Dodging the bullet

A couple of teams – Leeds United is one – have dodged the bullet through use of underhand means. No doubt Leeds United has been facing financial woes for the past few seasons. However, they only have themselves to blame. If David O’ Leary and Chairman Peter Ridsdale spent beyond the club’s true spending capacity then the fault lies with the club.

The huge amounts of monies being spent to buy players and to pay them their salaries were not made out of financial soundness but rather based on presumptions. The club thought they would qualify for the Champions League season after season and that all the money they had splurged would come back to them with interest.

To make matters worse the new signings were less than what they were made out to be, and these players soon belied the high expectations everyone had from them. By borrowing money to purchase these players Chairman Ridsdale left the club open to financial trouble.

Soon Leeds Utd got demoted and Europe remained a distant dream for the supporters and for the club. Out went O’ Leary and Ridsdale and a new person came in. Also the best Leeds’ players had to be sold off, and after three seasons out of the Premier League, Leeds suffered the ignominy of having to play out of the Championship.

To avoid further relegation, Leeds went into administration and this resulted in ten points being deducted in the present season rather than from the previous season.