Ken Bates

[Starry]

please tell me to mind my fecking own buisiness, but do I take it you are serious investors in leeds?

if so, did you not feel a bit worried when you were ejected from the ground for being a tad tipsy?

no, not worried at all. just because you are asked to leave a football stadium they won't stop taking your pennies and pounds from you. i don't even think the hierarchy at leeds even know what happens with their rank and file.

we didn't invest as such, if i had that sort of money to play around with i'd be on a yacht in the sun right now rather than rainy hampshire.

 

[Superphil]

the prices have been reduced, by £100 each for my adult ticket. £16.30 a game. really can't complain.

That's a step in the right direction I guess, but I bet a lot of Leeds fans won't fancy paying £16+ for third division football.

Hope it all works out for all the decent Leeds fans one way of another. Ideally to start with Bates contracting gout, piles and an alergy to beer, wine, whiskey, curry, chinese food, seafood, roast beef and cheese, so he has to eat white bread with lowfat marg on it in the hospitality suite next season. Minge

 

[DIFFBROOK]

Whats happened with the Duncan Revie bid?

If Bates was in charge of fitting kitchens then he would have been hounded by watchdog by now. The guy although not legally unfit to own a football is surely morraly unfit to run one.

Basically Bates is putting a gun to Leeds creditors heads. Whether its a loaded one is another matter. Surely theres something better out there than Bates.

The other thing that would annoy me as a creditor is you can just bank on them selling Healey for £1m after the agreement has gone ahead. Healey and all the other players who can command a fee should be sold now and the money raised go to creditors.

It might mean Leeds staying in Div 3 for more than 1 season, but a least the club would be doing right for the good folk of Leeds/yorkshire.

 

[sully]

After years of ambivalence, I now feel really sorry for Leeds fans.

Having Ridsdale come along is something you wouldn't wish on anyone, but following it up with Bates is just taking the piss.

I can't believe the laws of our land allow this sort of deal to even be put on the table, let alone get approved.

 

[Northstander]

After years of ambivalence, I now feel really sorry for Leeds fans.

Having Ridsdale come along is something you wouldn't wish on anyone, but following it up with Bates is just taking the piss.

I can't believe the laws of our land allow this sort of deal to even be put on the table, let alone get approved.

As much as I hate Leeds,I think I agree. I know lots of Leeds people and they have a massive passion for their club.

Can't see this getting any better for them!

 

[hans kraay fan club]

The other thing that would annoy me as a creditor is you can just bank on them selling Healey for £1m after the agreement has gone ahead. Healey and all the other players who can command a fee should be sold now and the money raised go to creditors.

I'm with you on this. I don't see how a company can retain its assets in this situation. Every player who can command a fee should be sold, and every penny available should go to those who OWN THAT MONEY.

 

[Pavilionaire]

Whether or not you like Leeds, they are part of the history of football, they are a big club in a big city and are one of the few potential challengers to break the Big Four monotony.

Every Albion fan hates Palace but how many would actually like to see them go out of business, never to play again a la Wimbledon? Not many I guess.

In the same way, I don't like Leeds, I respect the club for what they have achieved in the past but I do not want to see them go out of business. Ken Bates is sub-human scum of the lowest denomination - if you thought Archer and Bellotti were without equal think again.

 

[NS Herald]

Ken Bates is sub-human scum of the lowest denomination - if you thought Archer and Bellotti were without equal think again.

So you're not a fan then?

 

[severnside gull]

Selling some of their more marketable assets AFTER the creditors have been royally screwed is almost a certainty but that won't necessarily keep them in league one for too long. The cash realised will be spirited away where no-one will ever find it and a new set of creditors will be found. Doubtless some off shore account holders will wish to invest - I understand that there are a fair number of Russians, Thais, Chinese etc who need to clean up some of their cash and can afford to lose a few pennies as the price for having the bulk of their "investment" laundered.
By once again investing in players and getting promotion (even Leeds at their lowest should be able to bounce back) the loyal fans who don't want to know about financing - just football - will continue to turn up and pay at the turnstiles.
Bates reckons that by threatening creditors with the imminent winding-up order he can present himself as the only true messiah. I just hope that one of the other two consortia can piss on his parade but dont expect KPMG to help. The administrators in these affairs are bought and sold three times over and will back Bates

 

[Starry]

That's a step in the right direction I guess, but I bet a lot of Leeds fans won't fancy paying £16+ for third division football.

Hope it all works out for all the decent Leeds fans one way of another. Ideally to start with Bates contracting gout, piles and an alergy to beer, wine, whiskey, curry, chinese food, seafood, roast beef and cheese, so he has to eat white bread with lowfat marg on it in the hospitality suite next season. Minge

i will pass on your best wishes to mr bates on friday.

i don't think £16 is unreasonable to pay to get into elland road. it's £8 to get in and watch our local team three leagues below the conference.

diffbrook - revie is still floating around, not convinced he will table an offer before friday but there are plenty around who are pretty convinced he will. he has the backing of one of the maktoum brothers (mirdad?), duncan's business is based in dubai and they are hooked up with one another, but i suspect a lot of his talk has been to raise the profile of soccerex/golfex. i would love to be proven wrong however, but he already told us that he is more likely to buy the club at a future date than offer any money for the admin vote because he is worried about his heart ruling his head and doesn't want to take over something that is so deep down in a hole he won't be able to get it out.

simon morris is the main 'opposition' i suppose to bates now. and morris in charge at elland road is akin to well, my worst nightmare, slightly better than this situation we're in now but it's like choosing between your mother in law and the devil. lose lose. i am led to believe that morris has gone and acquired an interest, not sure how big of an interest, some suggest a fairly significant one of teak trading who own the ground. not particularly sure about his motives and his is changing his mind daily about what he will do and what he wants and what he is prepared to offer.

less than forty eight hours to go. bates doesn't yet have enough of the vote, i'm going up tomorrow to see our advisors and go from there.

i might be homeless by friday night if the missus isn't happy with what happens.

oh and about the players there was going to be a fire sale of all assets had they not in bulk voted to defer their wages until the vote, the players (aside from four) voted to defer and stay and sit it out and kpmg agreed with that. not sure the rest of us did mind but greased palms and all that.

