Leeds United v Charlton: Leeds and Cellino still left waiting
Yorkshire Post 1/4/14
by Richard Sutcliffe
AS Massimo Cellino was last night left sweating over his appeal against the blocking of a planned £25m takeover of Leeds United, manager Brian McDermott insisted that accusations he has lost the support of the dressing room are well wide of the mark.
The Football League last week barred Miami-based Cellino from taking the helm at Elland Road following a recent conviction in his native Sardinia for tax evasion.
Cellino’s legal representatives in London, Mishcon de Reya, lodged a formal appeal last Thursday on the grounds that the Italian businessman has appealed against that conviction and remains innocent in Italian law until the appeals process is completed.
An independent QC heard both sides of the argument in London yesterday and is now considering his judgment. Sources have indicated no time-frame has been put on a possible decision but United, who last week were unable to pay their players in full, are desperate for the matter to be resolved as soon as possible.
That, though, may not be so easy with the case a complex one due to a large part of the appeal involving Italian law.
At least two rival groups are interested in the Championship club but owner, Bahrain-based investment bank Gulf Finance House, has so far remained steadfast in its determination to sell to Cellino after exchanging contracts on February 7 over the sale of a 75 per cent stake.
Whether clarity over the ownership saga comes in the next 24 hours remains to be seen, but manager McDermott has an almighty task to lift his players for tonight’s visit of Charlton Athletic.
Leeds were abject in losing 2-1 to Doncaster Rovers at the weekend, a result that means the Yorkshire club have now lost five of their last six games while conceding 18 goals.
This collapse in form has led many supporters to question whether McDermott, ‘sacked’ by Cellino on January 31 but reinstated a couple of days later, has lost the backing of the Elland Road dressing room. The United manager, however, is adamant that is not the case.
He said: “I am confident they are still with me. It is a common theme that people say when you have had a bad run of results, that the manager has lost the dressing room.
“I don’t even know what that means.
“Get a result and the manager has got the dressing room again. Get another result, he has really got the dressing room again. That is how it works.
“It is just a cliche. It doesn’t mean anything to me. I have got good people in the dressing room and they are as disappointed as me. But I am determined and ready to fight. And they (the players) will be the same.”
Tonight’s game is, regardless of what happens on the field, unlikely to prove too much of a distraction for supporters from the escalating financial crisis that last week saw the players forced to agree a 50 per cent wage deferral due to United having simply run out of money.
Leeds are in total disarray, with events taking yet another farcical turn late on Sunday night when a recording of a conversation between Cellino and a supporter emerged on the internet.
A whole manner of topics were discussed during the 20-minute chat. A host of derogatory comments were made by the Italian, who was plainly unaware he was being recorded, about the players and club hierarchy.
Asked if the criticism of the team by Cellino would affect his players, McDermott said: “It is a conversation on a telephone that shouldn’t have come out. And that’s it. Private conversations are private. There are rights and wrongs, and that was not right.”
McDermott is expected to wield the axe tonight after opting to make just one change for the Doncaster defeat despite his side having been thrashed 4-1 by Bournemouth four days earlier.
Rodolph Austin is struggling with an ankle injury, while Luke Murphy – like the Jamaican, withdrawn at half-time on Saturday – could also miss out on a place in the starting XI.
Leeds, once Michael Tonge and Aidy White had been brought off the bench, were markedly better in the second half against Rovers, leading some wags to suggest that being paid just half their wages had prompted the players to play for just one half of the Doncaster game.
That suggestion, even if made tongue-in-cheek, holds no water with McDermott. Asked if his players had given everything against Doncaster, he replied: “I would say so. We have got this situation where next week – this week, hopefully – things will be sorted out with the wages. I think when you go out onto the pitch, you haven’t got that on your mind.”
by Richard Sutcliffe
AS Massimo Cellino was last night left sweating over his appeal against the blocking of a planned £25m takeover of Leeds United, manager Brian McDermott insisted that accusations he has lost the support of the dressing room are well wide of the mark.
The Football League last week barred Miami-based Cellino from taking the helm at Elland Road following a recent conviction in his native Sardinia for tax evasion.
Cellino’s legal representatives in London, Mishcon de Reya, lodged a formal appeal last Thursday on the grounds that the Italian businessman has appealed against that conviction and remains innocent in Italian law until the appeals process is completed.
An independent QC heard both sides of the argument in London yesterday and is now considering his judgment. Sources have indicated no time-frame has been put on a possible decision but United, who last week were unable to pay their players in full, are desperate for the matter to be resolved as soon as possible.
That, though, may not be so easy with the case a complex one due to a large part of the appeal involving Italian law.
At least two rival groups are interested in the Championship club but owner, Bahrain-based investment bank Gulf Finance House, has so far remained steadfast in its determination to sell to Cellino after exchanging contracts on February 7 over the sale of a 75 per cent stake.
Whether clarity over the ownership saga comes in the next 24 hours remains to be seen, but manager McDermott has an almighty task to lift his players for tonight’s visit of Charlton Athletic.
Leeds were abject in losing 2-1 to Doncaster Rovers at the weekend, a result that means the Yorkshire club have now lost five of their last six games while conceding 18 goals.
This collapse in form has led many supporters to question whether McDermott, ‘sacked’ by Cellino on January 31 but reinstated a couple of days later, has lost the backing of the Elland Road dressing room. The United manager, however, is adamant that is not the case.
He said: “I am confident they are still with me. It is a common theme that people say when you have had a bad run of results, that the manager has lost the dressing room.
“I don’t even know what that means.
“Get a result and the manager has got the dressing room again. Get another result, he has really got the dressing room again. That is how it works.
“It is just a cliche. It doesn’t mean anything to me. I have got good people in the dressing room and they are as disappointed as me. But I am determined and ready to fight. And they (the players) will be the same.”
Tonight’s game is, regardless of what happens on the field, unlikely to prove too much of a distraction for supporters from the escalating financial crisis that last week saw the players forced to agree a 50 per cent wage deferral due to United having simply run out of money.
Leeds are in total disarray, with events taking yet another farcical turn late on Sunday night when a recording of a conversation between Cellino and a supporter emerged on the internet.
A whole manner of topics were discussed during the 20-minute chat. A host of derogatory comments were made by the Italian, who was plainly unaware he was being recorded, about the players and club hierarchy.
Asked if the criticism of the team by Cellino would affect his players, McDermott said: “It is a conversation on a telephone that shouldn’t have come out. And that’s it. Private conversations are private. There are rights and wrongs, and that was not right.”
McDermott is expected to wield the axe tonight after opting to make just one change for the Doncaster defeat despite his side having been thrashed 4-1 by Bournemouth four days earlier.
Rodolph Austin is struggling with an ankle injury, while Luke Murphy – like the Jamaican, withdrawn at half-time on Saturday – could also miss out on a place in the starting XI.
Leeds, once Michael Tonge and Aidy White had been brought off the bench, were markedly better in the second half against Rovers, leading some wags to suggest that being paid just half their wages had prompted the players to play for just one half of the Doncaster game.
That suggestion, even if made tongue-in-cheek, holds no water with McDermott. Asked if his players had given everything against Doncaster, he replied: “I would say so. We have got this situation where next week – this week, hopefully – things will be sorted out with the wages. I think when you go out onto the pitch, you haven’t got that on your mind.”
