Leedsunited.com 5/1/07
GREGAN GOES
United announced today that the contract of defender Sean Gregan has been cancelled by mutual consent.
The 32-year-old defender, who recently completed a loan spell with Oldham Athletic, had been told by manager Dennis Wise that he did not figure in his future plans for the Elland Road club.
Gregan, who joined United from West Bromwich Albion two years ago, made only two first team appearances for United this season before going out on loan but was a regular in Kevin Blackwell's United side last season.
A club spokesman said: "We would like to express our thanks to him for the contribution he has made since joining us from West Bromwich Albion when he helped to stabilise the position after our relegation from the Premier League.
"We wish him every success in the future," he added.
Guardian 5/1/07
Leeds poised to buy back Elland Road for £12m in the summer
Matt Scott
Friday January 5, 2007
The Guardian
Leeds United are to take up the option of purchasing Elland Road from the stadium's landlords once the current burden on their wage bill eases after this season. The Championship strugglers are understood still to be paying onerous fees for players who left the club during and after their Premiership collapse three seasons ago. That has put immense strain on club finances but the board is optimistic that the situation will improve, freeing funds for a buy back.
"This is the last year of Peter Ridsdale's excesses," said the Leeds director Mark Taylor. "We are still paying wages for players like Robbie Fowler, Seth Johnson and Michael Duberry. Our financial position changes dramatically when the payments stop; half our wage bill is being spent on players who do not play for the club."
The stadium's ownership changed hands in March 2006 but documents have only lately been lodged with the land registry. These indicate that the new landlord is a company called Teak Trading Corporation, registered in the British Virgin Islands.
This has led to speculation that the chairman, Ken Bates, who has a history of conducting business in the tax-haven islands, is behind the deal. However, Taylor rebutted the rumours, describing them as "ludicrous", stating that neither Bates nor any of his associated companies has an equity interest in the firm. Indeed, Taylor said that Leeds have not been informed of the identity of their new landlord.
"Teak Trading has got nothing to do with us at all," said Taylor. "We didn't know about the sale because it doesn't bother us. They don't have to inform us who the landlord is. The rent is collected by the same people, so that would suggest that it remains with the same owners."
The club have been paying rent demanded by the Barnaway company run by Jacob Adler, the Salford-based property businessman who bought the Elland Road site in 2004. Leeds continue to benefit from a 25-year purchase option written into the £12m sale-and-lease-back agreement signed by the previous board, whose chairman was Gerald Krasner. It is by exercising this option that the club would seek to reacquire the freehold to their home of the past 100 years.
"We still have the option of repurchase for 25 years," said Taylor. "Nothing has changed from Leeds's point of view. We still have an address to serve the option notice on. We will take up that option when we have the funds to do it."
Leeds City Council has a plan to invest in a multi-purpose arena with conference and exhibition facilities and it is exploring the possibility of siting the £38m development at Elland Road. According to a council feasibility study, this would lead to up to £300m in economic benefits helping to regenerate the area and Leeds do not wish to miss out on the associated benefits.
"There is development land near the stadium site," added Taylor, "and Leeds want to be involved in that. But Ken [Bates] was very strong on Chelsea having to play their football at Stamford Bridge and he is equally so about Leeds and Elland Road."
Leedsunited.com 4/1/07
DENNIS ON SIGNINGS
Manager Dennis Wise expressed his delight at having signed Norwegian striker Tore Andre Flo and international defender Armando Sa.
"Tore is a goalscorer with a lot of ability. Some of the lads here were gobsmacked when they saw some of his touches in training and his finishing. I think they were a little bit aback by him.
"I don't want to put too much pressure on him but I am sure he will do very well for us. He is a player, who if he gets a chance or two, they usually end up in the back of the net."
Dennis knows that brining Flo to Leeds has given the player an opportunity to put himself in the window again. "Yes it does, but it also gives us a quality player," he added.
The arrival on the same day, of the 32-year-old Sa, from Espanyol, brings another quality player with experience into the United squad.
Sa, who was born in Mozambique, developed his career in Portugal before moving to Spain to play for Espanyol. "He's a very good right back and has a lot of ability," explained the United boss.
"He a very good ball player and he will get forward. He is also very quick and that is something this is needed to add to the squad.
