Mighty Leeds Weblog

IF NEIL WARNOCK is the ‘Red Adair’ of football management, Graham Bean is surely the administrative equivalent. By Leon Wobschall In his case, it applied to some dysfunctional football clubs behind the scenes during his time in the domestic game. Situations do not get more chaotic and surreal than his spell as a consultant at Leeds United during the infamous Massimo Cellino era. The Yorkshireman's run-ins with the controversial former Leeds owner are chronicled in his recently-released book "Bean There… Done That". There are many tales to tell, as there are from the former South Yorkshire Police detective's time serving as the Football Association's first Compliance Officer where he was given the nickname of 'The Sleazebuster' by the tabloid press. Bean investigated football wrongdoing on and off the pitch, covering everything from dissent towards match officials by players to alleged financial corruption in the boardroom by chairmen. He woul...

Massimo Cellino's Leeds mad house! The Italian owner's foul-mouthed temper tantrums left staff in fear, he banned the No 17 and colour purple... and once rejected chance to sign Virgil van Dijk! Graham Bean says working at Leeds under Massimo Cellino was a madhouse The controversial former owner would often erupt into severe temper tantrums Cellino ordered Paddy Kenny to be sold due to a superstition over the number 17 The Italian once said that future England star Kalvin Phillips wasn't good enough By GRAHAM BEAN FOR THE DAILY MAIL Graham Bean was the FA’s ‘sleazebuster’ but also worked with a number of clubs in English football, most memorably at Leeds where he worked closely with the club’s controversial former owner… Massimo Cellino’s reputation preceded him when he bought Leeds United. The controversial Italian businessman was known as the ‘Manager Eater’ in his homeland after going through more bosses in his 22 years at Cagliari than he’d had pepperoni p...