More Leeds madness

[sendorange]

I know they're still badly in debt. But selling Robinson for just over 3 million?????

http://sports.yahoo.com/sow/news?slug=reu-leedsrobinson&prov=reuters&type=lgns

That's insane, selling Kewell I can perfectly understand, same goes with selling Viduka. I think selling Smith would be a mistake for them, but nowhere near as big as practically giving away Robinson.

Now this news has got it, I'm sure the big clubs will come circling. I think Arsenal et al would be mad not to make a move for him at this price. He's a wonderfully talented goalkeeper, he just needs big match experience.

[Brainodo]

Originally posted by sendorange
I know they're still badly in debt. But selling Robinson for just over 3 million?????

That's insane, selling Kewell I can perfectly understand, same goes with selling Viduka. I think selling Smith would be a mistake for them, but nowhere near as big as practically giving away Robinson.

If they're in as much trouble as they appear to be, it's either that or administration/oblivion, even then, they're still in the cack.

It's about time more people in football woke up to this.

[Catfish]

Leeds has some real talent, but money problems seem to always be the issue in the Prem. When are they going to get hip to salary cap? Unless you are Man Utd, Liverpool, or Arsenal or anyother of the top 5 or maaaaaybeeee 7 clubs, who really can't compete with the big boys year in and year out.

Viduka and Kewell are good pair and breaking them would be ashame.

PS. My wife likes Leeds because of their sponsor...Strongbow Cider! LOL...she tried it on our honeymoon to the UK and has been hooked ever since.

[AvidSinger]

Maybe Leeds should have an auction....

[Matt Clark]

Maybe publicly accepting a low bid from a less attractive club int he full knowledge that Arsenal and Manchester United are watching developments closely is exactly that?

[sendorange]

Good point Matt, but it's a very risky strategy though. By doing this they're saying that Robinson is available and for not as much as people thought.

Just because they accepted a low offer from Aston Villa doesn't mean that Man U or Arsenal will come in with a bigger offer to start an auction. They might just wait for Robinson to reject Villa, then come in a week later with a similar low offer.

Leeds will then have little option but to accept, if they refuse, all they will have accomplished is to convince Robinson his future lies elsewhere in the short term, and further destroy the confidence of the players and the fans, right at the point when people are thinking about buying season tickets.

[RichardL]

Originally posted by Patrick1234
When are they going to get hip to salary cap?
It's not really wages that crippled Leeds, but paying huge transfer fees and gambling on getting to the champions league to pay for them. TV money is really damaging the game, creating artificial drops in income that are impossible to budget for.

[Catfish]

Didn't realize that TV has such a strangle hold on the game.

[M]

Originally posted by sendorange
Good point Matt, but it's a very risky strategy though. By doing this they're saying that Robinson is available and for not as much as people thought.

Just because they accepted a low offer from Aston Villa doesn't mean that Man U or Arsenal will come in with a bigger offer to start an auction. They might just wait for Robinson to reject Villa, then come in a week later with a similar low offer.

Leeds will then have little option but to accept, if they refuse, all they will have accomplished is to convince Robinson his future lies elsewhere in the short term, and further destroy the confidence of the players and the fans, right at the point when people are thinking about buying season tickets.

It's a risky strategy, but perhaps yoo could think of it like an auction with a low reserve price? Such auctions often garner more interest - and ultimately a higher price - for the same 'item' than one with a higher reserve.

[RichardL]

Originally posted by Patrick1234
Didn't realize that TV has such a strangle hold on the game.

It is a very serious problem. In the past there was always a difference in incomes of clubs, and clubs would still overreach themselves, the difference was that it was fairly progressive. The difference between finishing 4th or 5th would really have made much difference at all, now it can be the difference between breaking even or posting a £10 million loss. Relegation, which still hurt in the past, is now almost crippling if the club doesn't get straight back up. Sharing TV cash with the nationwide may be seen as asking turkey's to vote for christmas, but it's the clubs at the bottom end of the premier who are going to eventually suffer because of it, so they really ought to think about it rather than sticking their heads in the sand and hoping they'll be OK.

[monop_poly]

Originally posted by Patrick1234
Didn't realize that TV has such a strangle hold on the game.

WAKE UP!

[mactheknife]

Originally posted by monop_poly
WAKE UP!

three letters:

I
T
V

[AvidSinger]

Originally posted by RichardL
It is a very serious problem. In the past there was always a difference in incomes of clubs, and clubs would still overreach themselves, the difference was that it was fairly progressive. The difference between finishing 4th or 5th would really have made much difference at all, now it can be the difference between breaking even or posting a £10 million loss. Relegation, which still hurt in the past, is now almost crippling if the club doesn't get straight back up. Sharing TV cash with the nationwide may be seen as asking turkey's to vote for christmas, but it's the clubs at the bottom end of the premier who are going to eventually suffer because of it, so they really ought to think about it rather than sticking their heads in the sand and hoping they'll be OK. If you think about it, the first division playoff game between Wolves and Sheff Utd probably had as much money on the line as the Champions League final....