"He can also play on the right side of midfield which is also usual. He reminds me a bit of Dan Petrescu in the way plays. Dan was very clever and so is Armando and he will cause teams problems," added the United boss.
Telegraph 4/1/07
Chelsea old boy joins Leeds
By Tom Cary
At this rate Leeds United will have to modify the words of their famous terrace song from "we are Leeds, we are Leeds" to "we are ex-Chelsea."
First Ken Bates succeeded Gerald Krasner as chairman, then he handed his former Stamford Bridge stalwarts Dennis Wise and Gus Poyet the management reins at Elland Road. Now they have called on their former team-mate – the decidedly veteran Tore Andre Flo – to help them stave off the threat of relegation to the third tier of English football for the first time in the club's 88-year history.
Time was when any sort of link to Chelsea was a dangerous thing to declare in parts of West Yorkshire, but Leeds' beleaguered fans are almost beyond caring. They just want the good times back.
Flo, 33, was one of three signings made by Wise yesterday. Striker Tresor Kandol – who was on loan from Barnet – and Espanyol defender Armando Miguel Correia De Sa, have also arrived to bolster the squad. But it will take more than a few free transfers to improve the club's fortunes.
After so many false dawns, it is hard not to be cynical.
When former manager Kevin Blackwell predicted a golden future for the club last September with the announcement that, within a year, Leeds would "not be in any debt whatsoever," fans took the news with a pinch of salt. Just 10 days later Blackwell's contract was terminated and he is now suing the club for unlawful dismissal. Leeds fans don't know what to believe any more. The debt may have gone, but no one knows quite how or where.
The arrival of Wise in Blackwell's stead was similarly bewildering. Bates is godfather to one of Wise's children, but nepotism was not the only accusation made against the appointment. Nor the most pertinent.
Wise had moderate success at Millwall and, briefly, at Swindon, but he has never experienced anything like this. After the shortest honeymoon period imaginable, the defeats have kept on coming. Attendances have fallen by an average of 10,000 this season on last and message boards are awash with angry fans. You wonder whether he might not have been sacked already were he not such great mates with his chairman.Maybe that is a blessing in disguise. After all, if there is one thing that this club desperately needs, it is some continuity.
GREGAN GOES
United announced today that the contract of defender Sean Gregan has been cancelled by mutual consent.
The 32-year-old defender, who recently completed a loan spell with Oldham Athletic, had been told by manager Dennis Wise that he did not figure in his future plans for the Elland Road club.
Gregan, who joined United from West Bromwich Albion two years ago, made only two first team appearances for United this season before going out on loan but was a regular in Kevin Blackwell's United side last season.
A club spokesman said: "We would like to express our thanks to him for the contribution he has made since joining us from West Bromwich Albion when he helped to stabilise the position after our relegation from the Premier League.
"We wish him every success in the future," he added.
Guardian 5/1/07
Leeds poised to buy back Elland Road for £12m in the summer
Matt Scott
Friday January 5, 2007
The Guardian
Leeds United are to take up the option of purchasing Elland Road from the stadium's landlords once the current burden on their wage bill eases after this season. The Championship strugglers are understood still to be paying onerous fees for players who left the club during and after their Premiership collapse three seasons ago. That has put immense strain on club finances but the board is optimistic that the situation will improve, freeing funds for a buy back.
"This is the last year of Peter Ridsdale's excesses," said the Leeds director Mark Taylor. "We are still paying wages for players like Robbie Fowler, Seth Johnson and Michael Duberry. Our financial position changes dramatically when the payments stop; half our wage bill is being spent on players who do not play for the club."
The stadium's ownership changed hands in March 2006 but documents have only lately been lodged with the land registry. These indicate that the new landlord is a company called Teak Trading Corporation, registered in the British Virgin Islands.
This has led to speculation that the chairman, Ken Bates, who has a history of conducting business in the tax-haven islands, is behind the deal. However, Taylor rebutted the rumours, describing them as "ludicrous", stating that neither Bates nor any of his associated companies has an equity interest in the firm. Indeed, Taylor said that Leeds have not been informed of the identity of their new landlord.
"Teak Trading has got nothing to do with us at all," said Taylor. "We didn't know about the sale because it doesn't bother us. They don't have to inform us who the landlord is. The rent is collected by the same people, so that would suggest that it remains with the same owners."
