Ken Bates’ ears will have been burning last night as Robert Snodgrass questioned the direction of the club, spoke of broken promises and slammed the decision to sell Jonny Howson to Norwich City.

It’s an untrodden path for Leeds United players – Ben Parker aside – for them to speak so truthfully about their feelings towards the goings on at Elland Road. If it wasn’t for the continuing discontent amongst fans, the outside world may well be oblivious to the problems at Leeds United Football Club as they’re constantly bombarded with statements about how fine and dandy everything is.

Everyone involved with the club, from the chairman Ken Bates, his various mouthpieces such as Ben Fry and Peter Lorimer, and even the players who were once expected to put the fans above all else appear to be reading from the exact same script. I doubt even the minimum wage employees at the club superstore would dare speak ill of his holiness.

The Leeds United fans meanwhile started to question their own sanity – are we the only people that can see how under-invested in this club is? Are we alone in thinking promotion was always impossible following the sale of key players like Howson, Gradel and Johnson? It’s almost as if we’ve been living some kind of Truman Show existence, wherein everyone knows about this epically proportioned con we’re all living except us. We have our suspicions of course, but the more we’re told how nonsensical they are, the more we start to doubt our own sanity.

It’s psychological warfare on a level Adolf Hitler would have cringed at.

Fortunately, Robert Snodgrass has decided that as Leeds United captain, he’ll carry out his obligations in the traditional sense. He’ll be straight-talking and answer the fans questions without a pre-approved script, speaking honestly about the true state of club affairs and not allow himself to be another scapegoat of this disastrous dictatorship-like regime.

The biggest concern of fans is another mass exodus of players, so it was no surprise to hear Snodgrass asked whether he’d be staying at Elland Road. He was firmly non-committal in his response saying that he couldn’t guarantee he’d be at Leeds United in five years time, explaining that “they (the club) have to show me some ambition”.

“Last season I had offers of Premiership football, the manager told me stuff, but I didn’t see much of it – whether that was him or the chairman.

“As a footballer everything here is first class, I love where I live, the only thing missing is the Premier League”.

Snodgrass went on to add that any decision he did make would have to be made with his family in mind.

Jonny Howson was another issue raised by fans in attendance. Robert Snodgrass again responded candidly;

“We’re missing Howson. Weird that we never replaced him. How can you say you’re aiming for promotion and then sell your captain?”

It seems the Leeds United captain shares the same view as most fans. Clearly unhappy at how this season has unfolded, it’s going to take a big show of ambition if we’re to retain him for the 2012-13 campaign. Amidst all the secrecy and scripted comments from everyone at Elland Road, it’s easy to forget that the players are dealing with the same lies, broken promises and frustrations that we are. No one signs for Leeds United expecting anything less than promotion, and key players don’t hang around when promises are continually broken. I think that’s worth keeping in mind for when Robert Snodgrass decides enough is enough and parts ways with a club he clearly loves representing.