Leeds United

Leeds.today.net wrote:

Leeds United's finances remain on a knife-edge and continued losses would result in the death of the club, warns Elland Road chairman Ken Bates.
The harsh assessment was delivered by Bates as he surveyed the second anniversary of his reign at United, a tenure that has taken the club to the Championship play-off final but which now threatens to drop Leeds into League One.
A 3-2 defeat to West Bromwich Albion on Saturday maintained the seven-point gap between United and safety in the Championship, and the club are under similar pressure off the pitch as Bates attempts to address the huge debts he inherited in January 2005.
The 75-year-old revealed that the wage bill for this season stood at around ?12.2million ? expected to fall to ?5million next year ? and that ?1.77m was still owed to former players, and ?2.6m to the Inland Revenue.
A total of ?9.3m has been paid to ex-players and managers in the two years since Bates took charge of Leeds, and the loss of Premiership parachute payments this season ? worth ?7million to relegated clubs ? has been keenly felt at Elland Road.
Writing in his programme notes on Saturday, Bates said: "Finance is the core of the problem at this club, and I will keep writing about it until some fans accept the facts of life, namely make a profit and Leeds can invest and grow, lose money and there will be no Leeds United.
"It is a stark, clear and simple option.
"Nobody has been more open and honest with the fans than me. You may not like what you read but it is the truth.
"I am often told that the City of Leeds needs and deserves a successful Premiership football club. Mostly hot air from people who do not put their money where their mouth is.
"When I hear the moans and groans, at the age of 75, it would be easy to say eff off to the lot of you and take the advice of some so-called fan to return to Monte Carlo.
"Believe me, if I did that you would have no club ? there are no rich investors ? just chancers. However, I will complete the task I took on and we will succeed in due course."
Bates' plans for a positive future at Elland Road are not being aided by the club's woeful results this season, and Dennis Wise will attempt to address United's defensive frailties in Cyprus this week after the club took another step towards League One on Saturday.
Wise was left fuming after his side's poor defending rendered a third-minute strike from Tore Andre Flo and a second-half free-kick from Alan Thompson meaningless.
Flo's header ? his first goal since signing for Leeds at the start of this month ? gave United the perfect start to a difficult fixture, but Albion recovered impressively to lead 3-1 by the interval and secure their first away win since the appointment of Tony Mowbray in October, despite an improved second-half show from Wise's men.
Wise said: "I don't understand how they can perform like that in the second half and perform like that in the first half. I told them so.
"I was disappointed with the goals we conceded. You can't defend as we did. At times we were asleep at the back.
"It's easier to drop off and let them have it. It's braver to be closer to them.
"We've got some important games coming up against teams in a similar situation to us and if we can dig deep in those games and work on our defending, we should be okay."
Wise, however, is in danger of receiving a touchline ban from the Football Association after he was sent to Elland Road's West Stand in the 89th minute of United's defeat following a clash with West Brom striker Kamara.
The 40-year-old was dismissed by Lancashire referee Neil Swarbrick after pushing Kamara in the back, a reaction prompted by the striker's refusal to leave the field quickly after being substituted.
Wise said "I'd had enough of him to be honest, with him making gestures to the crowd. I was quite pleased he had gone off.
"I thought the referee was very poor. He just wanted to get the game finished in the end rather than play injury time."

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