Taken from Yorkshire Radio’s interview with Leeds United owner Ken Bates today…
‘Mr Chairman’ speaks to Ben Fry about everything other than the £2million bid accepted by Leeds United for captain Jonny Howson. Palace, Snoddy, trialists, Robbie Rogers, Fabian Delph, transfers, his seven-year anniversary at the club, Ipswich and season ticket renewal forms…
Ben Fry: Chairman, first up, a point on the road at Palace. I suppose if you were offered that beforehand, I would have been a good result.
Ken Bates: Erm, I’m not sure. I think we’d say ‘no, we need to win these games rather than draw them’. A point’s a point. I suppose you could argue that in 2012 it has been 4 points out of six but against 10 men we should have beaten them. That’s disappointing. Nevertheless, we’re keeping up with the pack although we are still outside the play-off places, albeit by one point (TSB-three points, Mr Chairman).
BF: On the day Robert Snodgrass returned to the side and returned to goal scoring form after only two weeks out. He has made a remarkable recovery. Credit to him and credit to the medical staff.
KB: Er, yeah. Although of course I had my appendix out a few years ago now. Not in my youth. But the technology is quite amazing because normally, they used to cut you open and take the organ, which is necessary in the way our bodies work. But he had it with keyhole so he was in and out within a day. so the only thing we were worrying about was that if he made any sudden stretches or turns it could damage the tissues so he had to be very careful about that. It’s fantastic. We knew he’d be back for the Ipswich game. Crystal Palace was very much touch and go. So he touched and went for go.
BF: He seems to be the man finding the back of the net at the moment. A bit of a reliance on him for his goals.
KB: Well, yes, but we don’t give a damn who scores goals as long as we score them. It’s nice to spread them around a bit.
BF: Now yesterday there was a behind closed doors game at Elland Road against Newcastle, giving some trialists a run-out. A 2-0 win with Mikael Forssell on the scoresheet and a trialist scoring. Important that the team keep playing football, even when it is a bit frosty at Thorp Arch.
KB: Well I think it was very frosty at Thorp Arch because originally they were going to play the previous evening and we had to get the undersoil heating on at Elland Road from midday for the game yesterday. But all credit to the ground staff for performing but if you remember, last season Elland Road was the only place where we never had to postpone a match out of all the clubs in Yorkshire. So obviously we haven’t got a bad ground and we’ve got very good staff. It was important the game was played because players need to play games. They can do simulation warm-ups and that kind of stuff as much as you like but there’s nothing like playing matches so it’s very important for those who did play and of course it gave us a chance to look at three trialists, one of whom looks promising.
BF: One of the players who featured in the game was Robbie Rogers, who has signed with the club subject to a work permit. Another speedy winger to add a bit more width.
KB: Well we’re always going to welcome those. Robbie is a full American international. I think he is one short of the required number to qualify automatically for a work permit because it’s very important that we get him. Simon will be at the tribunal hearing our application for a work permit.
BF: Now there’s plenty of speculation as the January transfer window continues about players coming in as the club. Even talk of a possible loan return for Fabian Delph.
KB: Well, there’s lots of discussions going on about players both in and out. If I commented on every bit of speculation there is we’d have this conversation for five hours instead of, mercifully, this 15 minute interview. We are talking to a number of clubs about permanent deals as well as on loan but we’d rather announce what we have done rather than what we are going to do.
(Edit added after interview) BF: Now this morning a story was put on LeedsUnited.com confirming that the club have accepted an offer for Jonny Howson from Norwich with the player having just six months left on his contract and stated a desire to play in the Premier League at the earliest possible opportunity. Discussions continue over personal terms and Norwich. Now I know you’re not going to comment on the Jonny Howson story at the moment but there are other stories in the media this week, linking players with moves away from Elland Road. Are these stories an unwanted distraction at this stage? (end of edit)
KB: Well yes of course it is. I mean we can’t stop speculation. A lot of the problems you have these days are agents who leak stories to the press, for two reasons; obviously to stimulate interest in their players and to try to see if there’s more than one club that are going to be interested in a player i.e get an auction going on terms. We’re making a note of those agents and also making a note not to deal with them in the future, unless absolutely necessary because if you can’t trust them, you can’t do business with them. But we are active behind the scenes. We’ve already signed Danny Pugh, we’ve already extended Maik Taylor’s contract, we’ve signed young Townsend from Tottenham so that’s three. We’ve agreed terms with one of our young players and we’ll announce that as soon as it’s signed… he’s signed rather. There are other discussions going on but as usual, we talk about what we have done, not what we are going to do.
