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Sv: NYTT: "United We Fall" av Peter Ridsdale
« Svar #60 på: November 05, 2007, 11:00:25 »
At a loss to explain Peter Ridsdale

There is something that does not add up about Peter Ridsdale’s tale of his time at Leeds United: most of it. This is the story of a man who was chairman at a significant plc, yet is depicted as a powerless stooge buffeted by the costly whims of subordinates. It makes no sense.
The book, Whoosh - There Goes Another Ten Million, sorry, United We Fall, attempts to lay the blame for some of Leeds’s greatest excesses with David O’Leary, the former manager, except that Ridsdale’s version of events withstands little examination. Take the time he paid an agent £200,000 to work as a translator in one meeting. Ridsdale states that Dennis Roach was recommended by O’Leary as a man whose language skills could smooth Olivier Dacourt’s path from Lens. If that was all he had to do, it seems a very expensive way of contracting a simple service, common in business, but in the event, when talks began, Bruno Satin, Dacourt’s agent, spoke good English and translated his conversations with the Lens president from French. All Roach did was nod his approval that this information was being conveyed correctly. He then submitted a bill for 200 grand, plus VAT.
Ridsdale paid it, he says, because he did not have a legal leg to stand on, having allowed Roach to remain in the discussions. And at that moment, as was so often the case during Ridsdale’s tenure at Elland Road, the bulls*** detector sounds loudly. An invoice is not a blank sheet of paper on which any figure conjured from the air is legally due. It is a fair representation of the cost of the services provided. If all Roach did is act as a translator for one day, he is not owed £200,000, no more than a man hired to mow your lawn could arbitrarily submit a bill for ten grand, and you would be bound to pay, because he had already done the work. Something would appear to be missing from this story; something that would explain why Roach was there instead of a professional translator paid an hourly rate. After all, theYellow Pages is full of them.
Logic and Leeds continue to part company when Rio Ferdinand is bought from West Ham United. Ridsdale explains Rune Hauge’s role in the deal by stating that the agent was commissioned by O’Leary alone and his letter of authorisation led to the club receiving a bill for £1.75 million from Hauge when the move was completed. “Why would O’Leary give exclusivity to Hauge without informing the chairman?” Ridsdale asks. Here is a better question. Why would any business honour an agreement of that financial magnitude, set up by an employee operating outside company guidelines?
If a bill for £50,000 from Ridsdale’s publishers suddenly arrived at The Times, with a note attached explaining that Martin Samuel, Chief Football Correspondent, had agreed this fee to serialise the fascinating autobiography Looking Down The Back Of The Sofa For Change: Doing Business The Ridsdale Way, sorry, United We Fall, it would be pointed out in no uncertain terms that Samuel’s job is to do the football and ours is to do the money and frankly, sunshine, you can whistle for it.
By comparison, Ridsdale claims that at his company “our arms were pinned down by the manager’s mandate”. O’Leary launched a vigorous defence against these allegations last week, and who can blame him? If Ridsdale is to be believed – and there is no suggestion of corruption around his behaviour, merely extreme foolishness – executives at Leeds would appear to have spent much of their time rolling their eyes and offering amused shrugs of resignation as the bills rolled in and the money ran out, while Doris from the canteen independently shouted up ten kilos of beluga caviar and stuck them with the tab.
It does not wash. Until managers buy players with money from their own pockets, there will always be an executive somewhere along the line who agrees the fee and writes the cheque. Now his would be a story worth hearing: so where is this man in Ridsdale’s revelations? Keeping a very low profile, it would seem.

Times

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Sv: NYTT: "United We Fall" av Peter Ridsdale
« Svar #61 på: November 05, 2007, 12:20:38 »
I og med at han blander inn sitt eget navn i artikkelen, bør en kanskje legge til at artikkelen 'At a loss to explain Peter Ridsdale' er skrevet av spaltisten Martin Samuel i The Times. Samuel går for å være en av de aller beste og skarpeste fotballspaltistene i den engelske pressen.

So-called Leedsfans, so-called Leedsfans, so-called Leedsfans - We are here....

Runar

Sv: NYTT: "United We Fall" av Peter Ridsdale
« Svar #62 på: November 05, 2007, 16:08:25 »
Jeg har store problemer med å forstå hvorfor klubbene bruker agenter til å forhandle på deres vegne? Dersom Leeds vil ha Rio Ferdinand så er del vel WestHam og spilleren sin agent det skal forhandles med....Så hvorfor hente inn en agent til å forhandle på sine egne vegne? Skulle tro at fotballklubber hadde til lært seg denne egenskap etter 100 år med transfers
 

kjelvi

Sv: NYTT: "United We Fall" av Peter Ridsdale
« Svar #63 på: November 05, 2007, 23:14:30 »
Ridsdale: I could have saved Leeds



Peter Ridsdale is adamant Leeds United would not be in League One if he had remained as chairman.


