Leeds chaos! GFH confirm sale to Cagliari owner Cellino, but mystery surrounds whether McDermott will return as manager
Mail 1/2/14By Jack Gaughan
A dramatic about-turn of events at Elland Road saw the assistant of sacked manager Brian McDermott named in charge of the Leeds side to face Huddersfield.
It had looked as though Gianluca Festa, a lifelong friend of Massimo Cellino, the Cagliari owner who is close to buying United, would be a controversial figure in the dugout.
But Nigel Gibbs, McDermott's longstanding No 2, answered a call to lead the team while his former boss declined an apparent attempt from the club to reinstate him.
LEEDS OFFICIAL STATEMENT 'Following recent media reports and speculation, GFH Capital would like to confirm that it has agreed to sell a 75 per cent stake in the club to Eleonora Sport Ltd, a company owned by the Cellino family who have many years experience in football and who plan to invest substantially in the club including the re acquisition of Elland Road. Eleonora will be working on completing the required Football League approval.
'The Cellino Family is a well known Italian sports family, who have owned Serie A side Cagliari since 1992. They come to English football with an ambition to support Leeds United financially to take it to the Premier League and a belief that the club can sustain top-flight status.
'Since the agreement, Leeds United is in discussion with Elenora Sport Ltd. on a number of issues concerning the Club matters including the structure of the management of the first team.'
The chaotic events merely added to a farcical 24 hours at the West Yorkshire club, who on Saturday morning confirmed they had agreed to sell a 75 per cent majority stake to Cellino, subject to Football League approval.
Current owners Gulf Finance House Capital (GFH Capital) confirmed the news in a statement ahead of the Huddersfield game, although Cellino had already made his presence felt before then by removing McDermott on Friday night.
It is understood the ex-Reading manager paid the price for refusing to allow Festa to sit with him in the dugout during the midweek draw with Ipswich, while also refusing to take a number of Italian players given to him by Cellino.
The mayhem continued as two of the club's main sponsors, Enterprise Insurance and Flamingo Land, said they would be withdrawing their backing.
And police were called to Elland Road on Friday as fans did their best to barricade Cellino inside the ground after some late-night talks. Those protests continued outside the ground ahead of kick-off.
None of that has stopped GFH Capital from choosing Cellino's bid over one from rival consortium together Leeds, though.
A statement read: "Following recent media reports and speculation, GFH Capital would like to confirm that it has agreed to sell a 75 per cent stake in the club to Eleonora Sport Ltd, a company owned by the Cellino family who have many years experience in football and who plan to invest substantially in the club including the re acquisition of Elland Road.
'Eleonora will be working on completing the required Football League approval.
'The Cellino Family is a well known Italian sports family, who have owned Serie A side Cagliari since 1992. They come to English football with an ambition to support Leeds United financially to take it to the Premier League and a belief that the club can sustain top-flight status.
'Since the agreement, Leeds United is in discussion with Eleonora Sport Ltd. on a number of issues concerning the club matters including the structure of the management of the first team.'
The issue of first-team management was thrust into the spotlight when McDermott was removed by Cellino before news of his accepted bid had been confirmed, and it is understood that owing to a concern that the 52-year-old may have left in an improper manner, he was asked back but declined.
Festa was still at Elland Road and set to watch the match from an executive box with Cellino.
Cellino became the number-one bidder when on Thursday, a consortium of club managing director David Haigh and Enterprise Insurance boss Andrew Flowers, collapsed after two months of exclusivity to buy the club under the guise of Sport Capital.
Cellino could still face opposition from the Football League - he has a previous conviction for fraud - while a consortium headed up by former Manchester United director Mike Farnan says it is refusing to go away despite the statement.
'We continue to seek dialogue and have substantial backing with offers of support increasing by the minute,' Farnan tweeted.
The Italian influence at Elland Road continues to grow despite that, though, with Cagliari confirming that Leeds had signed midfielder Andrea Tabanelli on loan from them, with Leeds later adding him to the squad list on their website. He was not named to face Town, though.
Fifty-seven-year-old Cellino is an agricultural entrepreneur and is known in Cagliari as 'The King of Corn'. He has owned Cagliari for 20 years and had 36 managers in that time.