BF: Now this week you’ve been at the club seven years. The song talks about ups and downs. How has the experience been for you?
KB: Yes, Ben. It’s been seven years hard labour and I’m totally innocent.
BF: We’ll move on to the game at the weekend against Ipswich. Two important home games coming up. Ipswich are a side you don’t want to underestimate but they have been on a terrible run and are struggling all season.
KB: Yes, they actually thought they were going to be among the front runners but something has gone terribly wrong there but they are a force to be reckoned with. Of course we are now into our last 20 games of the season; 11 of which are at home and only 9 away. It’s important that we do beat Ipswich and keep our 2012 league unbeaten run going. We do of course have a bit of an injury crisis at the moment at the club but that’s why we have 29 professionals. Probably one of the largest squads in the Championship. So Simon and his merry men have just got to get on with it and win the games.
BF: And still 13 days to go on the season ticket freeze. How are renewals going at the moment?
KB: Well, the online has been open for some time of course but most people like to renew in person or by post. It’s coming along quite well. Application forms only landed on people’s doorsteps this week. The initial response has been quite promising. We expect it to go up on Saturday because as Mandy in the box office yesterday was saying a lot of people like to hand their ticket applications in personally because they don’t trust the mail as much as they used to, especially if there’s cash involved. We’re quite happy with the response to date and of course, the fact that we have frozen the prices until January 31st is an incentive for people to get them in early and take advantage of the two forms of interest free credit which means it’s one of those rare cases of have your cake and eat it scenarios.
“it’s one of those rare cases of have your cake and eat it scenarios.”
Yes, you get to buy the cake in January and eat it in August.
By which point it’ll be stale, some fucker from Norwich will have picked the icing off, and if you’re lucky we might loan a currant or two from Stoke.
Well said Andy N; you actually raised a smile and a faint hint of a laugh out of me on what has otherwise been a very glum day. Oh, there was a lovely sunset too; let’s hope it was the sun setting on the life of Crusty Santa.
nice one!
Yes get the season tickets in ken and forget the sale of Jonny.
By the sale you have already written us off as a premiership team next season.
We have 29 players on our books but we keep the crap and sell the best lol.
Ambition ken you have none all you want is a big fat wallet at the end of it.
the team is priority everything else is secondary.
Your not a football fan or a supporter and your ripping our team apart with pocket money wages.
We are finacially secure you say so why we running a club like we £100 million in debt.
Selling Club With No Ambition.
Bates Out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
papa smurf talking shite again
i am a proud leeds fan of 40 years , and never seen a backfour like ie mr o dear chasing fresh air. if we dont get rid, whats the point in having a good front line , packed with middfielders, if we concede soft goals earlyon . we need four good muscley men like ,micka richards, get them from south africa and seel our defence. mot
Howson has had his critics, just like Bradley Johnson, but look where he is now! Whether you’re a fan of Howson or not, the fact is that Simon Grayson rates him, plays him in every game & has made him team captain.
Grayson also rated & played the likes of Beckford, Johnson, Killkenny, Schmeichel & Gradel, but these guys all left for one reason or another. As well as Howson, there are worrying rumours about Snodgrass, Becchio, Lees, Clayton, McCormack & Aidy White.
No club can continue to shed it’s first team players at the rate we do and hope to succeed. Worrying times ahead indeed. The question is, what, if anything can be done by the fans to influence the running of the club? Suggestions please . . .
Box Office Mandy better have a recycling bin! Maybe we could tie in a massive season ticket renewal ripping session in with protesting outside the ground while the game is on…
What a deluded silly old cock head bates is ….if your reading this bates …….just fuck off and die. you cnut
I concur!
Re: POSSIBLE FANS PROTEST: –
Saturday’s game v Ipswich is too soon for anything significant to be arranged. Anti- Bates chants are ok but back the team to the hilt as usual. If anything ‘big’ is to happen then the target date should be Saturday 3rd March when we play Southampton at home in a Sky televised game (Kick off 5:20).
This game is far enough way to allow ‘the word’ to be spread but also it gives enough time for the ‘dust to settle’ on the recent transfer activity – after all, things may not turn out as bad as we fear & by the end of February we could be top of the league!!
