What Ken Said – 14.12.11 – Months Not Weeks

Taken from Yorkshire Radio’s interview with Leeds United owner Ken Bates today…

‘Mr Chairman’ tells Ben Fry that Jonny Howson will be out for “two to three months” with his knee injury. He also speaks about possible outgoings in the January transfer window and the need to reduce the size of the squad and lower the wage bill.  Plus he looks back at the Watford match and ahead to Saturday’s game with Reading, as well as revealing how generous he is to Leeds fans this Christmas – he’s giving ‘free’ sausage rolls to all those who paid £40 for the most expensive memberships in English football. Bah humbug…

Ben Fry: Chairman, we’ll start with Saturday. A point on the road at Watford. I think it would be fair to say a battling point if nothing else.

Ken Bates: Well it’s probably fair to say an undeserved point but there are plenty of games where we deserve more than we’ve got so it’s one of those where it evens itself out. It was a pity of course with Southampton only drawing and West Ham losing and Cardiff dropping two points, we could have really closed the gap on the top three but nevertheless, it was a point away from home and we’ll be glad of that.

BF: I suppose at the end of the season though you just put it as a point on the board and no one ever really remembers how they came about do they?

KB: That’s also true. It’s interesting that we have the same number of points we had this time last year but a slightly better goal difference and we had a much better home record last year. We are in with a very good chance this year.

BF: You touched on the top six, it seems to be tightening up. Do you think they are the six teams to watch now?

KB: Well no because if you think about it, Brighton were walking away with the Championship weren’t they at the end of September. Now look where they are. It’s a very even… I said last year I thought it was by-in-large quite a competitive league, but this year I think it’s even more. Particularly since Southampton lost their aura of invincibility.

BF: You touched on the Christmas period as well. It’s not quite the same hectic schedule as in other years, so it will be interesting to see how it pans out.

KB: Well, I don’t know, we’ve got a game on the 31st and a game on the 2nd so that sort of back-to-back isn’t it? Then it’s only five days before the Arsenal game so it’s quite tough.

BF: Alex McCarthy’s loan spell has been extended. Obviously he won’t feature at the weekend though. He has been a good servant to the club in the last few weeks.

KB: He has made a very useful contribution and we’re very grateful for what he has done. Our record since he has been with us speaks for itself, including two cleans sheets and 21 goals. So he has been a valuable addition and we’re very grateful for Reading for extending his loan to us.

BF: Let’s turn to injuries, they’re starting to take their toll, particularly in the midfield area. No timescale on Jonny Howson yet. He never gets injured so it’s a rarity not to have him available. 

KB: What’s also annoying when you look back at it, it was a fairly innocuous situation. I was talking to Jonny a couple of days ago and I’m not even sure he was tackled. He just fell awkwardly. He went one way and his knee went the other. I blame the shoes. The boots, I don’t know if you remember, when I was a kid and I was lacing my boots up, it took 20 minutes to do the laces up. Now they’re like slippers. They use these ruddy razors instead of studs so there’s no purchase on the pitch and there’s no support for the ankles so I think that’s what causes a lot of the trouble. Also of course, the pitches are much better but they are much harder so they are jarring your ligaments and your Achilles far more than you used to back in the old days. So it’s annoying. We don’t know the extent of Jonny’s length of treatment yet but it is going to be two to three months.

BF: Obviously that brings us round to January as well. Everybody is going to start talking about it at this stage. Are you expecting a busy January and already a couple of Leeds’ key players being linked with moves elsewhere. I’m obviously thinking about Luciano being linked with Middlesbrough.

KB: Well, who ever thinks that one, and I don’t mind somebody floating the idea from Middlesbrough because it’s the usual way they tap up players these days of course but if they think we are going to sell our leading goalscorer to our probably closing competitor for promotion they must be out of their tiny minds. Apart from which, I read Tony Mowbray saying that their chairman isn’t a bottomless pit and they haven’t got much money anyway so they wouldn’t be able to afford him anyway, if we were inclined to sell him, which we’re not.

BF: And on the reverse side, I suppose I can’t force you to say anything on business?

KB: No you can’t. I can say that at 10.30am on Wednesday (today) there’s a full management meeting about funds and income and wages bills which are very, very high. People say… sometimes the fans say we haven’t spent any money on players. Well if you’re paying somebody a large salary that’s the same as paying them a transfer fee and a small salary. It all comes out of the same pot. So, it could be interesting this January window. We have a very large squad by even Premiership standards. We always used to say two players for every position and an extra one for the goalkeeper. That’s 23. Now we have 28, 29. Some of those aren’t featuring at all. It must be frustrating for them, a waste of money for us and it blocks other people coming in.

BF: Quick word on Arsenal. Tickets on sale. Obviously the Monday night is a bit of a struggle but they are going relatively quickly.

KB: Yeah, I think we’ve sold over 3,000 already and there are a couple of executive packages available as well. Again, you can give more details about that later. It’s unfortunate that it’s Monday night. The thing is, there are six live matches in the third round of the FA Cup and unfortunately ESPN got the last bite of the cherry and they have chosen us. That’s means the timing is out of our hands. I’m very sorry for our fans but nothing we can do about it. That’s decided by the FA and when you enter the FA Cup you have to abide by their rules and decisions so whatever they say goes.

BF: The festive season is nearly upon us. The carol concert returns on Monday. A night that I know you look forward to and a good night for the fans.

KB: I think so. And also this year is going to be the best ever. The girls who organise these things have done a great job. We’re going to start with the grand parade and I want all the kids to come along in fancy dress, and if they are in fancy dress they can join in the parade. It starts near the Bremner statue and goes down to the Pavilion. We have got one or two unusual things on and we’ve got a hip-hop street dance. I thought the girls said lap dancing but obviously that was just my hearing. I did explain that wasn’t particularly appropriate for a carol concert but it’s some sort of street dance that I’m not familiar with but even at the age of 80 I’m willing to learn.

BF: And of course tickets are still available for the carol concert from the ticket office on 08713341919.

KB: And of course, they are free to members so come along. I mean, I don’t know how we do it. There’s free drinks, free hot drinks, free sausage rolls, free this, free that.

BF: Christmas spirit I think chairman…

KB: You’re probably right, Ben.

BF: Finally a quick word on Reading. The final home game before Christmas. They seem stronger at home than away and their home form has picked up after the win against Millwall so it will be interesting on Saturday.

KB: Yeah, I mean and Reading also had a good win on Saturday themselves. They beat West Ham 3-0, it was a very bad-tempered game and West Ham not being used to losing, lost their marbles a bit and finished the match with nine men. But no, Reading always play attractive football. They have got a nice manager, although I would say that after they lent us McCarthy wouldn’t I? I’m good friends with their chairman, so hopefully, providing the gales drop, we’ll have a good game.