West Ham are not wasting any time in showing their intent to return to the Prem, and the breaking news backing this up is that Kevin Nolan is having a medical there today, which will allow him to link up with Big Sam once again. Quality signing!! And so the Championship clubs, or shall I say contenders, start to begin making waves in the transfer market. The big question now is - WILL LEEDS FOLLOW? Bates needs to make a massive decision, he needs to back up his statements of how much he wants to get Leeds to the Prem. Now, I have another question. Is Bates the problem, or is it Grayson who is too weak to challenge Bates for the signings he wants? I think its a bit of both. How much patience will you show with Grayson next season? Are you okay for us to miss promotion again and keep building, or is it promotion or bust for SG?
I said to peope off here that Nolan would be a super signing but I cldnt see him coming down the the championship. IF the story is true then we have to look at ourselves. I heard he was off to that 3rd division side Fulham
SORRY Billy we dont have their money, remember they have 14m payment plus what ever they make from the sale of players, All i can say is REALITY CHECK.
Arent West Ham in a financial mess tho? as for ambition, just look at Norwich, now in the prem, rubbed out noses in it twice!! signed a good prospect from Brighton, they want Mckail Smith and Morrision and BJ, and they are facing Parma in a pre season friendly. Were playing against rustleborough wandrerers in the fizzy pop league and have signed nobody .... Ambition = - 6
They aren't really in a financial mess, their owners have admitted that they'll pay off any debts, sell a few players and get the parachute payments and then they'll be pretty much on safe ground again. And the single reason Kevin Nolan has gone to West Ham is because of Sam Allardyce. He'd never have come to Leeds even if we could offer him £20kpw.
aye he is big buddies with Fat Sam...same thing happened last year tho what with Middlesborough splashing out millions whilst we shelled out peanuts...splashing the cash doesnt guarantee you success in this league
David Norris is now a Portsmouth player: http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/15062011/63/norris-wraps-pompey-move.html Praying we secure one of Cork or Gunnarsson before it's too late.
Nolan is only going to West Ham because of Big Sam, and they will be one of the favourites to be promoted. As for Norris, I'm glad we haven't got him. He was asking for a 3 year deal, and Ipswich only offered him a 2 year deal. He's 30, is an average player and not what we need.
Good points all. The three clubs coming down all have a big advantage with the parachute payments, but they also need to reduce their wage bills, so it depends on who they can sell. Pompey are a great example of getting it wrong. Ipswich have shelled out £1.5m on Chopra, and can we really expect to see Bates handing over that kind of dosh?
I expect it, but I don't expect it, if you catch my drift. It's the sort of money we really should be spending but realistically, no, I can't see us spending more than £500k on any one player. £1.2m being spent over the last two seasons would seem to support that. But the jury's still out, I've not resigned myself to complete pessimism just yet. Like Marko said on the other thread, this could be the first time we have some disposable money in any real quantity.
Well I'm correct on the disposible income front. Since Ken Bates has been at Leeds, he's overseen 3 seasons in the championship under shakey financial circumstances that eventually led to administration, 3 seasons in League One where the reduced ticket and merchandise sales (as well as nowhere near as much TV money etc), on top of still struggling a little with balancing the debts, resulted in struggling to make ends meet, and then one financially secure season back in the Championship where ticket and merchandise sales have gone up significantly, we've been on TV more and for more money, etc etc. It was probably all about the fact that the club was still reeling from the financial crippling we took from Ridsdales tenure. Keep in mind the fact that if the money isn't there, Ken not only is wise not to spend beyond the means, he physically can't, since noone with half a brain will lend money to Leeds United, with the awful credit rating the club has. I'm sorry but I'm going to have to stick with logic this time, this first season in the championship could very well have ended in heartbreak if we'd have spent money we didn't have (at the time), so going cheap and cheerful and aiming for survival was the best bet. Now we're established in the league, and have a bit of scranch to throw about, it's time to get some big signings to add to the superstars we already have and we'll be set to go. Also, the squad is stronger than it looks. I think Grayson has been a bit naive when it comes to rotation and tactical analysis of other teams and it has cost us so many times. Then again, he may have been trying with the tools he had and they simply weren't good enough. We just don't know until next season starts, but I'm backing Papa and Larry until it all goes tits up.
