Ken Bates: Cause or solution of our problems
In all my time as a football fan and a Leeds fan I have never seen peoples opinion so split on one person has it is on Ken Bates I myself don’t even know what I truly feel about him.
A lot has happened to our team since Bates has been the owner but how much of it was his fault and how much of it did he make worse.
When Bates first took over we where days away from folding if reports are to be believed, And he was the only person willing to take the gamble and put the cash up to keep us going so for that we have to be grateful to him.
With the level of debut the club had it was inevitable we would go into administration at some point so can we really blame that on Bates. A lot of people complain about the way he did it but surely he was just doing what was best for the club so can we really blame him for the administration?
Then comes the big one the -15 points, was this bates fault or would it have happened no matter who was in charge? The -15 points was because the Inland Revenue would not agree to the Iva was this bates fault and could it have been avoided.
Only time will tell on this one if all teams that go into administration get -15 points then it was not bates fault and again he will have done nothing wrong.
So that brings to where we are now League 1 but we now have a stable squad and are debt free yes it sucks in this league but I feel the club is more together than it has been in years.
Elland road is full of pure Leeds fans again not the ones who just turned up for the Champions league. The -15 points brought the fans together and gave the team passion so was it really that bad to get them.
This season is do or die for what I feel about Bates, if we get out of this league this season and if he can deliver our Stadium back then I think we have to accept that bates has done a good job.
My personal opinon for what it’s worth:
-15 points which was 25 really (thanks FL) – Luton have -30 this season so -40 overall which is appalling and completely out of order so I think this is a FL problem rather than Bates.
I think there’s no chance of getting the stadium/facilities back any time soon – Bates/LUFC just don’t have the money. I think we’ll be paying the loans for years to come.
On Bates, I think he’s going to sell but no-one will buy until Leeds get into Championship, when they might be worth an investment. I think the stark facts are that Bates just doesn’t have enough money to take Leeds to the Premiership. I think he’s a bit of a rogue but he definitely saved Leeds and we’re stuck with him. To be honest, I don’t think he could have done any more over last 2 seasons and he got the right manager in eventually (Wise did his job but was never going to stay).
Great site by the way!!