Leeds United are in talks with Dennis Wise and Gus Poyet with a view to installing them as a new management team at Elland Road.
Leeds crashed to a 5-1 defeat at Luton on Saturday, a fourth straight defeat in four matches under caretaker manager John Carver which has left them second-from-bottom in the Championship. The desperate situation has prompted Leeds chairman Ken Bates to act and find a permanent replacement for Kevin Blackwell who was sacked last month. "Discussions with the pair have taken place with the consent of Swindon Town," read a Leeds statement. "The clubs are discussing the terms of their release. No further comment will be made at this stage." Swindon had earlier revealed that Leeds had been granted permission to talk to Wise and Poyet. A statement from Swindon read: "It is with regret that the board of Swindon Town FC on Saturday evening granted permission for Leeds United to talk to Dennis Wise and Gus Poyet. "The three-year contract that Dennis Wise and Gus Poyet signed with the club in May of this year provides Dennis and Gus with the option to speak with potentially interested clubs from the Premiership and Coca-Cola Championship, and states that should Dennis Wise and Gus Poyet resign from Swindon Town FC in order to move to such a club, Swindon Town FC will receive the value of one years of both employees' salary in compensation. "It is on this basis that the club have reluctantly granted permission for such talks to take place. "The board of Swindon Town FC have offered Dennis Wise an improvement to his contract at the club combined with a share option package in order to secure his services. "A further announcement will be made when these talks have been concluded." When Blackwell was sacked on September 20 Wise was immediately installed as one of the favourites to replace him. Bates and Wise became close friends at Chelsea and the Leeds chairman is godfather to one of Wise's children. Since taking over at Swindon in May, Wise and former Chelsea team-mate Poyet have steered the club to third place in the table. The Robins have lost only two of their 15 league games after being relegated to Coca-Cola League Two at the end of last season. Wise was previously player/manager at Millwall and led the Coca-Cola Championship side all the way to the FA Cup final in 2004 where they lost 3-0 to Manchester United. Wise resigned as Lions boss the following May following a boardroom shake-up. Wise and Poyet were due to hold a press conference in conjunction with England sponsors Nationwide in Swindon on Monday, but that has now been cancelled. Ray Fell, of Leeds Supporters Club, reacting to the news of Leeds' move for Wise and Poyet, told Sky Sports News: "It's a low time and it's going to take some time to turn it around but 23rd in the league at this time of the year is recoverable and Leeds had to act now before the point of no return was reached." ----------------------------------------- This transmission may contain information that is privileged, confidential, legally privileged, and/or exempt from disclosure under applicable law. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, distribution, or use of the information contained herein (including any reliance thereon) is STRICTLY PROHIBITED. Although this transmission and any attachments are believed to be free of any virus or other defect that might affect any computer system into which it is received and opened, it is the responsibility of the recipient to ensure that it is virus free and no responsibility is accepted by JPMorgan Chase & Co., its subsidiaries and affiliates, as applicable, for any loss or damage arising in any way from its use. If you received this transmission in error, please immediately contact the sender and destroy the material in its entirety, whether in electronic or hard copy format. Thank you. _______________________________________________ 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 :-)
