What Ken Said – 11.01.12 – Travels & Travails

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

‘Mr Chairman’ speaks to Ben Fry from somewhere in Southern Africa where he watched the Arsenal match on Monday (I assume he got lost on the way to the Emirates). He tells Ben his thoughts on the team’s performance and ESPN’s performance. There’s also his thoughts on Snoddy’s return, the transfer window, season ticket renewals, the East Stand, the Palace game and he reveals the squad’s travel arrangements for the week ahead.

Ben Fry: Chairman, a battling display at the Emirates. You must be quite proud of how the team performed on Monday night.

Ken Bates: Yes, I thought they did very well indeed. It was just the fact they had grit and determination but the fact that they fought for every ball, put their bodies in the way. I think it’s significant that our goalkeeper, Lonergan, didn’t have a save to make in the first half. I know Arsenal had plenty of territorial possession but that’s no good if you don’t put it away. I must say, I was pleasantly surprised. I was asked in my hotel because there are a lot of English people down here, a lot of them Arsenal fans and that sort of thing and I actually said, well, thinking of all our injuries, I was thinking it won’t be a surprise if we lost by more than three goals. In the event, we nearly snatched a draw. We had five youngsters in the team and I just thought it was tremendous.

BF: You mentioned the youngsters, particularly in the back line I’m thinking of Zac Thompson, Aidy White, Tom Lees and Darren O’Dea who is no veteran himself. I thought they performed particularly well. They were heroic, particularly the pace Arsenal had.

KB: They did and Clayton and Pugh were outstanding I thought. They certainly weren’t disgraced. If I only had one criticism, I thought that when we fell back towards the end, we should have kept two players up front because whenever the defence got the ball out, it came straight back again. There’s no one to get the ball. Then of course we did attack towards the end and we could have nicked a draw or even a win but we didn’t. It was a great night. I thought everybody played well and good luck to all of them. The only criticism I will make is ESPN. I watched the game live out here in South Africa and I thought the filming was absolutely appalling. I spent more time looking at David Beckham, Thierry Henry sitting on his seat, Thierry Henry sitting talking to the man next door to him, Thierry Henry standing up, Thierry Henry sitting down, Thierry Henry running up and down the touchline and Thierry Henry coming on the pitch and then watching Thierry Henry standing there when the ball was on the goal line at the other end and so it went on. There were constant replays and interruptions so you didn’t see the full flow at all. And I don’t know who ESPN employed to do it, but I thought they were a bunch of amateurs and they have a lot to learn from Sky, BBC and ITV.

BF: And you touched on Mr Henry. In the end the script was written I suppose. It was a headline makers dream in the end wasn’t it?

KB: Oh yes it was. In fact the commentary put on by the South Africans here was all about Henry. In fact, Susannah said at one time “are Leeds playing tonight? I haven’t heard them mentioned once.” So we weren’t until the 44th minute. This was food for thought.

BF: Now when I spoke to you about the game last week and talked about the chances of a replay you said you wanted to focus on the Championship and get on with the task in hand. I suppose that’s now what lays in front of Leeds?

KB: Someone made a crack about “Oh Ken Bates will be looking for a replay to get another wad of money”. Seems my reputation is spreading even to South Africa. But in fact no, we wanted to get it out of the way and I wouldn’t have minded nicking a win like we did against Manchester United but it was not to be. We are one point behind the play-offs, we have 21 games left. If we played every game the way we played against Arsenal and maybe up the field a bit more, we will get promotion.

BF: No obviously to aid that Championship challenge, Robert Snodgrass is going to be a key man. And some great news, he’s back training. Could he be touch and go for Palace?

KB: Well I don’t know, I’m not the medical man but he had keyhole surgery on his appendix. We were chatting to hum before he came away and he was feeling very good in himself. He just has to be careful he doesn’t strain or tear any little tissues around the wound otherwise it puts him back another month. So they’re not going to take any risks with him. Hopefully he’ll be back for Palace. He’ll definitely be there for Ipswich.

BF: We’re in January so I’ve got to ask you the question; how are things progressing behind the scenes with transfers?

