An obscure internet radio station has created a sensation by recording conversations with both Ken Bates and Massimo Cellino, with links to both now rapidly circulating on the internet
Just when you thought Leeds United’s situation couldn’t get any more bizzare, it just did. Bates and Cellino both unwittingly gave the interviews to something called ‘White Leeds Radio’, and in both cases the caller merely introduced himself as "a concerned Leeds United fan”, without telling his interviewees that the call was being recorded and going out on the air.
Even so, it’s a surprise that Bates and Cellino were so unguarded with their comments when they didn’t know who they were talking to, but we know they are both me with forthright opinions and who like the sound of their own voice. It seems the two men don’t like each other very much, but one thing they do agree on is that they think even less of David Haigh!
First up was Ken Bates on Saturday night. Some of the call was a re-hash of nonsensical comments he’s made over the previous two years, such as blaming Gary Cooper and LUST for putting off previous bidders for the club, which is why he ended up selling to GFH. He claimed to love Leeds and to have put £30m in to keep us going during his period in charge, and would clearly prefer Andrew Flowers to take over rather than Cellino.
But one new bit of information was that Bates had arranged to have dinner with David Haigh on Saturday night, but when he phoned an hour before to check the details Haigh to told him that he’d now arranged something else and hadn’t got round to telling him. Bates then commented that this was symptomatic of the empty-headed way that Haigh and the rest of GFH are running the club.
It’s a surprise that Bates and Haigh are even on speaking terms, seeing that Bates is currently suing GFH for alleged wrongful dismissal after they terminated his appointment as a director. But I do hope that some of the chippies were still open after Bates found that he’d been stood up over his dinner date. I’d hate to think of him going back to Monaco with an empty stomach.
The following night the station landed an even bigger scoop by getting some even more outspoken comments from a "Tired and Streesed” Massimo Cellino. After being egged on by the caller, who was pretending to be a big Cellino fan to keep him talking, the Italian called David Haigh and GFH "very bad people”, with Haigh himself being the devil, and said that Haigh was double-crossing him by talking to Ken Bates.
He seems deeply unimpressed with everyone involved with the club, including Brian McDermott, noting that the best performance of the season (the 5-1 win over Huddersfield) came when the manager wasn’t there. If and when he can take over the club he’s going to "kick the arse of everyone”.
He claimed that the wage bill of the club has mushroomed to £18m a year, and that Leeds should be able to win promotion while paying only £10m to the players. Quite rightly, he said that sometimes it’s not how much you spend but what you do with the money that counts. And he also claimed that Luke Murphy is on £22.5k a week and Noel Hunt on £25k, and if that’s true it’s certainly no surprise that we’re running out of money.
But he also said that he wants "a coach, not a manager”, which confirms that he wants to sign the players himself (as he tried to on that crazy last night of the transfer window) and just wants a coach to mould them into a team. Most English managers would regard this as unacceptable interference, but I have to admit that McDermott’s performance in the transfer market this season has been less than spectacular.
At least he was kind to the supporters, saying that Leeds United have got "many beautiful fans”, and that we are the only worthwhile asset the club has. He also said that the reason the club has yet to issue season ticket renewal forms is that we’re entitled to know what state the club will be in next season before we part with our hard-earned cash.
There is no word yet on Cellino’s appeal to the Football League, which started today, as the independent QC, has decided to ‘reserve judgement’ for the time being.