Yorkshire Evening Post 30/10/09
Probe is no problem – Bates
By Phil Hay
Leeds United say they are optimistic of having "no problem" with the Football League over the issue of who ultimately controls the club.
United are in the process of clarifying the ownership structure at Elland Road after the Football League wrote to them requesting clarification over the identity of the individuals behind Forward Sports Fund (FSF).
FSF – an off-shore company based in the Cayman Islands and administered in Switzerland – holds a 100 per cent stake in United and has done so since the club exited administration in the summer of 2007.
The identity of FSF's beneficiaries has never been revealed, though club chairman Ken Bates, chief executive Shaun Harvey and solicitor Mark Taylor were named as directors of Leeds at the time of the 2007 takeover.
The buy-out was sanctioned by the Football League after the governing body ran its fit and proper persons' test on the people named as United's owners, but the matter was revisited at a League board meeting earlier this month following allegations that Bates had no stake in Leeds and had claimed "in error" that he was a part-owner of the club.
Those allegations raised doubts about whether the owners confirmed by United two years ago do indeed have ultimate control over the club.
The Football League contacted Leeds asking for fresh details, but it has not made any comment on the matter since issuing a brief statement on October 8.
United, however, are confident that the information they have supplied will settle the matter conclusively. Neither the club nor the League are obliged to make that information public.
Bates told the YEP: "We don't think we'll have a problem with the Football League.
"We're a member club with a professional management team which is trading profitably. Seventy one other clubs are looking at us and wishing they were in our position.
"The Football League was unavailable for comment when contacted by the YEP, but in a statement released almost three weeks ago, it said: "The board noted recent allegations made about the ownership of Leeds United Football Club.
"The league has written to the club seeking clarification. No further comment will be made on this matter until a response has been received."
The League's rules require that every "ultimate beneficial owner" of a member club with a shareholding of 30 per cent or more passes its fit and proper persons test before a takeover can be sanctioned.
The test was introduced in 2004 and was designed to guarantee standards of the integrity among club owners.
The Football League previously confirmed to the YEP that it received "F&PPT papers relating to Leeds United" when the 2007 takeover was completed.
Yorkshire Evening Post 30/10/09
We have that spark back in our play – Johnson
By Phil Hay
Tuesday's demolition of Bristol Rovers brought a tacit admission from Bradley Johnson that the month of October found Leeds United slightly off-colour.
A resumption of familiar service took place at the Memorial Stadium, where Leeds scored four unanswered goals in their most comprehensive victory of the season. "That's more like the performances we expect of ourselves," said Johnson in a veiled warning to the rest of United's division.
Johnson suggested that a win of that margin and conviction had been coming but he was honest enough to admit that it had also been needed. After two draws and a defeat from their previous four league matches, it was apparent that Leeds were waiting to draw a second wind.
Privately, United's players were saying the same. "You don't want to talk yourselves down," said Johnson, "but we all felt that in the last few games we haven't been at our best.
"The results were okay and our league position's as good as it has ever been, but something in our performances wasn't quite there. I'm not sure if that was down to a bit of tiredness but our spark was missing.
"In a way, this (the victory over Bristol Rovers) had been on the cards. It was quite frustrating, even for three or four games, to come off the pitch feeling that you haven't played as well as you can do, and eventually it was all going to come together into a big performance. That's one of our best of the season, if not the best."
Even the best of seasons have little down periods and maybe we've come through ours. It hasn't done us any harm and, if anything, our confidence is higher than it's ever been."
The past week has seen varied emotions from Simon Grayson and his players, ranging from the disappointment of their first league loss at Millwall on Saturday to a win in Bristol that Grayson described as "brilliant".
United's manager is level-headed in his assessment of results – never too ecstatic with victory or too despondent about defeat – and his objection to knee-jerk reactions was demonstrated by the unchanged line-up he named at the Memorial Stadium. As he later admitted, a 2-1 loss to Millwall had forced him to think carefully about whether the same 11 players deserved another chance.
There is a degree of irony about the fact that, six days after foregoing their unbeaten league record, United hold a tighter grip on League One than they have at any point of the season. A lead of four points over Charlton Athletic will be carried into tomorrow's match at home to Yeovil Town, a club who have avoided defeat in all of their last six matches but who hold a mediocre away record.
Yeovil might feel that Leeds are as susceptible at home as they have been for some time – Charlton and Carlisle have both drawn there in the past month, and Norwich City were seconds away from doing the same until a goalkeeping blunder cost them a point – but the stadium has not been kind to the Somerset club.
