Ken Bates wins the battle to buy Leeds United

[Storer68]

What;s your ptoblem here. bates just knows the insolvency law like the back of his hand. One thing he is not is a fool and he's got the money (apparently) to back him up

 

[Storer68]

Leeds march back to the championship starts here then.

Not if they keep Dennis Wise in charge it doesn't!!!!!!!

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

Not if they keep Dennis Wise in charge it doesn't!!!!!!!

Dennis Wise the next England Manager - well he has passion....

 

[Starry]

Joking aside I really can see it happening.

They will magically find funds for players again and a lot of them.

Once this deal is done and the ink is dry, Mr Bates has a new backer who has 'given' several million now to avoid activating the embarrassment clause but to allow him first dibs when Bates sells up.

 

[withdeanwombat]

Is it because he's offered 100p in the pound to the taxman?

Y'know,like the rest of us have to?

(Apart from venture capitalists,naturally)

 

[dougdeep]

One thing he is not is a fool and he's got the money (apparently) to back him up

Yes, other peoples.

 

[Vicar!]

Doomed!

 

[Starry]

As I understand it, Leeds United may have been sold to Ken Bates, but the the Football League at their meeting today said that currently they would not pass on the football share (whatever that is) and so they cant as yet play in league 1.

I think there maybe another meeting tomorrow, but as they are monthly the one after would be inAugust (after the season starts).

Looks serious for Leeds, but maybe Starry can add more.

the football league forced the hand (quite rightly) of kpmg when push came to shove. if we have not been sold today we would not have made the deadline to have our golden share handed back (which still may not happen) but the last meeting to give us chance for this is tomorrow. the fl will decide what to do, they can chose not to rubberstamp the deal, can chose to with hold the share, can deem bates as a fit and improper person and not allow him to govern a football club all sorts.

that said, if we are given our share back then i will be more than surprised because as i sat next to the fl league dude at er today everything he indicated was that because of the cva and conditionality and all the preferential debts etc we will not be granted our share tomorrow. i know there are various things going on through the night but bates won't blink and i am not sure the fl will either - something has to give.

i almost want the fl to stand up to bates and send him back to monaco with his bags packed. but at the same time i am a leeds fan. i want to be a tranmere on the opening day of the season and i want to still have a club to support. i like bates on a personal level, but hate him for what he has done and is doing right now. i am completely bemused by this. i sat with fellow business men today who had millions to throw around on this football club. who acted with utter professionalism from start to finish. yet kpmg accepted bates offer.

today has not changed anything with regards the hrmc action and the court dates will go ahead as it stands right now. but not against leeds united ltd (at the moment though) against kpmg. which could actually help the football club in the sort term tomorrow as it is now a separate thing. but if kpmg are found to have acted fraudulently then it will bring into question bates and the new company and we'll be back to , well , somewhere near square one. it's not over by a long shot.

kpmg have ballsed up everything from the get go and there are other smaller claims and cases against them still rumbling on.

i wish they had just stood up to bates from day one. i would have no problem, well fewer than i do now, with bates being in charge if i believed and had seen this admin process carried out with the professionalism it should have been. bates fought a nasty fight. he bullied the little people, intimidated, blackmailed and bribed and he won. he might well have won without all the nasty stuff that went alongside it, we'll never know. but i am fairly sure if people have been given fair opportunity to vote on offers and pick the best deal and not have him saying he would run with their money and close the club down if they didn't vote him that i would have more than the poxy 8p (and probably will only see 4p) for every damn pound i had in that football club and that bates would not be in charge.

ups and downs, eh.

 

[Dick Knights Mumm]

i like bates on a personal level, but hate him for what he has done and is doing right now.

bates fought a nasty fight. he bullied the little people, intimidated, blackmailed and bribed and he won.

paddy - how can you like someone on a personal level who does that to fellow supporters ?

