Cause for serious concern…

First of all, I realise its only pre-season and that, in the grand scheme of things it will have little bearing on the forthcoming season.

But, and it’s a BIG but. Anybody who witnessed last night’s debacle will realise that Leeds United, as a club, have failed to address the issues that almost saw us throw promotion away last season. I assumed that now the shackles and pressures of a promotion run-in are long since gone, we would have witnessed a controlled and quality performance against a decent League Two outfit.

Unfortunately, we were a yard off the pace for the entire 90 minutes and could easily have been one down within 30 seconds. Bury looked sharper, calmer and more comfortable and will feel aggrieved that it wasn’t more than four. Our midfield quartet were literally non-existent, Johnson contributed nothing as usual, Kilkenney and Howson are still too lightweight, repeatedly giving the ball away and Snodgrass looked like he was playing with chains around his ankles.

I’ m not usually one to over react to situations like this, but I can assure you, based on last nights performance, we should all be very worried… Our back five are probably suffering from having never played together before and that’ll take time but the only positive I can draw from them is Kasper Schmeichel’s kicking ability.

It wasn’t individual performances that concerned me most, it was the apparent lack of ideas. Without the option and outlet of a ball over the top, we looked very average and seemingly clueless about how to get beyond a League 2 defence. I hope the likes of Paynter, Sam and any additional signings we may or may not make can breath some life into Leeds United, as the only player who looked capable of performing at Championship level last night was Max Gradel.

So over to you Messrs Grayson and Bates, we need a leader and some deranged lunatic in central midfield, Oh and a 20-goal striker. Without these we are in for a very, very long season…

Oh, and Bury Football Club, charging £9.30 for 2 packaged pies and 2 Diet Cokes at a pre-season friendly is an outrage!

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Cause for serious concern…

Promotion: The Leeds United Way! - 2009/10 Season Review (Part Three)

PART 1  | PART 2

With Leeds doing all that was asked of them in the opening month of the season, September looked a little more tricky. Notoriously difficult away trips to Southend and MK Dons meant that we were probably going to need a full return from home matches with Gillingham and Carlisle to maintain the pace in League One.

Anybody who has followed Leeds over the last five years or so will be fully aware that nothing spoils a good run of form, or feeling of optimism like a fixture at Roots Hall. On the previous 3 visits to the home of Southend United, Leeds have left with just a single point. A point that proved academic as Leeds unsuccessfully battled relegation from the Championship in 2007. With that in mind, to say that I wasn’t overly confident would be putting it mildly. I did what I usually do in these situations; pretend I'm not really that interested and try to occupy the 2 hours with something else, in the hope that my perceived apathy will somehow have a positive effect upon the fortunes of the team. Inevitably I end up with phone in one hand, laptop on knee and praying that LUTV’s usually reliable service doesn’t go AWOL at a crucial moment (or that one of my relatives doesn’t log in with the same credentials and the system boots me out – Sorry Ken!).

SOUTHEND 0, LEEDS UNITED 0

Southend: Mildenhall, Francis, Barrett, M'voto, Herd, McCormack, Grant (Scannell 80), Moussa, Christophe, Laurent (Freedman 80), Barnard. Subs: Walker, Sankofa, O'Keefe, Joyce, Sawyer.

United: Higgs, Crowe (Michalik 48), Kisnorbo, Bromby, Hughes, Snodgrass (Kilkenny 75), Howson, Doyle, Johnson, Becchio (Grella 82), Beckford. Subs: Ankergren, Prutton, Robinson, Showunmi.

Referee: P Taylor     Booked: McCormack (Southend), Crowe, Hughes (United)

Att: 10,123 (2151 Leeds)

With the game moved to a Friday night, proceedings followed the well worn script of a Leeds United fixture in a small, tight, floodlit ground, in front of a full house… Leeds dominated the early exchanges and were good value for a lead that would have put them clear at the top of League One as Charlton weren’t in action until the next day. Snodgrass, Beckford and Howson all went close before The Whites reverted back to type and allowed Southend in at the other end. As the clock ticked towards half time the Leeds defence presented Anthony Grant with the simplest of opportunities to open the scoring, poor marking left the midfielder with a chance that was easier to score than blaze over the bar. Grant opted for the latter, much to the relief of  The Whites faithful.

