Much to the bemusement and fury of all Leeds United fans, we
once again find ourselves embroiled in a tedious navigation through takeover
rumours, inevitable set-backs and twitter frenzies. Over the last week, it
seems that the only people who are not tweeting frantically about LUFC are
those who we need to the most – the board. Leeds fans are fully prepared for
the pain and frustration that predictably follows an ‘imminent takeover’
announcement from the club and, as with last season’s takeover turmoil, we all
must sift through tiresome tirades of PR rubbish and wishy-washy comments from
those involved. However, the abomination that has taken place over the last few
weeks has miraculously exceeded the embarrassment and annoyance from GFH’s
lengthy takeover, with journalists and gossip columnists rubbing salt into the
long-standing wounds of the Leeds United faithful. What’s more, ‘The Ross
McCormack transfer saga part 2’ has made the last 7 days incredibly difficult.
We at @LUFC_Calypso felt it best to take on the monumental task of trying to
unearth the details of this chaotic state of affairs, whilst also looking at
the damage it has caused to our club in a number of areas.
The reoccurrence of such a disastrous mess has yet again
proven to be costly in terms of the January transfer window. Once more, it
seems that early promise will slip away without great success. This assertion
may seem harsh given the arrivals of Cameron Stewart and Jimmy Kebe, yet it is
becoming more and more apparent that money talks in the modern game. As another
window passes without credible investment, we certainly feel that yet more
opportunities have been missed and our promotion hopes hang in the balance.
McDermott has made it very clear that he likes to get his work in the window
done early, indication that we won’t be seeing a Sky Sports reporter stationed
outside Elland Rd come Deadline Day. Not only this, but it appears that
securing the services of a current player will be the biggest success of the
transfer period. Make no mistake; holding on to Ross McCormack would be
massively important should we be able to, but instead of making progress, the
executive management will celebrate this avoidance of regression as a victory
rather than as the minimum requirement that it should be.
The takeover has also proven to be a massive distraction to
the current squad. Excluding the improvements we saw in defeat against Premier
League-destined Leicester City, the performances and results since the
announcement of the proposed takeover have reached an unprecedented low. The
players may say that it hasn’t had an impact on their performances, but that is
simply not true. McDermott has used every press conference to highlight the
importance of sorting out the debacle that is happening off the field, and
until it is sorted we do not envisage a return to the promising form that we
were in a few weeks back.
Any attempts to decipher the details of this fiasco are near
enough impossible as Haigh, Patel and co have performed their negotiations in
complete secrecy. Rumours about Sport Capital, Cellino and his cronies are rife,
and consequently the short and long term futures of the club, the players and
the manager are far from clear. With the story taking significant plot twists
on a daily basis, it appears that nobody knows what’s going on, and the impatient
(and rightly so) fans continue to demand answers - clarity is all that is
required to ease the growing sense of anger among the fans. Such is the variety
of the names that have been bounded around (Flowers, Cellino, Virdee, Farnan
and more), most fans would settle for any sense of direction at this stage.
Having said this, the prospect of Cellino at the helm of our club terrifies us,
with reports from Italy mostly highlighting his barbaric approach to running
the show from the boardroom.
What has been clarified is that unless this mess is cleaned
up by someone, the club will continue to tank on and off the field. Yet again,
the red mist is descending and the outlook is bleak to say the least. Where we
go from here is still in our own hands, but something needs to happen, and
happen now.
What are your opinions on the takeover? Have Haigh and Patel
undone all their good work by keeping the fans in the dark at such a crucial
time? As always, please let us know your news, views and blues by tweeting us
at @LUFC_Calypso!
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