against the Sharia principles of the companyâs Islamic investors. To the untrained eye it seems like Castles is responding to a successful, confidentiality clause avoiding* PR campaign being conducted on social media by GFHCâs David Haigh. But of course these things are so hard to know for certain. On the field an imbalanced squad (Part Grayson, Part Warnock) has struggled, especially in the league. Big money signings have been absent, and a lack of cover in a paper thin squad, injury to Ross McCormack and some highly unattractive, arseholes and elbows football culminated in a humiliation on Saturday by a competent but unspectacular Watford side. On cue, Castles went to press on Saturday night with a story that an alternative white knight was waiting in the wings, this* time in the form of the wealthy (But not, by football standards minted) Preston Haskell, an American real estate magnate whose appetiser was to throw in £10 million for immediate team strengthening should his offer be accepted. All the while, the clock is ticking; not just until the January transfer window opens, but also to Thursday, when GFHCâs exclusive option expires. They remain âConfidentâ that the deal will conclude before the deadline, but again weâre now taking a leap of faith, being asked to take their word for it and the corroborating views of some âSourcesâ purportedly âCloseâ to proceedings. In the meantime the club was recently discovered taking an unpublicised £1.5 million loan from itâs shirt sponsors, secured against future corporate revenue earnings, at 7% interest. This is on top of the £2 million GFHC have publicly admitted to contributed so far, with rumours saying that the actual figure is closer to six. More⦠Leeds v Wednesday: A Proper Old-Fashioned Yorkshire Derby Remembering The Class of â92: The Leeds United Glory Years It goes almost without saying that none of these arrangements are signs that the existing shareholders are willing to contribute to operational costs. Bates is also allegedly estranged from current Chief Executive Shaun Harvey, with each having seperate legal teams according to the Yorkshire Evening Post. Supporters, sickened by the clubâs decline and by many other of Bates actions throughout his tenure â too many to list here â have entered into a Faustian pact with themselves, more than 8,000 of them now regularly boycotting games in comparison to when the side were playing in the third division. The view that without GFHCâs money Leeds United would already be in administration is widely held amongst those with an eye for football finance. The problem for the executive now is that they lack any real saleable assets, with perhaps the exception of the promising Sam Byram, who may fetch enough cash to enable the current regime to limp along to summer before calling in the accountants. Much as he is trying to position himself as, it appears that David Haigh is no Buttons and GFHC are no beanstalk. The alternative buyers are largely unknown, and in their naivety they may still elect to have Bates involved post any investment, a decision which would be a mistake of cataclysmic proportions, such is the Monaco based tax exileâs standing with the fans. A continued role would more than likely fail to convince the rank and file that true regime change had taken place and coax them back from Saturdays in B&Q. For me personally the club faces some of the most important days in itâs recent history this week. In my opinion the long term damage of the last five years has been enormous, all but extinguishing any ambitions Leeds United may have had to challenge in the upper reaches of the Premier League this side of the next Olympics. The consequences of the status quo remaining are almost too awful to contemplate (Maybe not for you I acknowledge). Bates cannot or will not sustain the club, the fans wonât sustain Bates, and administration, points deductions and the lower leagues beckon by extension. This time take my word there would be no gates of 30,000, no huge away supports putting a glint in the eye of every League 1 chairman across the country. The impact on the club would be profound. So we continue to anticipate, stuck in a never ending Christmas Eve, unsure whether weâve been naughty or nice enough to get our presents. Until Scrooge is finally ousted, it seems the ghost of Christmas past is the only spirit any of us will be celebrating with this festive season. IF YOU LIKE IT, PASS IT ON
Can't argue with any of that. We really are at the precipice but so many fail to see it. Maybe they're better off