KB: Well they are progressing behind the scenes. I think a lot of clubs weren’t too busy before the third round of the FA Cup but now I think clubs will be reassessing their squads. There was one player (Jason Puncheon) who agreed to join us in August. We were waiting at 7.30pm on deadline day, waiting for him to come up and sign the papers… sign the papers by fax. And I’m sat here watching Sky Sports News and I see him walking into another club’s ground at 11pm at night to sign for them. It hasn’t worked out  and now I’ve had the club back on the phone yesterday asking whether we would like to take him this time. I said “No, you can stick him up your jumper.” The way he behaved towards Leeds United in August is not the kind of person we want at Elland Road. So it’s the usual thing. Everyone is circling around like vultures or asking questions. We had one player we thought was leaving this week. He was leaving on the contingent that his new club were getting rid of another player. Their deal fell through so our deal fell through. It’s very frustrating but there’s nothing you can do about it. I keep telling all the fans, you have to get the player to want to come, the selling or loaning club wanting to sell or loan and being reasonable in doing so. That is where there will be a bit of bluff and poker over the next couple of weeks. Also, we’ve got a big squad. Some of them don’t figure in Simon’s plans so we’ll move them on as well. Otherwise we’ll need the Town Hall as the dressing room and Roundhay Park as the training ground.

BF: So as the work continues then. Let’s move it back to club matters then and season ticket renewals are underway. I know they’re available online at the moment. How are they going?

KB: They’re coming on well. The paper renewals are out by post and they have all been dispatched we’ve noticed that has accelerated the numbers already so we’re quite pleased with that. I think the special offer of freezing prices until the end of January is definitely an incentive and the letters I’ve been getting from the fans appreciate that fact.

BF: And of course, I suppose, all the options available at this time. The 0% finance with Zebra or the Mastercard, make it an attractive option the moment. 

KB: Well it does indeed. We get our money up front, which all football clubs want. Fans get the benefit of the early discount yet they don’t have to pay early. So it’s a win-win situation all-round.

BF: And whilst I’m sat looking at the East Stand, work’s already underway today. How’s the stand progressing? is there any final date for when it’ll be finished? 

KB: Well apart from the museum, where quite a bit of work needs to be done yet because of structural work because it was a late add on to the original scheme, it’s virtually finished now. We expect for the Ipswich game that the main entrance will be open and all the lifts will be working so the exec members will at last will be entering a fully clear exec area. Once again, compliments to the Caddicks for the work they have done. I know they’re a bit behind but the weather has been absolutely appalling as people know. Not just the rain but the gales. That really has held us back because you have to be so careful up in those cranes and mini hoists in high winds and the guys have done a marvellous job working around it. Getting, doing, switching their plans and their programme around to accommodate that fact. They’ve done a great job.

BF: On the playing side, it’s back to the capital to face Palace. Do you hope they are going to be distracted by the fact they have got one foot in Wembley with that 1-0 win against Cardiff last night?

KB: Well again, I watched it last night. It was certainly no quarter asked or given. So and er, a lot of people being knocked about so and they have got a virus at the moment so long may their bad fortune continue at least until Sunday afternoon. But they’re a good team. Dougie Freedman has done a good job there. And it’s interesting reading up about Crystal Palace and Cardiff City, and all those people who say spend, spend, spend. Malky Mackay took over Cardiff City in the summer. He had just 10 players. He spent just £100,000 (TSB – Not true. Joe Mason £250k, Kenny Miller £870k, Ben Turner £750k = £1.87m, plus Gunnarson, Earnshaw & Cowie who’ll be on decent wages & big signing-on fees). They’re third in the league and still got one foot in the League Cup semi-final. So it makes you ask if money is the solution or just the route of all evil.

BF: And talking of the Palace trip, the away fans have already taken 3,300 tickets. An extra 1,300 are being made available. It’s a magnificent effort after being down in London on Monday night with that level of support. 

KB:  It is indeed. And our exec away club is sold out for this away fixture (TSB-the rest of his answer was edited out by Yorkshire Radio)

BF: And whilst being a lot of travelling for the fans, a lot of travelling for Simon and his squad. 

KB: What we’re trying to do is easy the strain on the players because otherwise they get travel weary. It’s the equivalent of jetlag. We kept them down after the Arsenal game in the hotel that night so they had a proper night’s sleep. They did a warm down in London and came back yesterday at midday. But then they have got to get down to Palace again, so we’re flying them down on the Friday so there’s only an hour’s flight and they’ll be in their hotel in good time on Friday night then they’re coming back afterwards, which means the jetlag aspect of the two trips will be minimised. So the players should be as fresh as they can possibly be and as I said before, if they put on the kind of performance they did against Arsenal then we’ll be back in business. 21 games to go. 63 points to play for.