Telegraph 13/8/07
Leeds fighting spirit would please Revie
By David McVay
Tranmere (1) 1 Leeds (0) 2
It is amazing how tetchily Leeds United folk have reacted to accusations that they have been bending the rules. Given previous form, neutrals might have thought any slight on the club's reputation should have been water off a duck's back.
On his first of 44 days in charge at Elland Road in 1974, Brian Clough demanded that the reigning English champions consign their medals to the dustbin because they were a bunch of 'cheats'. Even one of their own, Welsh goalkeeper Gary Sprake, confirmed as much, claiming he had acted as 'bag man' to bribe opponents during the Don Revie era, an allegation supported by Danny Hegan, the Wolves midfielder whose side famously denied Leeds the Double 35 years ago.
In the context of such malpractice, failure to conform to insolvency policy may seem a trifling matter, but then when the protagonist happens to be Leeds chairman Ken Bates, the wonder was how so many of the remaining 71 Football League club chairmen were not trampled to death in the stampede last week to re-affirm their 15-points deduction imposed as punishment.
That is three fewer and counting today, thanks to this 2-1 victory over Tranmere Rovers at Prenton Park, the first league meeting between the pair and Leeds' debut in the third tier of domestic football.
Chris Greenacre deservedly side-footed Rovers ahead before a set-piece saw Matt Heath swivel from the defensive wall and head a 55th minute equaliser. Tresor Kandol supplied the winner in front of 2,000 travelling fans late on as Tranmere turned their backs on a throw-in, an offence that once merited a firing squad at dawn for professionals footballers.
For all Clough's rage at blatant misconduct and careless whispers from within, from 'Careless Hands' Sprake, there is a dichotomy at Elland Road. They were a great side, despite the obsessive, dossier-driven Revie, and in defeat, they could also be magnanimous.
After the carrot-crunching yokels of Notts County beat the then European Cup finalists of the previous season, Bremner, Reaney et al, in a League Cup tie at Elland Road, it was Norman Hunter who first greeted us from behind the players' bar with a bottle of beer and congratulations, although probably through gritted teeth.
Hunter's team was one whose bite was far worse than its bark. Riding good fortune at Prenton Park, the current Leeds seem to rely more on the chihuahua yappings of manager Dennis Wise. At the final whistle, the players whooped and hollered and cuddled in a huddle in the centre circle where Gus Poyet, Wise's assistant, dived in on top. Their fans were even more ecstatic than the Uruguayan. Yet not a title won nor a Cup in sight. Never mind.
Siege mentality had been successfully restored. Them and us, Leeds against the rest of the world. How Revie would have approved.
Guardian 13/8/07
Kandol offers Leeds a glimmer of light after darkest days
Jeremy Alexander at Prenton Park
Monday August 13, 2007
The Guardian
Leeds found their new level here. They had never been in the third tier and, starting 15 degrees below zero, they took time to defrost. In the end, more importantly after a year that saw the club plumb new depths of shame as well, they found luck, their first since the League readmitted them despite breach of insolvency rules.
A late goal, their second from a set piece to the far post against sloppy defending, sent team and management into a post-match huddle of ecstasy in the centre circle. Togetherness is all under Dennis Wise. That they had been largely outplayed mattered little in the face of their handicap.
"It's my group and we're very close," said the manager. "We had a little argument at half-time as a few people weren't at the races but we've got to stick together. A lot of the lads are very passionate about the situation. Odds stacked against you are a wonderful motivation." Perhaps the odds were not enough at kick-off. Tranmere should have won the race by half-time. Instead they had only Chris Greenacre's slick conversion of a sweeping criss-cross move to show for their dominance.
Matt Heath's equaliser came from a header to an angled free-kick for which Rovers had five men in the wall and two at the back post. Tresor Kandol's winner found Danny Coyne equally exposed. "I thought Leeds came here and struggled," said Rovers' manager, Ronnie Moore, "and we end up being mugged. We've just had an argument in the dressing room." Arguments are the new teacup accessory.
Tranmere were on the fringe of the play-off places for much of last season before finishing ninth. They have a Little and Large strike force in which Calvin Zola is perversely the large, Greenacre more like Gianfranco. While Zola, 6ft 3in from Kinshasa, struggled at times to get word to his feet, Greenacre always looked likely to carry on from his 17 league goals last season. His movement off the ball was unselfishly intelligent, his eye alert, and Chris Shuker rewarded it with a pinpoint cross for the goal.
