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"`The Nutty Professor´"

After the money-wasting reign of Peter Ridsdale, Leeds United fans must've thought that all the dark-clouds were finally moving-away; giving them the chance to finally get back-on-track, towards the top-half of the Premiership, again, where a club of their stature (thanks to David O'Leary) truly belongs.

Ridsdale may no long be around to waste a fortune on brand-new goldfish for his office on a weekly basis, or highly-priced "treats" for both himself and the rest of the board at Elland Road; but his damage still remains, with the club facing a debt of almost £80m! And so, Professor John McKenzie opts for a quick job-swap with Leeds to try and clean-up the "disaster", and steer the club he loves on and towards the higher-lights of European Football - of which they once so-nearly tasted...

`Mission: Impossible´? it so very-well seems to be, yes.
John McKenzie is no foreign `billionaire´? like Roman Abramovich, so it was always going to be a struggle for an ordinary "Professor" to turn things around so drasticly; saving the club from any future 'horrors' that may lie in store for them now...


But that was all last season. Leeds were struggling enough on-the-pitch to compete with Terry Venables in-charge; let along what chaos McKenzie must've have found the club in, off it.

One-year has passed and things have changed at Elland Road.
But, really, it doesn't appear to be all-that-different, even now....


A year in the job now. And what has the `Professor´? done to improve things?
Well... From what I can see, very little!!
As you'll probably have noticed, all the financial-figures came-out earlier this week, and things are certainly not looking to "rosey" for Leeds United...
In the 12-months up until June 30th this year, Leeds United FC have a club-record annual-loss of almost £50m. Yes, that's Fifty-Million-Pounds! Nothing but "loose-change" for Russian Abramovich; with which he nabbed Damien Duff and Adrian Mutu, this Summer - with cash still remaining for Joe Cole in that one-pocket!
But for Leeds United, things haven't gotten any better at all! In fact, they appear to be sliding further DOWN that hill, instead of climbing up it!


Oh, how I'd hate to be a Leeds fan right now! Although, given the circumstances, you can't help but feel sorry to see them where they are now, after how close they came to Champions' League glory only a couple of years ago.

Things may be getting even worse behind-the-scenes at Elland Road, but improvements are hardly being shown on the pitch, either. And Peter Reid appears to be the 'man-to-blame' for their current Relegation-threatened situation, after having also been knocked-out of the "worthless" Carling Cup recently against an under-par Manchester United line-up of youngsters and reserve-team "rejects".
They may have put up a good fight on Tuesday night - and even came very-close to winning it, several times - but they do not look the same side that once stuck 'fear' into even the Premiership's toughest defences; setting the game alight with dazzling footwork, well-worked set-plays and goals you be `proud? to have taped-over last night's episode of EastEnders with (no matter how "unhappy" your wife would be!).

With their financial-situation, Leeds were always gonna need money fast - and still do, obviously! Now, unless you know how to attract a "Roman Abramovich" from whichever rock or stone he may be secretly "hiding" under, selling your team's players is always gonna be your best option at getting large-sums of money, fast.
Peter Ridsdale knew this, and so United had a huge "exodus" on their hands; with players like Rio Ferdinand, Robbie Fowler, Robbie Keane and Jonothan Woodgate all on-their-way out of the club they loved.
But despite the fact that Rio Ferdinand completed a record-breaking £30m move to Old Trafford, while several other sales also raked-in a large-sum of money, it wasn't as if Leeds' financial problems began to 'ease' or anything...
In fact, they only seemed to get worse still!!


No matter how many more Leeds sold, and no matter how little they actually spent on new signings, this 'get-out-of-jail-quick' strategy clearly wasn't helping - especially when a player of Harry Kewell's calibre leaves for only £5m!

With all these out-goings, Leeds were starting to look very-thin on first-team squad numbers, and knew they weren't gonna be able to draw-up XI-men of new Kewell's, Woodgate's and Bowyer's from nothing!

McKenzie may essentially be a business-man, but if he was any part of the life-long Leeds United fan he has claimed to be, surely he'd know that you can only lose so-much of your team before "improvement" becomes a tough objective to achieve...?


The good news for Leeds fans, though, is that he now seems content with keeping players like Alan Smith, Paul Robinson and Mark Viduka at the club, despite what you may have read in the 'papers and how badly they may need the money if things get worse still, 6-months down-the-line - and I'm sure the newly-appointed caretaker will feel the same way.
Last season, they managed to narrowly avoid-the-drop to Division One by mere POINTS, thanks in part to the influence Harry Kewell had on their attack when his team neeed the points most.

So, then comes the Summer, and arguably Leeds United's greatest player to-date is sold... For less than a quarter of the price he has been valued at in recent years!
Because of McKenzie's idiocy (which he blames on Leeds' 'need' for quick-cash), Leeds lost not only a great player on the pitch, but the chance of any real sum of money that could've gone a long-way to helping reduce that debt by a good £20m.
£5m for a world-class player like Harry Kewell is NOT a good "busniess deal" in any way. Leeds fans may still feel he should've never left, but really, he was the one-player in their squad who could attract the kind of money they need.