After surviving the scare at the end of the opening period Leeds never really got going again, and just after the hour looked to have handed the advantage to the South Coast club when Leigh Bromby was adjudged to have pushed Lee Barnard in front of the Leeds goal. Barnard opted to take the penalty himself but was as surprised as anybody to see Shane Higgs produce a magnificent one-handed save to his left, leaving Barnard to reflect on his first ever penalty miss. 

The game flat-lined from there on in and a late penalty shout apart, Leeds fans had little to get excited about…

Leeds have still never won at Roots Hall.

United had dropped their first points of the season and would now look on nervously at what Charlton could muster at home to Southampton.

Prior to the trip to the South coast, it had been a busy week in the world of Leeds United. Ken Bates stepped up his argument with Everton over the ‘baby farming’ of Luke Garbutt, Leeds had been awarded a potential £1.55M via an independent tribunal. Ken called for clubs guilty of ‘baby farming’ to face European bans and even points deductions. The Chairman went on to say  that “If we are going to be world champions at international level we have to have a tremendous stream of good English players and that seems to be reliant on third and fourth division clubs, and indeed even non-league clubs, to find these players in the outposts of football and develop them.” – Looking back now, perhaps somebody should have listened! Meanwhile, Paul Huntington joined Stockport County on loan and new-boy Davide Somma bagged a brace on his reserve debut.

With the Gillingham game now on the horizon, the entire week seemed to revolve around Ken Bates. Firstly, his usual slanging match with Gills chairman Paul Scally reared its head again, with Scally accusing Bates of talking rubbish and feeding United fans with what he wants them to believe. Unfortunately, Kenneth’s chance to riposte was quashed by news that Leeds United were struggling to broker a deal that would see the reacquisition of the Thorp Arch training complex. Ken had always assured supporters that the ultimate plan was to bring Thorp Arch and Elland Road back onto the club’s list of assets, and that every prior budget decision had been to that end. Such news sent alarm bells ringing throughout the White Army, as Ken enrolled the services of Leeds City Council to assist in reacquiring the club’s Academy base.

LEEDS UNITED 4 (Johnson 14, 28, Howson 46, Beckford 80), GILLINGHAM 1 (Barcham 50)

United: Higgs, Crowe (Kilkenny 67), Bromby, Kinsorbo, Hughes, Snodgrass (Michalik 67), Doyle, Howson, Johnson, Becchio (Grella 80), Beckford. Subs: Ankergren, Prutton, Robinson, Showunmi.

Gillingham: Royce, Fuller, Gowling, Bentley, Palmer, Maher (Payne 83), Weston (Rooney 88), Barcham, Jackman, Oli (Erskine 81), Jackson. Subs: Nutter, Richards, Miller, Julian.

Referee: G Salisbury    Booked: Bromby (Leeds)    Att: 21,026

After dropping their first 2 points of the season the previous weekend, Leeds were looking for a 15th straight win at Elland Road against a Gills side that had made a bright start to life back in League One. They had, however, only managed a single point from four games on their travels and were firm underdogs against Leeds.

Despite their lack of form away from Priestfield, manager Mark Stimson set his men out to attack Leeds from the off. A strategy he would live to regret as, despite an early opportunity for Andy Barcham, Leeds smashed the newly promoted Gills out of sight. United were unfortunate to be only two Bradley Johnson goals up at the interval after completely dominating the opening period.

Jonny Howson made it three, finishing off a spectacular, flowing move just seconds after the break and Jermaine Beckford rattled the crossbar just a minute later as Leeds looked to underline their title credentials… In typical Leeds fashion however, just before  Ladbrokes closed the book on promotion betting, Leeds let Gillingham back into the game with their first shot on target. A first time effort from Andy Barcham, following a well-worked free kick had the home crowd a little nervous, in what had been an explosive start to the second period.

With the visitors showing more belief, The Whites had to readdress a performance that, had so far been very straightforward. Despite a number of close calls, Gillingham managed just one more shot on target and the game was put to bed 10 minutes from time when Beckford converted a Mickey Doyle shot that had come back off a post.

