Mighty Leeds Weblog

Yorkshire Evening Post 23/5/14 by Phil Hay Luke Varney has spoken of his relief after leaving Leeds United for Blackburn – and defended his decision to back out of United’s line-up when a move to Ewood Park first materialised in January. The forward was released by Leeds last week, one of seven senior players whose deals will be allowed to expire this summer, and a permanent transfer to Blackburn is expected to be sealed when his contract at 
Elland Road ends on June 30. Varney finished the recent Championship season on loan at Ewood Park having joined Rovers with a view to a full-time move in February but he admitted that he was unsure of United’s intentions for him until owner Massimo Cellino published a retained list seven days ago. The 31-year-old was first offered a loan to Blackburn in the final week of the January transfer window but despite United managerBrian McDermott agreeing to sanction the deal, it failed to materialise immediately as Cellino’s sudden bid to take cont...

Yorkshire Evening Post 22/5/14 by Phil Hay Former Leeds United managing director David Haigh has moved to protest his innocence following his arrest in Dubai on suspicion of financial irregularities. A spokesman for Haigh said the 36-year-old was confident of being released without charge as he prepared to spend a fifth night in custody. Haigh was detained by police in Dubai on Sunday and is expected to remain in jail for the rest of this week. As reported by the YEP yesterday, his spokesman confirmed that Haigh had flown to the Middle East after being offered a job by Gulf Finance House, his former employer and the Bahrain bank which bought Leeds in 2012. Haigh was arrested shortly after his arrival at GFH’s offices having been accused by the bank of financial irregularities of close to £4million. Many of the accusations are believed to relate to GFH’s 14 months as owner of Leeds and its recent sale of the Championship club to Massimo Cellino. A report in Gulf News quoted a la...

Yorkshire Evening Post 22/5/14 by Phil Hay Leeds United’s staff face another anxious wait for wages amid financial constraints which have forced the club to suspend season-ticket sales to fans using debit and credit cards. The impact of a winding-up petition served on Leeds by Sport Capital grew more acute today as the club revealed money paid for tickets via debit and credit cards was being withheld by the company which manages their card facilities. Season tickets for the 2014-15 term have been on sale for most of May and are still available to supporters paying by cash or cheque, and through the club’s interest-free finance scheme. But the suspension of debit and credit card payments is the latest effect of Sport Capital’s bid to reclaim a loan of £950,000 from last November, a move which led United’s bank to freeze the club’s main account. A statement from Leeds said: “Due to the winding-up petition issued by Sport Capital, the club’s merchant service provider is currently wi...

leedsunited.com 22/5/14 Due to the winding up petition issued by Sport Capital against Leeds United Football Club, the club’s merchant service provider is currently withholding Season Ticket funds that have been paid to the Club on either a credit or debit card. Against the club’s wishes, the funds are being held as a precaution and as a result the club may not receive them until the 2014/15 season is under way. Therefore, until further notice, the club will be removing the ability for supporters to pay for their Season Ticket using the credit or debit card option. The five month interest free instalment plan provided by Zebra Finance is available for fans to spread the cost of their season ticket and the club is urging fans to use this option. You can also pay for your Season Ticket using cheque or cash. Any Season Tickets already purchased by credit or debit card will be valid for the new season. Season ticket renewal forms have now been dispatched to all existing season ticket...

Yorkshire Evening Post 22/5/14 by Phil Hay Brian McDermott and Leeds United’s players are to meet with Massimo Cellino on June 2 after the club’s owner reversed a previous instruction ordering them back to Elland Road next week. Leeds have written to their coaching staff and playing squad telling them to be present at the stadium a week on Monday, lining up the first face-to-face conversation between Cellino and McDermott in over a month. McDermott, whose future as manager is highly uncertain due to his distant and fractious relationship with Cellino, was originally told to report back with his players and staff on Wednesday of next week, 25 days after the end of the Championship season. Cellino claimed that the 25-day gap between those dates would account for the squad’s entire holiday allowance but their return has been delayed with Cellino due to fly home to Miami after holding talks with prospective buyers of his Italian club Cagliari in the past few days. The deals held by U...

