Leeds United: Bye Bye Sport (no) Capital. Who’s Next?

Article by e-Leeds Correspondent Jeremy Taylor

With less than 36 hours of the transfer window remaining, Sport Capital has finally admitted defeat in their laborious and ultimately futile attempt at securing a controlling stake in Leeds United.

As one would expect, the consortium’s front man, David Haigh, was the one to release the statement confirming the news. Although, the statement itself was not without some eyebrow raising suggestions proving yet again that things at Leeds United are never what they seem.

Andrew Flowers’ outburst at the beginning of the week strongly suggested that the process of due diligence had uncovered information that led to the consortium de-valuing the 75% stake on the table – thus moving the goalposts of the deal in the process. While that raised more questions than it answered, it somewhat directed the blame onto GFH for the impasse.

However, David Haigh’s statement seems to transfer responsibility back onto his own consortium with the admission that…

…“Unfortunately, however, some of the consortium’s backers ultimately didn’t feel able to deliver the financial backing we had hoped was agreed to take the club forward.”

The fact that he goes on to say how he has…

… “met many, many potential investors over the past year and, sadly, while many are keen to talk the talk, they have been unable or unwilling to deliver in financial terms.”

… presumably means he is referring to his own consortium Sport Capital as one such potential investor that, for whatever reason, are ill equipped to deliver on their promises?

It really does beg the question as to what David Haigh’s role and responsibility actually is? He seems to be playing the part of not only vendor and buyer but also that of a third party adviser; yet throughout he seems to be increasingly isolated and ineffectual.

The Future

So where does this leave Leeds United now?

As things stand, there are two parties left in the room to have expressed strong interest in taking over. One being of the more traditional and acceptable variety and the other coming from the envelope of the modern football investor that bring unpredictability and a general detachment from reality with them.

Starting with the latter, the colourful and notorious figure of Massimo Cellino has quickly left a bad taste in the mouths of the Leeds United fan base with stories of Thorp Arch spying missions and the truly outrageous claim that he attempted to plant a member of his camp on the bench for the visit of Ipswich Town. 

Fraud, serenading and a disregard for planning laws are things that most fans would be prepared to live with if it meant winning football matches, but trying to undermine the manager in such a blindly ignorant manner before even having taken over the club is beyond foolish and will only lead to disaster.

If that’s an amuse-bouche for what would follow under the stewardship of Mr Cellino then that’s a dish no Leeds fan will be interested in trying. If there’s one thing English Football can live without it’s another Vincent Tan’esque megalomaniac with a zero regard for decency, history, tradition and the importance of a club’s identity.

Of the current interested parties, the consortium including Mike Farnan and Adam Pearson now look the best option; although there’s no knowing what kind of level of investment they would bring with them and whether they would satisfy David Haigh’s acute sense of what constitutes a genuine bidder. Perhaps he’d be a lot more favourable to their approach if a chair were to be found for him at their table?

One thing’s for sure though; as it stands there will certainly be some awkward silences over coffee in Salah Nooruddin’s office when he and David sit down to discuss business ahead of the Huddersfield match. GFH have benefited from significant stock increases on the back of investment that has failed to materialise and will now be even keener to sell up. So it’s fair to say the iron is well and truly hot; it’s just a question of who’s prepared to strike.

Amidst all this chaos remains Brian McDermott, left yet again with a pile of notes on a pad instead of new players, a squad left despondent after a shocking set of results and a city full of desperate expectation and cynical frustration.

But no Leeds United nightmare would be complete without a posse of sharks circling our best player as the window draws to a close; in this instance the talismanic Ross McCormack.

Rumours suggest an imminent and significant bid from Sunderland, who certainly have some money to spend. With hours left of the window, it’s a dicey game trying to guess what would happen if a bid of over £5m came in for him with time left for a medical. After all, it’s only up the road, it’s nearer to Scotland than Leeds and there’s no denying Brian would appreciate the money. But what good is £5m if the window has shut before it can be spent.

After the past few weeks, McDermott would be forgiven for welcoming the end of the window; just so he has one less thing to worry about.

At the end of the day though, his cry at the end of December was for pace and width. He now has two new options (of his choice) there that he didn’t have before, so compared to some of the transfer windows endured by the poor Simon Grayson he’s actually done quite well.

If he can fend of interest in McCormack and shape a team that can pick up some good results then all might not be lost. Whatever happens, the lads deserve the support of the fans.

@jezaldinho

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