Article: Sad to see Lorimer so out of touch with the Leeds fanbase and community | Football, Leeds

LOL..Cheers Pags, I nearly fell off my seat after seeing that you agreed with me...lol

Where are you watching the match SUN?

 

I thought Matteo was a bit insulting to be honest. I hate Bates for far more than just a summer of discontent and I'm sure thousands of others do too. See the thread about his past business dealings and his time with Oldham Athletic here, and of course think of his failures to rebuy Thorp Arch and Elland Road, his insulting treatment of fans and the alienation and division that he's caused within the fanbase ever since his arrival. There are so many bigger reasons than just this summer that fans are protesting. It's just that this has been a convenient spark for us to publicly air our views.

 

You are entitled to your opinion, but I found the article refreshingly honest. Don't understand how you or anyone could of found it insulting. Insulting to Bates maybe, but he deserves it.

 

Like I say, I think it's slightly insulting that he overlooks the bigger reasons why fans have been pissed off with Bates for years now. Even before this summer of ****e, he's been held in contemptuously low esteem, and rightly so after his history of failure and his insistence on stamping that trademark Bates brand of failure all over our club.

 

All valid points.

I’m watching at home Shako. Hopefully LIW will be joining me at mine. Watch with the parents and probably my sister I hope so anyway.

Cos I go to Edinburgh next month, I needed to sort that out not football as its my only break of the year really.

 

Nice one Pags.

Leeds-18, I realise that the reaction of the fans wasn't just because of the bad start we had, but a slow build up of frustration since Bates has been here. But the lack of investment and being called morons was IMO the straw that broke the camels back.

 

The ex players can't win either. Lorimer gets aggro for being out of touch with the fans and Matteo gets criticize for being in touch with them.

 

Agreed, and I think it would have been more polite of him to mention that rather than implying (whether intentional or not) that it's a short-term demo based on fickle views.

I suppose you're right that the ex-players can't win in the fact that there will always be someone round to disagree with them. But then again, the same is true of anyone else's opinion, and they have no divine right to be protected from dissenting voices, especially when they choose to air their views in a paper whose content can be read online anywhere in the world. Just because they once wore the white shirt doesn't mean they hold a shield that should deflect all cricism, and I'm sure that no-one remembers the on-field actions of Lorimer and Matteo in a way that's anything but fond.

 

Shako if Lorimer addressed the actual reasons and worries behind the protests and disagreed then it wouldn't taste so sour. I'd maybe disagre but if that's his genuine feelings then I appreciate that. The same goes for Josh and others on here. Similarly, like mentioned in the post (sorry, I know it's a long one), if Bates handled things differently, worked with the fanbase and wasn't such a tw@t to people his decisions could possibly be understood and respected more, but respect is earnt and Bates is so far off having the respect of football professionals and fans (of all clubs) alike, it's untrue! He has a lot of bad history.

What smacks me in the mouth more is the blatent dismissal of genuine fan's worries though, which was the original reason behind the post. These concerns are beings brushed aside just as fickle responses to bad form. If it was I would have no interest in them but I fully believe they run deeper than that.

 

Howya TOM.
I know what you're saying. I suppose(and it's been mentioned before) that he can't say what he really thinks because who his paymaster is.

 

Lorimer: Bates is ****.
Bates: You're sacked.
Lorimer: ****.

 

Hey Shako How are you mate?

Yes, I guess, and I know that he is bankrolled by Bates but it comes back to my point that as he is such a Legend (and he still is, yes), shouldn't he of all people be setting an example and doing/saying what he thinks is best for Leeds United and not be just a yes man?

Maybe I'm being too harsh, I don't know. We are in a recession I suppose and footballers are paid more than they were in Lorimer's days

 

I personally think we've managed to scrape a few good signings and develop a few good players in spite of Bates. It's certainly not because the club took the correct approach to signing new players. The number of negotiations that fell through because it was obvious Bates took his bat home as soon as a player made any sort of demands, essentially saying "well if you're that greedy you can **** off" instead of finding a middle ground... it's ridiculous. Why hasn't Gradel been offered a new contract? Probably because his agent demanded £25k a week, more than we're willing to pay, and Bates took his bat home and called him a greedy ****er, instead of trying to find a middle ground, which I would have marked at 16k a week. 16k a week is competitive, and a decent wage for a Championship player. I'd be surprised if there were many players in the Championship outside of the relegated sides and Leicester who are on more than that, and those will be at teams that are challenging for promotion.

It's just so freaking obvious that in spite of running the club well, he's playing stupid power games. He's got everyone under his thumb saying only what he tells them to say, but he can say whatever he likes. Money only goes where he wants it to go, and at a football club if that's anywhere other than departments directly linked to playing football (I'd accept no further than matchday facilities as an acceptable investment area), something is wrong. Noone gives a **** about the hotel, the bars, the shops, the museum, any of that crap. It's all a big pile of ****. We already know the plan is flawed, Chelsea Village has proven itself as financial suicide, so why does he insist on trying again in Leeds?

I personally couldn't give a flying **** if the club is in profit or just scraping to make ends meet, it doesn't make a blind bit of difference if the profits aren't being pumped back into the club in the correct way. We're in no real better position than we would be if we were just about breaking even, yet we're making millions in profit every season.

He's done a good job for us, now he's threatening to taint that with ruining the club again. He needs to **** off before I head but the smelly old git.

 

Mark, the gradel situation leaves me astounded. He wants to stay, he's one of our better players and he hasn't even been offered a contract to take or turn down. What's going on there then?

 

He's not been offered a contract, but his agents have let the club know he wants £21k or he's off, which obviously we're not willing to pay (I wouldn't be).

 

Then why don't we offer him the very best deal we can. If he turns it down the club keeps the fans informed and let's the fan's know they offered him the best deal the club could afford. I would happily accept that under a well goverened club but I don't trust Bates and how the hell have we got to the stage where West Ham, as well as numerous other clubs, have been given a chance to get their noses in and say they'll give him X amount a week if he joins? Should have been sorted out a long time ago, that is bad stewardship.

 

But he's not been offered a contract. That is the problem, there has been no mention of any offer whatsoever. When you buy a house, you never bid the asking price. In this situation, it's clear Bates doesn't want the house because the asking price is too high, instead of making a reasonable, lower offer that the seller can then consider. If he'd been offered a contract and turned it down (I don't think he would. He should tell his agent "I call the shots, not you"), then I'd be less baffled. But Leeds (or Bates) won't even offer him one at all. As far as I'm aware no negotiations of any kind have taken place and it's frustrating the tits of Gradel more than it is us.

 

The poor lamb can`t get by on less than 21k a week,pathetic

 

He knows entirely how privileged he is. Look up his background, and see what people who have met him have to say about him, you'll find out he's the perfect gent. But agents are notoriously greedy, because the more money the player gets, the more money they get. All the other factors in deciding on a club to play at don't matter to agents, just more and more money, and they'll poison the players minds telling them how they are worth far more than they really are, and in today's game, usually some club somewhere will pay them the money the agent made them believe they could get.

Don't get me wrong, it is important for a player to have an agent. Without agents, players would get shafted all over the shop, as (although I don't mean to insult the players) they often won't have that much knowledge of finance, mainly due to not having gone down that career path and not having the time to learn. That is why players have agents, to stop them getting shafted by clubs. But it's gone too far with the obscene amount of money available to players, that clubs now get shafted by agents.

 

Apparently he literally won't settle for anything under £21k.