Leeds Fans Leave Bates With No Excuses
Football Fancast 21/8/12
Written by Steve-Turner
The weekend programme notes from Ken Bates didn’t fill us in on much, we know that talks are ongoing but as it stands, that is all we know.
However, any fan that follows the mumblings of Bates on a regular basis will have spotted one of his famous lines amongst the rubble, that is of course the now legendary ‘your protests scare investors off’ line.
Now, anyone that believes that ‘Bates out’ chants or a protest march makes investors think twice about taking a chance on Leeds need to look at the only person that is claiming that to be the case, which is the very man the protests are aimed at.
Any potential investor with any credibility whatsoever would be well aware of the current relationship between Bates and the fans, they don’t come skipping into Elland Road with bags of money only to retreat in horror when they hear our nasty ‘Bates out’ chants. Unfortunately, we have only ever been able to take Ken’s word for it that these potential investors ever even existed. Considering his past record of not always being so, shall we say, honest, I think it would be foolish of us to do anything other than take his words with a rather large pinch of salt.
Regardless, Bates decided to warn us against negative chants or protests at the weekend anyway, no doubt fully expecting his request to be ignored and to see efforts doubled in all four corners of the ground. This would then give him plenty of ammo to fire at us if the takeover doesn’t go ahead. ‘’It was your fault, morons’’ However, if that was indeed his plan it was a catastrophic failure. It was almost as if every fan in the ground worked him out, as we in the ground focused our efforts on singing for the team throughout the entire game. There wasn’t so much as a mumble of ‘Bates out'.
So where does that leave Bates now?
It is worth noting that at the game Ken was up in his comfy chairman’s box with his wife, though they were accompanied by a mysterious couple, who apparently asked a steward to bring them a Leeds scarf each.
After a flurry of pictures on the internet after our victory over Wolves a mass hunt for the mans identity took place, with many believing him at first to be Sheikh Saoud Bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, the general secretary of the Qatar Olympic committee and Doha 2020 Vice Chairman, though it appears he is actually a representative of Dubai based investment group GFH Capital.
Whoever they were, the fact that they were at the game can only be a good thing in regards to the takeover, Ken Bates doesn’t just let anybody into his chairman’s box and considering there were also representatives from the Football League at the game, it could be suggested that the deal is close to completion.
It is clear that as it stands, we need to sit tight and give Bates no excuses for letting a chance like this slip away, the recognized names on the message boards are suggesting that the hold up is once again down to Bates, who seems to be haggling for something that nobody can quite put their finger on.
If this is the case, the last thing we need is to give him any reason to start blaming us fans, the problem here is Ken Bates, the problem has always been Ken Bates.
Twitter – @giddy_goose
Written by Steve-Turner
The weekend programme notes from Ken Bates didn’t fill us in on much, we know that talks are ongoing but as it stands, that is all we know.
However, any fan that follows the mumblings of Bates on a regular basis will have spotted one of his famous lines amongst the rubble, that is of course the now legendary ‘your protests scare investors off’ line.
Now, anyone that believes that ‘Bates out’ chants or a protest march makes investors think twice about taking a chance on Leeds need to look at the only person that is claiming that to be the case, which is the very man the protests are aimed at.
Any potential investor with any credibility whatsoever would be well aware of the current relationship between Bates and the fans, they don’t come skipping into Elland Road with bags of money only to retreat in horror when they hear our nasty ‘Bates out’ chants. Unfortunately, we have only ever been able to take Ken’s word for it that these potential investors ever even existed. Considering his past record of not always being so, shall we say, honest, I think it would be foolish of us to do anything other than take his words with a rather large pinch of salt.
Regardless, Bates decided to warn us against negative chants or protests at the weekend anyway, no doubt fully expecting his request to be ignored and to see efforts doubled in all four corners of the ground. This would then give him plenty of ammo to fire at us if the takeover doesn’t go ahead. ‘’It was your fault, morons’’ However, if that was indeed his plan it was a catastrophic failure. It was almost as if every fan in the ground worked him out, as we in the ground focused our efforts on singing for the team throughout the entire game. There wasn’t so much as a mumble of ‘Bates out'.
So where does that leave Bates now?
It is worth noting that at the game Ken was up in his comfy chairman’s box with his wife, though they were accompanied by a mysterious couple, who apparently asked a steward to bring them a Leeds scarf each.
After a flurry of pictures on the internet after our victory over Wolves a mass hunt for the mans identity took place, with many believing him at first to be Sheikh Saoud Bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, the general secretary of the Qatar Olympic committee and Doha 2020 Vice Chairman, though it appears he is actually a representative of Dubai based investment group GFH Capital.
Whoever they were, the fact that they were at the game can only be a good thing in regards to the takeover, Ken Bates doesn’t just let anybody into his chairman’s box and considering there were also representatives from the Football League at the game, it could be suggested that the deal is close to completion.
It is clear that as it stands, we need to sit tight and give Bates no excuses for letting a chance like this slip away, the recognized names on the message boards are suggesting that the hold up is once again down to Bates, who seems to be haggling for something that nobody can quite put their finger on.
If this is the case, the last thing we need is to give him any reason to start blaming us fans, the problem here is Ken Bates, the problem has always been Ken Bates.
Twitter – @giddy_goose