On the road: A big deal for Blackburn but Leeds are rich with fans - Mail 2/9/12

By Michael Walker
Elland Road held the prospect of something special on Saturday, and the old ground let no-one down.
The name of Jordan Rhodes was on the Blackburn Rovers teamsheet, which meant that Leeds United would be witnessing the debut of the most expensive player to move from one Championship club to another.
Blackburn paid Huddersfield Town £8million last week for Rhodes. A statement. But while there were six different scorers in a helter-skelter cartoon of a 3-3 draw, Rhodes was not one of them.
Rhodes had literally no chance. He had no shots. He was tidy in his link-up play but until he scores regularly for Rovers, the £8m question will be asked.
It is unfair, but then August is one of those football months that ensures a focus on the price of everything.
In this increasingly frenzied market, value, and values, get squeezed. Supporters feel ever more alienated and the makers of that new Liverpool banner 'Against Modern Football' would get a sympathetic hearing all over Britain.
At the same time, spending money is prized as the ultimate sign of ambition.
Rhodes' inflated transfer fee represents modern football - even if the down-to-earth 22-year-old does not.
But on Saturday Rhodes' fee and much else were swept away by something older at Elland Road, something primal, priceless, something so rare it justified a common cliche: that of the twelfth man.
There are many matches when it is claimed that the crowd altered the result, but there are not many when that claim is true.
On Saturday it was true. It was hard to believe, even as it unfolded. As the sheer venom gathered volume towards half-time, it visibly unnerved Blackburn, who until then had picked off Leeds, with Danny Murphy in control.
Rovers were 2-0 up in 27 minutes. By the second half Murphy was clearing off his own line. Control had become panic.
Leeds had what would have been a fourth goal disallowed for not much at all.
'I thought the crowd were magnificent today,' said Neil Warnock. The Leeds manager could have been playing to the gallery when he spoke about the noise, there is after all a well-known fracture between board and fan base at the club.
But Warnock wasn't. He spoke with awe, particularly about the atmosphere when Leeds were behind.
'Since I've been here, they've given me everything, 100 per cent,' he said of the fans, 'and it's been as hard a job as I've ever had.
'I've had to bring in almost a new team. But the crowd know what I'm doing.
'It's almost as if I'm one of them. I feel one of them. It's a fabulous feeling on the touchline.
'I'm giving everything and they're giving everything and it don't half help.
'At 2-0 down they could have got on the players' backs for a start. But they didn't because they know the players are giving everything. Instead they turned it round, encouraged us, then we get one back.
'The noise at the start of the second half was incredible really.
'I've had some good clubs, Loftus Road was a hostile environment at times, Bramall Lane was.
'But the size of the crowds here - it's their life, every fan here, the club is their life, that's all they're bothered about. I've never known anything quite like that, not in the numbers.'

BY THE WAY...
Blackburn's away kit was attractive - and clean. It has no sponsor. This is a trend. And yet there were 24,000 at Elland Road, leaving around 15,000 empty seats.
Over seven years after he first bought into Leeds United, they are still singing 'Get out of our club' to Ken Bates.
A mooted takeover has dragged itself across the summer and has not arrived. Robert Snodgrass joined Bradley Johnson and Jonny Howson in Norwich City's midfield, Leeds fans referring to themselves as Norwich's feeder club.
Selling that trio - who all started Norwich's 1-1 draw at Spurs on Saturday - does not smack of a promotion push.
So the disenchantment remains. There is perhaps only one club where it is more pronounced - Blackburn Rovers.
Attaching Rhodes to a smoothpassing team is a move to address that. Another would be to move to Elland Road. Rovers and Leeds both have something.
On Saturday they also saw what each is missing.

Egg on their faces?
Blackburn 's owners and management stand accused of many things in the eyes of their supporters and, as Venky's are in charge, a lot of criticism is chicken related.
It will be said that in spending £8million on Jordan Rhodes, Blackburn have put all their eggs in one basket.
They will counter that the scorer of their second goal at Elland Road proves otherwise.
Nuno Gomes is 36 now, with 79 Portugal caps and a decade at Benfica behind him. He was one of three Portuguese players on the team or bench on Saturday, alongside an Argentine, a Brazilian and a Spaniard, Ruben Rochina, who backheeled in a creative third.
In a way, Rhodes not scoring proved a point.
Comments
I would just like to echo what others have asked on here and hopefully bring our problems into a more national platform. Why the hell hasnt this takeover gone through? Answer- Ken Bates. This man has been bleeding this club dry for over 7 years and he still cant let go of his cash cow even though its clear to everyone that he has not got the cash flow to keep the club afloat. He is slowly destroying the club. Just sign off on the takeover Ken, walk off with some cash and let this great club start moving forward again.
- chris bright, edinburgh, 3/9/2012 14:26