As attention turned to Tuesday’s League Cup encounter with Liverpool, Leeds were buoyed by news that they were outright leaders of League One for the first time, as Charlton drew at an improving Norwich City.

Following the win over Gillingham, the White Army geared themselves up for a night that would evoke memories of better days for Leeds; nights when Elland Road was packed to bursting and ‘United’ behind The Whites. Rafa Benitez’s side were set to be victims of a cup upset…

UNITED 0, LIVERPOOL 1 (N'Gog 65)

United: Higgs, Crowe, Michalik, Kisnorbo, Hughes (Kilkenny 79), Snodgrass, Doyle (Showunmi 89), Howson, Johnson, Beckford, Becchio (Grella 81). Subs: Ankergren, Naylor, Prutton, Robinson.

Liverpool: Cavalieri, Riera, Aurelio, Kyrgiakos, Babel (Skrtel 90), Mascherano, Carragher, N'Gog (Gerrard 78), Spearing, Degen (Johnson 72), Dossena. Subs: Voronin, Reina, Plessis, Torres.

Referee: A Wiley    Att: 38,168

This game will undoubtedly go down in history for me personally, despite seeing no more than 10 minutes of the game…

Scheduled just 48 hours before I was due to become a Father for the first time. I had passed up the opportunity to watch the match from my usual seat and was all set to take up my place on the sofa to cheer on the new League One leaders!

That was the plan anyway… (From this point, I have to be careful how I choose my words, missing a Leeds game is usually the cause of great suffering and anguish… these were, however, exceptional circumstances! (and my wife occasionally reads this site…))

On the Sunday evening my wife complained of pains and the usual warning signs of an impending arrival. Having been turned away from the hospital several times, we were still in the same situation come Tuesday afternoon and an increasingly desperate situation was showing no signs of progression as Leeds kicked off against Liverpool. I saw glimpses of the game via the various televisions around my home as I hurried from place to place to keep my wife as comfortable as possible, conscious of the fact, that if I was seen to be more concerned about Leeds United during this time then I would most likely lose a vital appendage.

Amidst the growing hysteria, I was inwardly furious about Beckford’s disallowed goal but was struggling to get a grasp of the game through the occasional muted periods of action I was able to steal.

Leeds lost 1-0 to a goal that I have since watched with full audio and in a relatively calm atmosphere. By all accounts the lads played well and matched their Premiership opponents all the way. With a little bit of luck, we may have witnessed a famous victory, well some of us!

For the record, my wife gave birth to our daughter, Georjie Elizabeth on the Thursday evening via emergency caesarean section – A full FOUR days after going into labour. Laura, if you do read this - Thank You! I love you more than you’ll ever know!

As you can imagine, keeping in touch with Leeds United over the next few days was the last thing on my mind. Both Mother and baby were kept in hospital for a number of days and the next time The Whites encroached on my consciousness was at 5.55PM on the Saturday whilst sat in a hospital ward, a text message from my brother that read “Snod Scored!” was all the invitation I needed to find out what was happening in a game that I had forgotten about at Stadium:MK…

MK DONS 0, LEEDS UNITED 1 (Snodgrass 90)

MK Dons: Gueret, Lewington, Doumbe, McCracken, Gleeson, Wilbraham (Ibehre 78), Johnson, Gobern (Leven 45), Puncheon, Powell, Chadwick (Howell 80). Subs: Searle, Partridge, Davis, Swailes.

United: Higgs (Ankergren 62), Crowe (Michalik 9), Bromby, Kisnorbo, Hughes (Robinson 55), Snodgrass, Doyle, Howson, Johnson, Beckford, Grella. Subs: Naylor, Prutton, Kilkenny.

Referee: A D'Urso    Booked: Lewington, Gleeson, Johnson, Doumbe, Powell (MK), Snodgrass (Leeds) Sent-Off: Puncheon (MK)

Att: 16,713 (4119 Leeds)

I’m not sure what happened before Snodgrass’ in injury time header won the game. ‘The Championship’ highlights suggested it was an even game and the goal celebration that included every member of the playing staff and management was the real highlight.

