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Leeds United: Whites fans must find a way ahead
To protest, or not to protest.
That is the question on the lips of many Leeds United fans this week as the club faces a make or break home clash with relegation-haunted Yorkshire neighbours Doncaster Rovers tomorrow.
Some supporters, bizarrely in my view, believe last week’s ‘campaign for change’ march from City Square to Elland Road, organised by the Leeds United Supporters Trust, was somehow to blame for the defeat by Brighton. They argue that the outpourings of antagonism towards club owner Ken Bates are having a negative effect on performances on the pitch – something the Whites simply cannot afford right now.
Yes, United have come off the rails at the worst possible moment, with the promotion chase about to reach fever pitch, but it’s not down to disenchanted fans finally making their voices heard en masse. The truth is dismissals and late goals helped mask a decline over a period of months and that had nothing to do with supporters and everything to do with Simon Grayson and his squad.
Why shouldn’t followers who feel their club has lost its way and turned its back on them make their concerns known? Particularly when the chairman himself has insisted time and again this season that promotion was a must for those very people!
It’s a pity, then, that Mr Bates has singularly failed to take most of those fans with him by sharing a vision they could all unite behind. Where he wants new executive boxes, a hotel and a museum, they want a team bristling at the seams with talent, local if possible, and busting a collective gut to win promotion to the Premier League.
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It’s clearly in Mr Bates’ interests to get Leeds to the top flight, but the decision to invest in infrastructure when the playing staff looks short of quality was only ever going to irritate the rank and file who see on-pitch matters as the priority and feel they are paying a premium to follow their club without getting enough back.
While loud and proud support for the team used to be taken as read at LS11, a mounting sense of despair has muted the Whites support and attendances – despite the creditable seventh-placed finish achieved in the first year back in the Championship – have dropped dramatically this term.
That, in itself, should set alarm bells ringing in the corridors of power at Elland Road but the impasse looks set to continue with Mr Bates showing no signs of changing direction or even opening his door to talk about the prospect. You don’t have to run clubs by committee to get things done, but it must be easier if everyone is pulling in the same direction and that, at the minute, is clearly not the case.
So Leeds fans now find themselves in a similar situation to the one which absorbed Liverpool supporters not so long ago. The Reds faithful, it has to be said, faced a completely different problem with American owners George Gillet and Tom Hicks having taken out huge loans to buy the club before dumping the debt on the Anfield outfit. But, fundamentally, they too wanted a change of direction at their club.
As with Leeds, some felt protesting during games was affecting the team and it threatened to split the support. In the end the supporters opted to limit protests to pre-match, the half-time interval and post-match sit-ins at Anfield. It meant those who wanted to protest could do so and those who didn’t could leave the stands, with both sides respecting each other’s views. Maybe that’s the way forward for Leeds supporters now.
The last thing the Elland Road club needs is catastrophic divide among the fans – after all they all want what’s best for Leeds United, even if they can’t yet agree how to get there.
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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Comments
There are 49 comments to this article
Page 1 of 4
Gogol
Wednesday, February 22, 2012 at 10:40 PMTo comment 48: Agreed 101%!
Southie_Whites
Saturday, February 18, 2012 at 08:15 PMOnce again an excellent piece of writing to compare with the drivel being espoused by Peter Lorimer as a Bates toady - my goodness how he has gone down in my estimation and how deeply Don Revie would be ashamed of him. It is clear to all who protest or not that Bates is well past his sell by date and seems to be mired in a very strange place where money is spent on infrastructure when the team obviously needs a lot of work. Equally to those supporters who load this onto Simon Grayson - Lorimer take note - the blame for this poor show correctly belongs on and at a sole persons desk - Bates's - whether he is in Monaco or not his shadow is dimming our great club. Whomever the murky figures are behind him take note - get him out ASAP as the Premier League will never happen while Nero Bates fiddles in and with his executive boxes with prawn sandwich in hand as Rome burns. BATES OUT - MOT.
Norlander
Saturday, February 18, 2012 at 01:00 PMElland Back (post 2), who the hell gave you the right to judge who the real fans are? I do believe that the negative atmosphere at ER these days is not helping to lift the performances of the sub-standard team our previous manager left us with and is a contributory factor in our declining attendances. I'm a home and away season ticket holder and have supported Leeds United since 1965, not just '3 seasons in L1 and 7 under Bates', so how dare you infer I'm not really a supporter, just because I have a different opinion to yours? I also think that boycotting games and chanting 'Bates out' during them is counter productive, but I don't question the commitment of those who advocate or do these things. We can criticise Bates for the fact that he's ultimately responsible for the current situation, but to me that means he allowed Grayson to stay too long after it was clear his judgement of a player and ability to fix our defensive frailty wasn't up to scratch. Too many people seem to want to criticise him for not being a billionaire. All this talk about him bleeding money out of the club is without any foundation and completely ignores the fact that, if he is just looking to make money out of LUFC, then the place to make real money is the PL. Why wouldn't he want to get us there? And before anyone drags up the old chestnut about having to pay back creditors if we go up, read the annual report & accounts - any pay-back is miniscule compared with the money to be made from being back where we belong. At least his appointment of Warnock should shut up those who claimed he'd bring in a 'yes man'. Whatever you think of Bates, all supporters should have one common aim to get behind the team for the 90 minutes it's on the pitch.
DAT
Saturday, February 18, 2012 at 11:12 AMI don't care what anybody else says about our club. THE PEACKCOCK 13 Has said all that needs to be said on the subject of our current predicament. I, like him am an old boy, so we will wait Bates out, and I like him would support Leeds in L2 or the PL. l'ts a life thing. BATES OUT.