Time to go Ken. To coin your favourite phrase "We now need saving from you"
- Adamson Out, Leeds UK, 3/9/2012 14:10

When will people realise, Ken Bates is in this for his own ends & nothing to do with the benefit of Leeds United. The sooner he leaves & lets someone who does care about the club takeover, the sooner myself & the thousands of other boycotters can return to Elland Road. Come on Bates do one decent thing for Leeds & leave, you are neither liked or welcome here.

- Glenn Jones, Brighouse, England, 3/9/2012 14:09

Ken Bates needs to sell the club and let someone with ambition and pride lead us into the premiership. He has neither the money nor the ambition to successfully take us forward so should step aside before admin becomes a reality again . It'll be interesting when LUST print the clubs financial state this week maybe those who give their hard earned to bates off shore bank accounts might wise up. FAIL !
- Jacksblackbook, Belfast, 3/9/2012 13:19

We are rich with fans, its such a shame that Bates doesn't care about us, and only cares about filling his pockets with our cash. People keep saying he's a good business man, but how many businesses would alienate their customers like he does? We could have already been in the Premier League with investment in the team, so how is that good business? Time to go Bates.
- Maxi, Sheffield, 3/9/2012 13:05

I am very suprised that this newspaper and the local paper hasn't highlighted before what is happening to this famous club. You can see from the comments above, I'm sure I don't need to repeat them, the injustices Leeds fans have gone through in the last 7 years under this Chairman. The only voice Leeds fans hear, apart from the Leeds WACCOE site and the Leeds supporters trust, comes from the state owned Yorkshire Radio, the censored club programme and a coweredly Yorkshire Evening Post. I'm sure your Leeds United readers would appreciate it if you reported what is going on at our club, we need all the publicity we can get.
- Pedro Pig, Carmarthen, 3/9/2012 13:00

Bates, why do you insist on delaying this takeover? Everyone can see that it's you who's holding the takeover up and anyone who says otherwise is deluded. In your programme notes on Saturday, you listed this criteria: Proof of funds? Fit and proper persons? As the statement from the Leeds website said (June 26), "our discussions with them have left us very comfortable that they have the financial resources to support the club and that they will have no issues in satisfying the requirements of the Football League's Owners and Directors Test," Why the sudden U-turn Kenneth? For the good of the team and the fans, get out of our club.
- Steve, Leeds, 3/9/2012 12:53

FAO: Michael Walker Please can you investigate the current situation regarding the takeover of Leeds United? Ken Bates has recently employed his own lawyers for the takeover. Originally there were the clubs lawyers and the buyers lawyers. Bates keeps saying that he has Leeds United interests at heart and will only let the club be sold to those that share this belief. Well how is it then that Ken Bates now has his own lawyers looking after his own interests, why does he not use the clubs lawyers who are looking after the clubs interest? Apparently the buyers pumped £4m into the club a few weeks ago in 2 instalments with the intention of helping Neil Warnock in the transfer market. However Bates turned around and said no, that £4m is mine for the privilege of doing due diligence and having exclusivity rights. It was at this stage that Bates called in his own lawyers. Does this strike you as a man who has Leeds United’s best interest at heart? Regards Mr R Jackson
- R Jackson, North Yorks, 3/9/2012 12:51

Is Ken Bates acting in the best interests of Leeds United? If we have been financially sound for as long as Bates says we have - then where is the investment in the team? Snodrass our best player and captain to Norwich. Howson, captain, best player born and bred Leeds, to Norwich. Johnson to Norwich. Gradel sold. Delph sold... superb players. And the rest. Where is the investment in the team...? Where is the vision in selling us short when we could have challenged with just a few of these.... where is the money going? Why has the club said there should be no problem with the bidders - but no takeover. Why are there reports Bates is the only person stopping us moving forward. Why are there reports the bidders put money into Leeds. A shady, litigious, venomous old man. At home in a court room and when attacking others. He has upset SO many. He is a disgraced himself. Insults the fans. How is Bates a fit and proper person to run a great club like Leeds?
- Matt, Cyprus, 3/9/2012 12:29