Bates may publicly laugh at match boycott but by giving him a glimpse of the future (an empty stadium) it may cause him to re-evaluate his ‘master plan’ for the Club. All we, the fans, want is for the Club to display some ambition – with hope in our hearts we’ll keep turning up forever. Unfortunately however, under Bates, the Club has sunk into a massive depression – i have never been more disillusioned with football in all my life (Supporter since 1972, Season ticket holder since 1982). A match Boycott may have no effect whatsoever, but at least we’ll be able to hold our heads up with pride and say we stood up to the bully. The football world will also get to see what Leeds fans are made of.
The difficulty with a match boycott is getting sufficient numbers to support it. There are enough empty seats at Elland Rd on a match day as it is, so a few hundred ‘stay ways’ won’t create the dramatic visual effect that’s required. It’s vital that the Sky cameras broadcast a stunning image to the world. Whilst it may not be too difficult to persuade non-season ticket holders to not buy a ticket for the Southampton game & watch the game at home or in the pub instead, the big issue is getting season ticket holders to join in. After all they (we) have already paid for the game. If season ticket holders feel they can’t stay away, then perhaps a first half boycott might be acceptable to enough of them to create the ‘empty stadium’ image that’s required. I’m sure Sky will love cutting to images of thousands of fans outside the ground whilst the game’s in progress. Guy’s (and gals) it’s getting close to the moment when it’s time to ‘put up or shut up’.
My (and my wife’s) season ticket renewal papers arrived this morning – that’s £1,032 that we can’t afford but supporting Leeds is a hard habit to break. Right now i can’t face paying so i’ll sleep on it for a few days. I know i’m not the only lifelong fan who’s been driven to this heart breaking dilemma.
At the end of the day, we the fans will still be supporting our team long after Bates has gone (knowing our luck, he’ll live to be a hundred!), but for sake of our Club let’s stand up & be counted and, if nothing else, remind the football world what a horrible little man Kenneth William Bates really is. Love Leeds, Hate Bates.
You posted this earlier on another site, and I was going to comment but got lost in reading all the other comments.
I don’t think it’s the ‘spectacle’ that is important, it’s hitting that fuckwit where it hurts;, in his sky rockets. Sure, the added ‘spectacle’ would let the wider world know what’s happening at our beloved club, but waiting ’til March isn’t the way forward, and to be honest with you, I couldn’t care less what anyone other than Leeds supporters thought or knew of our club.
I’m already boycotting matches and purchasing official merchandise, and I will join my fellow ‘morons’ to protest on Saturday. One thing I would like to see is a mass ripping up of season ticket renewals, either in front of Box Office Mandy (bless her) or turned into confetti to be thrown in the air when the players come out of the tunnel.
MOT!
Although I wouldn’t see the latter as I would be outside; but you get the picture, or ‘spectacle’. ; )
Wonder if Larry has nailed Box Office Mandy yet?
Hahaha.. He’s nailing someone he shouldn’t be, and Bates is nailing us to the cross.
The Yorkshire Evening Post’s ‘Latest Whites News’ site never fails to entertain.
I fear a boycott will never materialise due to the infinite patience (and frequent gullibility) of Leeds supporters. I’m constantly amazed by the number of pro-Bates fans that still exist after 7 depressing years.
It would be typical of Leeds to go and beat Ipswich 3-0 on Saturday which would once again diffuse the current mood of protest.
Let’s see where stand at the end of February. If we’re 10 points (or worse) off the play-offs, the Club will surely have run out of excuses and a mass protest may be unstoppable.
I desperately want my club to be successful but I just can’t imagine that happening any time soon.
You’re right, it’s a hard habit to break. It wouldn’t surprise me either if we romped home this weekend, though nothing really surprises me anymore with what’s happened to our club in the last decade or so.
MOT!
if you people have got the money then give ken a call i am sure he will be pleased to hear from you why is it we can all spend other peoples money the true supporters will continue to follow their team whatever happens in the boardroom relax enjoy norwich will be relagated we will be promoted jonny has made a bad decision johnson killkenny schimcel good riddence dross keep the faith mot
There has been no mention of the issue with Howson so far,just critiscm of the sale, but what could the club do to stop it.The player clearly wants to move on and is not going to sign a new contract even if he is given a substantial rise in wages. The rise would still not put him in the premiership wages bracket, so to guarantee that he is playing premiership football and gets a bigger rise than we can afford, he has to be move on.The only other option is to keep him and sell for nothing rather than get £2 million for him now, which I hope can then fund loan deals which can be very expensive still, especially from the premiership or purchase quality players that can improve the squad. In relation to protests look what happened at Blackburn, it rarely does any good and in fact just unsettles the players, at a time when we need them to focus on improving their performances to get back in the play off positions.
