Yorkshire Today 20/1/07
Leeds's past blunders to cost £20m
But Bates reveals Wise is chasing three more signings
Exclusive
KEN BATES has revealed for the first time the price Leeds United have had to pay during his two-year tenure for mistakes by previous regimes – a staggering £15.8m.
The 75-year-old will tomorrow celebrate his second anniversary of taking charge at Elland Road and admits it has been a "bigger job than I thought".
Bates's major problem has been contending with the legacy of the Peter Ridsdale era when expensive signings were placed on lucrative long-term contracts, which United were subsequently unable to sustain once relegated from the Premiership in 2004.
A fire-sale of star names then took place with many on such good contracts that they had to be offered inducements to leave, the likes of Robbie Fowler, Danny Mills, Seth Johnson and Nick Barmby all eventually being paid to play for other clubs.Speaking exclusively to the Yorkshire Post ahead of his second anniversary in charge, Bates outlined how the price Leeds will have to pay, during his tenure, for previous mistakes will eventually top £20m.
The current sum of £15.8m is made up of £9.3m already paid to former players and managers plus another £1.5m that has gone to agents. An additional £1.77m is still owed to former players, though importantly for United this debt will finally come to an end this summer.
Bates's arrival at Leeds also came at a time when the Inland Revenue were pressurising the club over an unpaid tax bill. The upshot has been that £5m has had to be paid to the taxman in arrears during the last two years with another £2.6m due between now and 2008.
The United chairman said: "The fans may not like the facts, but they are the truth."
Such commitments have, inevitably, impacted on everyday life at Elland Road throughout Bates's reign, and particularly since the ending of the £7m per annum parachute payment from the Premiership last summer.The club's cash income from all sources for 2006-07 is likely to be £22m. In 2005-06, this sum which included the parachute payment, was £30m.
The wage bill has fallen in the same period, but only from £13.4m in 2005-06 to "about £12.2m" in the current financial year. Additional annual costs facing Leeds include the sum of £1.6m to rent Elland Road and their Thorp Arch training ground, plus an additional £500,000 in rates.
It means payments such as the one United received from Chelsea late last year to compensate for signing two of their promising youngsters, which is believed to have been in excess of £4m, have already been swallowed up.
Nevertheless, manager Dennis Wise has been given licence to deal in the transfer window with Alan Thompson, Tore Andre Flo, Robbie Elliott and Armando Sa having joined until the end of the season.Matt Heath's and Tresor Kandol's moves have also been made permanent, and Hayden Foxe recently extended his deal until the summer.
Bates also revealed last night that Wise is looking to make three more signings before the closure of the January transfer window.
The club remain tight-lipped as to the players' identities but, as exclusively revealed in the Yorkshire Post earlier this week, Portsmouth defender Andy O'Brien is on Wise's wish list.
The former Bradford City defender would be a replacement for Matthew Kilgallon, who recently joined Sheffield United for £1.75m – a deal that has led to some supporters calling for Bates to hand over the proceeds to Wise.
He said: "People write to me saying 'you have just sold this and banked that, putting it in your pocket again'. I sometimes wonder which planet these people live on.
"The reality is that even after selling Kilgallon, you will find this club has still spent a lot more on players since January 21, 2005, than it has brought in through sales.
"People keep saying to me 'but you are buying old players'. The situation we are in, we need experience. We need people who have been there, done it and got the T-shirt. You rarely win much with kids.
"What fans also forget is that if we did get relegated, you still have to plan for next season. Offering someone £5,000 a week, you can't afford to pay that in League One. Otherwise, we are going back to Ridsdale again."
richard.sutcliffe@ypn.co.uk
Leeds's past blunders to cost £20m
But Bates reveals Wise is chasing three more signings
Exclusive
KEN BATES has revealed for the first time the price Leeds United have had to pay during his two-year tenure for mistakes by previous regimes – a staggering £15.8m.
The 75-year-old will tomorrow celebrate his second anniversary of taking charge at Elland Road and admits it has been a "bigger job than I thought".
Bates's major problem has been contending with the legacy of the Peter Ridsdale era when expensive signings were placed on lucrative long-term contracts, which United were subsequently unable to sustain once relegated from the Premiership in 2004.
A fire-sale of star names then took place with many on such good contracts that they had to be offered inducements to leave, the likes of Robbie Fowler, Danny Mills, Seth Johnson and Nick Barmby all eventually being paid to play for other clubs.Speaking exclusively to the Yorkshire Post ahead of his second anniversary in charge, Bates outlined how the price Leeds will have to pay, during his tenure, for previous mistakes will eventually top £20m.
The current sum of £15.8m is made up of £9.3m already paid to former players and managers plus another £1.5m that has gone to agents. An additional £1.77m is still owed to former players, though importantly for United this debt will finally come to an end this summer.
Bates's arrival at Leeds also came at a time when the Inland Revenue were pressurising the club over an unpaid tax bill. The upshot has been that £5m has had to be paid to the taxman in arrears during the last two years with another £2.6m due between now and 2008.
The United chairman said: "The fans may not like the facts, but they are the truth."
Such commitments have, inevitably, impacted on everyday life at Elland Road throughout Bates's reign, and particularly since the ending of the £7m per annum parachute payment from the Premiership last summer.The club's cash income from all sources for 2006-07 is likely to be £22m. In 2005-06, this sum which included the parachute payment, was £30m.
The wage bill has fallen in the same period, but only from £13.4m in 2005-06 to "about £12.2m" in the current financial year. Additional annual costs facing Leeds include the sum of £1.6m to rent Elland Road and their Thorp Arch training ground, plus an additional £500,000 in rates.
It means payments such as the one United received from Chelsea late last year to compensate for signing two of their promising youngsters, which is believed to have been in excess of £4m, have already been swallowed up.
Nevertheless, manager Dennis Wise has been given licence to deal in the transfer window with Alan Thompson, Tore Andre Flo, Robbie Elliott and Armando Sa having joined until the end of the season.Matt Heath's and Tresor Kandol's moves have also been made permanent, and Hayden Foxe recently extended his deal until the summer.
Bates also revealed last night that Wise is looking to make three more signings before the closure of the January transfer window.
The club remain tight-lipped as to the players' identities but, as exclusively revealed in the Yorkshire Post earlier this week, Portsmouth defender Andy O'Brien is on Wise's wish list.
The former Bradford City defender would be a replacement for Matthew Kilgallon, who recently joined Sheffield United for £1.75m – a deal that has led to some supporters calling for Bates to hand over the proceeds to Wise.
He said: "People write to me saying 'you have just sold this and banked that, putting it in your pocket again'. I sometimes wonder which planet these people live on.
"The reality is that even after selling Kilgallon, you will find this club has still spent a lot more on players since January 21, 2005, than it has brought in through sales.
"People keep saying to me 'but you are buying old players'. The situation we are in, we need experience. We need people who have been there, done it and got the T-shirt. You rarely win much with kids.
"What fans also forget is that if we did get relegated, you still have to plan for next season. Offering someone £5,000 a week, you can't afford to pay that in League One. Otherwise, we are going back to Ridsdale again."
richard.sutcliffe@ypn.co.uk
