Cross Blackwell in a pickle over future at Leeds
By Rick Broadbent
The Times
IF KEVIN BLACKWELL loses his job as the manager of Leeds United it would be an act of ingratitude to rank alongside the Bible’s 5,000 asking if there was any butter to go with their bread.
With debt reduced by £100 million and more than 100 transfer and loan deals completed in 15 months, the club that sacrificed itself on the altar of vanity and greed is sixth in the Coca-Cola Championship. Little wonder that Blackwell is angry at whispers that claim he will soon be replaced by Dennis Wise.
Ken Bates, the Leeds chairman, has dismissed the speculation as “rubbish”, but Blackwell is taking nothing for granted. “When strong rumours come from within the football camp they normally have some credence,” he said. “But there weren’t too many people in the queue when I took over and we were the worst club in football with the worst debt. It was a poisoned chalice and people said I was mad.
“Now we’ve turned it around and the chairman has admitted some people have approached him for my job. People should have some f***ing respect.”
The Wise link has been around since Bates, who nurtured him at Chelsea, assumed control, but has intensified lately. Leeds play Southampton, Wise’s present club, on Tuesday, and Blackwell is looking forward to the match. “I might have to walk away from here. Who knows? But I do know Dennis Wise is not liked by Leeds fans,” he said.
Blackwell’s work over the past 15 months is as impressive as the achievements of the man he admits is his inspiration — José Mourinho. Like the Chelsea manager, Blackwell’s playing career was a modest one that preceded managerial fireworks and he said: “Mourinho was only the translator and look at him now. Could a big name have come in here and wheeled and dealed like I have, sending 12 players out on loan so we could pay someone £2,000 for a month’s loan?”
Incredibly, Blackwell says Leeds could be debt-free next season, when four former managers and six former players will have been paid off. The club may also be in the Barclays Premiership by then. It is only 3½ years since they played in a European Cup semi-final, but the club have been to Hell and back, via Crewe and Rochdale, in the interim.
A few weeks after joining the Leeds backroom, Blackwell produced a report called The State Of Play — LUFC. It was only September but it named and shamed certain players and concluded that Leeds would be relegated that season. “It’d be dangerous if it got in the wrong hands,” he said. “But the cliff was coming and we were hurtling towards it.”
The State of Play was ready the day that Peter Reid was dismissed as manager and eight months later the team were relegated. Blackwell took over and had to deal with having only two senior players on the books — Gary Kelly and Michael Duberry — and tearful canteen girls worrying about their mortgages. “Now everything is positive and people are interested in managing Leeds United again,” he said.
Blackwell calls it crisis management. Lance Armstrong’s book about triumph over adversity, It’s Not About the Bike, sits on his desk and he has just watched a programme about hurricane flood defences.
Last season his first priority was to get ten points clear of relegation from the Championship so that Leeds would be able to weather the penalty for going into administration. When safety was guaranteed in March, he sent a string of players out on loan and told the staff to go scouting. After 15 turbulent months, he says the club is ahead of schedule. One caller to a radio phone-in even likened him to Don Revie. “I wouldn’t go anywhere near that statement, but I do know that, whatever happens, I can walk around Leeds with my head high,” he said
By Rick Broadbent
The Times
IF KEVIN BLACKWELL loses his job as the manager of Leeds United it would be an act of ingratitude to rank alongside the Bible’s 5,000 asking if there was any butter to go with their bread.
With debt reduced by £100 million and more than 100 transfer and loan deals completed in 15 months, the club that sacrificed itself on the altar of vanity and greed is sixth in the Coca-Cola Championship. Little wonder that Blackwell is angry at whispers that claim he will soon be replaced by Dennis Wise.Ken Bates, the Leeds chairman, has dismissed the speculation as “rubbish”, but Blackwell is taking nothing for granted. “When strong rumours come from within the football camp they normally have some credence,” he said. “But there weren’t too many people in the queue when I took over and we were the worst club in football with the worst debt. It was a poisoned chalice and people said I was mad.
“Now we’ve turned it around and the chairman has admitted some people have approached him for my job. People should have some f***ing respect.”
The Wise link has been around since Bates, who nurtured him at Chelsea, assumed control, but has intensified lately. Leeds play Southampton, Wise’s present club, on Tuesday, and Blackwell is looking forward to the match. “I might have to walk away from here. Who knows? But I do know Dennis Wise is not liked by Leeds fans,” he said.
Blackwell’s work over the past 15 months is as impressive as the achievements of the man he admits is his inspiration — José Mourinho. Like the Chelsea manager, Blackwell’s playing career was a modest one that preceded managerial fireworks and he said: “Mourinho was only the translator and look at him now. Could a big name have come in here and wheeled and dealed like I have, sending 12 players out on loan so we could pay someone £2,000 for a month’s loan?”
Incredibly, Blackwell says Leeds could be debt-free next season, when four former managers and six former players will have been paid off. The club may also be in the Barclays Premiership by then. It is only 3½ years since they played in a European Cup semi-final, but the club have been to Hell and back, via Crewe and Rochdale, in the interim.
A few weeks after joining the Leeds backroom, Blackwell produced a report called The State Of Play — LUFC. It was only September but it named and shamed certain players and concluded that Leeds would be relegated that season. “It’d be dangerous if it got in the wrong hands,” he said. “But the cliff was coming and we were hurtling towards it.”
The State of Play was ready the day that Peter Reid was dismissed as manager and eight months later the team were relegated. Blackwell took over and had to deal with having only two senior players on the books — Gary Kelly and Michael Duberry — and tearful canteen girls worrying about their mortgages. “Now everything is positive and people are interested in managing Leeds United again,” he said.
Blackwell calls it crisis management. Lance Armstrong’s book about triumph over adversity, It’s Not About the Bike, sits on his desk and he has just watched a programme about hurricane flood defences.
Last season his first priority was to get ten points clear of relegation from the Championship so that Leeds would be able to weather the penalty for going into administration. When safety was guaranteed in March, he sent a string of players out on loan and told the staff to go scouting. After 15 turbulent months, he says the club is ahead of schedule. One caller to a radio phone-in even likened him to Don Revie. “I wouldn’t go anywhere near that statement, but I do know that, whatever happens, I can walk around Leeds with my head high,” he said