The 5ft 5in Shuker was mostly on the right wing but delivered here from the left. There was a fluidity to Tranmere's play stemming from a midfield of three local players and Paul McLaren. The steadying pick of them was Steve Jennings, unobtrusively winning possession and rarely wasting it.
Alan Thompson, the new Leeds captain, had his hands full but was still their greatest creative influence as the team strove to impose a superiority that, if presumed, was not evident. Their preparation had been mired in uncertainty and it said much for Wise's inspirational qualities that he pulled them round at the interval. Kandol, not quite the full Treasure, could have saved a lot of trouble if he had buried an early free header at a corner, another set piece at which Rovers were roving.
Four bookings in six second-half minutes showed that Leeds were hitting their straps and in the nick of time Andrew Hughes delivered for a Kandol mass celebration. When Wise tested Hughes by spelling out the situation before signing him last week, the newcomer from Norwich said: "No problem, gaffer. Let's get on with it" - a Wise sort of guy.
If Moore can comfort himself that his side showed greater touch and imagination and are 12 points above bottom place, Leeds continue to feel victimised. They were formed out of the disgraced corpse of Leeds City, who were wound up for irregular financial practices in 1919, and their chairman, Ken Bates, having supervised the loss of 25 points while playing one match, greeted the League's welcome back with "the football family seems to be driven by self-interest". Some families have black sheep. Good Leeds fans, wanting a fit and proper person, would have rejoiced if the administrators had given the nod to Machiavelli.
Tranmere got their administration in first, availing themselves of the Insolvency Act 1986 in February 1987. Forty clubs have followed. On the off chance that Bates, in his club's plight, might put Prenton Park before Monaco his opposite number, Lorraine Rogers, wrote in the programme: "Most clubs face serious financial challenges -we're no exception - and anything other than prudent management can be very risky." But self-interest prevailed. At least Leeds will raise crowds in League One. Saturday's 11,000 was 4,000 above Tranmere's average; 2,000 filled the Cow Shed.
Wise, imbued with the spirit of Wimbledon in the 1980s, thrives on adversity. When the jelly beans are down, his pecker stays up. Now that Leeds are back in business he hopes to "bring in three or four more players", having seen his best assets leave through the summer. When he heard the 15-point penalty confirmed, he said: "Not only have they taken my arms and legs off [a comfort to Leeds cabbies]; now they've cut my balls off as well." Leeds could do with a bit of squeaky cleanliness.
Daily Mail 12/8/07
Shock horror...Leeds fans applaud Wise after victory at Tranmere
Tranmere 1 Leeds United 2
By PETER FERGUSON
Leeds United face a tough campaign after the Football League decided they would start with -15 points. This season, Sportsmail will track their progress. PETER FERGUSON saw the fightback launched with a 2-1 win at Tranmere.
Sven the Norwegian Leeds fan is at a Rolling Stones concert in Oslo when you ring. Have they done Sympathy for the Devil, he is asked. "Not yet ... maybe they will dedicate it to Ken Bates."
Leeds' beleaguered chairman won't be reaching for his lawyer. It is a joke that probably sums up the way Bates is feeling, having been demonised by fellow clubs during a depressing week.
Just five felt moved to try to throw out the 15-point penalty imposed by the Football League for breaking insolvency rules, which Bates contests. That leaves most of football against Bates, who is calling on the FA to intercede, and plunges Leeds manager Dennis Wise into an instant relegation battle on the opening day at Tranmere.
It is, however, doing wonders for infant numeracy in west Yorkshire, says chief executive Shaun Harvey: "My daughter's only six, but she's starting to get her head around figures like minus 15 now." Gallows humour can be of some comfort, especially after Leeds' summer of gloom, hence the T-shirt that bears the legend: 2004 Premiership, 2005 Championship, 2006 Sinkingship, 2007 Abandonship.
Many of the 2,000 travelling fans would have been at Elland Road on the opening day five years ago when Robbie Keane came off the bench to round off a 3-0 win over Manchester City.
Or four years ago when Mark Viduka and Alan Smith scored - against Newcastle. Now they form an Elland Road exiles' club with James Milner at St James' Park.
It is not only the Premier League that is riddled with Leeds old boys. Aussie Shane Sherriff, once one of David O'Leary's bright young things, is part of Tranmere's defence.
Chris Greenacre, once on Leeds' books, pops out an hour before kick-off with tickets for his dad, from the Leeds heartland of Normanton. "We know where your parents live," jokes one fan.
Not that he takes any notice. Greenacre punishes Leeds' dreadful first half by converting a cross-shot from Chris Shuker 20 minutes into what threatens to become a nightmare opening day.