Yorkshire Evening Post 21/5/14 by Phil Hay Former Leeds United managing director David Haigh is in police custody in Dubai after being arrested over alleged financial irregularities relating to the ownership and sale of the club by Gulf Finance House. Haigh, 36, has spent the past three nights in jail after being detained on Sunday morning. He is understood to have flown to Dubai - the base of GFH’s private-equity arm, GFH Capital - after being offered a new job by the Bahraini bank. Haigh, who denies all claims against him, was detained by police shortly after arriving at the offices of GFH. A friend of Haigh’s, who asked not to be named, told the YEP: “David has done nothing wrong or illegal. He’s appalled to find himself in this position. “However, a someone who knows Dubai well and respects its institutions, he’s confident that the authorities will see these allegations for what they really are and clear him of any wrong-doing.” Many of the allegations against Haigh relate ...

Sky Sports 21/5/14 Leeds owner Massimo Cellino insists he is taking tough decisions for the good of the club following his recent takeover. Cellino has embarked on an extensive cost-cutting exercise at Elland Road in preparation for next season. His company Eleonora Sports completed its takeover April 7 and is now considering the future of the club's costly Thorp Arch training complex. United's accounts for 2012-13, published last month, showed a loss of £9.5m for the year, and Cellino has revealed daily running costs were over £100,000 with the club understood to be losing £1m a month. "Sometimes, if you want to make something important, if you take the easy way, the downhill way you will get somewhere," the Italian said in his first interview with the club's TV channel. "It seems good and faster, but it won't be important. But if you take the hard way, the uphill way, it's going to be hard, but when you get there you will get something very im...

by Phil Hay The 25-year lease imposed on Thorp Arch when Leeds United sold their training ground in 2004 was long and binding for the simple reason that the club did not envisage a time when they would want to leave the property. Visualised by Howard Wilkinson and opened in its present form after the completion of the main building in 2002, Thorp Arch has long been United’s proudest asset – even in the years after the plush, sweeping complex near Wetherby was used by a former board to bring in an urgent sum of cash. At a stroke, the sale of the training ground to Jacob Adler, a Manchester property developer, 10 years ago raised £4.2m and guaranteed Leeds both a buy-back provision and permission to rent the facility until 2029. After less than two months as United’s owner, Massimo Cellino cannot even say if Thorp Arch will be used by the club next season. A fortnight ago, the Italian businessman closed the training ground as part of a substantial money-saving exercise at Leeds, leav...

Football Direct News 20/5/14 Leeds United are lining up an offer for Reading utility man Royston Drenthe, football] direct news understands. A source close to Elland Road told FDN new owner Massimo Cellino is anxious to invest in the playing squad and is aware that changes are needed if they are to launch a serious bid for promotion back to the top flight. Leeds missed out on a play-off spot last term after a torrid run of form following the turn of the year, and the second half of the campaign was overshadowed by Cellino’s long-running pursuit of the Championship club. The club insider revealed former Everton and Real Madrid man Drenthe, who is capable of operating at left-back or further forward on the flank, has been identified as a priority acquisition for the summer transfer window. The 27-year-old, who started his professional career with Feyenoord in his homeland after coming through the academy, went on to spend five years at the Bernabeu and was relatively successful du...

Football League World 20/5/14 BY TOM CARNDUFF Former AS Monaco manager Claudio Ranieri has appeared as a shock contender to become Leeds United’s next manager according to the Daily Express. Despite leading Monaco to promotion and then 2nd place in Ligue 1 in France in consecutive seasons, the 62-year-old was relieved of his duties earlier today. Now, according to the Daily Express, he could be in the running to take over at the Yorkshire club. The relationship between new owner Massimo Cellino and current manager Brian McDermott has been almost non-existent since the end of the season and a new manager is a real possibility before the start of the new campaign. Ranieri has managed in England once before. He was manager at Chelsea for years between 2000 and 2004 and was nicknamed ‘The Tinkerman’ during his time there. The Italian has had a long managerial career which has seen him take charge of sides such as Inter Milan, Roma, Juventus and Valencia. Bookmakers Ladbrokes lead the...

leedsunited.com 20/5/14 Young defender Charlie Taylor has committed his future to the club after he signed a new three year contract at United. The 20-year-old full back as enjoyed loan spells at Bradford City, York City, Inverness CT and most recently at Fleetwood Town. Making 41 appearances this season for Fleetwood Town the defender has helped the League Two side to the Play-Off Final, which takes place on Monday May 26. Charlie has caught the eye this season while on loan at Graham Alexander’s side and has been rewarded with a new contract at Elland Road. Taylor has four United appearances to his name after graduating from the Academy at Thorp Arch, all of which came in the 2011/12 season, and the youngster has been on the winning side on all four occasions.