Amid crumbling fortunes on the pitch and spiralling debts off it, Ridsdale was ousted in March 2003, bringing to an end one of the most amazing periods in Elland Road history.
In seven years, Leeds went from the Champions League semi-finals to the third tier of the English game, with Ridsdale blamed by many for the staggering demise.
To this day, Ridsdale is so vilified within the West Yorkshire city that he is unable to publicise his account of life at United for fear of violence from disgruntled supporters.
It is not a decision he expects will change any time in the foreseeable future, given the success of what he perceived to be a smear campaign against him by former members of the Leeds board.
But, while he believes current chairman Ken Bates is the right man to restore the Whites' fortunes, Ridsdale remains convinced he would have halted the slide before it reached anything like its' eventual catastrophic ending.
"I do not believe Leeds would be in League One if I had stayed," he said
"People will probably think I am an arrogant so-and-so but I believe in being honest and straightforward.
"I have got nothing against the current management at all. I was very pleased when Ken Bates took over because he is steeped in football experience.
"But I also know Leeds did not get relegated out of the Premier League because of financial issues. If it was the case, why did they not start selling a load of players during the previous summer after I had left?
"When you look at the team they had available at that time, with the right football management, they should have survived in the Premier League. Who knows what might have happened after that? Would we have been able to restructure the finances? I do not know.
"But it always makes me smile when people say financial issues stopped Leeds winning. Leeds stopped winning when they were top of the league.
"The issue at hand is that a book was published, for good or ill, that coincided with the team starting not to win. That was the start of Leeds' demise."
The 'book' Ridsdale refers to was David O'Leary's 'Leeds United on Trial', a supposed diary of a season the Irishman's contract gave the chairman no power to stop.
The book's inflammatory title and inside revelations of a season, that included the infamous assault trials of Jonathan Woodgate and Lee Bowyer, caused shockwaves across the game.
Ridsdale was in virtual ignorance over its existence until the title was revealed at a press conference marking the end of the trial.
From virtually that moment on, Leeds descended into a freefall which only stopped following the 15-point deduction imposed on the club by the Football League last summer which Ridsdale, in his new capacity as Cardiff chairman, voted for.
While he acknowledges many, probably even the majority, of Leeds fans will never forgive him, by taking the unprecedented step of donating all royalties to St Gemma's Hospice, Ridsdale hopes to encourage followers to read the book and at least see how events unfolded from his side.
"I am not trying shift the blame," he said.
"Leeds United was my club, as a boy, as a fan, as a director and finally as a chairman. I made a lot of mistakes and I hold my hands up for them.
"But there are a number of people who never accepted blame for what happened.
"To this day, I don't think I have ever seen David O'Leary say he did anything wrong and when Leeds were relegated, it was still my fault even though I left 15 months earlier."
While it is clear Ridsdale is irritated by O'Leary's failure to share some of the responsibility for debts which reached an eye-bulging £78million on his watch, the former chairman is equally annoyed at his successor, Professor John McKenzie.
It was McKenzie's account of Ridsdale's free-spending ways, including the bizarre goldfish story, that discredited the previous regime.
"To suggest the biggest single mistake I made - and I made plenty - was to have two goldfish tanks, which cost £200 per annum, was just laughable," said Ridsdale.
"Yet it became a signal of my extravagance and largesse. I am bemused by it.
"I actually think it was a deliberate part of a strategy to nail me to the floor.
"During a DTI investigation, I had to show every decision to sell or buy a player had been approved by the board.
"I had to show it wasn't just me going off spending recklessly. I also had to show we had enough cashflow forecasts that showed we could survive financially. We did that too.
"To my face, Professor McKenzie was very supportive.
"Then he started hammering me for the number of company cars we had, when the number he stated was twice what we actually had.
"I used to drive from home every morning and return every evening, when I wasn't staying overnight, in my own car and I was driving.
"Professor McKenzie was being chauffeur driven to and from home. Nobody says a word about that."

TeamTalk

lojosang

Sv: NYTT: "United We Fall" av Peter Ridsdale
« Svar #64 på: November 06, 2007, 09:06:14 »
Ridsdale: I could have saved Leeds



Peter Ridsdale is adamant Leeds United would not be in League One if he had remained as chairman.