The club have been paying rent demanded by the Barnaway company run by Jacob Adler, the Salford-based property businessman who bought the Elland Road site in 2004. Leeds continue to benefit from a 25-year purchase option written into the £12m sale-and-lease-back agreement signed by the previous board, whose chairman was Gerald Krasner. It is by exercising this option that the club would seek to reacquire the freehold to their home of the past 100 years.
"We still have the option of repurchase for 25 years," said Taylor. "Nothing has changed from Leeds's point of view. We still have an address to serve the option notice on. We will take up that option when we have the funds to do it."
Leeds City Council has a plan to invest in a multi-purpose arena with conference and exhibition facilities and it is exploring the possibility of siting the £38m development at Elland Road. According to a council feasibility study, this would lead to up to £300m in economic benefits helping to regenerate the area and Leeds do not wish to miss out on the associated benefits.
"There is development land near the stadium site," added Taylor, "and Leeds want to be involved in that. But Ken [Bates] was very strong on Chelsea having to play their football at Stamford Bridge and he is equally so about Leeds and Elland Road."
Leedsunited.com 4/1/07
DENNIS ON SIGNINGS
Manager Dennis Wise expressed his delight at having signed Norwegian striker Tore Andre Flo and international defender Armando Sa.
"Tore is a goalscorer with a lot of ability. Some of the lads here were gobsmacked when they saw some of his touches in training and his finishing. I think they were a little bit aback by him.
"I don't want to put too much pressure on him but I am sure he will do very well for us. He is a player, who if he gets a chance or two, they usually end up in the back of the net."
Dennis knows that brining Flo to Leeds has given the player an opportunity to put himself in the window again. "Yes it does, but it also gives us a quality player," he added.
The arrival on the same day, of the 32-year-old Sa, from Espanyol, brings another quality player with experience into the United squad.
Sa, who was born in Mozambique, developed his career in Portugal before moving to Spain to play for Espanyol. "He's a very good right back and has a lot of ability," explained the United boss.
"He a very good ball player and he will get forward. He is also very quick and that is something this is needed to add to the squad.
"He can also play on the right side of midfield which is also usual. He reminds me a bit of Dan Petrescu in the way plays. Dan was very clever and so is Armando and he will cause teams problems," added the United boss.
Telegraph 4/1/07
Chelsea old boy joins Leeds
By Tom Cary
At this rate Leeds United will have to modify the words of their famous terrace song from "we are Leeds, we are Leeds" to "we are ex-Chelsea."
First Ken Bates succeeded Gerald Krasner as chairman, then he handed his former Stamford Bridge stalwarts Dennis Wise and Gus Poyet the management reins at Elland Road. Now they have called on their former team-mate – the decidedly veteran Tore Andre Flo – to help them stave off the threat of relegation to the third tier of English football for the first time in the club's 88-year history.
Time was when any sort of link to Chelsea was a dangerous thing to declare in parts of West Yorkshire, but Leeds' beleaguered fans are almost beyond caring. They just want the good times back.
Flo, 33, was one of three signings made by Wise yesterday. Striker Tresor Kandol – who was on loan from Barnet – and Espanyol defender Armando Miguel Correia De Sa, have also arrived to bolster the squad. But it will take more than a few free transfers to improve the club's fortunes.
After so many false dawns, it is hard not to be cynical.
When former manager Kevin Blackwell predicted a golden future for the club last September with the announcement that, within a year, Leeds would "not be in any debt whatsoever," fans took the news with a pinch of salt. Just 10 days later Blackwell's contract was terminated and he is now suing the club for unlawful dismissal. Leeds fans don't know what to believe any more. The debt may have gone, but no one knows quite how or where.
The arrival of Wise in Blackwell's stead was similarly bewildering. Bates is godfather to one of Wise's children, but nepotism was not the only accusation made against the appointment. Nor the most pertinent.
Wise had moderate success at Millwall and, briefly, at Swindon, but he has never experienced anything like this. After the shortest honeymoon period imaginable, the defeats have kept on coming. Attendances have fallen by an average of 10,000 this season on last and message boards are awash with angry fans. You wonder whether he might not have been sacked already were he not such great mates with his chairman.Maybe that is a blessing in disguise. After all, if there is one thing that this club desperately needs, it is some continuity.