Express 20/5/14 LEEDS owner Massimo Cellino admits he won't look to sell important first-team players in the summer transfer window. By: David Wright The Championship outfit's top goalscorer Ross McCormack has been constantly been linked with a move away from Elland Road, with West Ham and Sunderland keen admirers. But Cellino has eased any worries of the fans by claiming he has no intention of making Leeds - a team known for integrating young players into the first-team - a selling club. The Italian businessman was forced to do so as chairman of Serie A side Cagliari, but wants to see Leeds grow. "I came here with a big dream, to find if I am good at running a club," Cellino said. "I spent the last 23 years [at Cagliari] buyingbeautiful players for £1m. I saw them grow and then they have to leave. Every time you have to start again because the club doesn't grow like the players. "If I can do the same thing here at Leeds, the club can grow like t...

Inside Futbol 20/5/14 Cagliari striker Victor Ibarbo has appeared to rule out any chance of heading to Leeds this summer, despite continued chatter he could be shipped to Elland Road. Ibarbo is thought to have been identified as a possible addition to the Leeds squad given that Cagliari owner Massimo Cellino also now owns 75 per cent of the English club. Cellino may sell Cagliari in the coming days, however he met with Cagliari sporting director Nicola Salerno just days ago, hinting at continued discussions over the club's players. Ibarbo though, while being very much open to an adventure in England, is struggling to become excited about Leeds, who play in the country's second tier, the Championship. "I am very happy at Cagliari, it is a very pleasant city", the Colombia international told El Tiempo, when asked about talk linking him with Leeds. "English football is very interesting, but not the second division. "Here I play in a competitive league...

leedsunited.com 20/5/14 Club President Massimo Cellino has spoken about wanting to make something “important and big” at Leeds United in his first interview with LUTV. Eleonora Sport completed their majority shareholding acquisition in early April and the new club President has admitted he may have to do things the hard way to achieve success. “Always, if you want to make something important and you take the easy way or the downhill way you will get somewhere,” said the President. “It seems good and faster but it won’t be important. “But if you take the hard way, the uphill way you will get something very important and very big. “I am studying Leeds and I am studying English football. I respect that I don’t know everything about English football. I have to listen and I have to learn. I have to learn fast but I will say that I am a fast learner. “I have been running and rushing around and I haven’t stopped thinking. But in the last two or three days I have started to see that ther...

Yorkshire Evening Post 20/5/14 by Phil Hay Leeds United owner Massimo Cellino and his sons, Edoardo and Ercole, have been named as directors of the Elland Road club. The three Cellino family members join a six-man United board which also includes chairman Salah Nooruddin, Salem Patel and Daniel Arty. Arty’s appointment as a director was confirmed last week, little over a month after he and Cellino pushed through a 75 per cent buy-out of Leeds from Gulf Finance House (GFH) through their UK company, Eleonora Sport Limited. Patel - one of the architects of GFH’s takeover of United in 2012 - has been a board member for around 18 months, and Nooruddin became club chairman last summer. Under the terms of Cellino’s recent buy-out of Leeds, Nooruddin is to stay as chairman until the end of next season. Neither he nor Patel have been seen as Elland Road for several months.

Sky Sports 20/5/14 Leeds owner Massimo Cellino hopes to be able to grow the club with shrewd dealings in the transfer market. Cellino comes to England with a good record of buying players as chairman of Serie A side Cagliari, but he claims he was unable to build the Sardinian club as he was always being forced to sell once they had been developed. He is hopeful that will not be the case at Elland Road, where the Italian has the ultimate aim of making it to the Premier League. "I came here with a big dream, to find if I am good at running a club," Cellino told Sky Sports. "I ran Cagliari for 23 years but it is a small club and they didn't let me grow. "I spent the last 23 years buying beautiful players for £1m. I saw them grow and then they have to leave. Every time you have to start again because the club doesn't grow like the players. "If I can do the same thing here at Leeds, the club can grow like the player, so we don't have to sell - we ...