TeamTalk

Nei, vi ville vel vært konk, og begynt på ny i bunn av ligasystemet et sted.  :-\
- Leif Olav

kjelvi

Sv: NYTT: "United We Fall" av Peter Ridsdale
« Svar #65 på: November 06, 2007, 11:43:02 »
Ridsdale claims smear campaign
Former Leeds chairman Peter Ridsdale is convinced he has been the victim of an Elland Road smear campaign following the club's demise.


It is now four and a half years since Ridsdale departed the club he supported as a boy, with many fans believing the £78million debt he left behind is the major reason why Leeds are currently languishing in League One.
Yet while Ridsdale is now happy to accept his share of the responsibility for Leeds' plight, he feels others, who were equally culpable, have escaped with their reputations intact.
He disputes totally the theory that financial troubles triggered their relegation from the Premier League in 2004 - long after he had been succeeded as chairman by Professor John McKenzie.
And he has now decided to speak out against McKenzie's allegations of reckless financial behaviour, including the infamous goldfish expenditure.
"To suggest the biggest single mistake I made - and I made plenty - was to have two goldfish tanks, which cost £200 per annum, was just laughable," said Ridsdale.
"Yet it became a signal of my extravagance and largesse. I am bemused by it.
"I actually think it was a deliberate part of a strategy to nail me to the floor.
"To my face, Professor McKenzie was very supportive. Then he started hammering me for the number of company cars we had, when the number he stated was twice what we actually had.
"I used to drive from home every morning and return every evening, when I wasn't staying overnight, in my own car, and I was driving.
"Professor McKenzie was being chauffeur-driven to and from home. Nobody says a word about that."
Ridsdale is so vilified within the West Yorkshire city that he is unable to publicise his account of life at Elland Road, 'United They Fall', the proceeds of which will go to St Gemma's Hospice, for fear of violence from disgruntled supporters.
But while he does not expect that situation to change at any point in the near future, Ridsdale, now chairman at Cardiff, does feel if he had been allowed to get on with his job, the side who were in the Champions League semi-finals seven years ago would not be where they are now.
"I do not believe Leeds would be in League One if I had stayed," he said
"People will probably think I am an arrogant so-and-so but I believe in being honest and straightforward.
"I have got nothing against the current management at all. I was very pleased when Ken Bates took over because he is steeped in football experience.
"But I also know Leeds did not get relegated out of the Premier League because of financial issues. If it was the case, why did they not start selling a load of players during the previous summer after I had left.
"When you look at the team they had available at that time, with the right football management they should have survived in the Premier League. Who knows what might have happened after that? Would we have been able to restructure the finances? I do not know.
"But it always makes me smile when people say financial issues stopped Leeds winning. Leeds stopped winning when they were top of the league."

TeamTalk

kjelvi

Sv: NYTT: "United We Fall" av Peter Ridsdale
« Svar #66 på: November 06, 2007, 12:05:06 »
My one regret at Leeds - by Peter Ridsdale¨



FORMER Leeds United chairman Peter Ridsdale freely admits to having made mistakes during his tenure at Elland Road but has only one real regret: that he was never able to install Martin O'Neill as manager.

His failure was not through want of trying. "I was determined to get him when George Graham left, then he was our No 1 choice when David O'Leary was sacked," Ridsdale said last night, back in Leeds promoting the book chronicling his years with the club as fan and chairman.
Leicester would not let Ridsdale speak to their manager and back at Leeds David O'Leary, Graham's assistant who had taken on the caretaker's role, let it be known he wanted the top job.
A show of support from Leicester's fans persuaded O'Neill to stay; the following night Leeds played a UEFA Cup match in Rome and although they lost 1-0 the fans were fulsome in their backing for O'Leary. Ridsdale's mind was made up.
Then, after the helter-skelter years during which Ridsdale and O'Leary appeared the perfect pairing and Leeds had reached the heady heights of the Champion League semi-final had ended, the chairman went back for O'Neill, who by now was restoring success north of the border with Celtic.
Ridsdale and O'Neill met three times but eventually the Northern Irishman told Leeds he had been persuaded by Celtic to honour his contract which had a year to run.
It seemed Ridsdale finally had his man when O'Neill signed an agreement – based on the formal contract recognised by the League Managers' Association and the Premier League – confirming he would move to Elland Road when his deal with Celtic expired on June 30 2003.
'Neill has since tried to play down the value of the paper he signed but the document – produced in full last night by Steve Dennis, co-author of Ridsdale's book on his years at Elland Road – confirms the agreement was serious.
But by the time June 30 had come round Peter Ridsdale was no longer chairman at Elland Road and O'Neill never made the move, Peter Reid took over, relegation followed soon after and the club's decline accelerated.