Not to be out-done though, Paul Ince insisted that “it was a close game between two massive clubs” in his post match interview. Obviously exercising his comedy prowess in preparation for someone, at some point, realising that he can’t actually manage a football team and he’d be in the dole queue.

As my life returned to something that resembled normality, it became apparent that the victory at Milton Keynes had come at a price, Shane Higgs had limped out of the fixture just after the hour mark. Simon Grayson moved quickly to bring in Frank Fielding form Blackburn Rovers on a months loan. Meanwhile striker Luciano Becchio welcomed a daughter of his own ahead of the visit of Carlisle.

LEEDS UNITED 1 (Beckford 30 pen), CARLISLE UNITED 1 (Dobie 75)

United: Ankergren, Bromby (Kilkenny 38), Naylor, Kisnorbo, Hughes, Snodgrass, Doyle, Howson (Prutton 66), Johnson, Beckford, Becchio (Showunmi 84). Subs: Grella, Michalik, Robinson, Fielding.

Carlisle: Pidgeley, Raven, Livesey, Keogh, Harte, Hurst, Kavanagh, Taiwo (Murphy 85), Bridge-Wilkinson (Dobie 70), Anyinsah, Robson. Subs: Collin, Horwood, Rothery, Offiong, Burns.

Referee: R Booth   Att: 19,673

The last of the games I would miss, due to the smallest member of my family still being in hospital.

Simon Grayson made two enforced changes with Casper Ankergren returning in goal and Leigh Bromby replacing Jason Crowe at right back. It was obvious from the out-set that the Cumbrians were content with a point, five across the middle kept Leeds at bay for the majority of the opening period. It took Leeds 30 minutes to get a real foothold in the game, Mickey Doyle was felled in the area and Beckford converted the penalty at the second attempt.

Following that relatively early breakthrough, many expected Leeds to go on and record a 16th consecutive home win and Snodgrass almost doubled the advantage seconds later hitting the inside of a post from distance. Unfortunately an injury to Leigh Bromby forced Grayson into shuffling his pack further and Carlisle came into the game more as half time approached.

After making a decent start to the second half Leeds were starting to get frustrated at the lack of return for their efforts, Johnson, Snodgrass and Beckford could all have sealed the game. As time ticked towards a conclusion, Greg  Abbott broke Carlisle out of their rigid 4-5-1 and introduced Scott Dobie to partner Bridge-Wilkinson up front. Five minutes later and the substitute had levelled matters, heading home, unmarked from a corner.

So far this season, United had managed to squeeze the three points out of such fixtures but couldn’t get out of jail this time – 2 more points dropped.

Despite the disappointment, news of Charlton’s defeat at Colchester moved Leeds 3 points clear in League One and confirmed The Whites as the countries only unbeaten professional team. 

Part 4 – October sees Leeds lock horns with promotion rival Charlton, Millwall and Norwich, oh and another game against Darlington.

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Promotion: The Leeds United Way! - 2009/10 Season Review (Part Three)

Dirty Leeds: 7 Days of Football (11/05/10)

In what will become a weekly feature of Dirty Leeds during the Summer and into next season, lets have a look back at the last 7 days of footballing news;

MIGHTY WHITES WIN PROMOTION
The only place to start really, Leeds finally escaped the dreaded pit of despair that is League One and in typical Leeds United fashion, it was far from straight forward and at one point had a grown man close to tears... To say that Daryl Duffy's goal rocked me to my very core would be the biggest understatement since Gary Neville revealed he 'admired' David Beckham. If the front man had ran into the crowd following his goal and stabbed me in the chest, I can't imagine it would have hurt more than watching him reel away in celebration of a goal that threatened to unravel 9 months of hard work and condemn Leeds to another season in oblivion.

What happened next was something that even the most long-standing of Whites supporters would consider a 'rarity'. Leeds United's players stood as one and mirrored the passion and desire that their supporters are famed for. Fighting back from the brink of disaster to the most glorious occasion Elland Road has witnessed since 1992... and the rest is history!

