agreeing to join the premier league
Worst decisions ever made by PL clubs?
- Thread starter Spaghetti Legs
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Yeah, we all know about us, its pointing out the obvious and been done to death.
The Leeds shout, probably top of the pile and then some.
Sacking Rafa
(runs for cover)
(runs for cover)
Changing managers. They make no difference at all yet every club has changed one since 1992. I don't really understand why they keep hiring such pointless entities
Spending €9 million on an unknown Portuguese second division player called Bébé to launder money to the bank account of the so called best referee in England....
Ferguson laundered it from one account to his 2nd account you mean?
I mentioned Leeds United's collapse due to overspending earlier in the thread. Now that should've been a lesson to be heeded by everyone else, but years later, another club would do the same - enter Portsmouth.
And some of the Championship promotion hopefuls are maybe a step away from a similar disaster.
Blackburn, Leicester and QPR are rumoured to be among the clubs in the Championship considering legal action against the league's FFP rules (source: http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/feb/26/financial-fair-play-clubs-threat-football-league). But look at this excerpt:
Championship sources have said the clubs objecting include Leicester City (whose most recent accounts, for 2011-12, show the club lost £30m), Queens Park Rangers (who lost £23m in 2012) and Blackburn Rovers (who lost £37m in 2013). The League One club which Brabners says it represents is believed to be Wolverhampton Wanderers. Their most recent accounts, for the 2011-12 season when they were in the Premier League, show a £2m profit but they have since suffered consecutive relegations.
And some of the Championship promotion hopefuls are maybe a step away from a similar disaster.
Blackburn, Leicester and QPR are rumoured to be among the clubs in the Championship considering legal action against the league's FFP rules (source: http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/feb/26/financial-fair-play-clubs-threat-football-league). But look at this excerpt:
Championship sources have said the clubs objecting include Leicester City (whose most recent accounts, for 2011-12, show the club lost £30m), Queens Park Rangers (who lost £23m in 2012) and Blackburn Rovers (who lost £37m in 2013). The League One club which Brabners says it represents is believed to be Wolverhampton Wanderers. Their most recent accounts, for the 2011-12 season when they were in the Premier League, show a £2m profit but they have since suffered consecutive relegations.
Monday 26 November 2012
I've no regrets, says man who sold Cantona
Leeds managing director Bill Fotherby not sorry to sell man who inspired Man Utd to titles
Eric Cantona's goal against Leeds in 1996 led to Howard Wilkinson's departure. Click on the photo to see a video about Eric Cantona's time at United
Twenty years ago, Eric Cantona left Leeds United, the champions, to join Manchester United. For a fee that was thought to be about £1 million, the Frenchman crossed the Pennines to inspire Sir Alex Ferguson's team to the first of 12 Barclays Premier League titles, of which four were won in the first five years that Cantona was at Old Trafford.
The man who made the phone call that resulted in Cantona joining Manchester United insists he would do exactly the same again. Leeds managing director Bill Fotherby rang Manchester United chairman Martin Edwards enquiring about buying full-back Denis Irwin but ended up selling Cantona to Old Trafford instead. What is less well known is that Fotherby never bothered contacting Leeds' manager of the time, Howard Wilkinson, about Edwards' request.
While Cantona went on to secure legendary status among United fans, Leeds never reached the heights of the season before. Indeed, a 4-0 defeat by United at Elland Road in September 1996, in which Cantona scored a last-minute goal in front of the Kop, marked the end of Wilkinson's time at the club. But Fotherby has no regrets. Now 81 and based in Harrogate, he remembers the Cantona episode clearly.
"Because of that when we met his advisors to put together a deal we agreed to pay Eric something like £500,000 if we kept him after an initial period of a few months. It was an immense amount of money for Leeds - not money we had at any rate - but we agreed to it because we had this recommendation from Platini and we judged the most important thing was to get the player and deal with the rest afterwards."
But there were difficulties almost immediately. "Apart from Lee Chapman, no one in the squad spoke fluent French and for Howard it was a bit of a nightmare," Fotherby said. "Although we won the title, there was just no connection between them.
"We had a disaster against Rangers in the European Cup and were coming up to the point where this additional £500,000 had to be paid. Howard told me to find Eric another club."
