Hi Mark I'm not disagreeing, but not agreeing, as a lot of this is speculation on what would have happened if we, 1) had a stay of execution 2) Become a team/ Club business that could stay in the CL As you'll see below I share some strong beliefs myself, but we'll just never know either way We are a nation where cannot see into the short term future, It was no different back then, I remember being a lone voice when Iraq was invaded saying I thought it was illegal, now you'll find it hard not to find someone who doesn't agree with me, least of all some of my pals from the 'old' Black Watch who lost a few mates over there, I'm not anti war, I'm an ex Gulf War 1 vet and proud of the gongs I got for that particular chapter of my life Re the accounts, yes you're right, but we all had access to a calculator and they weren't hard sums
Leeds United - 10 million here, 12 million there, 7 million here ..... And the press were telling us of the wages situation, I recall being alarmed about Bridges wages and medical bill while recovering from the horror of Besiktas, Batty falling out with the club and his reputation shot to bits because of financial implications attached to him So no, I don't accept this 90% thing, we as shareholders should have picked up on this and got Ridsdale and co sacked, however, in-between champion league games and full grounds it must have escaped our minds to bring it up - the facts and figures were all in the public domain - The horse is actually shergar and its ran out of fields Nor do I accept Ridsdale was at full fault, he was certainly not blameless, he just never had the team behind him that had a clue what was going on. He obviouslly had to take the drop, but he is one of the larger cogs of a very large wheel of which myself as a minor shareholder was connected We just accepted at that time that the club had half a clue what they were doing - How much were match days bringing in? We were never off TV, Sponsorship wasn't a problem, alas it went pear shaped and was a shambles happening before our disbelieving eyes - true? PLC or not, it did have a chance of working had the Business plan been correctly executed. Either that or a rich American or Russian become a lifelong Leeds fan :) The management of the club was poor from grass roots up, not so much on the field but behind the scenes, I'm not blaming Ethil the tea lady though, nor DOL, I didn't like him at the best of times, but he did some good. I'd have rather given Richard Walker all that money and thrown him on the bench, they'd have been scared sh!tless to lose and they'd have been sent to Colchester had they underpreformed,... Make Paul Cundell his assistant ... nae botha It was planet Leeds United and we were all on the ride, yes, Bill Gerrard.... thanks, that was him..... several of us were concerned enough to realise the seriousness of the problem that we gave several weeks of our life to trying to do something about it, but like any Poorly run Business or semi political organisation (which we became) that went pear shaped too I'm not sure if you know too much of what went on ...... But here's a little of what I got up to with a few of this list, as a mate of mine says, you couldn't make up this chit if you tried Personally I wanted the fans to have more of an input and was ready to get Ridsdales, and his sons and I believe Alan Leightons shares Proxied to LUST which is what we wanted to do as a group (I was secretary at this time) I had a solicitor set up to get these shares proxied, I had Peter Ridsdale all but prepared to give these shares to the supporters - If you recall he had just taken over at Bradford and I simply picked up the phone, called him and asked (some listers should stop having baths) - This created me to become expelled from LUSC and resign from LUST as nobody could see past the emotion and the hatred of Ridsdale, and Ray Fell possibly now wishes he'd have taken a political role during this time and help act on behalf of the fans Ridsdales name was dirt - he would not have been attending, or using those shares in the December AGM, he would have possibly got some breathing space from the death threats he was recieving, and the YEP maybe even write something favourable about him...... The January the 19th deadline was fast approaching and everyone was sucking their thumbs watching it happen, with very poor co-ordination or communication between those groups supposed to representing the fans I was speaking to the financial advisor of someone in the Golfing world who may have had some disposable income (and connected to the Scottish supporters Club) Had we held those shares at LUST, we would have had over 10% of the shares of the club and a real say in the future months of turmoil, surely between our fanbase we have a dozen intelligent, professional