According to the Yorkshire Evening Post, West Yorkshire Police owe Leeds £1m from disputed charges for policing on match-days. As we wrote yesterday, Leeds’ board is happy to pay for policing on their property, but don’t believe they should pay for policing services on other property. According to the police, there will be an apocalypse with honest bobbies losing their jobs and fewer coppers in the community.

Absolute rubbish in my view. Police police, that’s their purpose (oh God, I’ve turned into Shaun Harvey). If they really do want to charge Leeds United for policing on property not owned or controlled by the club, how about they charge nightclubs equally heavily for policing what can become war-zones at night? How about the council starts taxing parents for the money to put in bumps, signs, and all the other crap that has to be put in outside schools? They don’t, there’d be an outcry, because it’s what the community as a whole pay taxes for.

Meanwhile, the Football Supporters’ Federation’s survey on policing and stewarding at Elland Road has shown that 54% of fans taking part think the police presence is excessive, 47% of fans think the presence of police makes trouble more likely, and less than 1 in 3 fans feel the police are approachable on a match-day.

But enough of that. Leeds are owed £1m and have just signed 4 players in 24 hours. Experienced Jamie Ashdown provides reliable cover for Paddy Kenny, Andy Gray adds competition to the strikeforce, Luke Varney adds a bit of quality up front or on the wing, and Rodolph Austin brings some pretty versatile quality to anywhere between the sticks and striker.

Whether it’s these four signings, seeing £1m coming into the club, or just the strange yellow burny-orb-thing making an appearance in the sky, Leeds fans have gone a tad delirious. First, we apparently threw aside our by now unbreakable cynicism to believe a rumour that the players had been told of a takeover and were having a piss-up in their hotel with the new owners. Then we heard Beckford missed his pre-season match at Leicester because he was “sick” and decided he was coming home (to Leeds, not Ealing) while Max Gradel Tweeted:

All ways leeds M O T

Suddenly it all made sense. Our owners really were being wined and dined by Ferrari at the Hockenheim GP this weekend, they’d enjoyed seeing Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso bring it home in 1st so much that they immediately flew over to the middle of nowhere to be with Leeds as the players trained in a surreal English version of Field of Dreams, and decided to reward us all for being such great fun, paying for Beckford and Gradel out of their back pockets… Nice one Fernando!

Okay, a few hours later, sunstroke subsided and re-hydrated, maybe not. Things are still ticking over though, Luke Varney’s move has finally been 100% confirmed, Rodolph Austin is taking his medical at Thorp Arch today, and Neil Warnock has refused to rule out his interest in West Ham’s Nicky Maynard, though he apparently hasn’t made an official bid yet.

It might not be up there with our sun-induced delusions, but it’s a strange feeling to see a Leeds manager spending money on good, proven players!