YP

kjelvi

Sv: NYTT: "United We Fall" av Peter Ridsdale
« Svar #67 på: November 06, 2007, 12:08:37 »
Ridsdale sets record straight on United years



Former Leeds United chairman Peter Ridsdale will forever polarise opinion among the club's fans. He accepts he made mistakes but, he tells Bill Bridge, he was not the only one.
GIVEN his time as chairman of Leeds United over again Peter Ridsdale would do one simple thing: say "No" to manager David O'Leary much more often.
The time for that being long gone; he now reserves his disenchantment for those who sat alongside him at board meetings during his years in charge. "They were five high-profile directors but they were content to lay the blame on my shoulders, presumably so it didn't drift off towards anyone else," Ridsdale said last night.
"I believe in accountability, that's why I resigned as chairman, but I am still finding, four-and-a-half-years later, that all the problems since I left have been down to me. I'll take the blame for things which happened on my watch but not for things which weren't. I didn't get any credit for Leeds reaching the Championship play-offs and I didn't deserve any but neither did I deserve any criticism I suffered when they were relegated at the end of last season."
Allan Leighton and Professor John McKenzie are the directors who suffer most from Ridsdale's lingering resentment at the manner of his leaving Elland Road and he insists that, even when he attended his last board meeting in March 2003, the club was not facing financial meltdown.
"Our debts were £78.9m but the plc felt it was capable of funding an ongoing debt of £65m despite missing out on European football," he says. The difference, had he stayed in charge, would have been met by selling Harry Kewell to Liverpool that summer for £11m. Added to the saving on the player's wages, the problem was solved.
Instead Leeds sold Kewell for what Ridsdale describes as "peanuts" then brought in expensive players on loan and disaster followed.
The pain is still evident for Ridsdale but being away from Leeds, the Premiership and the Champions League – not to mention our TV screens and the august committee rooms of the Football Association – has not much changed him.
He looked tired at a city centre hotel last night, not surprisingly after a long day promoting his new book but the sense of humour, honesty and willingness to shoulder responsibility remain those of a top man.
You would not expect anything else from an individual who rose from the streets of Hyde Park in his native Leeds to some of the most senior positions in the British retail industry, became chairman of the football club he had supported since childhood and led them on one of the great adventures of our times.
He may have been bruised emotionally and financially by the meltdown of Leeds but his resilience helped him through the bad times, like the day in Essex where he had gone for a few days of peace as Elland Road descended into chaos.
It was the day before Mothering Sunday and Ridsdale had gone into Halstead to buy a card for his wife Sophie on behalf of their two daughters. He was looking into a shop window when he became aware of the reflection of someone behind him. In an instant he was spun round, grabbed by the throat and the target of a stream of spittle and foul-mouthed abuse, the gist of which was that he had made a mess of Leeds and had better sort it out. Or else.
His assailant went as quickly as he had come, Ridsdale sat on the window sill, shaking, for several minutes. Then he went inside, bought the card and went back to his family. He knew then there was no hiding place; that he would to some, probably for the rest of his life, be the man who almost destroyed Leeds United.
His latest attempt at overturning perceived wisdom is his frank, entertaining book which is a mixture of explanation, apology, accusation and plea for understanding.
From the beginning, Ridsdale has admitted to mistakes that were made but insists others involved should take their share of the blame. Ridsdale's strategy when he became chairman was to aim high, on the basis that if you failed you would still be in mid-table. If you only aimed for mid-table and failed you would be in relegation trouble.
He claims full backing from those who sat with him at board meetings but the persistent theme of his argument is that those he thought he could trust let him down. "You don't expect professional friends not to be straight with you," is his diplomatic way of expressing his disappointment.
Even when the alarm bells were not so much ringing as falling off the walls, O'Leary, says Ridsdale, responded to demands from the board that he sell players by instead insisting that a further £23m was made available to strengthen his squad.
But, stripping out all the excuses and "if onlys" his theme is that the dream was not shattered by over-ambition but by the publication of a book: O'Leary's Leeds United On Trial.
"Everything began to fall apart on the pitch in the first week of 2002," says Ridsdale.
"What team at the top of the Premiership goes from January 1 to March 3 without winning a match and gets knocked out of the UEFA Cup and FA Cup? For me the tipping point was that first week in January – the week when O'Leary's book was published and promoted."
It transpired that "a senior player" told Ridsdale that O'Leary had lost the dressing room. "This player," adds Ridsdale, "said the decline in form could all be pinned on the broken spirit caused by Leeds United On Trial.
"I had known for 18 months that David was planning to write a book but I had no inkling of the real content, or of the book's title," says Ridsdale.
It has taken him a long time to print his side of the story – he decided to wait until the conclusion of an inquiry by the Department of Trade into the implosion at Elland Road and his role in the transfers he had overseen as chairman. That two-year investigation cleared him of any wrongdoing.
Whether he will be able to sway his audience, the bulk of which already appears to have made up its mind we shall see, but at the very least his defence deserves to be read.

