picking a scab

Right, another post about football. Still bemoaning the fate of Leeds United, who nevertheless have a chance to redeem themselves by achieving promotion through the play-offs over the coming weeks.

This thread contains an interesting (to some) discussion of the 15-point penalty.

"All I ever wanted from LUFC was good football and winning trophies and thereby greatly entertaining me and millions of others. I got all that, many times and am grateful for it.

Looking back on the numerous misfortunes of the club, one cannot fail to notice that the disasters did not originate on the pitch, but always in the board room, going right back to the "illegal payments" issue in 1919. Ridsdale and his ugly shower screwed the club and is happy now, probably doing the same thing. Now Bates has come in and is shafting us, only differently.

If the Ridsdale crew hadn't been such plonkers when the "crisis" arose and had spoken to creditors about reduced repayments, or extensions, or negotiating a different payment plan, pointing out at the same time that the present squad comprised top quality players who would be capable of reaching the top-tier of the league and therefore get into Europe, where they could generate good amounts of revenue, then things may have looked vastly different.

Instead, they went into panic mode and thought that selling all the outstanding player material would solve the problem. What are you going to do with a team made up of no-names, apprentices and loan-kickers? That's where the real decline started."

(rincad)

"'Leeds fans weren't complaining when we got to the semi finals of the Champions League on borrowed money and overspend.'

No we weren't complaining - and I defy any fan of any other club to have complained in the same situation. The reason we weren't complaining was that we weren't all privy to the financial workings of our football club, and in actual fact, the massive overspend came after the champions league run. To claim that we should have known is just pathetic and flippant nonsense. Our net transfer spend at that time was around £5 million, but the Leeds haters like to gloss over facts like this.

The sense that we get everything we deserve is as laughable as it is predictable. With each new kick we receive, rival fans say we deserve more and more severe penalties for our misdemeanours. After all, we've only had to contend with selling virtually two teams of international players for pathetic fees to clubs who openly laughed at us, selling our training facilities and stadium to dodgy development companies, two relegations, the deduction of 25 points, Peter Risdale, Gerald Krasner and Ken Bates. But of course we deserve more because we are Leeds.

The one thing I can tell is starting to upset the Leeds hating mob at the moment though, is the sense that perhaps we have now bottomed out and are steadily on our way back up. And as Leeds fans we know how sick that must be making all you Leeds haters feel. 38 thousand at Elland Road for a game in league one! MOT."

jimiL