Erm, not accept the offer? That’d be the first thing to do.
‘The player clearly wants to move on’ – How have you come to that conclusion then?
‘…is not going to sign a new contract even if he is given a substantial rise in wages. The rise would still put him in the premiership wages bracket’ – How do you know this? Did you read it in your tea leaves?
‘The only other option is to keep him and sell for nothing’ – Erm, que!?! We could always offer him a contract that he would sign, or retain his services for the rest of the season in the hope we push up the table and get promoted (afterall, will we see any of the money we receive for him, £2 million or otherwise?)
‘look what happened at Blackburn’ – Again, I don’t get what your point is. Their team has played decent all year, their fans have voiced their concerns as they are well within their rights to do. Whhat this has to do with us selling our club captain I do not know.
I hope that clears up any confusion you are suffering from.
mark your living in cloud cukoo land
And why is that ?
What really worries me is where this leaves LUFC next season. Bates seems totally unable to agree contracts extensions with established players & so we see the likes of Gradel, Johnson & now Howson leave. White will probably follow & Snodgrass enters his last year of his contact next season.
When we were promoted we had a young, gifted mid-field/forward line of Johnson, Kilkenny, HOwson, Gradel, Becchio & Snodgrass that did very well last season. An ambitious club with football as the main objective would have kept these players & then built on this by adding the younger players such as White, Lees & Clayton. None of this would have cost the club anything in transfer fees!!!! With very small amount of investment (Pugh as a utility player, a new centre half, possibly a right back) I believe we could have made a sustained attempt at automatic promotion. This in turn would convince our players of the ambition of the club & they in turn would be more likely to sign new contracts on reasonable wages.
Instead we offer very poor contracts (for example the White rumour is that we offered him the same money he is already on with his existing contract that he signed as a teenager). When this is matched with our lack of ambition it is not surprising players don’t accept the contract offers (Snodgrass is going to be in the same situation this summer).
Consequently we lose our best players to replace them with free signings who are probably on the type of contracts the players they replace wanted in the first place (I bet Brown is on the type of money Johnson would have signed a new contract for – who would offer the best value for money!!!!).
I really think this is make or break time for the club. If we do lose White & Snodgrass as is very likely & replace them, and HOwson, with more free or cheap signings then the club could be heading for relegation to L1 again. Many fans are totally disillusioned with the club and won’t renew their season tickets (myself included) & I think there is a great possibility of Grayson being sacked. LUFC could easily head in a downward spiral that takes years to turnaround!!!!!
I share your fears mate; grim isn’t it.
Ken Bates you have made a big mistake letting howson go you are selling our best Players and bringing in cheap fringe players if you had really had a plan to get promoted to the premiership you would have offered them ie the players you sold an improved contract with a bonus if we get promoted. You have now given Simon Grayson an impossible task to get us promoted not even Jesus can pull this one off you are looking for an escape goat and you have set him up for a fall. It’s time for you Ken Bates to sell up and go with all your pieces of eights you have Robbed from Leeds Utd
Try and explain to a Ten year old about how asset stripping works !! Even he can see something is wrong with our football club !! The cancer is Ken Bates !! Only way we can make Bates even start to listen is by cutting the money supply and do not attend the home games and don’t buy tickets !! Or don’t listen and continue to fund this maniac in charge of our once famous football club .
how mutch would it cost 4 a hitman. bates out 4 good
I wrote something similar to this about a year ago and was surprised there were no takers. Surely there’s a bad lad or three who have nothing to lose who could ‘do a job for our club’, ‘put some irons in KB’s fire’ and help us ‘go forward to where we want to be’.
bates out 4 good
The only thing that amazes me more than the amount of Leeds fans who still support Bates are the amount of Leeds fans who seriously believed we would get back to the Premiership wwith him in charge. We are not going anywhere until Bates has finished his hotel and the rest of the development then he can sell us off and get his millions. A good, steady, mid-table, profitable club with no debts is his only goal. If he won’t pay competetive salaries or transfer fees in the Championship what makes you think he’s going to do it in the Premiership? I agree with Free Pint we need to start the demos now and then make plenty of ‘Bates Out’ banners, stickers, flags etc to put on show inside and outside the ground at he Southampton match and put a show on for SKY. I live near the ground and I might hang one from my window! Don’t boycott – get down to Elland Road and make your feelings known!
