O'Neill signed as Leeds bossMESSIAH ... Ridsdale believed Martin O'Neill would save LeedsPETER RIDSDALE has revealed how Leeds had Martin O’Neill under contract to take over as manager.
The former Elland Road chairman details in his explosive book ‘United We Fall’ how O’Neill signed a pre-contract to replace Terry Venables — just three months before Ridsdale was forced out of the Yorkshire club.
Ridsdale blows the lid off the unknown story as he gambled on the man he calls ‘the Messiah’ rescuing Leeds from oblivion.
He had twice tried to get O’Neill when George Graham left for Spurs and when David O’Leary was sacked.
Ultimately, his third move for O’Neill was also doomed to fail, despite the current Aston Villa boss agreeing Leeds could announce his takeover.
Ridsdale writes: “Discussions over the phone led to a secret meeting at my house. Martin had come down to discuss terms and reach an agreement in a deal approved by the board.
“At long last, I’d captured the signature I had been chasing for so long — the man I’d wanted before David O’Leary, the man I’d wanted since George Graham’s reign.
Coup
"This was a coup I couldn’t wait to announce. At the third attempt the deal to bring Martin to Leeds was signed, sealed and waiting to be delivered to supporters. It was January 3, 2003.
“I’d worked tirelessly to persuade him to come and meet me ever since the clock struck midnight on New Year’s Eve.
“It meant he was free to discuss his future with other clubs with only six months remaining on his contract with Celtic.
“Excited and animated, he talked about the strengths and weaknesses of each Leeds player, which players he’d like to bring in.
" That day I’d agreed to pay him £2million a year to become the new Leeds manager. He left me with a signed document I could take to my board as evidence he’d finally agreed to come.
“It read ‘This document states that I will enter a pre-contract agreement with Leeds United AFC on Monday January 6, 2003 to become their football manager when my present contract expires on June 30, 2003 with Celtic FC.
‘I will come earlier if Celtic agree to release me from my contract. I am happy for Leeds to publicly announce the above statement on January 6. Yours sincerely, Martin O’Neill’.
"No one has ever known about this document before, no one was aware that a managerial rescue package was in place in early January 2003 as our season began to come off the rails.
“In six months the Messiah would arrive, subject to me being chairman — that was one of his stipulations.
“If we can hang on until then everything will be fine. But time was something I didn’t have on my side.
“Terry Venables was our manager at the time.
“It was agreed by the board that we’d inform Terry of our decision to sack him after the away home at Bolton — but Leeds turned on the style to win 3-0 in a thriller.
“We decided to defer his dismissal until the next defeat because we’d look idiots sacking a manager after such a comprehensive victory.
“We should have been ruthless. Instead we procrastinated and it was a spineless mistake.
“Terry went on a good run, losing just one of the next seven games.
“The dead man walking just carried on walking.â€
With a cash crisis looming because Leeds were out of Europe, the sale of Jonathan Woodgate to Newcastle turned everyone against Ridsdale.
Home-grown Woody was sold for £8m, plus a further £1m if the Magpies won the UEFA Cup.
The sale was a last resort to balance books but it signalled the end for Ridsdale as fans revolted.
He added: “Overnight, I became Public Enemy No 1. The reaction to Woodgate’s sale was venomous. One crude note pinned beneath my car windscreen wipers read ‘We hope you die for selling Woody’.
“I’d become accustomed to hate mail over the Woodgate-Bowyer trial, but that abuse was from non-Leeds fans. This time the hate was coming from our own supporters.
“Then came the game against Middlesbrough on March 15, 2003.
“The abuse from suited supporters was shocking. I heard one man expectorate violently and his spit landed on the lapel of my suit.
“Not even the thought of Martin’s pre-contract lifted my mood. The dream was over for me and the club.
“As I went back to the boardroom at half-time, this hooligan in a suit screamed another obscenity and spat at my feet.
“That was the final straw. For the first time in my life I walked out of a Leeds home match. It proved to be my last home match as chairman and the Martin O’Neill pre-contract sank with my resignation.â€
The Sun