Whether successful in his appeal or not, Massimo Cellino’s move to team up with Together Leeds ensures he’ll have the final say and ownership of Leeds United won’t return to GFH Capital.

With disturbing speculation of an administration plan which would allow a David Haigh consortium to take control of Leeds United should Cellino’s appeal fail, the Italian moved to deny them the chance of destroying a football club by bringing Together Leeds into the equation and guaranteeing them a sale with or without him.

It’s understood that if Cellino’s appeal is successful, the Italian will team up with Together Leeds to complete the 75% purchase of Leeds United he’s already exchanged contracts for. The finer details of this plan, such as share percentages for example, haven’t been disclosed but between the two parties there’s plenty of experience and money for them to take the club forward.

Cellino hasn’t stopped there however. If rejected, a clause in the contracts exchanged with GFH Capital states that he can sell the 75% on to whoever he likes.

By sitting down with Together Leeds, something GFH Capital refused to do themselves, Cellino has orchestrated a situation which removes all power from the club’s current owners, allowing Together Leeds to takeover the club (without having to deal with GFH) if the Italian fails his appeal.

The biggest loser here would appear to be David Haigh who seems to have played so many sides against each other throughout this process, he’s now become the greater evil who unites them all.

It was Haigh who originally brought Cellino to the club, attempting to make him part of the consortium he was heading up. When that fell apart, some members of the consortium teamed up with Mike Farnan’s Together Leeds while Haigh jumped ship and cosied up to Massimo Cellino, wrangling himself a CEO position under the terms of Cellino’s takeover.

Meanwhile, Haigh’s former ally Andrew Flowers issued a winding-up petition against the club to recover money he’d lent the owners while seeking to takeover as part of Haigh’s consortium, the first real signs that all was not well at Elland Road.

Since then Haigh has continued to play multiple angles, holding court with former owner Ken Bates who it’s since been revealed had agreed to part-fund Haigh’s original consortium – something Haigh had previously denied.

The recorded phonecall with Massimo Cellino exposed David Haigh’s dwindling number of allies as the Italian accused Leeds United’s Managing Director of blackmail before calling him “dangerous, a f***ing devil” explaining that Haigh is working in cahoots with Ken Bates, further reinforcing speculation that Haigh’s plan was to buy the club out of admin should Cellino’s takeover fail (which would also explain why he cut ties with GFH Capital).

It’s clear that whoever ends up controlling Leeds United, David Haigh’s future at the club looks bleak. Enough bridges have been burnt with Together Leeds for them to dismiss him completely while Massimo Cellino seems in no mood to forgive and forget.

However unhinged Cellino appears to be, he’s the first person to pass through Elland Road in years whose number one concern seems to be the football. He demonstrated that by refusing to let Ross McCormack leave on transfer deadline day and by paying for McDermott to bring loan players in while his takeover hung in the balance.

I spoke to a lot of Cagliari fans when he first arrived on the scene and while some of them dislike the way he runs a football club, none of them deny he’s a football man first and foremost.

Perhaps that’s why his interviews resonate so much with supporters, because he has a deeper understanding of the football fan’s condition than any Bahraini banker can ever hope to achieve?

Putting aside the good guy/bad guy stuff that has long-since plagued any meaningful debate about whether Cellino is a man who’ll do right by Leeds United Football Club, in taking control from David Haigh and GFH Capital, it doesn’t matter whether Massimo Cellino’s appeal is successful or not. He’s already rescued us from the clutches of sinister bankers who care nothing for this club and it’s fans.