The DJ plays "I Predict a Riot" by Leeds band Kaiser Chiefs at half-time. And for the clubs who fear it might become a signature tune - Bournemouth insisted on a November midweek visit from Leeds - the good news is that while there is plenty of posturing, there is no trouble.
Not that you do anything but celebrate after turning it round against the run of play. After Matt Heath and Tresor Kandol mug Tranmere (not very pretty, I tell thee), Leeds celebrate like they have won a cup final.
Wise, who came up through Wimbledon's school of battered dreams then managed Millwall, is made of tougher stuff but he joins an impromptu huddle and punches the air. "They even clapped me today," he deadpans after the abuse last week. Marching on Together?
He and Bates are not popular, but you can't choose who you're next to when the blitz rages.
I've been chopped up bit by bit - Wise fury at League chairmen
Leeds manager Dennis Wise has questioned the motives of the majority of Football League chairmen who voted to uphold the club's 15-point penalty for breaching rules on insolvency.
The 40-year-old Londoner and assistant Gus Poyet did little to hide their despair after 75 per cent of the 71 rival Football League clubs voted in favour of the governing body's unprecedented sanction.
But Wise, who carved out a playing career at the highest level on the back of an indomitable spirit, vowed Leeds will come out fighting when they launch their first season in Coca-Cola League One at Tranmere on Saturday.
Wise said: "It's laughable. Not only have they taken my arms and legs off, now they've cut my b***s off as well.
"It's just not funny at all. We'd like to know deep down the real reasons.
"If you look at the teams in our division I'm sure they probably wouldn't have voted for us if I'm being totally honest.
"I'm disappointed with the whole thing. Minus 15 points. We have to get 106 points to win the league, 92 points to get in the play-offs and 70 points to stay up. Lovely. Thank you very much.
"It's so disappointing, but these players, these fans are going to stick together and be strong and try to achieve it.
"It's going to be very difficult. A lot of people want to see us fall flat on our faces and they've helped make the situation as well.
"So we've got to fight against it, pick ourselves up, dust ourselves down and get on with it."
In between learning the bad news and relaying it to his players, Wise has been working tirelessly to strengthen his squad and succeeded with the capture Norwich midfielder Andrew Hughes.
The 29-year-old has signed a two-year deal for an undisclosed fee and will be involved in the opening-day fixture at Prenton Park.
Wise said: "You know the pleasing thing about it? I've just signed Andrew Hughes from Norwich.
Not popular: But Dennis Wise says Leeds are stuck with him and Ken Bates
"I told him we were minus 15 points because we lost the appeal and he said 'no problem gaffer we'll just brush ourselves down and let's get on with it'.
"That's someone who wants to join this club. He doesn't care. He wants to give it a real go.
"Every other player I've got here, Alan Thompson, Tore Andre Flo, Leon Constantine, David Prutton, all the ones I've recently spoken to, have said we'll have a go with you and that's the type I want."
Wise conceded neither he nor chairman Ken Bates were popular among Leeds fans, but warned the pair were going nowhere and urged supporters once again to unite behind the club.
He said: "They don't like Batesy and they don't particularly like me, but at the end of the day they've got us, we're part of this club and we're part of them.
"And how many people would take on this? But we will take it on and we love it. We love the challenge and we need them behind us.
"It's difficult because of your background and where you come from. They find it very difficult I think to accept that.
"But this is part and parcel of what football is all about sometimes and it takes a bit of time for them to get used to you and I've got to give them that time and so has Ken Bates.
"He's turned other things around and so have I and in time we can do it again."
Wise chose his words carefully when asked how he felt towards the other Football League chairman who had voted against Leeds' appeal.
He added: "I can't really say. I don't think grudge is the right word. Fair is the word and I think a lot of them will go home and deep down inside will know they haven't been fair.
"Some will have done it for their own reasons and probably not the right reasons.
"Everyone wants to get a head start, so 23 teams in our league have got a very good head start on us."
Wise, still hoping to bring in "three or four" more players during the next couple of weeks, admitted he and his players will feel they have a point to prove ahead of every match, with the first target to avoid another relegation.
"After that there's other targets we want to achieve, but the first is to get to 70 points.
"It's been a nightmare for us and we've been tested to the limit."
But Wise also had a warning for those clubs in League One who feel the former Wimbledon and Chelsea dynamo is about to buckle under the pressure. He added: "There is a point to prove. There's a massive point to prove for everyone here and we're looking forward to it."