...But if the need is so "urgent", why on Earth did he let him go for "Peanuts"?!?
With the deal of intersted that was envloved at the time - involving the biggest names in European Football - why was more money not instantly demanded??
Didn't Peter Reid get any say in this? After all, isn't it the manager's job to do all this...
He may (physically) be a "Monkey" by nature, but I bet even he'd have told Liverpool and co. to go for £20m-minimum, or just go back home now - for the good of the club as a whole.


Five-million-pounds... You could throw it all on the Lottery or a 'winning'-horse and you'd still have 'nothing' to help clear that £78m debt Leeds have.

And with no money, it's not like Leeds have been able to fully 'replace' Harry Kewell and co. either. Sure, Solomon Olembé and Lamine Sakho alone look like they have the abillity to turn-things-arond for Leeds one-day, but like Roque Junior and Camara at the back, these players have only signed ON-LOAN. If they haven't got the money to buy them now, who's to say they'll still be at Elland Road next season?
...And that's where "incosistency" will strike! Unless they CAN find the money soon...

You see, that £20m really could've gone a long way to rebuilding the team...!


He may now be moving-on to another new position on the board at Elland Road, but to me, Professor John McKenzie hasn't helped things move-forward at all, since he took-over from the tyrant that started it all: Peter Ridsdale.
He can babble-on all he likes about how Leeds are "turning the corner" right now, but the figures don't lie!

Anyone who believes a club facing financial-ruin, with a paper-thin squad, staring Relegation in the face, and STILL thinks the club are moving forward from this after yet another defeat in midweek can only be fooling himself!



Instead of making things 'better', they get a lot worse for Leeds United FC...
He appoints a "Monkey" who's never done anything 'special' in the past as the club's new manager for the forth-coming season...
And then he goes and tries to tell us all that things are alright....

I give you: ``The Nutty Professor´´!
(...Only, he ain't black!)

Not saying that it would clear there debts by any means, but that 3.7 Million would sure help.

And that was based on them finishing runners up and cup holders on all 22 occasions!

FA Cup payments to clubs:

Third Round Proper winners (32)
£50,000


Fourth Round Proper winners (16)
£75,000


Fifth Round Proper winners (8)
£150,000


Sixth Round Proper winners (4)
£400,000


Runners-Up (1)
£1,000,000


Winners (1)
£2,000,000

So, at £3.7million a year, they'd only have to take a record 22 FA Cup wins to wipe out their debts. Go Leeds!

I can't see Mark Viduka taking a pay-cut. He's a quality player and I don't think he'll stay at Leeds either.
                                                                         
He turned up LATE Twice in a row and it seems like he is not bothered about playing for Leeds anymore.

It could perhaps be a signal of him trying to make the manager sell him, instead of saying that he wants to leave Leeds and have the fans on his back.

I might be wrong.

Alan Smith and Paul Robinson look set to stay with Leeds and I'd like them to prove they are with Leeds by taking a paycut.

All Leeds can hope for now is survival in the Premiership, and trying for a cup to at least reduce the debt, even though it won't be by much.

I meant 30% and a contract, naturally.

Leeds would make almost nothing out of selling Viduka, as he is part (mostly) owned by other parties. Leeds have about 70% and a contract, meaning that any finds they receive will mostly go to other people.

They'd probably receive about the same they got for Kewell, and hence Viduka is more of an asset to Leeds on the pitch than in the transfer market.

Getting the players to take a big pay-cut would surely help things, yes.
Not only would it help to drastically reduce Leeds' out-goings; giving them more space for the income (providing Trevor Birch does a better job that the last 2!); but we would also find out just who is there because they WANT to play for the club, and who is there just to pick-up their inflated wages...!

Mark Viduka will surely leave the club though.
Maybe not in January, but I can't see him there much longer.

He made his intentions of leaving clear back in the Summer, and surely cannot be as dedicated as the likes of Alan Smith and Paul Robinson, who REALLY Love the club. And Reid leaving out of the squad to face Arsénal can't have helped things - even if he did deserve it, given the circumstances at this troubling time.

If he wasn't commited at the start of the season, who'se to say he will be later on? Leeds could save an extra £60,000-a-week-PLUS with his departure, and perhaps get something close to £10m for him (provided Birch doesn't let them get held to ransom, like the others).


Bah! Some git in one of the Mirror 'papers over the weekend nicked my ideas, and also - "coincidentally" dubbed McKenzie as "the nutty professor", also! :P

And I'm sure it's not the first-time I've seen that newspaper nick ideas from my topics in this forum, either...! :@

Surely when selling all their players, they should've been cropping the ones with the highest wages first?

The Leeds Utd plyers should all agree to a 40% pay cut or something to reduce all this spending. that's what Ipswich did once, and it helped their situation. Although it was only a debt of £20m in their case, this could esae worrie of escalation slightly.

VenomByte wrote:
> No extortionate transfer fees. No players left to pay wages to.

Viduka is on £60,000 a week.

And for a lowly club, like Leeds are now, that isn't too helpful.