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Ken Bates: No pressure on Leeds United boss
Within an hour-and-a-half of full-time on May 25, Ken Bates and Gary McAllister were sat together in an upstairs room at Wembley, engaged in discussion about how best to approach their first full season together.
Their verbal planning in the wake of Leeds United's defeat in the League One play-off final continued for so long that, around 8pm, Bates was politely asked to vacate his table by a member of Wembley's staff.
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The stadium had one remaining play-off fixture to prepare for, and United's chairman was hindering their progress.
McAllister made his disappointment plain after United's narrow failure to beat Doncaster Rovers to the one remaining vacancy in the Championship, but it is because of his willingness to forward-plan immediately, Bates believes, that Leeds can confidently expect to take that step forward this season.
The club's signings have totalled five since May – three secured with transfer fees and two made using the Bosman ruling – and McAllister's strike-rate in the summer market has been almost perfect, according to Bates.
"With one exception, every player who Gary asked us to sign has agreed to come here," Bates said, declining to name the player in question but perhaps referring to Jay Bothroyd, Cardiff City's recent signing.
"That player asked for a month to consider his options and Gary told him that if he wasn't sure about coming here then he should cross Leeds United off his list. We didn't have time to mess about.
"By six o'clock after the play-off final, he'd grabbed a quick shower and the two of us were sat together in Wembley talking about next season and how we should prepare for it.
"I was there until they kicked me out. It meant we were clear about what we intended to do and about the players he thought he needed. Our plans have come together nicely."
This is, regrettably for Bates and his club, the second time in less than four years as chairman that he has been required to assist in picking up the pieces of a play-off final defeat.
Two years ago, the summer which followed United's loss to Watford at the Millennium Stadium was the prelude to a season which ended in relegation from the Championship and brought with it the severe consequences of administration.
The close-season which ends on Saturday has been reassuringly free of disruption – no alterations have been made to McAllister's coaching staff, and the club's outgoing transfers have been limited to fringe players – but, at the start of his fourth full season at Elland Road, the majority of supporters may feel that Bates has reached the point where the delivery of footballing success is now everything.
Leeds have successfully tackled their historical debts and gradually reduced their wage bill – it is still the highest in League One, Bates admits – but their presence in the country's third division is a black mark on their chairman's record. It is, however, a division which he expects McAllister to free the club from in nine months' time.
"The fact that we started last season 15 points behind everyone else wasn't an excuse, but it did create a siege mentality and limited expectation," said Bates.
"We're back on a level playing field this season and we've got a manager who's been in charge for seven months and who is well and truly settled in.
"He seems happy with his backroom team and his squad, and everything is in place for us to move forward. We need to get promotion.
"But I don't feel any pressure and I'm not putting my manager under pressure either.
"He knows that football's a results business, as it's always been, but making silly demands of a manager will only have one effect.
"What matters is that when Gary and myself look at the players we've got, the staff we've got and the facilities we've got, we feel very confident about this season. And anyway, he knows he's a good manager so he's got nothing to worry about.
"When we lost the play-off final two years ago, most fans felt angry about it.
"I'm not getting the same feeling this time. We've sold 11,360 season tickets which is about 500 more than last season, and Gary found that almost every player he spoke to wanted to come here. I don't blame them.
"We've spent money on the squad but no more than was sensible.
"People talk about bringing in million-pound players but that's totally unrealistic for two reasons.
"Firstly, you don't spend that sort of money in League One.
"Secondly, players worth that sort of money don't want to contemplate playing in this league. It's important to remember that whatever name you have, you're still in League One."
United's recruitment began before last season's play-off final with the announcement that Andy Robinson had agreed a free transfer from Swansea City, and Enoch Showunmi, Alan Sheehan, Robert Snodgrass and Luciano Becchio have followed at regular intervals through the summer.
McAllister was asked to work with a squad built predominantly by Dennis Wise last season, and while the majority of those players have remained at Elland Road, the new arrivals have allowed United's existing manager to apply his own thinking to their formations and tactics.
Nothing has pleased Bates more, however, than McAllister's tendency to turn to the academy at Thorp Arch whenever possible.
It satisfied his chairman further, meanwhile, that McAllister took the step of relocating his family to Yorkshire this summer. Wise insisted on travelling to and from London during his reign at Leeds, a factor which Bates admitted was key to the change of manager which took place at Elland Road in January.
"It's difficult to run a football club from London, and that was becoming apparent towards the end of Dennis' time here," said Bates.
"But Dennis did a great job for us and he was a man for the time – the right man for the occasion and the situation we were in. But I do think we needed someone like Gary to take us forward in the long-term.
"He's decided to move up here and he's put his sons into school in Yorkshire.
"I always feel it's important that a manager and his players are seen in and around the city where their club is based, and he agrees with that.
"I know from speaking to people that his appointment's been very popular.
"What impresses me most is his attitude towards our younger players. If they're old enough they're good enough, in Gary's opinion anyway.
"A lot of managers say that, but he actually delivers on that promise.
"We've seen Jonny Howson coming through, and we've got Fabian Delph, Ben Parker and Scott Gardner right behind. And there are others. It's more like the Leeds United of old and it stops any of the senior players from feeling too comfortable about their positions.
"Gary's clear on the 19 or 20 players he's going to work with next season, and he's told the others that we'll help them to find new clubs.
"It's best to be honest with players who aren't going to play, and it prevents any negativity in the dressing room."
In comparison to 2007, this summer has been relatively stress-free for Bates, whose only crisis came when a shirt sponsorship deal agreed shortly after the play-off final collapsed due to "contractual difficulties".
Late last month, Leeds announced that travel firm Netflights.com had filled the void by signing a three-year commercial agreement.
The challenge, as ever, is balancing the need for long-term planning with the pressure for immediate footballing success, something that Leeds have struggled to attain during Bates' time as chairman. But the demands for promotion which McAllister can sense from the club's fanbase have not been echoed by his boss since defeat in last season's play-off final.
"Gary, the players and the supporters are all looking towards Saturday's game at Scunthorpe," Bates said.
"As a board, you have to look to the Saturday after, the Saturday next month and the Saturday next year.
"You need plans in place for the future. What encourages me is that the business community in Leeds seem to be on our side, and I feel that we're now being supported by them.
"The football side is down to Gary and his squad, and it's what they do on the pitch that counts for them.
"But I've got no worries about that whatsoever and I don't make silly demands."
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Sunday 12 February 2012
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