Leeds fighting spirit would please Revie
By David McVay
Tranmere (1) 1 Leeds (0) 2
It is amazing how tetchily Leeds United folk have reacted to accusations that they have been bending the rules. Given previous form, neutrals might have thought any slight on the club's reputation should have been water off a duck's back.
On his first of 44 days in charge at Elland Road in 1974, Brian Clough demanded that the reigning English champions consign their medals to the dustbin because they were a bunch of 'cheats'. Even one of their own, Welsh goalkeeper Gary Sprake, confirmed as much, claiming he had acted as 'bag man' to bribe opponents during the Don Revie era, an allegation supported by Danny Hegan, the Wolves midfielder whose side famously denied Leeds the Double 35 years ago.
In the context of such malpractice, failure to conform to insolvency policy may seem a trifling matter, but then when the protagonist happens to be Leeds chairman Ken Bates, the wonder was how so many of the remaining 71 Football League club chairmen were not trampled to death in the stampede last week to re-affirm their 15-points deduction imposed as punishment.
That is three fewer and counting today, thanks to this 2-1 victory over Tranmere Rovers at Prenton Park, the first league meeting between the pair and Leeds' debut in the third tier of domestic football.
Chris Greenacre deservedly side-footed Rovers ahead before a set-piece saw Matt Heath swivel from the defensive wall and head a 55th minute equaliser. Tresor Kandol supplied the winner in front of 2,000 travelling fans late on as Tranmere turned their backs on a throw-in, an offence that once merited a firing squad at dawn for professionals footballers.
For all Clough's rage at blatant misconduct and careless whispers from within, from 'Careless Hands' Sprake, there is a dichotomy at Elland Road. They were a great side, despite the obsessive, dossier-driven Revie, and in defeat, they could also be magnanimous.
After the carrot-crunching yokels of Notts County beat the then European Cup finalists of the previous season, Bremner, Reaney et al, in a League Cup tie at Elland Road, it was Norman Hunter who first greeted us from behind the players' bar with a bottle of beer and congratulations, although probably through gritted teeth.
Hunter's team was one whose bite was far worse than its bark. Riding good fortune at Prenton Park, the current Leeds seem to rely more on the chihuahua yappings of manager Dennis Wise. At the final whistle, the players whooped and hollered and cuddled in a huddle in the centre circle where Gus Poyet, Wise's assistant, dived in on top. Their fans were even more ecstatic than the Uruguayan. Yet not a title won nor a Cup in sight. Never mind.
Siege mentality had been successfully restored. Them and us, Leeds against the rest of the world. How Revie would have approved.
Guardian 13/8/07
Kandol offers Leeds a glimmer of light after darkest days
Jeremy Alexander at Prenton Park
Monday August 13, 2007
The Guardian
Leeds found their new level here. They had never been in the third tier and, starting 15 degrees below zero, they took time to defrost. In the end, more importantly after a year that saw the club plumb new depths of shame as well, they found luck, their first since the League readmitted them despite breach of insolvency rules.
A late goal, their second from a set piece to the far post against sloppy defending, sent team and management into a post-match huddle of ecstasy in the centre circle. Togetherness is all under Dennis Wise. That they had been largely outplayed mattered little in the face of their handicap.
"It's my group and we're very close," said the manager. "We had a little argument at half-time as a few people weren't at the races but we've got to stick together. A lot of the lads are very passionate about the situation. Odds stacked against you are a wonderful motivation." Perhaps the odds were not enough at kick-off. Tranmere should have won the race by half-time. Instead they had only Chris Greenacre's slick conversion of a sweeping criss-cross move to show for their dominance.
Matt Heath's equaliser came from a header to an angled free-kick for which Rovers had five men in the wall and two at the back post. Tresor Kandol's winner found Danny Coyne equally exposed. "I thought Leeds came here and struggled," said Rovers' manager, Ronnie Moore, "and we end up being mugged. We've just had an argument in the dressing room." Arguments are the new teacup accessory.
Tranmere were on the fringe of the play-off places for much of last season before finishing ninth. They have a Little and Large strike force in which Calvin Zola is perversely the large, Greenacre more like Gianfranco. While Zola, 6ft 3in from Kinshasa, struggled at times to get word to his feet, Greenacre always looked likely to carry on from his 17 league goals last season. His movement off the ball was unselfishly intelligent, his eye alert, and Chris Shuker rewarded it with a pinpoint cross for the goal.