Bates Out !!!!!
- Wayne, UK, 3/9/2012 12:17

In 7 years Ken Bates has taken us absolutely nowhere. We've been relegated, been into administration, deducted a total of 25 points, sold all our best players, invested next to nothing in the football team, built a load of executive boxes with future season ticket money, had to pay some of the highest ticket prices in the country and still find ourselves as a middle of the road Championship club. Enough is enough I'm afraid. Ken Bates has been nothing short of a disaster for this club. It's time for him to do the correct thing for once and sell up. He doesn't have the funds or the interest to take LUFC anywhere. I will not be setting foot inside Elland Road until he goes.
- Matt, Leeds, UK, 3/9/2012 12:16

Ken Bates has lied time and time again to Leeds fans and I for one am not prepared to take this anymore. We have a group of players and a manager committed to the club who give everything for us the supporters and a chairman who is only committed to himself. The time has come for Ken to let someone else have a go at the club. Someone serving OUR interests instead of purely their own. I'm confident that the majority of Premier League Clubs want Leeds United back in the Premier League, this will only happen with Ken Bates Gone.
- Paul G, Scunthorpe, 3/9/2012 12:10

I too am boycotting ER because I don't see what other courses of action are open to me to actually affect Ken Bates. Tickets are at Premership prices, we (still) have higher gates than almost any other team in the Championship, season after season we have sold our best players and yet we still apparently have no money - in fact we have mortgaged part of the next two years' season ticket sales. Either the club are wasting money hand over fist or the money is being diverted somewhere else. Could it be to Monaco? For Ken Bates to suggest in his programme notes this week that he can't complete the takeover because he doesn't know who the buyers are, when for 5 years he quite openly said that although he was running the club, he had no idea who the owners were, absolutely beggars belief...
- Dan C, Leeds, 3/9/2012 12:01

I for one am sick to death of paying extortiante money to watch leeds united. I will watch and listen from the comfort of my arm chair until there is significant investment in the playing squad to match the prices being charged through the turnstiles. A club of this size could and should have made it back to the premiership within 5 years of relegation from it. I hate to say it but the only way forward for this club is for the supporters to stay away until there is change. Credit to organisations like LUST who seem to be representing what many fans have been calling for years. Until then i'll stay away from anything assoiceted with keneth william bates....TOMA!
- Sweeny, Walton on Thames , 3/9/2012 11:58

S. Robinson, what are you talking about?? How did Leeds have an advantage? We also have a brand new team (11 new signings) and you were 2-0 up! How is that an advantage? You do NOT have to spend big to get out of this division, look at the teams who have gone up in the last 2 years. The only team who spent any real money were West Ham and they needed the playoffs to do it. What you do need is a manager who knows what hes doing and a commited, balanced squad. We lack depth at the moment but 2 or 3 more good quality signings (not necessarily big names) and we would looking good.
- Mark, Wakfield, W. Yorks,, 3/9/2012 11:45

I am one of the many thousand Leeds fans who are currently boycotting home games and will continue to do so until Ken BAtes has left the club. For years he has sold off our best players and chosen to not re-invest in new players. He then has the audacity to write in this weeks program notes that he doesn't know who the prospective buyers are and whether they are fit and proper, yet the official club statement said that there was no concerns about the buyers!!!! Add to this the FACT that Ken Bates said for years that he himself didn't know who owned Leeds United - time for the lies to end and time to invest in the team. THis club would be huge again if Ken Bates signed the take over. Everybody is waiting and yet he dithers around, stalling. It's time to take your cash cow to market Ken. The game is up.
- Tim Richards, Brighouse, 3/9/2012 11:40

Ken Bates, where to begin. If you truly have the best interests of the club and fans, sell now, sign the contract and go. 7 years. Millions collected in transfer fees. High profile fixtures. Large crowds. Barely break even profits. Where has the money gone Ken? Implying LUST are against the club. Calling the fans morons. Implying that you do not know who the bidders are, after releasing a club statement that states they have necessary finances and are fit and proper. Misdirection. Lies. Administration - the only major loser was HMRC - a tax dodge, eh Ken? Mysterious debt (Astor £17m), suddenly found to allow KPMG to hand the club back to you. Wiped out, if you regained control. Threats to liquidate the club Ken, if you were not put back in charge. Implications about unknown prospective bidders, when you worked for years claiming not to know who owned the club. Court cases costing millions, loss making radio station. GO KEN. NOW. FOR THE CLUB AND FANS. FOR LEEDS UNITED.
- Mark Bradley, Birkenshaw, 3/9/2012 11:24