Yorkshire Post 20/5/14 Rising talent: Charlie Taylor is hoping to be the latest player to graduate from United’s academy into the first team. Leon Wobschall reports. IT will not be until tea-time on Bank Holiday Monday that the team Charlie Taylor has played for this season will be able to bracket their 2013-14 campaign as either a success or, ultimately, a failure. But the young Leeds United defender is crystal clear on one thing. That his own footballing schooling this term has brought on his own career leaps and bounds, regardless of what happens for him and his Fleetwood Town colleagues against Burton Albion in Monday’s League Two play-off final at Wembley Stadium. While Taylor’s United team-mates are busy soaking up the sun on some foreign beach with their footballing commitments being completed earlier this month, the 20-year-old left-back has pressing work business to attend to – and he couldn’t be happier. The holidays can wait. After all, it’s not every day that a young p...

Yorkshire Post 20/5/14 JAMIE ASHDOWN has hit out at Leeds United after finding out on Twitter that he had been released by the club, who he claims showed him a lack of respect. Unlike six other senior players who were informed by letter on Friday that they would not be offered fresh terms when their contracts expire next month, the goalkeeper did not receive official communication until the following day. The 33-year-old, whose second season at Elland Road was a write-off due to a problematic toe injury, was not expecting to be offered a new deal, but the manner of his exit has left him with a sour taste in his mouth. He feels it is be illustrative of the sense of disjointedness at the club, with United’s retained list compiled without the input of manager Brian McDermott, whose relationship with owner Massimo Cellino is looking increasingly strained. Ashdown, who joined the club in the summer of 2012 on a free transfer from Portsmouth, said: “It would have been nice for someone t...

Here is the City 19/5/14 Stephen Pickering Leeds United will look to be well paid if they are to split from top goalscorer Ross McCormack this summer with the Daily Mail reporting an asking price of £8 million. Malaga, West Ham United and Leicester City all said to be interested. Championship 2013/2014 Golden Boot winner Ross McCormack has been the subject of heavy speculation in the past few weeks with a number of clubs rumoured to be looking at him. 2012/2013 Champions League semi-finalists Malaga are said to be the most interested in the player's signature; however, they could have to fork out up to £8 million to get their man this summer, according to the Daily Mail. The price-tag is likely to be somewhat over-exaggerated, as is the case with most selling clubs, but whoever tries to sign him will undoubtedly have a fight on their hands. Last season, the Scottish international was undoubtedly one of the best players in the division, scoring an incredible 29 goals in all co...

Yorkshire Evening Post 19/5/14 by Phil Hay Leeds United owner Massimo Cellino is to hold talks with former Inter director Tommaso Giulini tomorrow during a meeting which he hopes will close a deal to sell his Italian club Cagliari. Cellino has two offers on the table for Cagliari - the Serie A side he bought in 1992 - after a group of US investors followed up news of a bid from Giulini by tabling an offer worth a reported £65m today. But Cellino, who is juggling two professional clubs after buying a 75 per cent stake in Leeds on April 7, said tonight that the planned sale of Cagliari would make no difference to his strategy at Elland Road, saying he would “do the same as I’m doing now” if a deal came off. Cellino has spent his first month-and-a-half at Leeds dealing with a long list of bills and debts and working to reduce the costs of a Championship club who are losing more than £1m a month. The 57-year-old temporarily closed the club’s training ground at Thorp Arch a fortnight ...

leedsunited.com 19/5/14 Last week Benito Carbone joined the club as a consultant to deal with technical and football operations, and the former midfielder is keen to take his chance. Benito will mainly deal with the Academy and the former Sheffield Wednesday and Bradford City man admits that the club has some good footballers in its ranks. “Mr Cellino has given me a big chance to work for a big club like Leeds United,” said Benito. “Leeds is still a big club and everybody knows that. “My position is to work with the Academy and the structure of the Academy. Mr Cellino wants to do the best for the Academy. And I want to do what is best for the Academy. “In the last four weeks I have watched the Academy teams three or four times and I’ll be honest, we have some really good players here. “We want to bring as many Academy players into the first team as possible. Maybe in three or four years there will be five or six players playing in the first team. “I think everybody will like tha...