United We Fall: Boardroom Truths About The Beautiful Game (Macmillan, £18.99). All royalties from the book will go to St Gemma's Hospice in Leeds.

YP

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Sv: NYTT: "United We Fall" av Peter Ridsdale
« Svar #68 på: November 06, 2007, 14:58:47 »
Ridsdale closes the chapter on Leeds United



Peter Ridsdale has a book-signing session scheduled in Cardiff on Friday and is wondering aloud how well-attended the event will be.
Cardiff is Ridsdale's surrogate home and the epicentre of his present link with professional football, but the city is an obscure location in which to promote the story of his marriage, divorce and tempestuous affair with Leeds United.
The Welsh will read with interest the thoughts and claims of United We Fall: Boardroom Truths About the Beautiful Game.
Its author is now Cardiff City's chairman, a fact that makes details of Ridsdale's association with Leeds – and in particular his part in United's financial implosion – wholly relevant to the principality and the future of its largest club.
But the tome was not produced for the benefit of the people of Wales. It is, says Ridsdale, his honest version of his relationship with Leeds, the club and the city.
More specifically, it is his apology to the people he left behind, and for the problems they inherited from him.
There are, he admits tellingly, no book-signing sessions planned for the capital of Yorkshire.
The 55-year-old is no longer well-received in Leeds, and no longer looks for a warm welcome here.
He rarely visits the city and does not expect to see his reputation restored.
It is hardly a surprise to him, then, that the timing, the content and the merits of United We Fall have become subjects of intense discussion.
Popular or not, Ridsdale is a man whose name alone initiates debate.
His publication has raised two obvious questions – why publish the book, and why publish it now?
The second query has a simple answer.
Until the conclusion of the Department of Trade and Industry's inquiry into the handling of United's finances by Ridsdale and his board, the former Leeds chairman had his hands tied.
Ridsdale's exoneration by the DTI last year left him free to produce the book which had been on his mind ever since he was ejected from Elland Road in 2003.
But in writing his memoirs – and publishing a record of four decades of involvement with Leeds – he knew he was treading on stony ground, and raking up issues that certain United supporters would prefer to remain buried.
Ridsdale was the people's chairman, but the chairman who ultimately led the club down the road to ruin.
He was not, he rightly insists, solely responsible for the irresponsible financial management of United, but he was head of the table when the walls caved in beneath monstrous debts.
Leeds – as a city and as a body of fans – has never forgiven him for that but they have, at last, been given more refreshing matters to concern themselves with.
The club entered League One's play-off positions 10 days ago.
It seemed almost incredible, then, that the dominant headlines of the following week centred around Ridsdale's autobiography – around David O'Leary, Martin O'Neill and – of course – the scribe himself.
But Ridsdale wanted his say, and believes he is entitled to it. If nothing else, he can at least claim to have fronted up to what became the most spectacular collapse in English football.
"I'd felt that for four-and-a-half years I'd kept my mouth shut," says Ridsdale.
"Essentially, I wanted to bring finality to my relationship and association with Leeds – by saying I was sorry.
"It was an opportunity for me to try to draw a line under what had gone before. Leeds United today is nothing to do with me, but for a very long time it was.
"I wanted to say to all football fans that running a club is not as simple as you think it is.
"I wanted to say to all the Leeds fans that I'm sorry – genuinely sorry for the mistakes we made. I also think a lot of fans wake up in the morning and think 'I can do a better job than that' or 'I'd like to be the manager and pick the team'.
"I think my book gives some insight into what it's like to be at the heart of a football club.
"For the last four years, people have spent most of the time having a pop at me.
"I've sat and taken it. If what I've written in response hurts people then all I can argue is that the truth can hurt. And as far as I'm concerned, it is the truth.
"Do I have the right to tell my story in context? Yes I do. I didn't doubt that it was a good idea to have my say, and I think I've done the right thing.
"Some of the reaction to it has been disappointing but I'm happy now that I've drawn the line.
"I'm happy that I've written a book which says it as it was and I'm happy that I've had – at long last – the chance to say sorry to the Leeds United supporters for the things we got wrong. I'm also happy that a hospice in Leeds will be the beneficiaries."