 

[Captain Haddock]

Master Bates lives up to his name.

The man is a scurvy dog.

 

[Captain Haddock]

I'm with you on this. I don't see how a company can retain its assets in this situation. Every player who can command a fee should be sold, and every penny available should go to those who OWN THAT MONEY.

Agree entirely with Hans...Leeds have no moral right to play on with ANY of their talented / senior players. Whether it's legally the case may be another matter, by thunder!

 

[Lord Bracknell]

I'm still trying to get my head around these two companies based at PO Box numbers on islands the other side of the Atlantic. They seem to hold the key to what happens next.

If I read the story right, they "lent" Leeds United £13.6 million. Leeds United can't repay the debt. So they call in an administrator.

The mysterious companies then facilitate a rescue plan on the basis that they will accept a repayment of £153,000 in full settlement of the debt. The other creditors get just 1 per cent of what is owed to them.

The rescue plan involves ownership of the Club transferring to a new company headed by Ken Bates.

Ken Bates claims to have no connection with the mysterious companies, but has previously been appointed as Chairman of the Football Club by the previous owners (who are another mysterious company based at a PO Box number the other side of the Atlantic).

One simple question:-
For this ploy to work, has it been necessary at any time for the original "loan" of £13.6 million actually to exist? Or could this scam be achieved entirely with cleverly worded documentation originating somewhere on a Caribbean island?

What seems to be clear is:- (i) the two mysterious transatlantic companies can block any alternative plan that other creditors come up with; and (ii) nobody knows who is behind the two mysterious transatlantic companies.






Question One:-

Would this work with the Albion?

What if a company called NSC-Cayman Islands "lent" the Albion, say, £20 million. And then called in the debt (which, of course, couldn't be paid). The Club goes into administration. NSC-Cayman Islands puts a proposal forward that offers a settlement at the rate of 1 per cent of all outstanding debts, on condition that ownership of the Club transfers to Bozza's Mates-British Virgin Islands. The creditors are forced to settle, enabling the real debt of £9 million to be paid off for just £90,000.

Question Two:-

Has anyone got the £90,000 that this would cost?

Question Three:-

Which of Bozza's Mates wants to run a football club?

 

[severnside gull]

Question One:-

Would this work with the Albion?

What if a company called NSC-Cayman Islands "lent" the Albion, say, £20 million. And then called in the debt (which, of course, couldn't be paid). The Club goes into administration. NSC-Cayman Islands puts a proposal forward that offers a settlement at the rate of 1 per cent of all outstanding debts, on condition that ownership of the Club transfers to Bozza's Mates-British Virgin Islands. The creditors are forced to settle, enabling the real debt of £9 million to be paid off for just £90,000.

Question Two:-

Has anyone got the £90,000 that this would cost?

Question Three:-

Which of Bozza's Mates wants to run a football club? [/B][/QUOTE]


Good strategy but remember to add on the half mill or so for the appointed administrators not to spot the scam

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

..and had Adam Crozier not been in a position to re-structure the loan on Wembley (this was only possible after the original lender was bought out so the terms of the original deal could then be renegotiated) Bates would have bankrupt the FA as well. The deal he struck had a repayment start date set in stone...for some two years ago. Crozier struck a deal whereby the FA would only start paying once the venue was up and running and generating money. To have started repayments 20 months ago would have sunk the FA.

 

[Starry]

lord bracknell you might be onto a winner there allegedly. hopefully later today or first thing tomorrow we will have access to more paperwork and proof about who is what and why and how. kpmg are not being particularly helpful.

bates has been the face of the fsf all along, he has claimed otherwise. he claimed the other two companies are nothing to do with him and he knows nothing about them. quite why someone would accept such huge amounts of money from someone they know nothing about i don't understand.

kpmg have just told me this morning there are 'several' bids that will be presented tomorrow but they are still recommending the Leeds United FC (bates) bid.

if it is a vote between bates and morris then i know 100% where our vote is going but it is certainly a case of picking between two bad apples rather than picking the good one. if it's between bates, morris and others who knows.

revie is certainly is leeds today and tomorrow but whether he and his backers have done what they need to do remains unknown until tomorrow.

 

[Starry]

What seems to be clear is:- (i) the two mysterious transatlantic companies can block any alternative plan that other creditors come up with; and (ii) nobody knows who is behind the two mysterious transatlantic companies.

Tidbits are coming out this evening, Astor (Bordeaux Guernsey) are in the control of a man named Meader who a few years ago worked for KPMG.

Ah well. It'll all (hopefully) be over this time tomorrow, fingers crossed the silence from Revie has been because he signed both of the NDAs.

 

[ditchy]

Excuse the ignorance .. whats an NDA ?

 

[Gwylan]

Non-disclosure agreement

 

[ditchy]

Thank you sir