This is what I've sent to five live, don't know if they have got it nor when they are going to kick Barry Fry off the air and get on with the Leeds story :-)
When Ken Bates took over at Elland Road he did it with the minimum of capital investment. By his own admission he underestimated the size of the club's indebtedness. Through a combination of a minimum capital investment, milking the fans through excessive pricing and by stripping the club's operations to the bare bones he has produced the nightmare that is now Leeds United. Others may have been responsible for the state of affairs Bates inherited at Elland Road but he has made a large number of very obvious mistakes during his short but ineffectual reign. The loss of Blackwell as an experienced manager who took us to the playoffs was the first sign that he wasn't running the club properly. The alienation of significant fans' groups through his insistence on fleecing supporters with a membership scheme which has done exactly nothing to sustain supporter numbers is compounded by the way that the best person he could find to run it isn't even a Leeds United supporter. Add to this Bates' archaic style with the media. Who honestly wants to go to court with the newspaper that the bulk of your paying public read over a nonesense? What football club chairman thinks its wise to ban your local BBC TV station from press conferences for broadcasting a phone video of said chairman having a rant in a car park? Then of course there is the sight of a club owned by someone who's media skills extend to talking about his granny catching her tits in a mangle. If Bates was a real businessman he would recognise the true extent of the capital requirement the club actually needs, he would ensure that he does everything possible to get the biggest number of supporters on side and he might just consider what a joke his style is with the media. Leeds United is no longer a big club it is the victim of successive raids on its assets starting with Fotherby and running through Caspian, Ridsdale, Krasner's Consortium and now Ken Bates. Time for a change methinks and this time include supporters! Betty _______________________________________________ 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 'I am in shock,' said Ferguson.
