Ok, so no matter what we think about Bates and his killing of our club, we are told we are missing "the big picture" by the few pro-Bates voices on here. So II--Josh-LUFC--II and those who agree with his point of view...PLEASE NOW TELL US WHAT THE BIG PICTURE IS!! Go on son, tell us. What are we missing here? Tell us where all the millions have gone that we have generated since we cleared our debts? Tell us why it was such a great idea to sell Gradel rather than keep him to the end of the season so that he could help us get to the Prem and the BIG money...and then probably stay and be worth triple. Tell us how 9 wins in 27 is a great record for Grayson? Tell us what the "big picture" is that you see but no one else does? Go on Josh, tell us please. No snappy little remarks, give us your vision that Bates has for the club.
i dont know how many times i have to say im not pro-bates. Im just not anti bates either. The bigger picture is we sell gradel and invest the money into areas that needs investing. i.e. the defence
i understand that is an IF but IF we do then it definately woulda been worth selling gradel and thats been my point all along.
Josh - do you really believe any finds will be reinvested in the squad? Of our current playing staff how many actually cost us a transfer fee? Bruce, Bromby, Snodgrass, McCormack, Clayton - thats it i think - and they were all nominal fees but unsurprisingly UNDISCLOSED!!!! How much money has come into Leeds in the past few seasons? £6m Delph £5m Woods/Taiwo £600k Garbutt £1m Schmeical Gates over outgoings - gates have been above Bates breakeven figures year in year out. Increased sky coverage money Extra cup and playoff games - Donny, Millwall, Man U, Spurs, Liverpool.
Just like we reinvested £200k of the 1.2million for Kasper I guess. Yes we probably got 4 million for Gradel so we might get an aging defender in for 400k if lucky. More likely a loan signing with Bates issuing a statement that as Gradel left it so late handing in a transfer request we haven't anytime to invest the cash.
We sell Gradel, arguably our best player last season, and possibly would have been this one.... Never mind though, Bates will be pleased, he's done us over again. How very sad that some deluded fans still seem to think we will use the money for strenghening a defence that has been weak for three seasons. We wont be doing anything meaningful, we never do. All that has happened is, we have MASSIVELY weakened our attacking midfield.
The big picture is Gradel will now be replaced for a year by Nunez, a player who Grayson always left on the bench while Gradel played. Clearly we are now weaker. If Nunez improves, he will be sold
Josh, you have not answered the question. You told us we are missing the big picture. Sorry, but claiming the money is going to be used to sign a quality defender is lame, and you know it. So I ask again, what is the big picture please?
What any competent chairman would have done: Use Delph money to rebuy Thorp Arch... or even keep Delph and pay for TA themself! Rebuy Elland Road, if they'd promised to do so. Entered contract negotiations with key players long before the last year of their contract. Recognized that promotion-chasing teams spend at least 3m these days in the transfer window and invested accordingly. Charged season ticket prices which will attract new fans, not deter them. Realized that the Premier League guarantees at least 40m in profit due to lucrative TV payments, and made sure the club got there as soon as possible. What Ken Bates has done: Failed to rebuy Thorp Arch. Failed to rebuy Elland Road, even despite promising to do so. Failed to fund the managers since relegation in 2007, most frustratingly last season when a couple of hardy players in the January window would have gone a long way. Failed to keep Fabian Delph, a budding star who could have been the centrepiece of an exciting young team. Failed to keep Max Gradel, another budding star who scored 18 goals from the wing in Division Two and who'd publicly said he wanted to stay. Didn't even enter negotiations with him to see what he wanted. Failed to reach agreements with Kilkenny, Beckford and Johnson, all of whom, rightly or wrongly, the club wanted to keep. Failed to charge sustainable ticket prices to secure decent crowds for years to come at Elland Road. Failed to use money which comes mostly from the fans in a sensible manner, brashly drawing up a plan for the East Stand which will make no money and will saddle the club with a debt of around 80m. Failed to show any ambition whatsoever to get into the Premier League where all the competition, profits and exposure lie. Let's face it, there is no bigger picture. Day by day I become more convinced by a conspiracy theory that Bates has only come to Leeds to piss off our supporters and get revenge for when we wrecked Stamford Bridge in his Chelsea days. That's not to say I'm taken by it, but it certainly seems like the incompetence coming from the top of the club is wilfully imposed rather than an accident created by ignorance and stupidity.
Leeds-18, brilliant summation. You see Josh, this is what we are trying to get across...Bates is slowly wrecking our club in the name of greed. The money is not going back into the club, and we are starting to realise that as long as Bates owns Leeds, it never will. His disdain for the people who have to part with what little cash they have spare to follow Leeds is deplorable. Trust me, if it was the Liverpool chairman calling his supporters morons there would have been thousands of Scousers outside the Shankly gates the next day. We cannot lie down any longer...we have to make Bates and the world realise he has to go. If we do so in our thousands, it won't be long before a serious buyer turns up at Elland Road knowing Bates can't stay for too much longer. MOT!!!!