We’re fed up with the incompetence and dissolution Bates has brought to our club. For the whole of Mr bates tenure he has demonstrated his lack of interest in anything other than himself and his own interests. His propaganda machine is now in full flow in his program notes and his radio station,sticking the knife in to anyone who doesn't buy into his twisted views and blaming anyone but himself for past mistakes. Sign the papers Mr bates its time to go...... Mrs Anjie walker.
- Anjie walker, Leeds, 3/9/2012 11:16

The silence at ER on transfer deadline day was deafening - why so when Delph, Beckford, Gradel,Schmeichel, Howson, Snodgrass and others have all departed in the recent past and we have spent but a fraction of the transfer fees we received? I'll tell you why - Ken Bates greed! A lot of Leeds fans need to wake up to this fact - we had to call on a transfer listed player (Pugh) that wasn't in NW's plans, just to make up the subs bench numbers last week so where has the money gone and where is the investment that is desperatley needed for a 46 game season and to move the club forward? If anyone thinks Bates is good for Leeds they need to do some basic sums rather than believe the propaganda spouted in the programme notes! We all know who is holding up this takeover and greatly needed investment so get your pen out Ken, you should have plenty to choose from, and get the contract signed!
- Mike, York, England, 3/9/2012 11:14

The club is being slowly strangled by Bates. He needs to realise that he does not have the financial muscle for a club of Leeds size nor indeed the will to take the club and its fans where they want to go. Hi is a dinosaur in an era where vision is needed by fresh owners. He attacks the Leeds United Supporters Trust for saying what the fans think. They have a vision that benefits Leeds ON the field. Bates has a vision that benefits only Ken Bates. You have outstayed your welcome Mr Bates. Disgraceful.
- Adam, Leicester, 3/9/2012 11:09

Until Bates relinquishes his hold death grip Leeds we will never full fill our true potential. He has alienated too many fans labelling them morons. He states it’s a small minority, but we were averaging 26k in League one back in 07/08. Last year we averaged just 23k. That's 3,000 stay away supporter’s in a higher league. I'm sure there are a few chairman in the football league would those supporter’s to follow them. By my reckoning, at the ticket prices Bates charges that in excess of 4.9M worth of revenue Bates has lost.
- Lee, Wakefield, 3/9/2012 11:05

Good article. Can we have more please highlighting the massive hypocrisy that Ken Bates exhibits time and time again. Also, the fact that he contradicts himself almost every time he speaks or writes. The man is a complete joke and a born liar and us long suffering Leeds United supporters need this to be brought to the attention of the masses.
- Richard, Herefordshire, 3/9/2012 10:58

The fans, players and manager are all giving 100% to help get this club back to the Premier League, shame the same can't be said for our foul mouthed owner, who continues to drain every penny out of the club whilst bad mouthing anyone and everyone who dares to question his shady antics. As a season ticket holder for over 20 years my patience is wearing very thin with Mr Bates and that can be said of many other fans I speak to. Sadly as much as it will break my heart the only way to force Bates out is to vote with our feet and not attend games. I pray everyday for a successful takeover but as the days, weeks and now months drag on I lose hope! MOT
- James Mo, Leeds, 3/9/2012 10:58

Well I'm boycotting and it breaks my heart. My little lad is now 6 and is still waiting to go to his first match but I refeuse to put a single more penny into that sad nasty Leeds hating excuse of a chariman's pocket. I've been a supporter for over 40 years - had a season ticket for 35 of those - but enough is enough until there is change of owner. Bates OUT ! MOT
- Shooter, Denby Dale, 3/9/2012 10:52

The fans know it the manager knows it even the chief executive Apparently knows it Ken it's time to go
- Belwhites, Belfast, 3/9/2012 10:50

Leeds now have the right manager in place to take us to the Premiership. We have the fans and the passion, but their is one man who is strangling this club and that is Mr Ken Bates. Year after year he sells our best players and re-invests next to nothing. Then has the audacity to question the prospective owners over their credentials. This is laughable coming from a man who publically stated he didn't know who the owners of Leeds were until last year. As soon as Bates is gone, the home crowds will be sell outs every week and we can get the much needed investment for Warnock. Hundreds of us are boycotting at the moment and will continue to do so until he has left. If you are reading this Ken Bates, please sign on the dotted line and let this club move on.
- Tim Richards, Brighouse, 3/9/2012 10:45