 

[Starry]

they weren't fellow supporters. of all those owed money a very, very small percentage are just 'fans' (20 year season tickets etc) rather than business men who had money in the club and who were equally keen to screw us over in a different way. the true little people - childline, st johns ambulance, bob's disco, etc he didn't bother with because their share of the vote was too small to truly make a difference.

as a person and away from any business stuff bates is one of the funniest most quick witted people i have had pleasure of dealing with. he is an absolute tosspot of a business man but sit and have dinner with him and talk about the golf or racing, his grand children, the state of the country and he is fantastic company. unfortunately any bridges between us are burnt now and it won't be happening again. i know others think otherwise of him though.

but heaven help him if his offer didn't include the conditionality of our golden share being returned because i am not sure what will happen after today if not.

 

[Easy 10]

Great to hear the inside track on all this, its fascinating stuff. Thanks for the updates Paddy.

 

[Starry]

fascinating indeed. if i hadn't been sat there and heard and seen some of the crazy suggestions, deals and ideas i probably wouldn't believe it myself.

we'll see what happens today and go from there i suppose. we have to wait a few months to get our newer documents from kpmg over this sale (it is still not 100% clear whether the club was sold inside a cva or without one either.) .

 

[cjd]

Great to hear the inside track on all this, its fascinating stuff. Thanks for the updates Paddy.

I echo the sentiments of Easy 10 on this too.
I feel much the same as Easy 10 on the subject of football clubs "ducking and diving", only just operating within the rules of the game and fair play.............and often, such as West Ham, Boston etc etc operating well outside the rules of fair play for gain.
I,m sorry Ken Bates wasn,t ousted............not just for Leeds United, but also for the good of football.
Football was always the working man,s game...........not a bunch of crooks.
On a personal note, at the time of Ken Bates's boardroom struggles with Matthew Harding at Chelsea there were many rumours of Matthew Harding employing bodyguards. Maybe it,s not all bad that Paddy,s consortium has not succeeded, .........family comes first.

 

[Easy 10]

Its scandalous how some clubs shaft all and sundry and get away with it. Remember Leicester not so long ago getting themselves a shiney new stadium, going into administration soon after, and then coming out of it having their debts all but wiped out, their squad largely intact, leaving various business and contractors utterly ripped off.

I remember feeling particularly bitter towards Leicester that season, as they did the double over us thanks to having what was still effectively a Premiership squad at the time - a squad that as a business they couldnt (or shouldt) have been able to afford. We ended up relegated that year, while they went up.

Sickening.

 

[Silent Bob]

Joking aside I really can see it happening.

They will magically find funds for players again and a lot of them.

Maybe. Most people seemed to think they were promotion certainties in the Championship too though, all three seasons!

 

[Starry]

the golden share decision has been delayed because as has been normal through this whole admin process kpmg haven't done what they were meant to.

the fl have said it is not against rules for the club to start the season whilst still in admin.

 

[Easy 10]

Classic statement on the Beeb following todays meeting:

Leeds chief executive Shaun Harvey said: \"We bought Leeds United and are now able to do everything a professional football club usually does, other than actually play professional football\".

 

[Starry]

not much new there, been a good while since we actually played professional football.

the rate kpmg are going probably won't be in my lifetime that we ever do again

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

the fl have said it is not against rules for the club to start the season whilst still in admin.

Does this mean that the FL will allow Leeds to start the season with a 10 point deduction as an alternative to expulsion ?

 

[Starry]

well technically yes.

but it is a complete impossibility. for the club to remain in admin and be allowed to start the season the administrators would need to prove to the fl they have the funds to support the club. kpmg do not have this. if the deal is not approved/ratified or such the club cannot start the league, because the share won't be returned tp Bates' Newco. even if the deal is not approved kpmg do not have the funds to support the club. so it will be all over. or someone else will come in a buy the club, bates will threaten to sue, run with the lul07 money and what have you.

i was going to write more but my head hurts, our family summer holiday was ruined by the club i have been blessed to support, i am utterly hacked off and bemused by the whole damn sorry situation and had this been any other business dealing of mine i would have turned my back and walked away. but marching on together and all that. more like marching on in a million different directions.

that said, tomorrow i will be at York with my kids (providing we get permission to play friendlies - currently we don't have that) and i will be supporting the bunch of unfortunate players who find themselves at the club right now and those trialist who for some reason are still falling over themselves and turning down other definite offers in the hope leeds sort their crap out and can start the league.