Leeds United poker online. Has Bates shown his hand early? Gledders January 4, 2010 Leeds United 6 Comments Confrontation makes me nervous, there is the possibility of losing. But the article here: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/football_league/article6974706.ece really stabbed me in the ribs. Its timing and its platform, The Times no less, is no co-incidence. Regulars here will know my first post was in support of the current board assuming at that time the Delph transfer fee was to be used for the future of the club. It didn’t happen and my eyes were opened to the duplicity of charging top prices for seats and merchandise, whilst simultaneously investing nothing in the future of the team. Surely the Times’ article is the pre-cursor to a sale or else why would it be there? I just hope that the next owners realise that fans are customers, not an irritating collection of differing views. Of any future owners, I would ask for integrity over money every time. Simon Grayson has already proved to me that brains and judgement are the essentials simply by creating such a good team on such a lowly budget. Although I doubt my reply would be edited, I post the transcript below for the record. “One win over Manchester United has suddenly made Leeds United newsworthy. So this is a golden opportunity therefore to ask the board members how they got the purchase of Thorp Arch so incredibly wrong. Yes, success for a footbal club is measured in results on the field. However, this needs to be backed by the shrewd financial management of a financialy solid business. For proof of this, look no further than the story of Leeds United in the first decade of this century. During the Autumn of last year, the board are quoted loosely as saying they could not raise £5 million to purchase the Thorp Arch training facility because the club was not effectively credit worthy after administration. Let’s bear in mind that this is after selling Fabian Delph to Aston Villa (fee undisclosed as usual) one guesses for about the same money as Thorp Arch. So, one asks, where is the cash injection mentioned above actually going to come from? If the finance was not available to purchase a capital asset, how can we finance less tangible assets such as players? Moreover, if the finance was available, why did we not purchase Thorp Arch? A strong balance sheet is a positive for any company in the long term and it is good business to ‘collect’ as many as possible during the natural course of trading. At least that’s what my bank managers have always advised me. I assume that your writer has had an interview or contact with an insider of Leeds United to make what is quite a profound statement, therefore it would be a good opportunity to ask the question of where the first year’s post administration profits and the fee for Delph actually went. The clues could be in the first year accounts. Otherwise, the objectivity of your excellent newspaper could easily be brought into question, arguably making a venerable British institution a public relations vehicle for a wealthy businessman looking to make the best return on what has become a no-cost investment. The real heroes of Leeds United are currently the mamager and the players. I feel genuinely aggrieved that any board member could hi-jack their success in what outwardly appears to be a public relations stunt designed to attract wealth. Spiritually, every football club belongs to its fans and any person who profits without matching their passion is little more than a parasite.”