As our appeal against the 15 point deduction began at a secret location, Swansea City were revolting and the Carlisle United boss was feeling embarrassed.
Swansea City manager Roberto Martinez has predicted a "massive war" if the independent tribunal reviewing Leeds United's 15-point penalty rules in our favour. If all 15 points were restored we could still pip Swansea for the League one title, a factor they overlooked when they prematurely celebrated promotion last weekend.
Martinez was quoted by the Yorkshire Post as saying "Leeds are in a play-off position and I think they should stay in a play-off position. If anything else happens you won't have heard the last of it becauseteams like Tranmere, Southend, Nottingham Forest, Doncaster, Carlisle and ourselves will all be affected. Everyone will take their own route and it would be a massive war."
Meanwhile Doncaster Rovers chief executive Dave Morris said the club would "consider all options" open to them once the outcome of the arbitration hearing is made public, while Carlisle boss John Ward also had his two pennyworth. Ward told the Carlisle News & Star "It would put the whole game into some kind of controversy and I would be as confused as anybody," Ward. "Why has it taken so long and then come in right at the death of the season? I think it's very embarrassing for my profession, and I'm very proud of my profession. It shifts the goalposts that we've already played 43 games under. Even if it doesn't affect us it affects a lot of other people and, in terms of the game, I'm not sure that would be correct."
The short answer as to why it’s taken so long is that the football authorities have dragged their feet on this issue, ever since Leeds asked them to take the matter to an independent tribunal. The Football League only set up the three-man panel when Ken Bates had finally lost patience with them and threatened to take the matter to the High Court.
I don’t accept the argument that the points shouldn’t be restored just because it would be inconvenient to other clubs. It may be late in the season, but it’s not as if anybody else would have used different tactics in any of their games had we not begun the season on minus fifteen points. The only issue we should be debating is whether the deduction should have been made in the first place, and if the League’s decision is found to be unjustified then the points should be restored. The more that Martinez, Ward et al keep moaning that to restore the points would be unfair (even though we’re talking about points Leeds have earned on the field of play) the more I hope it happens, just to piss them off.
As the hearing is taking place behind closed doors, there is no news on how it’s going so far. Millwall have asked for the announcement of the result to be delayed, as they fear that if it goes against us our fans might get a bit agitated at the New Den on Saturday, at a fixture that already has a certain risk of disorderly behaviour off the pitch.
I also think that delaying the announcement will help Leeds with ticket sales for the game on the final day against Gillingham. At this stage it looks like a vital fixture, but if we were to get some of the points back (maybe five) we could go into the last game with nothing to play for on the day. That would leave us securely in the play-offs, but with no chance of automatic promotion.
The latest indication is that the three-man panel is due to hear final submissions tomorrow, with the verdict to be announced early next week.