Inside Futbol 19/5/14 New Leeds United owner Massimo Cellino has admitted that he is a "troublemaker" but insists all that he does is in good faith, while he believes progress is being made at Elland Road under his leadership. Cellino is closing on selling his other club in football, Serie A side Cagliari, as he seeks to focus on Leeds and put into place his plan to lead the Yorkshire giants to promotion to the Premier League within the next two years. The Italian has had to grapple with financial issues at Elland Road, with the club believed to be losing close to £1m per month. However, Cellino has cut an optimistic figure and feels he can see a route out of Leeds' troubles, with the Italian businessman comparing the situation with a sailor at sea looking for land. "The last two to three days I start to see a little bit of light", he told LUTV. "It's like when you're sailing in the sea and you don't know where you're going. Until one w...

BBC 19/5/14 Leeds United owner Massimo Cellino says he hopes to sell Italian club Cagliari to former Inter Milan director Tommaso Giulini for a reported £40m this week. Cellino has been in charge of the Serie A side since 1992, but has been looking to sell since taking control of Leeds. "I am too busy cleaning up the mess at Leeds. I cannot have two clubs," Cellino told BBC Radio Leeds. Cellino said he is meeting with 37-year-old Giulini this week and hopes to conclude a deal by Wednesday. Italian businessman Cellino, 57, completed his takeover of the Yorkshire club last month after winning an appeal against the Football League's decision to block the move. He was disqualified from owning the Championship side after failing the Football League's owners' and directors' test, but an independent QC overturned the decision. Cellino recently said the club, which loses more than £1m per month, was spending £100,000 per day on operating costs. The latest accou...

Inside Futbol 18/5/14 Massimo Cellino is edging towards completing the sale of Cagliari and could sign the papers to do just that in Leeds over the coming days. While an American investment group has been consistently pushing to take over the Serie A club, even planning to build a new stadium by 2017 and holding talks with Cellino's representatives and the city's mayor, they look poised to miss out. According to Italian daily Gazzetta dello Sport, Cellino has been holding talks for the last three months with Tommaso Giulini, a board member at Inter until last year and whose family have a number of business interests in Sardinia. Cellino, who himself recently acquired 75 per cent of English Championship club Leeds United, is now believed to be close to signing on the dotted line. Giulini's offer for Cagliari is thought to be around the €50m mark. It remains to be see how Cellino's departure could affect plans to move a number of players from Cagliari to Leeds, with...

Mail 18/5/14 Leeds United owner Massimo Cellino has hired a team of forensic accountants to investigate the financial chaos at Elland Road after specialist advisors told him the finances ‘were the worst mess they’ve ever seen at a football club’. The club’s Thorp Arch training ground has been shut for the summer to save money, dozens of redundancies are expected to cut costs and some staff were not paid last week because the club bank account has been frozen. That action was taken after a winding-up petition was served on Leeds by Sport Capital, a company owned by former managing director David Haigh, over an unpaid debt.

Yorkshire Evening Post 17/5/14 by Phil Hay Brian McDermott has been formally ordered to report back to Leeds United with his coaching staff and first-team squad on May 28 in another letter from owner Massimo Cellino. A second written message from Cellino to McDermott said he expected United’s playing staff to be present at Elland Road at 10am a week on Wednesday – more than a month before the squad intend to return for the start of pre-season training. A simmering dispute between United’s president and manager has grown more bitter in the past week following an exchange of letters between the pair. McDermott, who has not spoken to Cellino directly since the end of the Championship season, was contacted by Leeds’ Italian owner around 10 days ago, asking him to explain his absence from Elland Road and to provide details of his plans for pre-season and the senior squad. A reply from McDermott is understood to have prompted a further letter from Cellino towards the end of this week, ...

Yorkshire Evening Post 17/5/14 The Apprentice: Benito Carbone says he is at Leeds United to help in the Academy and doesn’t have designs on the manager’s job. Phil Hay reports. Leeds United was a wing and a prayer for Benito Carbone. Massimo Cellino talks about him like a lifelong friend but they met in person for the first time when Carbone flew to Leeds from Italy four weeks ago. Their relationship began after Cellino spoke to an Italian agent and asked for recommendations of football-minded people who could work with him at Elland Road. The agent suggested Carbone and Carbone agreed to come. He did so, he says, expecting no salary and prepared for a short lifespan under a notoriously ruthless boss. “Honestly, when I came here I thought ‘I’ll stay here for two days and then he’ll kick my arse back home’,” Carbone says. “I really worried about that. But after two days it was better; always better. I like him. He’s given me a chance. “I knew the name, Mr Cellino, but the day I cam...