Southwest white
Saturday, February 18, 2012 at 09:36 AMI can understand all the negativity surrounding our supporters at this time,but in essence the squad of players we have may just fall short in quality this season,with Warnock arriving this may instill some passion and commitment amongst the players but I am not convinced collectively we are on the money. Bring Warnock in,clear out some dead wood,sign threefour players in the summer and we will have a side capable of auto promotion to the promise land!
Braemar1234
Saturday, February 18, 2012 at 12:49 AMFellas, look on this link...http:www.thesun.co.uksolhomepagesportfootball4137886Neil-Warnock-meets-Leeds-United-owner-Ken-Bates-in-Monaco.html...
paz
Saturday, February 18, 2012 at 12:23 AMBates can overnight go from villian to hero if he appoints now a new top class external manager who immediately turns our season around and makes the play-offs and then wins promotion. If that happens, Bates will have proved that it was Simon Grayson's fault for the poor season so far. IMAGINE!
Sick of Kens lies
Saturday, February 18, 2012 at 12:14 AMWELL SAID BRAMLEY, WELL DONE TO THE RHINOS, THAT IS SOME ACHIEVEMENT.. I ALWAYS SAID YOU WERE A CLASS ACT BRAMLEY. AND ALSO, WELL DONE, AND I REALLY MEAN WELL DONE TO THE YEP, THIS IS MUCH MORE LIKE IT. TELL IT HOW IT REALLY IS - FORGET BATES AND HIS BULLY-BOY TACTICS, JUST TELL THE TRUTH, WE LOVE IT. REAL TROUBLE BREWING AT LUFC FOR BATES AND CO. BATES = LIAR. HARVEY = LAPDOG. LORIMER = OLD SOAK. GRAYSON = SCAPEGOAT.
totalfootball
Saturday, February 18, 2012 at 12:12 AMThe crux of the matter is simple....how far are we prepared to go to see a change in ownership ? League 1, League 2 or worst case scenario Non-League football. Personally, Leeds are my team for life,so the league we play in is irrelevant. Under the present regime things just do not feel right and I feel Mr Bates whilst legally correct in his business dealing is as slippery an individual as one could ever come across. The tipping point for me was the failure to re-purchase TA, this from a club with an annual turnover of 27M pounds and no debt, plus substantial income from player sales both senior and youth over the previous 2years. Since then we are asked to believe that Mr Bates has now purchased our wonderful club from persons unknown, for a fee unknown, sold to him for reasons unknown. How far are we prepared to go ? Well it needs about 20,000 people to stay away from ER for the rest of the season. Then the entire squad will be sold in the summer followed by probable relegation and so on. As for as I can see it's the only way. The alternative is accept things for what they are, stop complaining and hope we eventually get lucky with new owners with deep deep pockets !
FreePint
Friday, February 17, 2012 at 11:39 PMBates thinks he’s at Rorke’s Drift, heroically defending his territory against the ignorant savages. What he doesn’t realise is that he’s actually camped in the shadow of Isandlwana Hill and a huge brave army is massing against him. The day of the Dead Moon is approaching for you Kenneth William Bates.
bramley whites
Friday, February 17, 2012 at 09:52 PMWell done leeds rhinos realy proud of you !!! wish i was a rugby fan lol
white4life
Friday, February 17, 2012 at 08:37 PMCheers Bramley, much appreciated mate, honoured to be included. At least we would put the club and the fans first. If only.......
austhorpewhite
Friday, February 17, 2012 at 08:34 PMYou know when you get old in life things get taken from you. That’s, that’s part of life. But, you only learn that when you start losing stuff. You find out that life is just a game of inches. On this team, we fight for that inch On this team, we tear ourselves, and everyone around us to pieces for that inch. We CLAW with our finger nails for that inch. Cause we know when we add up all those inches that’s going to make the ******* difference between WINNING and LOSING between LIVING and DYING. I’ll tell you this in any fight it is the guy who is willing to die who is going to win that inch. And I know if I am going to have any life anymore it is because, I am still willing to fight, and die for that inch because that is what LIVING is. The six inches in front of your face. Now I can’t make you do it. You gotta look at the guy next to you. Look into his eyes. Now I think you are going to see a guy who will go that inch with you. You are going to see a guy who will sacrifice himself for this team because he knows when it comes down to it, you are gonna do the same thing for him. That’s a team, gentlemen and either we heal now, as a team, or we will die as individuals. That’s football guys. That’s all it is. Al Pacino - Any Given Sunday
harrogatewhites
Friday, February 17, 2012 at 07:31 PMWe don’t need another manager now… do we? The season is over for us so why can’t we wait until the end of the season to appoint someone and start from scratch? I was happy with Redfern, although the results weren’t t going for us at least he picked the same team, gave them a chance to get to play and gel together without complicated tactics, formations and substitutions. Then he put O’Brien on for no reason!!! Apart from they must love each other!!! Why? Why? I just didn’t get it! We are a championship team not the premiership. We don't need individual high earning players. This league doesn’t work like that. We need a team that is equal, they go out every day and are confident and consistent They put the work rate in and keep their shape for ninety minutes. If they lose and they gave it their all then fair enough – We can accept that! Every player in this league dreams of playing in the premiership – they can do that by taking the team up. Norwich is a perfect example!
bramley whites
Friday, February 17, 2012 at 07:21 PMIf warnock comes to leeds i will still protest when i want if i upset anyone so be it i dont care anymore ive had enough well done yep trying to wave a white flag but my fued is with bates harvey lorimer ! not koppite and co there nothings bates out bates out fallen giant bulldog and white4life tiff and pompey steve in
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