A quick mention to each and every player who has participated for Leeds United this season - Thank You!

BATES BRANDS EVERTON "A TWO-BOB" CLUB
Ever the epicentre of an argument, a less than sober Ken Bates belittled Merseyside's second club at the club's End of Season Dinner on Saturday night. Alledgedly claiming that Jermaine Beckford still has time to reconsider a Summer move to a "two-bob" club like Everton and stay with Leeds United. 

If money wasn't a factor, then I'd say you have a point Ken. However with Jermaine now 28 years old he needs to fund his future and unless you can relocate your cheque book then nobody can blame the lad for looking after number one. Jermaine has his critics but for a man who has been undoubtedly the single most important player for the club since our relegation form The Premiership and scored the two most legendary goals in our recent history, he owes Leeds United a sum total of - Nothing!

SPURS WIN TICKET TO EUROPE'S TOP TABLE
Never has such an over-hyped game been shown so much apathy. Seriously, did anybody outside East Manchester or North London really care which team finished fourth in The Premiership? Strangely more attention was on the fact that Liverpool had dropped out of the 'Big four', rather than which team would replace them. For the record Spurs won 1-0, thanks to a late Peter Crouch header. Again, the real story is where do the Anfield club go from here?

POMPEY SPIRAL OUT OF CONTROL
Having entered administration some two months ago with debts rumoured to be around £119M, the South Coast club have now fallen closer to the black hole of extinction with reports of them haemorrhaging £7.5M each month. Quite how they will fair with the lack of regular income between now and August is anybody's guess. Player sales will undoubtedly be rapid and at a fraction of their true worth and funds will fall a long way short of the required millions to stem the flow... Apparently looking at a 17 point deduction before the season even starts in August, one has to question if the club will even make it that far, or will the life support machine be switched off??

POINT DEDUCTIONS BECOMING A HABIT
Up until the infamous Summer of 2007, point deductions in the English game were a thing of legend, something only found in a small annotation in record books from way back when. Since the Football League dropped the unprecedented sanction of 15 points upon Leeds the day before the start of the new season, several clubs have fallen victim of the new 'toy' of the powers that be. Luton, Bournemouth, Rotherham, Southampton, Crystal Palace amongst others have all been hit with similar sanctions. Admittedly, the rules for entering administration are clear to all and few clubs can have a complaint when the 'minus 10' letter arrives in the post.

Strangely this week Hartlepool United were hit with a 3 point deduction just days before the final day of the season, throwing any plans of winding down, out of the window by dropping them deep into a relegation battle! The reason they were deducted 3 points was due to fielding an ineligible player, who should still have been serving a suspension. Clearly an admin error on someone's part. As it turned out the sanction was irrelevant and The Pools survived on goal difference, condemning Gillingham to the basement division.

Now all this seems perfectly straight forward but if you cast your mind back a few years when West Ham United 'knowingly' played Carlos Tevez in the majority of their games, even though they didn't own the player. The Premier League (Its worth noting the different governing body) decided, after much deliberation that no points would be deducted, thus relegating Sheffield United by the finest of margins; a single goal. Where's the justice in that!? Is it because nobody will really notice if Hartlepool are deducted points, are they too far North to even worry about?

Its also worth remembering that Leeds did something similar at Burnley a few years ago by fielding one too many loan players, although Leeds lost that game, points remained intact.

This seemingly 'random' approach to points deduction and sanctions needs to be clarified for everyone, sooner rather than later.

PREMIER LEAGUE INCREASE REWARDS FOR FAILURE
In the recent General Elections, a major topic has been that of Welfare, and the ridiculous way that this Countries Government's pay out to the terminally lazy and general under-achievers. Its a hot-topic, and probably one that almost won the Tories the vote!

As 'unbelievable' as the majority of tax payers see the current welfare system, The Premier League have adopted one of their own... Currently, clubs relegated from The Premier League into The Championship receive £16M over 2 seasons in 'parachute' payments. These payments are said to 'bridge the gap' in the difference of revenue between the two leagues, allowing clubs to restructure and adapt to their new, lower income. Unfortunately, that is rarely the case. Clubs spend all the cash trying to get back and end up where Southampton are. Portsmouth have already been given theirs for next season!!

