Leeds soften stance on mole
Championship strugglers still don't know who was responsible for leak
Staff and agencies
Wed 14 Feb 2007 11.11 EST First published on Wed 14 Feb 2007 11.11 EST
This article is over 11 years old
Leeds United chief executive Shaun Harvey has suggested the player responsible for leaking their team line-up to Crystal Palace before Saturday's game may not be sacked after all as they continue to hunt for the culprit.
Manager Dennis Wise vowed that the player would never play for the club again in a furious post-match outburst following Leeds' 2-1 win, but no player has owned up as yet despite several appeals from the manager. The club have now decided to soften their stance, saying a final decision on punishment would depend on the context of the culprit's actions.
"If you betray trade secrets in any form of industry to give any of your competition an upper hand you would expect severe punishment to be taken," said Harvey. "In the cold light of day we have to take into account a number of things. Was the leak of the team malicious or naive? Was the information given to Crystal Palace directly or indirectly?
"That's the information we have to confirm and once we know the full ramifications of who, how and why the appropriate decisions will be made. There are certain people who know the answers, but they haven't come forward and told us as yet."
Harvey confirmed it was Palace manager Peter Taylor who had informed Wise that Leeds team news had been passed on to him before the game on Saturday. Taylor has since accused Wise of "badly over-reacting", while Palace chairman Simon Jordan claimed the whole episode illustrated that the former Wimbledon and Chelsea midfielder had no control over the Elland Road dressing room.
Harvey continued: "[The leaking of information] was confirmed, to his credit, by Palace manager Peter Taylor at the time, and before their arrival at Elland Road. Our manager Dennis Wise was understandably upset at this revelation and chose to inform the players before the game to act as motivation and to prove that despite the leak they were still good enough to go out and win. As the history books now show we won the crucial fixture 2-1. The club will deal with the matter internally from here and no further comments will be made."