Divide and conquer. Leeds will never improve under Bates and fans will continue to pay high prices and watch a struggling team. Now who is to blame, Bates for selling players or the fans for continuing to support the club at the gates! Bates must think that Leeds fans are very gullible! He has to be hit in the pocket, week after week, after week, after week! Either that or watch the continued demise of the once great Leeds United. Do we have the guts for the fight??
This is absolutely disgusting. Thank you Bates for ruining the club I have supported all my life. All Howson and the fans want is for you to match our ambition on the pitch. Not with the upgrade of a stand which needed no work whatsoever, not by building a hotel or buying all of the radio coverage of the club. This is not what we care about. Of course youve made it perfectly clear that this isn’t about us. Even though we line your pockets on a weekly basis. It’s about you and what you can get out of Leeds United. What good is a new fancy stand with apparently the best matchday facilites in the North of England, if there is nobody going to the games! Don’t be sold on the Ken Bates propaganda machines. The website, the radio station, LUTV is all run by him. He can put what he wants. Bates is not doing anything to match the ambition of the players who all want to play at the highest level. At a club like Leeds, players should aim high, as we all do. We should be aiming to reach the Premier League. We have the fan base, the facilities, the history and so on. Bates has not done one thing to match what we all want. All these “irons in the fire” and such quotes do not wash with me. Unfortunately I stuck with Bates, even when everyone bad mouthed him. Watched in League One as we soldiered on regardless. Even up to the beginning of this season I was backing him, telling everyone that all will come good. I’m in for some stick now.
“It’s been seven years hard labour”…. Yeah it mustve been so hard in your luxury apartments with your luxury cars and your luxury yachts. You can take your season ticket renewal and shove it. I will not put money in your pocket anymore.
Like everyone else, I am dismayed by the dismantling of the offensive side of the team that, with a bit more belief (and even with that defence), could have got us promotion last year. It is in this light that I view the departure of Johnny Howson. My perspective on Johnny was that he was a ‘special’ player – not quite good enough to build a team around, but someone you would always want on hand. He had flair, as well as great athleticism, and these are qualities we will badly miss. What depresses me also about this departure is the feeling also that he will receive a better further football education under Paul Lambert and his coaches than he could have ever got under our present managerial and coaching regime.
Saw my 1st game in 1957, we beat Portsmouth 5-2 and King John scored 2 goals. My fate was sealed from that day on and my 1st loyalty is to the Mighty Whites. In those days, of course we didn’t play in white but in blue and yellow. The Don decided we should change to all white to resemble Real Madrid.Eventually we actually played against Real in the European Cup.
When, under the dictatorship of Ken “dandruff” Bates will we play them again ?
Don’t make me laugh
Roscoe.P
If we had not seen what has happened with the previous sales I would say that £2m for Howson is a good deal given he is now injured and coming to the end of his contract.
But having lost Johnson and Kilkenny and seen Vayrynen and Brown replace them it is clear what direction we are heading in! and it’s not up to the premier league.
All you Grayson critics should wind your necks in because it is clear where the problem lies and it’s not the manager! You can not tell me that Grayson has sanctioned all these sales!
Grayson has sanctioned all these sales or he would have complained or walked out
A read of the above interview should rekindle even the most easy-going White supporter’s distrust of our owner.
This Club has become a plaything, piggy bank and podium for KB to mouth off at officialdom, government, morons like ourselves, whatever he fancies on the day.
Consider the gamesmanship over ownership of Club & facilities, murky financial reporting & evidencing of funds allocation, transfer & wage policies, ticket pricing & ST renewal timigs, control of related media.
On regalar display are blatant lying and open disdain for opinions other than his own, not least directed at supporters of this Club.
For me the man is an arrogant leech, more abhorrant now after 7 years gorging the vitality of the team I love.
Get your fill and drop off soon, or
Just seen something Ken Bates said waaay back in January 2007 and thought i would share it with you……
“Finance is the core of the problem at this club,” he said in his programme notes before a 3-2 defeat to West Bromwich Albion. “I’ll keep writing about it until some fans accept the facts of life – namely make a profit and Leeds can invest and grow. Lose money and there will be no Leeds United.”
Are we not making money now then? We surely have to be turning in a good few quid, soooo where is the investment mentioned above?
Time to go Ken, thanks for your ‘help’ but GET OUT!!!!!
MOT
Andy Moore
After spending the last 22 years all around the world in the service of her Maj. and attending games where possible. I was looking forward to getting back to the UK to see my team every week, having a season ticket again in the Premiership, toasting success after a few years building in the top flight, watching good youth players come through the academy and break into the team…
Yeah CHEERS KEN..
MOT
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