The proceeds from United We Fall are to be donated to St Gemma's Hospice in Moortown, the specialist care centre that Ridsdale supported both professionally and personally while he was chairman of Leeds.
His decision to forego royalties was taken in part to avoid inevitable accusations that he was profiting from a story of demise in which his role was central.
But Ridsdale's motivation for producing his autobiography was never about money.
He saw the book as his opportunity to apologise in the most expansive way possible; he also wanted to stress that his time with Leeds was not exclusively given to failure.
United We Fall begins in 1965 with Ridsdale queuing for a ticket for that year's FA Cup final between Liverpool and Leeds, and there is more to his story than the final, bitter hours.
There is, somewhere in the mind of every fan, a happy memory concerning Ridsdale.
Yet around four-fifths of the book is devoted to his reign as chairman, as it had to be
It is, to the impartial observer, a fascinating story of the boy who became king of his castle, but for United's supporters the recollections hurt.
They hurt because, for a time, Ridsdale was one of them.
He was there on a tragic night in Istanbul and a glorious night in Valencia, the two moments when he and the club's following felt as close as they ever would.
But the manner of his fall, and the fall-out from his exit, means the story of Ridsdale is intrinsically linked to what has become the most complicated crisis in the history of English football.
"The big difficulty when people talk about me and Leeds United is that they only talk about the end," says Ridsdale.
"The end was clearly disappointing and the mistakes we made were ultimately very damaging. But we also did a lot of things right.
"For five-and-a-half years when I was chairman, we were in the top five of the Premier League for five of those.
"We had two European semi-finals, and we had to handle issues that were thrown at us and which nothing could have prepared us for – like the trials of Jonathan (Woodgate) and Lee (Bowyer), and the terrible night in Istanbul.
"I've had more good times than bad times, and that's a fact. But given my time again, I think we'd have said no more often. We'd have realised that certain things were a bridge too far in terms of finance.
What I've always been prepared to do is take the blame for what happened under my stewardship.
"But I still remember the way the supporters were when we were playing against Real Madrid and Barcelona, and the semi-final in Valencia. Also during the game when we beat Deportivo at Elland Road.
"There were some fantastic nights and we shared them together.
"For all of that to be eradicated from people's memories as if it was nothing to do with me is an imbalanced perspective.
"People say today's newspapers are tomorrow's chip paper – don't you believe it. My faults are resurrected all the time. There were so many positive things written about the Leeds United era that were thrown out of the window because of what happened at the end.
"But if you are chairman, the buck stops with you. I have to say that, along with a board of directors, it was my fault."
It was not, clearly, the way in which Ridsdale expected his stewardship to end. Even now, there is an element of disbelief in his assessment of the way his dream job conspired to cast him as a villain in a city where he was once a figurehead.
"Whatever else can be said of Ridsdale, it is ludicrous to claim that he wished for this scenario.
He was, he says, relieved when Ken Bates rolled into town – providing what Ridsdale calls "a football man for a wonderful football club".
"It would please him more if Leeds can recover in such a way that allows United to exist outside a context involving their former chairman.
Ridsdale is confident that the recovery is in motion. He also believes that the timing of his book is perfect, in spite of suggestions that the publication has landed at precisely the moment when Leeds appear to be moving on.
"But isn't that good news?" he asks. "If Leeds were still continuing to struggle, people would turn round and say 'we're still paying the price for what Ridsdale left behind'.
"But the club are flying – they're flying high. Surely with that wave of optimism Leeds fans can read the book knowing that the team have turned the corner, and hopefully will be in the Championship next season. With any luck, after that they'll be back in the Premier league. I think the timing is perfect.
"If I win them over then I win them over. I'd like to do that, but life's not so simple.
"I've kept my mouth shut but this is my opportunity to say sorry and to say read the story – but ultimately to say the Ridsdale era is finally finished.
"Good luck to Leeds United."

YEP

kjelvi

Sv: NYTT: "United We Fall" av Peter Ridsdale
« Svar #69 på: November 08, 2007, 21:59:59 »
Going back to Leeds was surreal
By Peter Ridsdale