Yorkshire Evening Post 16/5/14 by Phil Hay Leeds United tonight began the rebuilding of their squad by releasing seven senior players and six junior professionals. Michael Brown, El-Hadji Diouf, Danny Pugh and Luke Varney were among the experienced players culled as United launched a major clear-out at Elland Road. As reported by the YEP this week, a new deal has been offered to 20-year-old left-back Charlie Taylor – currently on loan at Fleetwood Town – and development-squad defender Afolabi Coker is also in line for an extended stay with Leeds. United have taken up options to extend the contracts of goalkeeper Alex Cairns – the club’s understudy throughout this season – and centre-back Ross Killock. But all of the senior players who are due to move on from Leeds at the end of June will depart the club. Goalkeeper Jamie Ashdown, defender Adam Drury and midfielder Paul Green have been told that their services are no longer required. Drury and Green finished the season on loan a...

Vital Leeds 16/5/14 Leeds United have announced their released list with seven senior professionals on the list. Leeds have released thirteen players in total with Gboly Ariyibi, Jamie Ashdown, Michael Brown, Richard Bryan, El-Hadji Diouf, Adam Drury, Paul Green, Simon Lenighan, Danny Pugh Smith Tiesse, Nathan Turner, Lewis Turner, and Luke Varney all being told that they will not be offered new deals by the club. Young goalkeeper Alex Cairns, who spent most of the second on the bench for Leeds, is being retained whilst Charlie Taylor and Ross Killock are being offered new deals.

Here is the City 15/5/14 Stephen Pickering Leeds United owner Massimo Cellino watched on from the stands as Rotherham United, and ex-Derby County, midfielder Ben Pringle provided a masterclass. An unlikely spectator during the League One play-off semi-finals was Leeds owner Massimo Cellino who was spotted by one of the Sky Sports cameras. This quickly lead to rumours that he was looking at potential players the club could sign this summer, and if he was, he wouldn't have been disappointed. After the match, Leeds United supporters took to Twitter to show their appreciation for the excellent Rotherham United midfielder Ben Pringle, who created two of his sides three goals. The former Derby County Young Player of the Year has really come on in leaps and bounds since Nigel Clough decided to release him in 2011 after just 20 appearances for the Rams. Since then, he has gone on to become an integral part in a progressive Rotherham United side who, if things go their way, could be a...

Yorkshire Post 16/5/14 THE rift between Brian McDermott and Massimo Cellino has deepened amid claims that Leeds United’s manager only returned to his home in the south of England after his mother was admitted to hospital. Sources close to McDermott are denying allegations from Cellino that the 53-year-old had taken a holiday and was uncontactable at a time when United’s president is implementing widespread cuts and changes at Elland Road. An angry Cellino vented frustration at McDermott in a television interview on Wednesday, saying the club was “not managed by anybody” and claiming to be unaware of McDermott’s whereabouts. Cellino said: “I think at this moment the club is not managed by anybody. Who’s managing this club? Brian. Where’s Brian? “I sent a letter to Brian – help us. He’s on holiday to get some rest. He was tired, I can understand. But why this kind of reaction?” McDermott is understood to have left his home in Harrogate last week, travelling to visit his ill mother....

Yorkshire Evening Post 15/5/14 by Phil Hay The Football League confirmed today that it is sending officials to Leeds United to discuss the impact of the closure of the club’s training ground on their youth academy. The governing body is to hold a meeting with Leeds next week after owner Massimo Cellino took the unprecedented step of temporarily shutting Leeds’ training complex at Thorp Arch. The decision came last Friday as part of Cellino’s attempts to cut costs and reduce monthly losses of more than £1m. Thorp Arch, which has never been closed during the summer before, is due to reopen when the senior squad at Leeds begin pre-season training. But the Football League is to ask questions about the effect of the closure on United’s academy having award the youth development scheme category two status under the new Elite Player Performance Plan (EPPP) towards the end of the season. Through EPPP, Leeds were paid almost £500,000 to invest their academy. A spokesman for the Football...

leedsunited.com 15/5/14 Carbone to join staff at Elland Road… The club are delighted to announce that Benito Carbone has joined the club in a consultant position and will deal with technical and football operations. The former Aston Villa, Sheffield Wednesday, Bradford City, Derby County and Middlesbrough midfielder will be involved with all football matters, including both the first team and the Academy.

