The Sydney Morning Herald are claiming that Frank Lowy has turned his attention to Crystal Palace after Ken Bates’ antics turned him off the idea of buying Leeds.

The latest rumour comes from the same newspaper that originally linked Lowy with a takeover of Leeds United so it’s hard to say whether it’s credible or not, given that we still aren’t sure whether the original rumour had any merit.

The SMH are quick to highlight Ken Bates’ attack on Frank Lowy in their latest piece, clearly suggesting that our chairman’s antics may be one of the reasons Lowy is pursuing other interests – aside from the obvious facts that Leeds have no real assets and a hefty price-tag for a team struggling to escape from England’s third tier.

If there is some truth to this and Lowy has turned his attention to Crystal Palace, I don’t think we can put any of the blame at Ken’s doorstep. I suspect it’s more a case of Lowy shopping around for the best deal than Ken scaring him off – after all, you don’t become a billionaire without making clever financial decisions.

This doesn’t change my view of Ken Bates however. His comments were an embarrassment to the club and it’s fans. They showed Ken Bates for the ignorant, self-obsessed, petty idiot he really is. The man is supposed to be a representative of Leeds United FC and in such a role, he should be doing everything he can to attract investment into the club. What he shouldn’t be doing is undermining anyone who shows a potential interest. Especially when he “allegedly” has no shares in the club itself.

Meanwhile, a new Leeds United fans initiative has been set-up by a coming together of various groups. The new campaign, called ‘TenForKen’ aims to put pressure on the board of Leeds United to answer the growing number of concerns our fanbase has about it’s failing ownership. You can only hope they get answers where so many others have failed.