Massimo Cellino: Good For Leeds United

Article by  e-Leeds Correspondent Gwyn Hughes

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As the take-over of Leeds United trundles on under its own slipstream of uncertainty, the fans of this unique football club increasingly feel the strain of impending gloom from the fear of it all fizzling out to nothing in the end. It must be the longest ever take-over in the history of football, if not in the business world. Certainly feels like it.

The prospect of another week to 10 days of waiting to see if the Football League approves of whether Massimo Cellino is suitable to run a football club is working its way towards fraying the nerves that have already started to shred by how this season has gone so far. It rapidly feels that this current one is on a knife-edge, not knowing whether it will turn out to be the start of something beautiful or a ride towards humiliating obscurity and financial hell.

The recent revelations of not being able to pay bills, wages and other essential things important in the running of a football club has sent shockwaves throughout the ranks. Unbelievably, Leeds are heading towards another financial abyss reminiscent to what happened under Ridsdale's watch. This state of affairs have all along been hidden behind the smiles and reassurances of people who had been given the all-clear by the Football League to run Leeds United only over a year ago. The sudden decline in the club's finances have been nothing short of staggering incompetency more suited to rookie, inexperienced novices, and the continuance of the present regime does not bear thinking about. The news recently that David Haigh and Salah Nooruddin will contine to be involved with the running of Leeds United when Massimo Cellino does take over fills me with equal doses of incredulity and dread. Very strange things are happening at Leeds United of which no-one seems to know why the club is where it's at, or how it will all pan out.

Isn't this proof that Leeds were taken over by a company who weren't able to afford to run the club back in December 2012? It appears that GFH Capital have been running the club at a loss for some time, perhaps even from the beginning of their tenure, but somehow they were allowed to become owners of Leeds United. Their 'strategy' has been to apply for loans in order to keep its employees paid, which if it continues will force Leeds to go under and possibly go the same way, perish the thought, as Portsmouth did. Future ticket sales have been used already, meaning that Leeds are not making any money from gate receipts this season. This is as frightening as it is foolhardy! They are living on credit with no ability to pay it back.

They say that the crew on the Titanic never realised at first how badly damaged the ship was until it was too late to save all those unfortunate people who they relied on for their safety. Whilst I cannot justifiably compare the tragedy of what happened on that fateful night in 1912, on a massively lesser extent Leeds United feels like its sinking fast as more time passes. As the debts grow, so does the club's ability to hold its head above the waves, which will become more turbulent, if we don't get taken over soon.

Getting Cellino on board is absolutely crucial for us. He HAS to get the green light to take over Leeds.

And who allowed this to happen? Well, of course the Football League did, and I'm pretty sure that it didn't take them as long to approve GFH Capital either. So, the Cellino take-over must happen. I know that we have another consortium in the wings to step in and buy the club but their finances are as secretive as they are obtuse and at this point no-one knows how much money they really have. I suspect that the group headed by Mike Farnan have a similar business plan as GFH Capital, pooling their financial resources together through credit and investment which will be nowhere near the levels that the Italian businessman has. Cellino does have the wealth to not only pay off outstanding debts (incurred by GFH's financial mistakes) and invest in creating a team worthy of promotion to the Premiership. I seriously doubt that the Farnan group have this level of available dosh to match Cellino. The absolute proof of the pudding in regards to Cellino's credentials and promises is when he buys back Elland Road and Thorp Arch as he has stated he will do.

Cellino: On his way?

But who are the Football League to be so apparently finicky and long-drawn in deciding if Cellino is ok to buy Leeds? Surely all the paperwork has been done and inspected by now? Are they looking for something to trip up the Italian, despite the overwhelming evidence that now exists that he has the money and the experience to run a football club successfully. Leeds have had some bad experiences with the Football League in recent times and if they give Cellino the thumbs down I smell a rat. We, as fans, can forgive ourselves for being a little paranoid when it comes to the establishment versus Leeds confrontations, but I always feel a bit nervous when we have to depend on others, especially those in authority, to enable us to have something that favours progression for the club. Being docked so many points when we were relegated to League 1 was outrageous and that punishment having been decided by the chairmen of other clubs in that division was a blatant, biased and arrogant statement on how others hate Leeds United and would do anything to hurt our progress.

When you consider what happened at Portsmouth a few years ago, where they changed ownership almost after every home game at one time, I hope that the process of approving individuals for owning clubs has improved 100% since then. Of course, Cellino has, let's say, fallen foul with the authorities in the past (who hasn't?) but isn't this the case of individuals with ambition? There will always be obstacles whenever anyone wants to achieve goals. I'm sure that there are a few present owners of football clubs who have at some stage been involved in less than a kosher dealing or two, so if Cellino gets turned down I think it would be quite rough on Leeds, and would start fuelling the inevitable conspiracy theories. To his credit he has run Cagliari very satisfactorily in terms of keeping them in the top flight, and for such a long time. 22 years is a long time involved with a club, and only a handful of seasons were spent outside of Serie A. Roman Abramovich of Chelsea has a long way to go to before he even matches that record. Cellino has been good for the area (his home town) as well as the club, investing in the infrastructure, such as a sports centre near Cagliari, and is a past vice-president of the Lega Calcio (Italian Serie A League).

Once approved, Cellino will change the way Leeds United is run there is no doubt about that. His record as Cagliari owner will have many fearing what he will get up to at Leeds but I disagree. I think he is really well suited for Leeds because firstly he is very much an individual in every sense of the word, a man who is not afraid to make his own decisions and stand by them. We want genuine people to run Leeds. And secondly, I think he sees a little of Cagliari in Leeds as a club and as a geographical and sociological area, though Leeds is a city club and will be a step up for him in terms of popularity and influence. I get the impression that Cagliari had to fight to get where they are and this is not unlike what Leeds have had to do, especially in the last 10 years. I hope that he will learn about the definitive Leeds United culture, the way we are and the way we like our club to play football.

So, come on Football League, let's get the show on the road. Help save Leeds United from another embarrassing financial meltdown and start the process of getting Leeds where they belong.

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