In our last two seasons in League One, we made loads with Delph, Milner and Kilgallon add-ons, the stolen kids, cup ties, TV revenue and very high ticket prices. I do still believe that Bates has been tight and I do blame him for not finding investment; he can't use our credit rating as an excuse forever and no-one still thinks Ridsdale's running the place. West Brom and Newcastle both made around £16m in TV money from the Championship in the 09/10 season. As one of the most televized sides, I'd hope that we make a similar amount; that could be a very big contributor to our budget this season.
Leeds should be more focused on stopping our youth being poached then spending big n gambling on getting back into the prem
Oh dear it pains me to listen to people, still having the remotest belief in Ken Bates! ALL he wants is to make profit out of Leeds United!!!! Which he has already done by selling the likes of Delph (8 million yes?) and others and what have we got in return? Ermmm nothing except a lucky escape from a league which we should never have been in in the first place! If memory serves me correctly, didn't we get beaten in the play off final in our first season down from the prem? Nice little springboard for the following season? NOPE not under Ken Bates...Relegation followed and then 3 years ignominy of league 1 football, when gates, were incredibly good considering the league we were in! Grayson is a good manager Bates will NOT put his hand in his own pocket and never will. He's only interested in flogging Leeds United on at a large profit and that's it! He has no empathy for Leeds United we are merely a cash cow for him. So please don't talk about Ken Bates! He's oversaw one of the worst periods in LUFC's history. Forget about the Ridsdale years it happened it's gone...Better to think how we can lose Bates. It wont be easy the pipes lit and the feet are snug under the rug!
Bates is taking money from the club. It just doesn't add up otherwise. The transfers for Delph, add ons for Milner/Kilgallon, the money for the youth players, large TV revenues, big crowds at the 5th highest prices in England along with little money spent on transfers. We had the high 'other administative costs' in our financial reports - whatever that means. Lets not forget that Bates scared off potential investors in the club. Frank Lowry - a billionaire who was interested in Leeds. Before: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/fo...s-of-Australian-takeover-at-Leeds-United.html and he decides he probably doesn't want to work with the club after being insulted by Bates. "I had never heard of [Lowy],” Bates said in an interview with the Yorkshire Radio station. “I know of this story now because someone sent me a printout of an Australian newspaper the report was in but it is the usual rubbish – a source said, somebody claimed, and nobody was available for comment. This Lowy, I think he runs Westfield, the property company. Aren’t they the one that has completely buggered up the town centre of Bradford? Hardly the best reference for someone who wants to buy a football club 12,000 miles from home. Interestingly he [reportedly] has a Leeds-based agent examining Leeds United – let’s hope it’s not Gerald Krasner. It is no secret we would welcome further investment. But we are quite blunt – name and money. The moment you say that they all disappear.”
The only reason why Nolan has gone to the Hammers is because they have the parachute money to affor him. They'll probably also have plenty when they sell thingy to a PL club.
No, no we don't. We can't afford ambition. We can probably get it on loan though. The focus on stopping youth getting poached goes hand in glove with first team success. Papa smurf has no money and doesn't want to spend any and just wants Leeds as a soapbox. That's the bottom line. He'll keep it ticking over as financially safe and as a lever for having a go at the FA. Which are shocking and do need a kick up the arse. Just not from KB. Ah well.
It's true that Bates has no real ambition as far as Leeds goes. It's just a case of making a nice earner, putting nothing into the club, and using the position to berate whoever he wants to have a go at this week. He just likes both the attention and the ability to make himself heard and be noticed. Otherwise he'd just be dozing away in Monte Carlo and you'd never hear from him.
First phase of the East Stand development is costing us £7m: http://democracy.leeds.gov.uk/mgConvert2PDF.aspx?ID=56818 Document also says there'll be an ice rink, park and ride and that the pavillion extension is a temporary construction with a 10 year lifespan.
