Old boys network give Ken his way
15 points, so what. So Leeds get to play next season and the “old boys” sanctions the less than upfront legal dealings of one Ken Bates: a man who promised a lot, delivered nothing and still manages to maintain control of a club who sorely needs something better.For a background of the scheme which saw Bates buy back Leeds even when there were higher bids for the club, I discussed it in detail here. In that article I predicted the old boys network within the League would sanction these dirty dealings -and they did. Like clockwork. To cover their tracks they have imposed a 15 point penalty which is something, but not enough to force one of the worst owners in history out.
The only thing that would have achieved that is to withhold the club’s CVA and force Bates to sell to a ‘fit and proper person’. In typical Bates style, he has appealed against the sanction imposed by the Football League.
Like I said in my previous article, this is how soft corruption works. No disrespect to you Leeds fans, buy you’d have been better off missing the season. Now all you have is a crappy owner and a 15 point hill to climb.
And to top it off, a club statement said:
"The club has received an amount of criticism from supporters for not keeping them up to date with developments during what has been a very difficult time for us all.
We appreciate this policy was difficult for fans to accept, but please be assured that this has been done in the best interests of Leeds United, which is justified by the return of the share.”
That is the most pathetic piece of PR crap I have ever seen. The best interest of Leeds is to get rid of blood-sucker Ken Bates who ran your distinguished and historic club into the ground and likely League 2 next season. Just remember, neither the League or Bates was thinking of you: Bates is by no means bankrupt, your club is.
Labels: Leeds United
by Football Commentator at 8/04/2007 12:53:00 PM
4 Comments:
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You're bang on to slag off Ken Bates and the Football League but what have the fans done to deserve a third relegation battle?
The League have sat on their hands all summer while the club have not been able to sign players and now with a week left to the start of the season it's too late to sign them or integrate them into the team if we do pick someone up.
Bates should be targeted with a huge fine as West Ham were (for worse behaviour by the way) rather than a points penalty that hits the players and fans (who are innocent in all this) while letting Bates' sinister plan go ahead.
Any real football fan needs to go to www.loveleedshatebates.com and sign the petition there to try and force him out.
Leeds have had two of the most incompetent chairman in the history of football, maybe even in the history of corporate governance.
As always, the club and fans suffer whilst the individuals responsible suffer no penalty and in fact prosper. The League needs to come up with a penalty that targets Bates not the club and fans.
We have to hope that this is rock bottom and with or without the 15pt deduction, we push on from here.
"the scheme which saw Bates buy back Leeds even when there were higher bids for the club"
KPMG valued the bids based on which deal offered the best return to the creditors. When Astor Investment Holdings forgave 17m debt as part of the Bates package, it essentially added 17m to the Bates bid price, thus making it the highest bid in the eyes of the creditors.
Why Astor are hitching their wagon to Bates star is unknown, unusual and open to speculation of nefarious dealings. However, the Bates offer, based on the limited information KPMG chose to divulge, still remains the best offer for the creditors.
I wish we had another owner at Leeds, and share many of the suspicions of other Leeds supporters, but I believe that the Bates bid made some sense, at least in financial terms.
Was a total inside job from the start! Bates is in criminal violation of being a director of an entity with the same name without the required government approval, no one is doing anything about it. Astor was connected, no one is doing anything about it. KPMG did not take 'real' bids for the club (there were US and Middle East bids not taken). This is criminal and the fact that its been gotten away with speaks volumes as to where we are as a scoiety. No body realy cares anymore. We're a bunch of cows following the heard led by crooks.
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