Leeds United v Chelsea: Warnock looks forward to completion of takeover
By Phil Hay
Neil Warnock looked forward to the completion of the takeover of Leeds United after an exhilarating League Cup clash with Chelsea left him yearning for more big nights at Elland Road.
The United managed called on the club to “sort themselves out” and make Premier League football their staple diet following a quarter-final defeat to the reigning European champions.
Leeds were beaten 5-1 last night after Chelsea fought back from a half-time deficit to score five times in the second half through Juan Mata, Branislav Ivanovic, Victor Moses, Eden Hazard and Fernando Torres.
Warnock spoke of a sense of regret in United’s dressing room after a soft goal conceded by goalkeeper Jamie Ashdown 60 seconds after the interval sparked Chelsea’s fightback, but he basked in the atmosphere created by a crowd of more than 33,000 at Elland Road.
Leeds are due to pass into new ownership tomorrow when GFH Capital, the Dubai-based private equity firm, completes its 100 per cent buy-out of club chairman Ken Bates. Warnock and his squad will resume their fight for promotion from the Championship against Middlesbrough on Saturday.
The Leeds boss said: “The volume of the crowd when we scored, I’ve never heard anything like it. It was amazing noise and amazing scenes. If Leeds sort themselves out it should be like that here every week.
“We’re miles away from Chelsea but this shows what can be done. If the club sort themselves out now, there’s no reason why we can’t have this regularly. It’s a super club with a crowd like that.
“It’s a big week all told for Leeds with talk of the takeover tomorrow and this has shown me what type of club this can be. God knows what the European nights must have been like here.
“We made it a difficult night for them and played some good football,” Warnock said, “but the mistake cost us the equaliser so quickly after half-time. Their world-class players felt such relief and after that their quality shone through.
“Tom Lees had a great chance to score a second goal before half-time and it would have been interesting to get that. They’d have been under so much pressure but it wasn’t to be.
“We’ve had a great run.”