Bring on the other interested parties, post 15 November. Investors who actually have the cash. Guardian today The Middle East private equity firm bidding to buy Leeds United has released accounts which state it does not have the cash to meet its current commitments and which cast doubt over its ability to survive as a going concern. The Bahrain-based Gulf Finance House (GFH), whose subsidiary Gulf Finance House Capital (GFHC), based in Dubai, is in exclusive takeover negotiations with Leeds' owner, Ken Bates, is selling assets to repay money which it owes, its accounts state. GFH's auditors, KPMG Fakhro in Bahrain, warn that the GFH group's ability to meet its financial obligations depends on selling assets in time. "These factors indicate the existence of material uncertainties which may cast significant doubt about the group's ability to continue as a going concern," the accounts state. The GFH accounts, which include the finances of GFHC and all the firm's subsidiaries for the nine months to 30 September, do show the group making a profit of $7.5m (£4.7m), achieved principally by settling some financial liabilities. However, KPMG Fakhro stated in its extended warning that: "The [GFH] group had accumulated losses of $293.76m and … its current contractual obligations exceeded its liquid assets. "As a result the ability of the Group to meet its obligations when due depends on its ability to achieve a timely disposal of assets." A spokesman for GFHC pointed out that, despite the difficulties described by the accounts, they showed $37m cash in GFH's bank. The group's assets amounted to $833m and, although this does not mean GFH has adequate cash now, some of those assets are being considered for sale. The spokesman said: "There is no doubt that GFHC can go ahead with this deal to buy Leeds United." GFHC is thought to be contemplating paying£44mforLeeds,who slipped to 18th in the Championship on Saturday following a 6-1 home defeat by Watford. Such a sum is certain to deliver a substantial personal profit to Bates, who owns 72.85% of the club via a company, Outro, registered in the offshore tax haven of Nevis in the West Indies. Bates himself is resident in Monaco as an exile from paying UK capital gains tax. GFHC has already paid £2m into Leeds and is promising up to £8m further to invest in the January transfer window if the deal goes through. Its period of exclusive negotiation ends this Thursday, 15 November, but a GFHC source said the firm then has a "lock in" period within which it can conclude the deal. In the accounts the auditors state that GFH has had to renegotiate several tranches of its borrowings and issued shares to raise capital. "To further address the liquidity issues, the management has put in place an asset sale and liquidity plan to … support its operations and repayment of the Group's obligations," the accounts state. While KPMG Fakhro included its stern warning that GFH's need to sell assets amounted to "material uncertainties"that it considered may cast doubt on the group's "ability to continue asa going concern", the accounts say the GFH directors were "satisfied" with their plans to deal with the financial challenges. The GFHC source said the takeover talks are at an advanced stage and the firm has proved to Bates that the money is there to conclude the deal. That was confirmed by Leeds in a statement on 26 October, when Bates said the takeover discussions were "in a good place". Last week the Leeds United Supporters' Trust issued a statement expressing concern about GFHC's bid and questioning if ithad sufficientmoney available. The trust said there are "other parties" with "the resources necessary", which are interested in buying Leeds.
Good old Ken. Puts nothing in and takes every penny out until the cupboards bare, and then mortgages future sales to get extra cash to refurb a ground he doesn't own, that will not bring in revenue until prem football. No chance of achieving that under his stewardship, so no sale will mean administration again. Well done Ken, shrewd businessman my arse
Only the deluded would refer to his type as a shrewd businessman. Hes a conman who manages to barely operate within the law. We've been blessed with some beauties at Leeds, Ridsdale and Bates. Any wonder the club is dying/dead
Bates is a shrewd businessman. He's totally stripped the club of all assetts, raked in all the cash he can get, mortgaged everything for the future and now proposes to sell the almost worthless shell to a middle east investment bank for another £44m. The profit will have been enormous. The Leeds fans have been treated with utter contempt and he has been openly laughing at us for not driving him out with burning branches and pitchforks. That's what you usually do with monsters. It's now simply too late, the damage has been done and without a takeover Leeds will be in administration and be relegated again.
