Sporting Life - Football
PFA ACCUSE LEEDS OF 'MORAL BLACKMAIL'
By Ian Parkes, PA Sport
PFA chief Gordon Taylor claims the Leeds board are subjecting their players to "moral blackmail" in an effort to force them to defer part of their wages.
Taylor believes that Leeds' failure to secure a rescue package and reluctance to sell any players to secure the £5million needed to avoid administration puts all the pressure on to the squad.
Meanwhile, it has become clear that Leeds' total net liabilities have now reached around £93m - they owe a total of £105m with cash assets of only £12m. Although their net borrowings are £78m they also owe around £10m to the Inland Revenue and £5m to former managers Peter Reid and David O'Leary.
Acting chairman Trevor Birch wants the players to defer up to 35% of their wages until the end of the season - but Taylor said some of the squad fear they would then never see the money.
Taylor said: "That is a big worry for some of the players bearing in mind the scale of the debt.
"There has been a little bit of moral blackmail of the players. The board have brought things to a head by saying they don't want to sell any players and they have not been able to find any new investors - so that just leaves it down to the squad."
Taylor also rejected criticism of the Leeds players for only agreeing to a deferment as a last resort.
He added: "It would be unfair for the Leeds supporters to think the players have discarded that option, they are very aware they may need to do it, but it should only be a measure of last resort.
"Leeds is not a hopeless case - if the players help them stay in the Premiership then they may have helped save the club."
Taylor's blast comes on the same day that former Ellan Road managers Peter Reid and David O'Leary said they are willing to help out the cash-strapped club in its hour of need.
Birch is considering turning to the three managers sacked by Leeds in the last 18 months - Reid, O'Leary and Terry Venables - and asking them to defer their severance payments, along with a number of players.
Leeds are currently in the middle of paying out a grand total of £7million to the trio, and understandably Birch is eager to put payments on hold and use the money to help keep the club afloat over the next few months.
As yet none of the managers have formally been asked to defer, with Birch initially seeing if the plan is viable in order to present it to the bondholders and creditors on Monday and gain a further two-week extension to the 'standstill agreement'.
Reid, who lasted just seven months before being sacked in mid-November following a 6-1 hammering at Portsmouth, is willing to assist in Birch's campaign.
Reid, believed to have been awarded a 12-month severance package of £850,000, confirmed: "If Leeds United want to defer any payments then I am happy with that.
"As long as I would eventually get what I am owed then I don't have a problem with it."
O'Leary recently revealed he is helping Leeds anyway by accepting payments of his £4million compensation every six months, however, the next instalment of £500,000 is apparently due in March.
Under Birch's plan, that would be put on hold until the summer, which is unlikely to pose a problem to the Irishman according to his representative, Michael Kennedy.
"There has been no formal approach as yet, although doubtless there will be and if there is I am sure it will be looked upon favourably by David," said Kennedy.
PFA ACCUSE LEEDS OF 'MORAL BLACKMAIL'
By Ian Parkes, PA Sport
PFA chief Gordon Taylor claims the Leeds board are subjecting their players to "moral blackmail" in an effort to force them to defer part of their wages.
Taylor believes that Leeds' failure to secure a rescue package and reluctance to sell any players to secure the £5million needed to avoid administration puts all the pressure on to the squad.
Meanwhile, it has become clear that Leeds' total net liabilities have now reached around £93m - they owe a total of £105m with cash assets of only £12m. Although their net borrowings are £78m they also owe around £10m to the Inland Revenue and £5m to former managers Peter Reid and David O'Leary.
Acting chairman Trevor Birch wants the players to defer up to 35% of their wages until the end of the season - but Taylor said some of the squad fear they would then never see the money.
Taylor said: "That is a big worry for some of the players bearing in mind the scale of the debt.
"There has been a little bit of moral blackmail of the players. The board have brought things to a head by saying they don't want to sell any players and they have not been able to find any new investors - so that just leaves it down to the squad."
Taylor also rejected criticism of the Leeds players for only agreeing to a deferment as a last resort.
He added: "It would be unfair for the Leeds supporters to think the players have discarded that option, they are very aware they may need to do it, but it should only be a measure of last resort.
"Leeds is not a hopeless case - if the players help them stay in the Premiership then they may have helped save the club."
Taylor's blast comes on the same day that former Ellan Road managers Peter Reid and David O'Leary said they are willing to help out the cash-strapped club in its hour of need.
Birch is considering turning to the three managers sacked by Leeds in the last 18 months - Reid, O'Leary and Terry Venables - and asking them to defer their severance payments, along with a number of players.
Leeds are currently in the middle of paying out a grand total of £7million to the trio, and understandably Birch is eager to put payments on hold and use the money to help keep the club afloat over the next few months.
As yet none of the managers have formally been asked to defer, with Birch initially seeing if the plan is viable in order to present it to the bondholders and creditors on Monday and gain a further two-week extension to the 'standstill agreement'.
Reid, who lasted just seven months before being sacked in mid-November following a 6-1 hammering at Portsmouth, is willing to assist in Birch's campaign.
Reid, believed to have been awarded a 12-month severance package of £850,000, confirmed: "If Leeds United want to defer any payments then I am happy with that.
"As long as I would eventually get what I am owed then I don't have a problem with it."
O'Leary recently revealed he is helping Leeds anyway by accepting payments of his £4million compensation every six months, however, the next instalment of £500,000 is apparently due in March.
Under Birch's plan, that would be put on hold until the summer, which is unlikely to pose a problem to the Irishman according to his representative, Michael Kennedy.
"There has been no formal approach as yet, although doubtless there will be and if there is I am sure it will be looked upon favourably by David," said Kennedy.