Beaten there in 2007 by an 89th-minute header from Mark De Vries, Yeovil conceded four goals without reply at Elland Road last season and were spared a fifth by a wild penalty missed by Luciano Becchio in the second half. The Argentinian is presently injured and is unlikely to play tomorrow, but three of Grayson's other strikers – Jermaine Beckford, Sam Vokes and Tresor Kandol – scored against Bristol Rovers on Tuesday night.
"We wanted to make a point by getting the Millwall result out the way quickly," said Johnson. "People might have seen us losing there and thought we'd shown weakness but they won't be so confident about that after watching us score four against Bristol Rovers. They're a team who've been in the top six since the start of the season.
"In the end, the way the games fell was probably perfect. It's not easy going to Bristol straight after Millwall but there was no doubt that we'd have to play somewhere near our best to beat them. Complacency was never a worry and I think this shows how badly we want to win the league. It also showed that we're not just assuming that it's going to happen."
Leeds were accused this week by Charlton manager Phil Parkinson of trusting to luck at stages of their season, but the pressure is resting on him to keep his squad in touch with the Elland Road club.
Charlton are already detached from United and take the long, arduous trip to Carlisle United tomorrow while Leeds host Yeovil. Likewise, Colchester United – an in-form team who are third and a point further back – provide the next opposition at Millwall, a stadium where points are likely to be dropped regularly by visiting clubs this season.
Johnson will not look back on Leeds' defeat at the New Den with any injustice – "we weren't up to it," he said, "and we probably got what we deserved" – but the midfielder believes that the first peak in United's season has been conquered by their ruthless victory in Bristol. It was, he agreed, the mark of a team with the necessary composure and ability to win League One.
"The thing about being at the top of the league is that you know that you'll stay there for as long as you look after your results," he said.
"If we win tomorrow, we'll be at least four points clear. Other teams need to win just to make sure that the gap doesn't get any bigger. It's good to be able to say that we don't have to count on anyone else.
"Everybody wants us to lose and when we do, they're happy. But the worst thing you can do is worry about another team and I'm quite pleased if clubs are looking at us to see what we're doing. We're not looking at them."
Probe is no problem – Bates
By Phil Hay
Leeds United say they are optimistic of having "no problem" with the Football League over the issue of who ultimately controls the club.
United are in the process of clarifying the ownership structure at Elland Road after the Football League wrote to them requesting clarification over the identity of the individuals behind Forward Sports Fund (FSF).
FSF – an off-shore company based in the Cayman Islands and administered in Switzerland – holds a 100 per cent stake in United and has done so since the club exited administration in the summer of 2007.
The identity of FSF's beneficiaries has never been revealed, though club chairman Ken Bates, chief executive Shaun Harvey and solicitor Mark Taylor were named as directors of Leeds at the time of the 2007 takeover.
The buy-out was sanctioned by the Football League after the governing body ran its fit and proper persons' test on the people named as United's owners, but the matter was revisited at a League board meeting earlier this month following allegations that Bates had no stake in Leeds and had claimed "in error" that he was a part-owner of the club.
Those allegations raised doubts about whether the owners confirmed by United two years ago do indeed have ultimate control over the club.
The Football League contacted Leeds asking for fresh details, but it has not made any comment on the matter since issuing a brief statement on October 8.
United, however, are confident that the information they have supplied will settle the matter conclusively. Neither the club nor the League are obliged to make that information public.
Bates told the YEP: "We don't think we'll have a problem with the Football League.
"We're a member club with a professional management team which is trading profitably. Seventy one other clubs are looking at us and wishing they were in our position.
"The Football League was unavailable for comment when contacted by the YEP, but in a statement released almost three weeks ago, it said: "The board noted recent allegations made about the ownership of Leeds United Football Club.
"The league has written to the club seeking clarification. No further comment will be made on this matter until a response has been received."
The League's rules require that every "ultimate beneficial owner" of a member club with a shareholding of 30 per cent or more passes its fit and proper persons test before a takeover can be sanctioned.
The test was introduced in 2004 and was designed to guarantee standards of the integrity among club owners.
The Football League previously confirmed to the YEP that it received "F&PPT papers relating to Leeds United" when the 2007 takeover was completed.