The 5ft 5in Shuker was mostly on the right wing but delivered here from the left. There was a fluidity to Tranmere's play stemming from a midfield of three local players and Paul McLaren. The steadying pick of them was Steve Jennings, unobtrusively winning possession and rarely wasting it.
Alan Thompson, the new Leeds captain, had his hands full but was still their greatest creative influence as the team strove to impose a superiority that, if presumed, was not evident. Their preparation had been mired in uncertainty and it said much for Wise's inspirational qualities that he pulled them round at the interval. Kandol, not quite the full Treasure, could have saved a lot of trouble if he had buried an early free header at a corner, another set piece at which Rovers were roving.
Four bookings in six second-half minutes showed that Leeds were hitting their straps and in the nick of time Andrew Hughes delivered for a Kandol mass celebration. When Wise tested Hughes by spelling out the situation before signing him last week, the newcomer from Norwich said: "No problem, gaffer. Let's get on with it" - a Wise sort of guy.
If Moore can comfort himself that his side showed greater touch and imagination and are 12 points above bottom place, Leeds continue to feel victimised. They were formed out of the disgraced corpse of Leeds City, who were wound up for irregular financial practices in 1919, and their chairman, Ken Bates, having supervised the loss of 25 points while playing one match, greeted the League's welcome back with "the football family seems to be driven by self-interest". Some families have black sheep. Good Leeds fans, wanting a fit and proper person, would have rejoiced if the administrators had given the nod to Machiavelli.
Tranmere got their administration in first, availing themselves of the Insolvency Act 1986 in February 1987. Forty clubs have followed. On the off chance that Bates, in his club's plight, might put Prenton Park before Monaco his opposite number, Lorraine Rogers, wrote in the programme: "Most clubs face serious financial challenges -we're no exception - and anything other than prudent management can be very risky." But self-interest prevailed. At least Leeds will raise crowds in League One. Saturday's 11,000 was 4,000 above Tranmere's average; 2,000 filled the Cow Shed.
Wise, imbued with the spirit of Wimbledon in the 1980s, thrives on adversity. When the jelly beans are down, his pecker stays up. Now that Leeds are back in business he hopes to "bring in three or four more players", having seen his best assets leave through the summer. When he heard the 15-point penalty confirmed, he said: "Not only have they taken my arms and legs off [a comfort to Leeds cabbies]; now they've cut my balls off as well." Leeds could do with a bit of squeaky cleanliness.
Daily Mail 12/8/07
Shock horror...Leeds fans applaud Wise after victory at Tranmere
Tranmere 1 Leeds United 2
By PETER FERGUSON
Leeds United face a tough campaign after the Football League decided they would start with -15 points. This season, Sportsmail will track their progress. PETER FERGUSON saw the fightback launched with a 2-1 win at Tranmere.
Sven the Norwegian Leeds fan is at a Rolling Stones concert in Oslo when you ring. Have they done Sympathy for the Devil, he is asked. "Not yet ... maybe they will dedicate it to Ken Bates."
Leeds' beleaguered chairman won't be reaching for his lawyer. It is a joke that probably sums up the way Bates is feeling, having been demonised by fellow clubs during a depressing week.
Just five felt moved to try to throw out the 15-point penalty imposed by the Football League for breaking insolvency rules, which Bates contests. That leaves most of football against Bates, who is calling on the FA to intercede, and plunges Leeds manager Dennis Wise into an instant relegation battle on the opening day at Tranmere.
It is, however, doing wonders for infant numeracy in west Yorkshire, says chief executive Shaun Harvey: "My daughter's only six, but she's starting to get her head around figures like minus 15 now." Gallows humour can be of some comfort, especially after Leeds' summer of gloom, hence the T-shirt that bears the legend: 2004 Premiership, 2005 Championship, 2006 Sinkingship, 2007 Abandonship.
Many of the 2,000 travelling fans would have been at Elland Road on the opening day five years ago when Robbie Keane came off the bench to round off a 3-0 win over Manchester City.
Or four years ago when Mark Viduka and Alan Smith scored - against Newcastle. Now they form an Elland Road exiles' club with James Milner at St James' Park.
It is not only the Premier League that is riddled with Leeds old boys. Aussie Shane Sherriff, once one of David O'Leary's bright young things, is part of Tranmere's defence.
Chris Greenacre, once on Leeds' books, pops out an hour before kick-off with tickets for his dad, from the Leeds heartland of Normanton. "We know where your parents live," jokes one fan.
Not that he takes any notice. Greenacre punishes Leeds' dreadful first half by converting a cross-shot from Chris Shuker 20 minutes into what threatens to become a nightmare opening day.