Inexplicably, and for reasons that I can't grasp at the minute, it has been decided that relegated clubs (Clubs that have FAILED remember) will now receive a whopping £48M over the next 4 seasons following relegation!! Such ridiculous decisions are usually associated with UEFA and their 'rigged' seeding systems. What this new ruling is to achieve, apart from further alienate the lesser clubs in The Football League pyramid, is anybody's guess. Surely the idiots in suits can see that throwing money at the Premier League clubs further diminishes the sense of competition and the integrity of the game. Why not share the wealth equally between the four divisions? What chance have the likes of Millwall or Swindon (should they win promotion) or Leeds for that matter, have against a team who has £48M to spend? Rigged Deck!

WIGAN MAKE A JOKE OF PREMIERSHIP
Now its obvious that Chelsea are a very good footballing team and are deservedly Champions of England but for Wigan Athletic to be hammered 8-0 in supposedly the 'strongest' league in the world is an absolute shambles. Lets not forget, this is the same team that shipped 9 at White Hart Lane earlier in the season. They should be relegated by default and replaced by a team that can actually call themselves 'professional'.

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Dirty Leeds: 7 Days of Football (11/05/10)

TenForKen.com - Press Release

Press release: Leeds fans demand transparency

Leeds, April 29, 2010: Leeds United fans are striking a blow to remove the cloak of secrecy that shrouds the League One club.

A group of fans, informally called the Campaign for Change, have identified ten key areas of concern along with a list of relevant questions about the direction the club is taking and are demanding answers from current chairman Ken Bates.

The issues of concern can be seen at the website www.tenforken.com and on Saturday, April 24, 12,000 leaflets with a condensed set of ten questions and 9,000 stickers were distributed among fans before the club’s 4-1 victory over MK Dons.

Such was the fan interest in the ‘tenforken’ questions at the MK Dons game, that on top of the planned 4,000 leaflets for the Charlton game, there will be a further 40,000 leaflets distributed at the Bristol Rovers game.

The ‘tenforken’ initiative came on the back of an open ‘Lorimer’s Bar’ forum with fans at Elland Road last Tuesday, where Ken Bates and his self-awarded reputation for no-nonsense straight-talking, looked a little shaky under direct questioning.

Replying to fans' concerns on a wide range of subjects, the Monaco-based tax exile surprised some in the audience when he:

• Confirmed that he didn't have a clue who owned the club, saying it was 'tough' if disgruntled fans felt they had nowhere to take their concerns.
• Said that in the current climate no one would lend money to football clubs, so his plans for a ‘Leeds Village’ hotel and shopping project are stalled.
• Refused to take any responsibility for the club’s failure to re-purchase the Thorp Arch training complex (sold by the previous regime to raise funds) or the fact that, five years on, neither of his stated twin aims of ownership of Elland Road and Thorp Arch have been achieved.
• Alleged that Leeds had, as yet, received no money at all from Aston Villa for the summer sale of Fabian Delph, almost a year after the player was sold.

Questions at the meeting reflected growing discontent with a regime which has seen Leeds United at its lowest ever league position, with many questions remaining unanswered about the identity of the club’s owners, planning projects, court costs for libel cases, the status of the club’s Yorkshire Radio station, investment, pricing and priorities.

A spokesperson for the fan campaign said: “For the last ten years Leeds United fans have been kept in the dark by a succession of chairmen and owners about the state of the club. We demand greater transparency on key issues such as how the club is run and where our financial support goes – and that demand will extend not only to Ken Bates’s tenure but also to subsequent owners.”

Notes to editors: 

The Campaign For Change was formed by a small group of concerned fans from all Leeds United supporters groups with an initial meeting on Wednesday April 14, 2010. Some seventy people joined the initial meeting and pledges of support have reached the thousands since.

The movement is a democratic process that will see all fans who support the issues having a say on future campaigns and action.

For further information see: 

www.tenforken.com

www.twitter.com/tenforken 

www.facebook.com/pages/tenforken/109879745714594

TenForKen.com - Press Release

Ken blinks first??

