why is OUR situation so much worse...

[Own Goal Hat-Trick]

why does it seem like OUR debt is much worse than other teams debt. why is it that WE lose all of our stars when the other in-debt clubs find ways around it.

i cant think of specific examples, but the way leeds act its as if we are the worst off team in all of english football, and i just dont understand that.

maybe the talk of a conspiracy to run leeds into the ground and out of buissness has foundation?

[mellon002]

I think perhaps the situation with Sebastian Sainsbury is the most telling of what you're talking about. This guy should be treated as a savior at Leeds and instead the board has not trusted him one single bit. He's still hanging around, so he must have some kind of money. There are signs pointing both ways. I'm not ready to buy the conspiracy theories yet.

[Dyvel]

I think perhaps the situation with Sebastian Sainsbury is the most telling of what you're talking about. This guy should be treated as a savior at Leeds and instead the board has not trusted him one single bit. He's still hanging around, so he must have some kind of money. There are signs pointing both ways. I'm not ready to buy the conspiracy theories yet.

Perhaps the current board is worried about their own employment status at the club? If Sainsbury takes control would he promptly sack them all and bring in his own people? I don't believe in the conspiracy theories at all rather, I see incompetence and mismanagement at the board level.

[danielmak]

I saw a report on Sky Sports News on Fox Sports World last year (around the time that it looked like Leeds wasn't going to stay in the Prem) that Leeds was one of the top ten earners in sports. I don't know what the context was (i.e., was this all sports teams around the world, all soccer teams around the world, all soccer teams in England, all sports teams in England, etc.). However, if Leeds was a top ten earner then selling players like Ferdianad and Keane and then Kewell and Fowler should have gone a long way. The other thing is that the quality of players was still very high last year. If you think about the CL semis side, the side last year wasn't totally different. Yes, some players were gone but a lot were still there. I think the financial situation dragged the players down (we see something similar happening in Dortmund). I do think some of the heart was gone once players like Mills and Bowyer had been sold but the squad was still good enough.

Roma was in bad shape last year (one player, Lima, threatened to sit out because he hadn't been paid) yet the team finished second in Serie A. But I think this is a rare scenario. In general the off field financial problems ultimately wear the players down for some reason. Perhaps they feel like they are tied to a sinking ship and just want to jump off. Of course this attitude ignores the history of a club (and in Leeds case a rich history) and a loyal fan base. Take care.

[BerwynBlazers]

http://www.soccer365.com/EUROPEAN_NEWS/Premiership/page_99_89101.shtml

Well this explains where some of the money is going. Leeds spent the most money on agent fees of any team in England, over 1.5 million pounds. I thought we learned our lesson with the whole Kewell fiasco but I guess not.