Bullish Bates defends his United reign LEEDS UNITED chairman Ken Bates today mounted a staunch defence of his reign at Elland Road.
In an exclusive interview with the Yorkshire Evening Post, Bates: * insisted Dennis Wise had his unqualified support, despite the club's relegation from the Championship. * denied assertions that the failure of United's squad this season was his responsibility. * claimed a lack of fitness and a lack of discipline under former manager Kevin Blackwell had been the root cause of relegation. * revealed discussions will begin today over the future of every player at Elland Road. The 75-year-old was speaking 48 hours after Saturday's 1-1 draw with Ipswich Town, a result which effectively confirmed United's relegation to League One for the first time. The unforeseen and humiliating development came two-and-a-half years after Bates' takeover at Elland Road, and only 12 months after United's ill-fated appearance in the Championship Play-off final, and his regime has attracted heavy criticism this season amid a categorical failure by the club's players. Saturday's draw prompted chants of 'Get the Chelsea out of Leeds' among the crowd of 31,269 at Elland Road, chants aimed at Bates and Wise, but United's chairman has refused to share in the deep sense of despondency felt by the city at the end of a wretched campaign. Bates said: "In football, the game's full of ups and downs. "Here's food for thought. Look at some of the clubs in the Premiership – Middlesbrough, Bolton, Wigan, Sheffield United, Manchester City, Aston Villa, Portsmouth, Fulham. They've all been in the third and fourth divisions. "At the end of the day, big clubs are big clubs and small clubs are small clubs. Small clubs have their day in the sun and then go back to where they belong. Big clubs rise again. So will Leeds. "Let me tell you this much. We've been overwhelmed by faxes and e-mails, all saying 100 per cent that they want me, Wise and Gus (Poyet) to stay next season. They're saying 'you're the right people and you're going to get us back where we should be.' "We're working on budgets and the costs for next season to see how much we can spend on players. I'll be talking to Dennis about the squad today. "We have a lot of overheads which are not sustainable, and they'll have to be reduced. But the wage bill will collapse this year. Yes, our income will be lower next season – but so will our expenses. "Actually, I'm very bullish." Bates' positive rhetoric cannot disguise the damning statistics behind United's problems this season. The club have averaged a point a game and have suffered 25 league defeats, 14 since Bates removed caretaker John Carver and installed Wise as manager in October. United's away record under Wise has yielded 12 points from 16 matches, a tally which has heavily influenced the club's league position, but Bates insisted Wise would be in charge of Leeds next season. 01 May 2007 _______________________________________________ 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 it's a God awful small affair