Fotherby had not acted on the request when full-back Mel Sterland got injured. "I rang United about Denis Irwin, who had been at Leeds as a young boy," said Fotherby. "Martin Edwards said there was no chance but I asked him to at least speak to [manager] Alex [Ferguson].
"Normally, I wouldn't have expected him to ring back. This time he did, offering me a different player I knew Howard would not be interested in. It was then he asked about Eric. I said absolutely no way and that it was impossible. But obviously I knew what Howard felt about him, and I knew this additional payment was due.
"As I had done before, Martin asked if I would talk to Howard. On that particular day Howard was out house-hunting in Leeds, so the only person I actually spoke to was [coach] Mick Hennigan. I just said, 'I can't believe it. Guess what has come right out of the blue. Howard will absolutely love it.'
"I left it a couple of hours, rang Martin back and said, 'I can't believe this but Howard is willing to let the boy go'."
And so the deal was rushed through.
"Our fans were bothered," said Fotherby. "They were really bothered. But I would do exactly the same again.
"Sometimes people just move to a certain club at a certain time and become something they would never have been anywhere else. The fact it was Manchester United gave it an edge I suppose but they were the ones who made the offer for a player our manager did not want.
"Howard was an absolute perfectionist. He wanted his players to be disciplined and adhere to a certain team pattern. Eric just didn't fit it. Alex Ferguson gave him a free role and probably wasn't quite as strict with Eric as Howard would have been. Eric liked to play to the crowd. That wasn't Howard's way at all."
And Fotherby refuses to criticise Wilkinson for the sale. "It is not a question of blaming Howard," he said. "I believed in him and won't hear a bad word against him. He was Leeds' best manager since Don Revie - and probably still is.
"He brought in Gordon Strachan, Gary McAllister and Tony Yeboah. He won us the league. And all the time we were doing it on a shoestring, asking sponsors to chip in here and there to make up the bits we didn't have. For eight years, it worked."
I've no regrets, says man who sold Cantona
Leeds managing director Bill Fotherby not sorry to sell man who inspired Man Utd to titles
Eric Cantona's goal against Leeds in 1996 led to Howard Wilkinson's departure. Click on the photo to see a video about Eric Cantona's time at United
Twenty years ago, Eric Cantona left Leeds United, the champions, to join Manchester United. For a fee that was thought to be about £1 million, the Frenchman crossed the Pennines to inspire Sir Alex Ferguson's team to the first of 12 Barclays Premier League titles, of which four were won in the first five years that Cantona was at Old Trafford.
The man who made the phone call that resulted in Cantona joining Manchester United insists he would do exactly the same again. Leeds managing director Bill Fotherby rang Manchester United chairman Martin Edwards enquiring about buying full-back Denis Irwin but ended up selling Cantona to Old Trafford instead. What is less well known is that Fotherby never bothered contacting Leeds' manager of the time, Howard Wilkinson, about Edwards' request.
While Cantona went on to secure legendary status among United fans, Leeds never reached the heights of the season before. Indeed, a 4-0 defeat by United at Elland Road in September 1996, in which Cantona scored a last-minute goal in front of the Kop, marked the end of Wilkinson's time at the club. But Fotherby has no regrets. Now 81 and based in Harrogate, he remembers the Cantona episode clearly.
"Although we won the title, there was just no connection between them"
Bill Fotherby
"We had got Eric on a recommendation from Michel Platini, who told Howard Wilkinson he could be very difficult to handle but had the potential to be a great player," Fotherby told PA Sport. "At the time, we didn't have any money. People thought we had won the pools but we were actually potless.Bill Fotherby
"Because of that when we met his advisors to put together a deal we agreed to pay Eric something like £500,000 if we kept him after an initial period of a few months. It was an immense amount of money for Leeds - not money we had at any rate - but we agreed to it because we had this recommendation from Platini and we judged the most important thing was to get the player and deal with the rest afterwards."
But there were difficulties almost immediately. "Apart from Lee Chapman, no one in the squad spoke fluent French and for Howard it was a bit of a nightmare," Fotherby said. "Although we won the title, there was just no connection between them.