Yorkshire Evening Post 30/10/09
We have that spark back in our play – Johnson
By Phil Hay
Tuesday's demolition of Bristol Rovers brought a tacit admission from Bradley Johnson that the month of October found Leeds United slightly off-colour.
A resumption of familiar service took place at the Memorial Stadium, where Leeds scored four unanswered goals in their most comprehensive victory of the season. "That's more like the performances we expect of ourselves," said Johnson in a veiled warning to the rest of United's division.
Johnson suggested that a win of that margin and conviction had been coming but he was honest enough to admit that it had also been needed. After two draws and a defeat from their previous four league matches, it was apparent that Leeds were waiting to draw a second wind.
Privately, United's players were saying the same. "You don't want to talk yourselves down," said Johnson, "but we all felt that in the last few games we haven't been at our best.
"The results were okay and our league position's as good as it has ever been, but something in our performances wasn't quite there. I'm not sure if that was down to a bit of tiredness but our spark was missing.
"In a way, this (the victory over Bristol Rovers) had been on the cards. It was quite frustrating, even for three or four games, to come off the pitch feeling that you haven't played as well as you can do, and eventually it was all going to come together into a big performance. That's one of our best of the season, if not the best."
Even the best of seasons have little down periods and maybe we've come through ours. It hasn't done us any harm and, if anything, our confidence is higher than it's ever been."
The past week has seen varied emotions from Simon Grayson and his players, ranging from the disappointment of their first league loss at Millwall on Saturday to a win in Bristol that Grayson described as "brilliant".
United's manager is level-headed in his assessment of results – never too ecstatic with victory or too despondent about defeat – and his objection to knee-jerk reactions was demonstrated by the unchanged line-up he named at the Memorial Stadium. As he later admitted, a 2-1 loss to Millwall had forced him to think carefully about whether the same 11 players deserved another chance.
There is a degree of irony about the fact that, six days after foregoing their unbeaten league record, United hold a tighter grip on League One than they have at any point of the season. A lead of four points over Charlton Athletic will be carried into tomorrow's match at home to Yeovil Town, a club who have avoided defeat in all of their last six matches but who hold a mediocre away record.
Yeovil might feel that Leeds are as susceptible at home as they have been for some time – Charlton and Carlisle have both drawn there in the past month, and Norwich City were seconds away from doing the same until a goalkeeping blunder cost them a point – but the stadium has not been kind to the Somerset club.
Beaten there in 2007 by an 89th-minute header from Mark De Vries, Yeovil conceded four goals without reply at Elland Road last season and were spared a fifth by a wild penalty missed by Luciano Becchio in the second half. The Argentinian is presently injured and is unlikely to play tomorrow, but three of Grayson's other strikers – Jermaine Beckford, Sam Vokes and Tresor Kandol – scored against Bristol Rovers on Tuesday night.
"We wanted to make a point by getting the Millwall result out the way quickly," said Johnson. "People might have seen us losing there and thought we'd shown weakness but they won't be so confident about that after watching us score four against Bristol Rovers. They're a team who've been in the top six since the start of the season.
"In the end, the way the games fell was probably perfect. It's not easy going to Bristol straight after Millwall but there was no doubt that we'd have to play somewhere near our best to beat them. Complacency was never a worry and I think this shows how badly we want to win the league. It also showed that we're not just assuming that it's going to happen."
Leeds were accused this week by Charlton manager Phil Parkinson of trusting to luck at stages of their season, but the pressure is resting on him to keep his squad in touch with the Elland Road club.
Charlton are already detached from United and take the long, arduous trip to Carlisle United tomorrow while Leeds host Yeovil. Likewise, Colchester United – an in-form team who are third and a point further back – provide the next opposition at Millwall, a stadium where points are likely to be dropped regularly by visiting clubs this season.
Johnson will not look back on Leeds' defeat at the New Den with any injustice – "we weren't up to it," he said, "and we probably got what we deserved" – but the midfielder believes that the first peak in United's season has been conquered by their ruthless victory in Bristol. It was, he agreed, the mark of a team with the necessary composure and ability to win League One.
"The thing about being at the top of the league is that you know that you'll stay there for as long as you look after your results," he said.
"If we win tomorrow, we'll be at least four points clear. Other teams need to win just to make sure that the gap doesn't get any bigger. It's good to be able to say that we don't have to count on anyone else.
"Everybody wants us to lose and when we do, they're happy. But the worst thing you can do is worry about another team and I'm quite pleased if clubs are looking at us to see what we're doing. We're not looking at them."