passionate people who could handle something like this on behalf of the fanbase - Not many shared our vision or belief Judy was Kresners email address, Paul C will remind me I'm sure, it was a very busy period of my life I'm sure we have good times ahead, just got to see who the cleverest person is to find out how we achieve it ! Regards Steve In a message dated 17/10/2006 11:28:50 GMT Standard Time, Mark Bursa writes: Steve >>Not wanting to sound like I just passed a degree in accounting ... but ! Crowds were obviously up by 100+% of what we have now Shirt and merchandise sales also were worth millions We got lots and lots of Sky tv money at a few million a time Each game we played in the CL would have been 5 million plus Sponsorship brought in a crapload too And finally corporate must have been worth a few coppers too Just needed a bit of guts and belief<< Not enough. Players' wages were 90% of turnover - so even at the best of times we were in deep trouble. We'd borrowed against the value of the playters in the tranfer market. Once the transfer market collpased (Bosman, ITV Digital) we were in trouble. Just like house prices collapsing in the early 90s. >>Arsenal, Man Yoo, Chelski attract the kind of investment that now maintain stability The formula is the same for any football Club, Business or indeed Charity<< Actually it wasn't in our case. Chelsea and Arsenal are private companies, not PLCs. So is ManU now - though it wasn't at the time. But ManU's turnover was so much greater than ours (bigger ground, better merchandising set-up, CL every year) that they could afford the wage costs. The PLC model just doesn't work in football. >>Don't bother trying unless you are going to explore something to its maximum potential based on Risk assessment, market research and by also adding a sh*t load of common sense, otherwise you are simply wasting everyone's time<< Ridsdale did none of this >>Sometimes, like Mr Ridsdale, his Risk assessment went out of the window and no contingency plan was in place in the eventuality things went t!ts up, as indeed they did. But I for one wasn't moaning when visiting some of Europe's finest stadiums, as a footballing supporter of Leeds for over 30 years of my 40 years on Earth, I can safely say that the buzz of Europe, home and away is the biggest thing I miss I just wonder how close were were to becoming one of the big players<< Miles away, unless an Abramovich/Glazer type takeover happens. Which frankly is more likely now. We're as close now to being a big player as we were then, if you think about it. At the end of this season we'll be the best bargain in Football - massive city with only one club; (fairly) recent success; decent fan base and recognition beyond Leeds. And...no debts! Bates knows this and will seek to exploit the position next June. >>I'm not saying we were by any stretch of the imagination 'lucrative' but what we did have was 'potential' The accounts were in the public domain, and our company policy wasn't questioned until... the horse was a few fields away<< Accounts are always at least 18 months behind where you are - and I'm not sur the true picture regarding players' wages was spelled out in them... >>We all listened to the expert Scotsman (name escapes me) who was telling us of the pitfalls, week in week out on the radio waves and local press<< Bill Gerrard. Also Alan Sugar said we were"a busted flush" and very clearly stated that Ridsdale had got it horribly wrong. We should have taken him on as a consultant.. "Ridsdale..you're fired!!" ;-) >>As a business, those that had long pockets and half a brain exploited the club for self gain, especially an accountant that was named Judy in his spare time<< Name names!! >>Mr Bates, I'm just thankful he exists because IMHO if he didn't we wouldn't have a ground, a club, or a team to support As Yorkshiremen, we are famous for being Moaners, thick skinned and very opinionated.. I'm proud of where I'm from, proud of my roots and one day I hope to be proud of my club again I feel like its been raped, thrown in the spin dryer and then aired for all the public to have a good laugh at Until someone who is passionate about what Leeds United is in charge of the club, we will remain a laughing stock to the entire footballing world Not to worry Just find us a Scottish manager and captain and we'll be back where we belong in no time !<< Personally I'd settle for two Londoners at the moment - Curbishley & Derry. Mark _______________________________________________ the Leeds List is an unmoderated mailing list and the list administrators accept no liability for the personal views and opinions of contributors. Leedslist mailing list [email protected] http://list.zetnet.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/leedslist oh alright then :-)