Being with Cardiff meant an inevitable return to Elland Road. The first time was in December 2005, two-and-a-half years after my departure, but it was clear feelings were still running high.
A few days before the game, I received an anxious phone call from the Leeds chief executive, Shaun Harvey, who was clearly hoping beyond hope that I wouldn't be turning up.
What do you think to Peter Ridsdale? Click here to email us or click comment below. We'll publish the lot.
'I've been asked by the police and safety advisory group to ask whether you intend to come to the game...we're very nervous about it, Peter,' he said.
I hadn't even thought about not going. 'Yes, I'm coming. You're not going to try and stop me, are you?'
'No, we just want to make sure that, if you're coming, the proper security is in place and you're protected, and we wanted you to know how hostile it's going to be.'
I wasn't naive. Memories linger long in the football fan. But I wanted to go for Cardiff, and I needed to go for myself because it allowed me to break the taboo of not going back, a bit like confronting a phobia.
In public, Leeds insisted there would be no extra security measures but they ensured I didn't drive to the ground, and asked that I enter and exit the stadium on the team coach. We brought our own security guards on the bus and, as we arrived at our hotel on the city outskirts, there were about 10 police outriders.
There was a tiny pocket of a protest – about 12 fans – but I really did feel that the majority of Leeds fans were more concerned about the result that day than the ex-chairman.
Inside Elland Road, everything felt surreal. This stadium which had once meant so much to me had lost its magic, and felt like any other away ground. I felt nothing.
The Kop spent about five minutes ridiculing my name but it had been a lot worse when I'd been chairman. In fact, on this occasion, some corporate supporters shook my hand, and wished me luck.
There was something else starkly different – the ground seemed half empty; less than 21,000 fans turned up that day, a far cry from the near 40,000 capacity we used to pull in every other week.
Then I noticed the directors' box had been moved. When I was chairman, we sat to one side of the halfway line, just off-centre.
But under Ken Bates, the enclosure had been moved directly in line with the halfway line. It was like I'd returned to my old house, found some stranger living there, and all the furniture had been moved around.
And the atmosphere didn't feel the same. It just didn't feel like home any more.
We won the game 1-0 thanks to a Jason Koumas goal. I was wise enough to sit down and stay still as the rest of the Cardiff fans celebrated. I got through the afternoon without incident and felt that, whenever our sides met again, I could return with a semblance of normality.
But I was mistaken.
Come the 2006–07 season, Leeds were still suffering the hangover from losing the previous season's Championship play-off final, and after soaking up some early pressure, Willo Flood gave us a 1–0 victory. After the match, I walked down the steps of the directors' box to return inside the stadium, and into the chairman's suite, where everyone was gathered. As I entered, Ken Bates shouted across the room, 'You can f***off – get out of here now, and don't come back!' I thought it was a boisterous joke at first because, before the match, Ken had made comments blaming my reign as chairman for the club's ongoing financial troubles. But the silence that followed his outburst confirmed it was no joke.
I didn't know what to say other than, 'What have I done, Ken?' and I walked over to him, stood there in the far corner of the room.
'You know exactly what you've done...your behaviour in the directors' box was unacceptable,' he said.
I wasn't going to stick around and be made to feel unwelcome again at Elland Road. So I wished him well for the rest of the season, left the suite and went to the dressing room to
join Dave Jones. I've not spoken to Ken since.
He surprised me that day but what doesn't surprise me is his continual focus on my 'legacy'. And the events at the end of the 2006–07 season would give him even greater reason to shift the focus from his record in office at Elland Road to mine.
Leeds United's survival in the Championship partly hinged on our result at Ninian Park on the penultimate weekend of the season.
Our opponents were Hull City, and both sides were scrambling to get clear of the trapdoor into League One (the old Third Division).
If Hull and Leeds achieved the same result, the relegation issue would go to the final game of the season, and that was the outcome I was praying for.
With two minutes of normal time remaining in both games, it looked like a stalemate that would be settled on the final day. Hull were beating us 1–0. Leeds were ahead of Ipswich by the same score.
Then, in another unbearable twist, Alan Lee equalized for Ipswich with a flick-on header.
Hull's directors, ears stuck to their mini-radios, let out a cheer.
I shut my eyes, and cupped my face in my hands.
The final whistle blew at Ninian Park, and Hull had won.
But in Leeds, the fans had invaded the pitch, causing the referee to halt play. It took police and stewards another 30 minutes to restore order before the ref could bring the teams back out to complete the final 90 seconds.
I was in the boardroom as Hull's chairman, Adam Pearson, the former commercial director at Leeds, paced outside. His cheers, and the domino cheers that rang out from the boardroom, confirmed their survival, and Leeds' demise.
I was gutted for them but I was also pleased for Adam. He's done a great job at Hull, turned things around and worked tirelessly. So I was torn between not wanting to see either my old club or an old friend go down.
It was because I was with Adam that in the spirit of the occasion I decided to be hospitable, and mark our visitors' survival by opening a bottle of champagne. I'd have offered it to any other visiting chairman in the same circumstances.
Adam was stood at the top of the steps leading from the boardroom to the directors' box, looking down on the pitch, his nerves still frayed.
'I needed some fresh air!' he said.
'Here, take this,' I said, handing him a glass of champagne, 'congratulations!' It was just my luck that a stray journalist spotted this gesture.
Next thing I know, it's being reported on BBC Radio Five Live that the two former Leeds directors are cracking open the champagne to celebrate Leeds' demise.
It led to a volley of outrage on the radio phone-in, and a bombardment of emails to Cardiff City over the next few days.
I appreciate how it must have appeared, but neither Adam nor I was pleased about Leeds' relegation. Nothing saddens me more than to see their plight.