[Snuffles]

Still, it was the mismanagement of Leeds that caused the money problem, they gambled on achieving things to pay for money already spent.

The football league recently proposed a kind of salary cap, by capping it to a reasonable percentage of turnover, which just made me laugh, what kind of morons must be running clubs, so that the governing organisation has to order them not to spend more on wages than they recieve in turnover?

[Matt Clark]

Originally posted by RichardL
It's not really wages that crippled Leeds, but paying huge transfer fees and gambling on getting to the champions league to pay for them.

Hmmm. That's only partially true. For instance, Seth Johnson, that dynamo of a midfield reserve for Leeds United last season, cost NINE MILLION POUNDS from Derby. So far, so mad, so right, Richard.

BUT, and this is the kicker ... have a guess at his weekly wage.


















Thirty. Seven. Thousand. Pounds.

One of the reasons Leeds are selling players off like they are is because, prior to this mad firesale, they were running a revenue/wage ratio of about 88%. It is generally acknowledged that anything over 65% is decidely unhealthy. Woodgate went for that reason - he was on over thirty grand a week.

[voros]

Originally posted by Matt Clark
Hmmm. That's only partially true. For instance, Seth Johnson, that dynamo of a midfield reserve for Leeds United last season, cost NINE MILLION POUNDS from Derby. So far, so mad, so right, Richard.

My reaction to these sorts of things is the same when American sports teams do similar things. Boo frickin' hoo. If they didn't spend month's allowance on the first day at the candy store, they wouldn't wind up with an upset stomach and no candy for 4 more weeks.

Clearly there are plenty of Premiership Clubs and relegated clubs who have exhibited a modicum of fiscal restraint and while suffering through a downturn in the world economy, aren't crippled like Leeds.

All the reports I've seen from WBA indicate that they will be fine in Div. 1 next year financially, and that this allows them to take a reasonable and healthy stance on someone like Koumas who they can either keep for a promotion push or sell at a fair market rate. Why? Because when they won promotion they didn't drop truckloads of cash on players of questionable quality but premiership experience. Sure they were the only promoted side to be relegated, but they were the worst promoted side going in.

While it's very tough on Leeds supporters, especially since they weren't at all complicit in the spending spree, the club itself has gotten more or less what it deserved for running the club in an il-advised manner. Consequences for poor management is at the heart of what builds a strong competitive league, football darwinism if you will. Leeds has been shown a VERY valuable lesson in what not to do with your champions league money.

Most premiership teams need to realize that it's a lot cheaper to be Liverpool than it is ManU, and behave accordingly. Salary caps are not any kind of solution as in the long run it can only hurt the quality of the league. Some teams just have to be smarter or face the consequences. Having a much more progressive stance when it comes to acquiring and developing young talent would be a start.

[Matt Clark]

Agreed, agreed, agreed. I think that's what this thread is all about - financial indiscipline has led Leeds into this mess and it will take them some time to get back out of it, even now they have discovered their almost evangelical zeal for prudence.

[sendorange]

What is even worse about Leeds transfers like Seth Johnson and Robbie Fowler, is that even with Champions League football, they didn't really need them! It was just luxury buys, from a club which even if it got Champions League football every year was never going to be truly rich. They just don't have the wealthy supporter base, international appeal or sponsorship potential.

But anyway, this isn't a thread criticising Leeds for overspending, or an attack on their fans. It's a thread criticising how they're handling it. They should be offloading someone like Viduka, who I know there are potential takers for, ahead of someone like Robinson for a paltry sum. But instead they're doing their best to push Robinson out (who isn't even on a big wage contract, and has plenty of years to run). Thing is, Nigel Martyn is old, they'll need to buy a replacement soon anyway, and if they keep selling their players they're going to find out that relegation will make this situation a hell of a lot worse.

[sendorange]

Hah!

Just after I wrote that post I read these two news stories on Planetfootball:

Robinson talks with Villa break down
http://www.planetfootball.com/article.asp?id=152470&plid=&clid=&cpid=&title=Robbo+talks+break+down

Viduka to Barcelona?
http://www.planetfootball.com/article.asp?id=152416&plid=&clid=&cpid=&title=Barca+in+Viduka+talks

[giggs88]

Originally posted by sendorange
Hah!

Just after I wrote that post I read these two news stories on Planetfootball:

Robinson talks with Villa break down
http://www.planetfootball.com/article.asp?id=152470&plid=&clid=&cpid=&title=Robbo+talks+break+down

Viduka to Barcelona?
http://www.planetfootball.com/article.asp?id=152416&plid=&clid=&cpid=&title=Barca+in+Viduka+talks

viduka to barcelona? kewell and viduka the best pairing ever for leeds. hell, whats one without the other. leeds can probably sell kewell to man utd. :) (Kewell much bettter than ronaldinhio)