The club is so desperate for change at the top. We are swimming with a mill stone round our necks. I am a "boycotter" and it is difficult to stay away, but to do nothing is to be complicit in keeping the regime afloat. I refuse to send any more money to Monaco.
- Matt M, Leeds, 3/9/2012 10:43

We have one of the best fan bases in the UK. We need the lift of a takeover and the removal of Ken Bates from the top. We need a cash injection to start this club ticking again, we have a solid starting 11, but little in reserve. Ken Bates questions in the matchday programme where ridiculous, how he can question anyone when he supposedly didn't who the owner of LUFC was? Time to retire Ken, your no longer rich enough to push this top team forward.
- Andrew, York, UK, 3/9/2012 10:39

The support at Leeds has never been questioned, ask the chairmen of the league 1 and championship clubs who see full away allocation taken time after time. Many travel away but don't go to ER due to the current regime. If the Noise was good on Saturday, imagine what it would be like with new owners and Leeds pushing for promotion. Boycott's ended 30 thousand plus. Any investment in the team would be on a very short payback. MOT
- Sid, France, 3/9/2012 10:27

Rhodes only managed to train once with the squad between his move and the game so to criticize is a bit premature. The writer should also realise if Leeds want to be back in the Prem. they are going to have to spend and spend big ,Rovers have a brand new team that was fielded on Saturday ( 12 new signings) which gave Leeds that bit of an advantage, but once the Rovers team starts to gel they will be the yardstick for the rest of the championship.
- S Robinson, Blackburn Lancs., 3/9/2012 10:17

Was at the game on Saturday, crowd was immense ... but guess who never attended?? does that show you a man who loves and cares about his club? I wish Bates would stop abusing fans via his program notes, its a weak man who attacks those who dont have a chance to reply.. poor show Mr Bates TOMA !!! ... Lets hope David Hague and the consortium play the killer move soon, in this extremely annoying game of high level chess!!
- Steve in Scotland, St. Andrews. Scotland, 3/9/2012 10:07

How DARE Ken Bates question??? the identity of the new potential buyers when he SWORE IN COURT that he did not know who owned Leeds United for five years whilst his unknown friends employed him to be their Chairman and he did it for not one penny in wages, according to him. Lies, more lies and hypocrisy in the extreme. Fit and proper person Football League? Jokers!
- DBBS, Leeds England, 3/9/2012 9:49

A very good view of the situation..the chairman hates the club and does nothing to help or encourage the manager, club, squad or fans. As KEN once said " I shall not rest until Leeds United are kicked out of the football league. Their fans are the scum of the Earth, absolute animals and a disgrace. I will do everything in my power to make this happen" It's taken him 7yrs so far and he is still trying to destroy the club, but many people, other fans and some Leeds fans think he saved the club x2. It is all a pack of lies and half truths! BATES OUT!
- Peter, Leeds, 3/9/2012 9:24

Good article, imagine what the atmosphere would be like if Bates did what is best for Leeds United and signed to the club over to the new owners. 7 Years of lies and selling any asset that isn't tied down is slowly killing this club. All fans need to realise what Bates is doing, and take no notice of his comments in the program or on Propoganda FM, where he is trying to devide the fans, at a time when we should be united in our attempts at a regime change at the top Bates Out, Bates Out, Bates Out
- FatBob, Leeds, England, 3/9/2012 9:17

In the program notes Ken Bates claims not to know the identity of the buyers, and implies that this could be a stumbling block. It seems ironic that the Official Site stated that the buyers had appropriate finances to take the club forward, and would easily pass the Fit and Proper person test !!!! The hypocrisy from this man knows no bounds, especially considering that he also claimed not to know the owners of LUFC whilst he was chairman !!!!
- IronMike, Leeds, 3/9/2012 9:00

Leeds United so desperately need a change at the top. The Patient is recovered yet the Doctor in this case is keeping him in an artificial coma, for reasons known only to himself. Time to go Ken.
- Andy Kaye, Leeds UK, 3/9/2012 8:45

Once the change at the top happens at Leeds and it will watch the club take off on the field. Estimates vary 5000 or so are boycotting games and growing daily as the true facts become known, due to all the unaccounted money at the club the protest is called ' Not one penny more' and the protesters are sticking to it, its primarily for Leeds fans but also we have empathy with other clubs who are experiencing similar situations with Chairmen who see our game as a money earner.
- Graham, Leeds, 3/9/2012 8:24