Ken Bates has banned members of LUST’s board from purchasing tickets.

The move comes after Ken Bates claimed Leeds United Supporters Trust‘s Campaign For Change was having “no effect at all”.

Leeds United CEO Shaun Harvey refused to explain the club’s reasoning, stating only that;

“In simple terms we are exercising our right only to sell tickets to those who we wish to do so.”

You have to wonder how Neil Warnock feels about this whole situation. After pleading with everyone involved to put all the squabbling behind them, and focus solely on supporting the club for the remaining fixtures, LUST released a statement cancelling planned support for a protest ahead of Southampton and offered their full support to Leeds United’s new manager.

While LUST took a mature and sensible approach, Ken Bates has been busy spying on the protests he allegedly doesn’t care about, spending most of his weekly radio address taking shots at anyone connected with LUST and then banning their board members from the stadium.

As the Yorkshire Evening Post pointed out earlier today, Ken Bates seems “set on a divide and rule policy” which isn’t helping matters at all. It’s petty, unproductive and not what I expect from the leader of my football club.

It’s not as if anyone is asking for the unreasonable either, it’s just simple little things; better communication, more dignified responses to the fans concerns, prioritising the squad over off-field matters and less of the pathetic stunts he insists on pulling whenever someone raises an objection to his leadership.

Ken Bates is acting like a child who has spat his dummy out, incapable of responding with the dignity and respect of all good leaders.

He has also sabotaged one of his favourite arguments. How can he argue that he’s acting in the best business interests of the club now that he’s publicly refusing custom? I know of no other business that would do that, regardless of how much they dislike the people they’re serving.

There’s a good reason for that too. Because such business plans fail.