Sweet dream or a beautiful nightmare?

By Mike Courtney

The day has finally arrived. The takeover of Leeds United has been announced and GFH Capital are to be the new owners once the Football League ratifies them and D-Day is 21st of December.

So the takeover isn't complete then, we have to wait another month!!!!! Oh why oh why can things not be simple when it comes to Leeds United. As a famous Northern Irish comedian used to say "Come here there's more". When GFH complete the 100% takeover of the club in December Ken Bates will remain as Chairman until the end of the season and then become President of the Club. So the hate figure for the fans remains at the club What ever happened to the previous statements that Bates would no longer have a role at the club? And not only that but Shaun Harvey remains at the club also. This does not sound like a Takeover to me but an investment of funds with the same regime in place be it in slightly different roles.

Or am I being too cynical? Does it really matter once this season is over that Bates moves into an honorary role and in his own words "takes a step back"? Is this a way of making the transition smoother thus making the club more stable? Or is it one more masterstroke by Bates in, as some see it, his plan to ruin Leeds United. 

Correct me if I'm wrong but when Abramovich took control at Chelsea didn't Uncle Ken stay on in some capacity for a brief period of time? That didn't work out too badly for them now did it? So again I'll  reserve judgement on this part of the deal and wait and see what happens further down the line.

The most important thing is that we start to turn things around on the pitch and that means major investment by the new owners to bring in 3 or 4 new quality loan signings before tomorrow (I'm not asking for much am I?) with a view to permanent deals in January. Will this happen? Again I'm dubious because if it was to be so, why would Warnock bring back Poleon from his loan spell at Bury?, something that should have happened weeks ago when we we're light up front. Surely if he was going to be able to strengthen the squad before tomorrow he would have left him there to gain valuable experience. To me it looks like we won't have the funds or most likely the time to reinforce before the loan window closes, which will only lead to the conspiratory theorists having a field day about Bates motives and timing of the announcement. 

We have endured a terrible run of League form not having won since the lucky home win against Barnsley in September. This has been down to the lack of quality strength in depth of the squad and this is the issue that needs to be addressed by the "New Owners" immediately and once this is done and the team is winning and climbing the table again the fans won't give a monkey's who is President once we are heading in the right direction. 

So I for one am tentatively pleased with today's announcement. It could have been better but at least we are that bit closer to what we've all been waiting for since this takeover was first mooted in June. A
little bit closer to that sweet dream and moving away from the nightmare that has been the last 10 years at Elland Road. 

MOT Leeds Leeds Leeds

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