Phil Hay drar opp et interessant emne, 20 years on, hvordan ser vi nå på Peter Ridsdale-æraen i Leeds...
https://theathletic.com/4320147/2023/03/23/leeds-united-peter-ridsdale/Vel, tenker eg, selvsagt må han ta hovedskylden for hva som gikk gale (at han gjorde feil underveis er han selv den første til å innrømme). Men starten på den gode perioden... vi brukte penger da også, men vi fikk resultater, vi var fremtidens lag.
MEN så begynte vi å lease inn spillere som Fowler, Seth Johnson & co, som vi strengt tatt ikke trengte.
Apropo Seth, la oss bare slå fast at lønnsforhandlingene som hant sted ikke skjedde slik myten sier det:
Another had Seth Johnson arriving from Derby County in a £7million transfer and entering contract talks in the hope that his previous weekly salary, reputedly £5,000, might go up to £13,000. Legend has it that Ridsdale’s opening gambit was £30,000 and, when this was met by a stunned silence, that he raised his offer to £37,000.
A classic story, yes — but also pure fantasy, as Johnson has previously stated himself.
“Seth was on £13,000 a week less than what was quoted,” says Ridsdale. “I knew what he was earning at Derby. He’d made his full debut for England. And he probably got an increase of £2,000 to £4,000 a week. It’s one of many myths.”
The truth, says Ridsdale, was that Leeds had a wage structure in place and, contrary to the popular narrative, did not just pay the players whatever they wanted. Leeds, he accepts, signed too many elite players and ran into trouble — having budgeted for the Champions League — when they missed their targets. But, to be fair, he does not sound very Father Christmassy.
“We actually lost players because of money. Frank Lampard was one. We wanted Frank from West Ham but he went to Chelsea because we couldn’t afford what he was asking.
“We lost Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink because I sat down with his agent and said, ‘Look, our highest paid player is on X amount, you’re asking for 50 per cent more, I can’t justify that’. So Jimmy went to Atletico Madrid.”
Seth har også fortalt at det ikke skjedde etter 'myten'
https://forum.leedsunited.no/index.php?topic=22816.msg594199#msg594199Anyways, at Leeds slet sååå mange år etter Ridsdale har også med hvilke eiere vi fikk i etterkant, Mens andre klubber da kan få eiere som fikser gjelden på et blunk og starter på nytt tok det tiår for Leeds...