The DJ plays "I Predict a Riot" by Leeds band Kaiser Chiefs at half-time. And for the clubs who fear it might become a signature tune - Bournemouth insisted on a November midweek visit from Leeds - the good news is that while there is plenty of posturing, there is no trouble.
Not that you do anything but celebrate after turning it round against the run of play. After Matt Heath and Tresor Kandol mug Tranmere (not very pretty, I tell thee), Leeds celebrate like they have won a cup final.
Wise, who came up through Wimbledon's school of battered dreams then managed Millwall, is made of tougher stuff but he joins an impromptu huddle and punches the air. "They even clapped me today," he deadpans after the abuse last week. Marching on Together?
He and Bates are not popular, but you can't choose who you're next to when the blitz rages.
I've been chopped up bit by bit - Wise fury at League chairmen
Leeds manager Dennis Wise has questioned the motives of the majority of Football League chairmen who voted to uphold the club's 15-point penalty for breaching rules on insolvency.
The 40-year-old Londoner and assistant Gus Poyet did little to hide their despair after 75 per cent of the 71 rival Football League clubs voted in favour of the governing body's unprecedented sanction.
But Wise, who carved out a playing career at the highest level on the back of an indomitable spirit, vowed Leeds will come out fighting when they launch their first season in Coca-Cola League One at Tranmere on Saturday.
Wise said: "It's laughable. Not only have they taken my arms and legs off, now they've cut my b***s off as well.
"It's just not funny at all. We'd like to know deep down the real reasons.
"If you look at the teams in our division I'm sure they probably wouldn't have voted for us if I'm being totally honest.
"I'm disappointed with the whole thing. Minus 15 points. We have to get 106 points to win the league, 92 points to get in the play-offs and 70 points to stay up. Lovely. Thank you very much.
"It's so disappointing, but these players, these fans are going to stick together and be strong and try to achieve it.
"It's going to be very difficult. A lot of people want to see us fall flat on our faces and they've helped make the situation as well.
"So we've got to fight against it, pick ourselves up, dust ourselves down and get on with it."
In between learning the bad news and relaying it to his players, Wise has been working tirelessly to strengthen his squad and succeeded with the capture Norwich midfielder Andrew Hughes.
The 29-year-old has signed a two-year deal for an undisclosed fee and will be involved in the opening-day fixture at Prenton Park.
Wise said: "You know the pleasing thing about it? I've just signed Andrew Hughes from Norwich.
Not popular: But Dennis Wise says Leeds are stuck with him and Ken Bates
"I told him we were minus 15 points because we lost the appeal and he said 'no problem gaffer we'll just brush ourselves down and let's get on with it'.
"That's someone who wants to join this club. He doesn't care. He wants to give it a real go.
"Every other player I've got here, Alan Thompson, Tore Andre Flo, Leon Constantine, David Prutton, all the ones I've recently spoken to, have said we'll have a go with you and that's the type I want."
Wise conceded neither he nor chairman Ken Bates were popular among Leeds fans, but warned the pair were going nowhere and urged supporters once again to unite behind the club.
He said: "They don't like Batesy and they don't particularly like me, but at the end of the day they've got us, we're part of this club and we're part of them.
"And how many people would take on this? But we will take it on and we love it. We love the challenge and we need them behind us.
"It's difficult because of your background and where you come from. They find it very difficult I think to accept that.
"But this is part and parcel of what football is all about sometimes and it takes a bit of time for them to get used to you and I've got to give them that time and so has Ken Bates.
"He's turned other things around and so have I and in time we can do it again."
Wise chose his words carefully when asked how he felt towards the other Football League chairman who had voted against Leeds' appeal.
He added: "I can't really say. I don't think grudge is the right word. Fair is the word and I think a lot of them will go home and deep down inside will know they haven't been fair.
"Some will have done it for their own reasons and probably not the right reasons.
"Everyone wants to get a head start, so 23 teams in our league have got a very good head start on us."
Wise, still hoping to bring in "three or four" more players during the next couple of weeks, admitted he and his players will feel they have a point to prove ahead of every match, with the first target to avoid another relegation.
"After that there's other targets we want to achieve, but the first is to get to 70 points.
"It's been a nightmare for us and we've been tested to the limit."
But Wise also had a warning for those clubs in League One who feel the former Wimbledon and Chelsea dynamo is about to buckle under the pressure. He added: "There is a point to prove. There's a massive point to prove for everyone here and we're looking forward to it."