"We had a disaster against Rangers in the European Cup and were coming up to the point where this additional £500,000 had to be paid. Howard told me to find Eric another club."
Fotherby had not acted on the request when full-back Mel Sterland got injured. "I rang United about Denis Irwin, who had been at Leeds as a young boy," said Fotherby. "Martin Edwards said there was no chance but I asked him to at least speak to [manager] Alex [Ferguson].
"Normally, I wouldn't have expected him to ring back. This time he did, offering me a different player I knew Howard would not be interested in. It was then he asked about Eric. I said absolutely no way and that it was impossible. But obviously I knew what Howard felt about him, and I knew this additional payment was due.
"As I had done before, Martin asked if I would talk to Howard. On that particular day Howard was out house-hunting in Leeds, so the only person I actually spoke to was [coach] Mick Hennigan. I just said, 'I can't believe it. Guess what has come right out of the blue. Howard will absolutely love it.'
"I left it a couple of hours, rang Martin back and said, 'I can't believe this but Howard is willing to let the boy go'."
And so the deal was rushed through.
"Our fans were bothered," said Fotherby. "They were really bothered. But I would do exactly the same again.
"Alex probably wasn't quite as strict with Eric as Howard would have been"
Bill Fotherby
"Eric was absolutely magnificent for them but it is not all one way, we got something similar when Gordon Strachan came to us and took us from Division Two to champions. Before that, Johnny Giles came from Manchester United and look what he did for Leeds. It happens.Bill Fotherby
"Sometimes people just move to a certain club at a certain time and become something they would never have been anywhere else. The fact it was Manchester United gave it an edge I suppose but they were the ones who made the offer for a player our manager did not want.
"Howard was an absolute perfectionist. He wanted his players to be disciplined and adhere to a certain team pattern. Eric just didn't fit it. Alex Ferguson gave him a free role and probably wasn't quite as strict with Eric as Howard would have been. Eric liked to play to the crowd. That wasn't Howard's way at all."
And Fotherby refuses to criticise Wilkinson for the sale. "It is not a question of blaming Howard," he said. "I believed in him and won't hear a bad word against him. He was Leeds' best manager since Don Revie - and probably still is.
"He brought in Gordon Strachan, Gary McAllister and Tony Yeboah. He won us the league. And all the time we were doing it on a shoestring, asking sponsors to chip in here and there to make up the bits we didn't have. For eight years, it worked."
The curious story of Seth Johnson's transfer from Derby to Leeds.
So the story goes, he was on £7k at Derby - when he and his agent went in to negotiate his contract at Leeds, his a agent said "ask for £20k, settle for £15k".
Before Johnson had a chance to speak, Riddsdale offered him £25k a week. Shocked, Johnson replied "What?".
Riddsdale's response..... He offered Johnson £35k a week.
Big bucks in those days.
So the story goes, he was on £7k at Derby - when he and his agent went in to negotiate his contract at Leeds, his a agent said "ask for £20k, settle for £15k".
Before Johnson had a chance to speak, Riddsdale offered him £25k a week. Shocked, Johnson replied "What?".
Riddsdale's response..... He offered Johnson £35k a week.
Big bucks in those days.
I'd heard this one through a friend... Fact or suburban myth?
A sensible former boss of mine once worked for Ridsdale (not at Leeds Utd.) and rated him. He clearly left his business sense at the door when he went to do his footy jobs.
Yeah hindsight is 20/20. I wanted Rafa out but when we hired Woy and later on Kenny I realised our mistake.
They got most of their money back for him from Chelsea. In that regard it was mainly Chelseas mistake
Damn quiffer
They weren't in it when they did it, but Cardiff changing their home kit from blue to red. Imagine our owners saying 'we play in all blue now. So fuck you.'
Tan is a a fucking tool.
Tan is a a fucking tool.
It wasn't a mistake. The fact that Roy was a disaster and that the King didn't work out in the end doesn't change the fact that it was time for Rafa to go.
Missed your one soz. I have removed my like from furyoo as he is a damn quiffer
Thats true but I would have rather kept Rafa if the option was Woy.
I guess so, but - with 20/20 hindsight again - the best option would have been to keep Kenny as interim manager and do a proper executive search while he was in post.
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