The draft version of the annual accounts for 2013/14 shows a loss of almost £23m, well in excess of the maximum £8m allowed by the Football League.

And we thought Ken Bates was bad. But under our Monaco based former supremo our losses for 2012/13 were a mere £9.5m, while under GFH (who were running the club for the majority of the period covered by the latest accounts) this figure more than doubled.

One reason is the increase in the wage bill to more than £22m, and quite a few of Brian McDermott’s disappointing signings are said to have been on decent salaries by the standards of the division. Quite possibly that was down to one or two agents taking advantage of GFH’s inexperience in football salary negotiations in the way they could never get away with under Bates, and managed to ensure their clients signed for Leeds with a decent package.

Quite a contrast to Bates, who was so tight with the wage bill that most of our promising youngsters went elsewhere, but was merely content to waste our money on legal fees and dubious property schemes. His legacy was one reason why revenue dropped for £25.3m last season, £6.8m of the income from season tickets had to be used to repay Ticketus for an amount borrowed for the work on the East Stand.

I can’t see how the East Stand improvement should have been that expensive for what we got, so perhaps the cost control during that project wasn’t all it might have been. And I would have thought that once it was complete we would at least have enjoyed increased corporate revenues from then on, as all of the rebuild was to tart up the executive facilities rather than provide anything for the ordinary fan.

But under GFH we didn’t even manage to do that, as commercial revenue fell to £6.6m for the year, compared to £8m for the previous 12 months. Either the deal we currently have with Levy Restaurants isn’t delivering as much as it should, or the suits aren’t keen to subject their businesses clients to having to watch a declining team.

And who knows what else was going on behind the scenes to contribute behind the scenes to contribute to the losses racked up under GFH, but the accusations and counter-accusations continue to fly back and forth between David Haigh (still languishing in jail) and his former colleagues on the board.

Massimo Cellino has done his best to deal with the mess he inherited, and has managed to move some of the biggest earning players elsewhere, as well as getting GFH to restructure the debt and inject further capital of £23.5m into the club, which should mean that we can finally re-purchase Elland Road.

But we will almost certainly be hit with a transfer embargo in January under new Football League regulations, so we can forget all the speculation about players like Leonardo Pavoletti or Josip Ilicic coming to Elland Road to improve the squad. Cellino did anticipate this situation which is why he stockpiled so many players during the summer, but that itself has hampered his attempts to reduce the wage bill, and may lead to further problems in the future.

If it’s any consolation, we’re certainly not the only club who could face a transfer embargo, as there’s quite a long list of others whose losses may well exceed the £8m threshold. They include Birmingham, Blackburn, Bolton, Middlesboro and even Nottingham Forest, but it’s irritating that the three clubs relegated from the Premiership last season are exempt from the regulation this season.

So we’ll be stuck with the same playing squad in the new year, but will we still have a President to deal with the club’s ongoing difficult situation? Have the Football League made contingency plans to deal with the consequences of tipping him out of office? Er, no.

One of their spokesmen told the BBC “I’m not willing to comment on hypothetical scenarios. However, our overriding objective will always be to ensure League regulations are being complied with”. So that’s all right then.

We can but hope that Leeds United find a way out of this situation some time soon, but I wouldn’t hold your breath.

Photo: Action Images

Leeds United Polls