Sporting Life - Football
BIRCH HOPEFUL OF LEEDS RESCUE BID
By Carl Markham, PA Sport
Crisis club Leeds face yet another day of reckoning on Monday but it is one they are likely to survive - for now at least.
Monday January 19 was the date when the future of the Elland Road outfit was to have been decided but it appears the financially-crippled club will be allowed to limp on as they continue their increasingly desperate attempts to bring in cash to stave off administration.
Last month Leeds agreed a 'standstill agreement' with their creditors, to whom they owe a combined £82m, which bought them breathing space.
Chief executive Trevor Birch revealed the club is on the verge of securing a short extension to tomorrow's deadline which would give them time to confirm a £5million cash injection to see them through to May.
"We are very close to reaching an agreement with the principle creditors that will give us an extension of at least a week to enable us to put the funds in place to fund the club for the rest of the season," he said.
"We have some certainty then, we are either still in the Premier league or relegated and both scenarios provide different solutions.
"We are fairly confident we can put that package together next week, a number of options being considered to raise that."
Chairman Professor John McKenzie and deputy chairman Allan Leighton stepped down from their executive roles last month in order to concentrate on securing rescue packages for the club but so far their efforts have been fruitless.
Bahrain-based lifelong Leeds fan Sheikh Abdulrahman Bin Mubarak Al Khalifa also claimed to be brokering a deal with Middle Eastern money men which would solve the problems but has so far failed to deliver the goods.
In fact, in light of increasing speculation last week that the Sheikh was ready to launch a takeover bid, which resulted in Leeds shares rising by 40% on Friday, the club issued a statement to the Stock Exchange in which they said: "The company has not received any satisfactory evidence from Sheikh Al Khalifa that funds exist to fulfil any proposal currently under discussion between him and the company."
And Birch has hit out at the Sheikh for making claims he has not been able to substantiate.
"It's quite clear that nobody is out there wanting to take the risk on relegation because it brings with it a big trading loss. Anybody buying at this stage is taking a risk they will be on the hook for that next year," Birch told Sky Sports News.
"But I'm certainly getting fed up of reading what he's about to do in the papers, it's really a time to show us the colour of his money, to put up or shut up.
"I think it's done nobody any favours. It just raises expectations and leads to people being upset when those deadlines aren't reached."
But the £5m Birch claims will be injected from an outside source means Leeds are likely to be given until the end of the season to sort out their difficulties.
The players have also been approached about the possibility of a wage deferral scheme of up to 33% which would free up extra cash for the remaining four months of the season.
That would be the best Leeds could hope for as their only two other options - administration or the sale of their remaining star players - are unpalatable in the extreme.
Creditors - American companies MetLife and Teachers, along with British firm M&G, as well as player-leasing agents Registered European Football Finance Ltd - do not want to see the club go into administration
And there were fears such a move would result in the Premier League imposing a nine-point deduction, which would virtually signal their relegation from the top flight after they went bottom yesterday following defeat at Southampton.
Officials confirmed last week such a punishment would not come into force until next season but Leeds are not entirely in the clear in terms of disciplinary action if they fail to strike a deal with creditors because the Premier League has other options it can explore.
However, even a cash injection as this stage may not prevent the sale of at least one of the club's saleable assets - Mark Viduka, Alan Smith and Paul Robinson being the three at the top of most people's lists.
That would antagonise Leeds' long-suffering fans even further and could only hasten the club's departure through the relegation trap door which leads to even greater misery.
So rather than tomorrow being a conclusion to events it is likely to merely be a stopping-off point on the rather long and torturous path back to financial security.
BIRCH HOPEFUL OF LEEDS RESCUE BID
By Carl Markham, PA Sport
Crisis club Leeds face yet another day of reckoning on Monday but it is one they are likely to survive - for now at least.
Monday January 19 was the date when the future of the Elland Road outfit was to have been decided but it appears the financially-crippled club will be allowed to limp on as they continue their increasingly desperate attempts to bring in cash to stave off administration.
Last month Leeds agreed a 'standstill agreement' with their creditors, to whom they owe a combined £82m, which bought them breathing space.
Chief executive Trevor Birch revealed the club is on the verge of securing a short extension to tomorrow's deadline which would give them time to confirm a £5million cash injection to see them through to May.
"We are very close to reaching an agreement with the principle creditors that will give us an extension of at least a week to enable us to put the funds in place to fund the club for the rest of the season," he said.
"We have some certainty then, we are either still in the Premier league or relegated and both scenarios provide different solutions.
"We are fairly confident we can put that package together next week, a number of options being considered to raise that."
Chairman Professor John McKenzie and deputy chairman Allan Leighton stepped down from their executive roles last month in order to concentrate on securing rescue packages for the club but so far their efforts have been fruitless.
Bahrain-based lifelong Leeds fan Sheikh Abdulrahman Bin Mubarak Al Khalifa also claimed to be brokering a deal with Middle Eastern money men which would solve the problems but has so far failed to deliver the goods.
In fact, in light of increasing speculation last week that the Sheikh was ready to launch a takeover bid, which resulted in Leeds shares rising by 40% on Friday, the club issued a statement to the Stock Exchange in which they said: "The company has not received any satisfactory evidence from Sheikh Al Khalifa that funds exist to fulfil any proposal currently under discussion between him and the company."
And Birch has hit out at the Sheikh for making claims he has not been able to substantiate.
"It's quite clear that nobody is out there wanting to take the risk on relegation because it brings with it a big trading loss. Anybody buying at this stage is taking a risk they will be on the hook for that next year," Birch told Sky Sports News.
"But I'm certainly getting fed up of reading what he's about to do in the papers, it's really a time to show us the colour of his money, to put up or shut up.
"I think it's done nobody any favours. It just raises expectations and leads to people being upset when those deadlines aren't reached."
But the £5m Birch claims will be injected from an outside source means Leeds are likely to be given until the end of the season to sort out their difficulties.
The players have also been approached about the possibility of a wage deferral scheme of up to 33% which would free up extra cash for the remaining four months of the season.
That would be the best Leeds could hope for as their only two other options - administration or the sale of their remaining star players - are unpalatable in the extreme.
Creditors - American companies MetLife and Teachers, along with British firm M&G, as well as player-leasing agents Registered European Football Finance Ltd - do not want to see the club go into administration
And there were fears such a move would result in the Premier League imposing a nine-point deduction, which would virtually signal their relegation from the top flight after they went bottom yesterday following defeat at Southampton.
Officials confirmed last week such a punishment would not come into force until next season but Leeds are not entirely in the clear in terms of disciplinary action if they fail to strike a deal with creditors because the Premier League has other options it can explore.
However, even a cash injection as this stage may not prevent the sale of at least one of the club's saleable assets - Mark Viduka, Alan Smith and Paul Robinson being the three at the top of most people's lists.
That would antagonise Leeds' long-suffering fans even further and could only hasten the club's departure through the relegation trap door which leads to even greater misery.
So rather than tomorrow being a conclusion to events it is likely to merely be a stopping-off point on the rather long and torturous path back to financial security.