Yesterday it became apparent that Leeds United had secured a deal to have Leeds' monumental clash with Charlton 'beamed' back to Elland Road's big screen so Whites fans who weren't lucky enough to secure a seat at The Valley were able to watch the game live from The East Stand.

If that wasn't enough excellent news for Leeds fans, the revelation that admission would be free of charge, yes you read that correctly; For the first time in Ken Bates' five years in charge of Leeds United he was going to let a human being who wasn't on the Leeds United payroll pass into Elland Road without them having to part with any cash, property, limbs or internal organs! Just walk in and sit down!!*

*Providing you are a member or season ticket holder and you let the club know you're coming before Friday afternoon, otherwise its £5.

Ken explained on the Official site that it was a 'Thank You" to the clubs season ticket holders and members. Now call me cynical but I remember paying on both occasions to watch Leeds in the play-off games at Carlisle and Millwall in the Banqueting Suite and the Pavilion respectively. Paying to watch Leeds in a glorified living room, where the safety and staffing of such an event was a fraction of what Saturday is going to cost, not to mention that both games were on Sky Sports! What's changed Ken? Has the recent campaign of www.tenforken.com got you a little hot under the collar? Did you realise on Saturday that the 'vocal minority' is no longer a minority?

Thank you Ken, for your wonderful generosity! although as I am unable to attend do I now get a minor refund on my £450 season ticket?

Ken blinks first??

Who actually owns Leeds United?? - Who cares!?!

For the last several weeks I have seen countless internet pages, newspaper columns and message board posts relating to the ownership of several professional football clubs but most have focused mainly on Leeds United, either for easy reference or in a sinister attempt to provoke trouble at the club, in what are relatively stable times. For some reason the calls for transparency are getting quite heated, as fans, officials and even members of our Majesty's Parliament demand to know who owns 'our' club. There have been calls for The Football League to adopt the same ruling as The Premier League and insist on total transparency with regards to ownership of their member clubs, information that is freely available to the public.

Now I can sort of see why these people are getting upset. What have these clubs and Leeds in particular, got to hide by keeping the identity of the ownership out of the public domain? Its obvious that Ken Bates has some sort of stake but ultimate ownership is credited to FSF Limited in The Cayman Islands. Quite who FSF are or what they do is a mystery! Perhaps this is what the problem is, fear of the unknown. Mr Phil Willis MP has thrown his influence behind the movement and called for league officials to sanction the transparency ruling. Now forgive me if I'm wrong but Mr Willis only seems to comment on Leeds United matters when he can publicly berate our Chairman, it is Mr Willis who has 'demanded', more than once an investigation into the deal that saw Leeds United re-sold to Ken Bates in 2007 and made detrimental comment at every available juncture ever since. This after throwing his weight behind one of the failed buy-out packages that were available to KPMG in that dreadful Summer. The words 'Sour' and 'Grapes' come to mind. Perhaps Mr Willis should concentrate on matters in his own constituency instead of those in LS11. If you don't have anything positive to say, don't say anything!

Perhaps its just me, perhaps I'm not a 'real' fan or maybe its because I don't live in Leeds that makes me totally disinterested in who actually owns Leeds United. I take up my seat on a match day and live the entire 90 minutes (plus Fergie time) like victory is a life or death situation. I totally relate to Billy Bremner when he said "A goal against Leeds United is like being stabbed in the chest" (or words to that effect) and Leeds United is part of me. Whatever the outcome of this season, either ecstasy or the all too familiar despair of another failure... at no point will I stop and think, this promotion is all well and good but "who actually owns Leeds United?" Yes Ken Bates has his failings and his customer relation skills rival that of George W. Bush but I'm content in the fact that nobody will take the p*** out of my club or rape it of its assets whilst Uncle Ken resides in the throne.

This isn't a pro Ken Bates rant, far from it but everyone demands to know "Who actually owns Leeds United?!? - Who cares!! We're finally going in the right direction after years of turmoil, idiocy and ineptitude, whomever this mystery man is... they're not doing a bad job are they?

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Who actually owns Leeds United?? - Who cares!?!