Leeds United in Meltdown

Over the past couple of months I have been blogging about everything refereeing for this fabulous Pitch Talk website.This week I want to put all the refereeing issues aside and write about a club who are very close to my heart. Leeds United is a team I have supported since been a nipper. Over the years I have followed this once great club and although they have dropped down the leagues, I am always tuned into there matches on a match day.A few seasons ago I was lucky to be invited onto the committee of the Leeds United Dublin members club, working alongside Chairman Noel Rice. Of the many events we attended the most memorable, was an afternoon in the company of then owner Ken Bates at a lunch to honour the late Lord Harewood. I know a lot of fans never liked Uncle Ken but what happened over the past couple of days would certainly never have happened under the watchful eye of Mr.Bates. Let me try and unravel the total mess the club has got it itself in over the past few days.

As we know the owners GFH have been trying to offload the club in recent times. A few deals were on the table and had fallen through for whatever reason. On Friday,GFH seem to strike a deal with Cagliari owner a certain Italian called Mr.Cellino As the news broke,fans of the club were up in arms and didn't  want the Italian anywhere near the club. The Italian has a record of sacking coaches at the drop of a hat.What was needed at the club was stability and not more uncertainty something the new owner would bring. Right on cue with his previous escapades Cellino sacked Leeds manager Brian McDermott late on Friday evening.Uproar was to follow and fans headed to Elland Road to vent there anger over the Italians decision to sack the popular McDermott. Problems had been brewing for the two men during the week as Mr.Cellino spent time looking around his proposed new club. It culminated in Leeds manager Brian McDermott refusing to let Cellino,s man Gianluca Festa sit on the bench for Tuesday nights game against Ipswich.I would have thought the writing was on the wall for McDermott,and his days were numbered at Elland Road.

What developed on Saturday was something you would only see in a soap opera.With only hours to kick off for a home game against Huddersfield,fans anger was been vented on the streets,Facebook,Twitter and all other social networks. During what turned out to be a super performance by Leeds on the pitch in which they stuffed there local rivals five one, news was breaking that indeed Brian McDermott had not been sacked and the new owner wanted to reinstate him after all the fans unrest about his original decision to release the manager from his contract. The phone apparent phonecall to McDermott was from Cellino's solicitor and not the owner himself. GFH claimed they knew nothing about the sacking at all. Therefore the deal had not been rubber stamped by the Football league as the new owner would have had to pass the proper persons test to allow new owners to take over the club. I can only imagine that McDermott's sacking was illegal, leading to the you turn on Saturday.

Now if I can play devils advocate for a while and pass on my views over the whole situation. I personally have not been happy with the teams performance over the period that Brian was in charge. An awful run of defeats was topped off by a six nil drubbing away at Sheffield Wednesday. I thought Brian should have been sacked after that defeat but feel GFH either had not got the money or the balls to remove such a popular figure with the fans. What the team did to Huddersfield on Saturday was incredible and great credit should be handed out to every Leeds player on the pitch. Let us not forget these are the same players that Brian had sent into battle over the previous weeks without getting any victories.

This morning Brian returned to Thorp Arch to take training after looking for assurances from the owners his job was safe. I don't see this love affair lasting very long and if results don't pick up dramatically,he could be on his way out again very shortly.The other thing that has to be looked at here is,the Italian Mr.Cellino is a very wealthy man and has said he wants to invest in the team.Now when was the last time Leeds United fans heard those words spoken around the offices of Leeds United. On Friday when I heard the deal was struck to bring in the Italian, I for one was of the opinion to let him have a go.Especially if he wanted to bring in players.Whether Brian and him can work together after this farce is for another day,but I feel the Italian deserves a chance to take this great club back to where it belongs,the top league in the country. As I finish off this article I do feel this saga is not over and could run and run.In my opinion it needs to be sorted and sorted fast as we don't want to lose another season in Leeds second home,the court chambers. One thing I do know for sure this would not have happened under Ken Bates ownership.