Mail 15/5/14 Brian McDermott's Leeds future in doubt as Benito Carbone is hired as 'special consultant to the board of directors for sport matters including facilities and academy' Brian McDermott future as Leeds United manager is uncertain Benito Carbone has been appointed as Elland Road director of football Leeds owner Massimo Cellino is set to line up Carbone as future boss Talks to terminate McDermott's contract have failed to reach an agreement West Brom have been linked with McDermott following Pepe Mel's sacking By JOHN EDWARDS Brian McDermott’s Elland Road future looks more uncertain than ever after Leeds United appointed Benito Carbone as director of football. Carbone tweeted that his full official title is 'special consultant to the board of directors for sport matters including facilities and academy.' Sportsmail revealed last month how former Sheffield Wednesday forward Carbone had been shown round Leeds’ Wetherby training ground afte...

Yorkshire Evening Post 14/5/14 by Phil Hay Cuts to Leeds United’s day-to-day operations deepened last night as owner Massimo Cellino launched a formal process of redundancies at Elland Road. United’s staff were warned of imminent sackings during 5pm meetings at the club’s stadium yesterday, the latest move by Cellino to reduce heavy monthly losses. Lawyers from Mishcon de Reya – the legal firm responsible for mounting Cellino’s successful appeal against an attempt by theFootball League to stop him buying Leeds – spent much of the past 48 hours at Elland Road, reviewing the club’s finances and setting in motion a redundancy scheme. There is no indication of the numbers of staff facing the sack but Cellino was reported last week to be planning for around 70 redundancies from a workforce of around 200. A source told the YEP that the figure of 70 “might not be excessive.” Speaking on Monday, Cellino appeared to play down the possibility of sweeping job losses, saying: “I don’t sack s...

ITV 14/5/14 Massimo Cellino's takeover of Leeds United has been anything but plain sailing and he says he is having trouble kick-starting his time at the club. In his very first television interview, the charismatic business man claimed the Elland Road club was like an aeroplane with a load so heavy it could not take off - despite his best efforts to push it off the runway. After the collapse of the Sports Capital consortium's attempt to buy out GFH Capital, the Cagliari owner swooped in with a late bid. The club's financial position was precarious but by the end of January Cellino had all but secured control. Within hours he had sacked Brian McDermott, throwing the club into turmoil on transfer deadline day. Although McDermott was reinstated days later and led the Whites to safety in the Championship, Cellino says the club "is not managed by anyone" and that he will have to speak to McDermott about his position: We contacted Brian McDermott regarding Cellino...

Yorkshire Evening Post 14/5/14 by Phil Hay Massimo Cellino invited lawyers from London into Leeds United yesterday as he intensified the fire-fighting which is slowly defining the early weeks of his reign at Elland Road. The Italian has called in outside assistance to review the club’s operating costs and help bring under control a situation described by Cellino as “unbelievable, impossible.” Staff at Leeds are waiting for redundancies to begin in earnest with the club a week-and-a-half into the summer and already experiencing the first parts of Cellino’s plan to cut the outgoings of a club who are losing more than £1m a month. Cellino took the unprecedented step of temporarily closing United’s Thorp Arch training ground last Friday, moving several employees to Elland Road and shutting the complex until pre-season training begins at the start of July. The 57-year-old is widely expected to reduce United’s workforce and he was reported last week to have included club ambassadors Ed...

Leeds United Supporters Trust 13/5/14 On Monday 12th May, Trust chairman Gary Cooper and board members Chris Coleman and Paul Keat met with Massimo Cellino for the first time since he successfully appealed to take over as majority owner of Leeds United from GFH Capital (GFHc). On behalf of our members we asked Mr. Cellino about the current state of the club and discussed our relationship going forward. As a supporters trust two major issues emerged from our meeting with Mr. Cellino. The first is our concern at the precarious financial health of the club. The second is how the trust fits into the wider picture and its role in taking part in discussions with any owner of the club. Recent press coverage will have made all Leeds United fans aware that the financial situation at the club is dire. Mr. Cellino pulled no punches when he explained to us that he had taken on huge debts from the GFHc era and an operating deficit of alarming proportions. He went into substantial detail and prov...