The club – and especially the fans – don't deserve it.

YEP

kjelvi

Sv: NYTT: "United We Fall" av Peter Ridsdale
« Svar #70 på: November 09, 2007, 08:52:41 »
Peter Ridsdale's lament for Leeds


In the hot seat: Peter Risdale

This is a love story. It begins with a boy walking towards the great, gaunt floodlights of Elland Road to queue for tickets for the 1965 FA Cup final. He was alone; he nearly always watched football by himself. He becomes chairman, he takes them to within one match of a European Cup final, supporters chant his name because he is so obviously 'one of us'.
Like so much love, it corrodes, with arguments about money. The banners spit out messages of betrayal, it ends with literal dollops of spittle on his suit and the messiest imaginable break-up. This evening, at Hereford, Leeds compete in the first round of the FA Cup for the first time in their history.
''And how many love stories do end well?" Peter Ridsdale sighs, fingering a copy of his unsparing account of the affair, United We Fall. "I remember the first game after I'd resigned: Leeds played Charlton away and won 6-1. It was the first Saturday afternoon I had been at home in years and I hated it. It was a horrific feeling. That Christmas was the first time I had ever been at home on Boxing Day for my daughter's birthday."
If you mention Ridsdale's name, two images come to mind. One is his glib statement as he sat alongside a stone-faced Terry Venables to announce the sale of Jonathan Woodgate that Leeds had "lived the dream". He sounded like a man justifying an unrepayable credit-card statement the debt when he left stood at £78.9 million. The her is the goldfish.
It was not that there were goldfish in the boardroom, it was that they were rented. Like everything else, the fish were on tick. Could someone not have popped down to Pets R Us and bought one?
Nothing in Ridsdale's account of the fall of Leeds United carries as much anger as that reserved for Venables – there is a sense of regret about how his time with David O'Leary soured. He seems to have loathed his successor.
''Venables inherited a very good team and, rather than accept it was failing, he hung me out to dry over the sale of Jonathan Woodgate. He was told we had to sell players; it was obvious, it was palpable. And the reason we had to sell them was that he had taken us from fifth to 16th in the Premier League.
''His attitude was that it was nothing to do with him; it was all the chairman's fault. He turned round to me and said: 'Clubs like Leeds United don't go bust, they just change the chairman'.
''In what other business would you put up with that kind of language from an employee? I was not ruthless enough with him and, had I been, it would probably have saved my job and Leeds fans a lot of heartache."
As for the fish, they were rented because it ensured somebody would come and feed them when the boardroom was empty. Peter Ridsdale was a board member at Burton's before he was 40, which supposes he has something up top. But as soon as he came into football, he became in his own words 'breathtakingly naive'.
''I always thought I was a good, hard-nosed businessman until I read my book again and I thought: 'I wasn't actually'."
United We Fall abounds with examples. Early on in his chairmanship he and his counterpart at Aston Villa, Doug Ellis, confide they both know that Bolton will sell Alan Thompson for £3.5 million. Why not both offer £3.5 million, Ridsdale suggests, and let the player decide? They shake hands. Leeds offer £3.5 million, Villa bid £4.25 million. Thompson goes to the Midlands.
''When Leeds sign Olivier Dacourt, the agent, Dennis Roach, tags along at David O'Leary's request, saying he will 'translate'. Dacourt's agent speaks perfect English. Roach oes little more than nod. He submits a bill for £200,000 for 'translation services'. Ridsdale pays.
Ken Bates, who has overseen the most humiliating moment in Leeds' history relegation to the old Third Division, and a 15-point penalty believes they are still paying Ridsdale's bill.
''When Leeds got to the play-off final in 2006 under Ken Bates, I got no credit and nor should I have done because it was nothing to do with me," said Ridsdale. "But what is startling is that when they get relegated, the year after, it is all my fault. I suggest you examine the creditor list when they went into administration in the summer and tell me how many of those creditors were there when I was and you will find it is very, very few."
Nobody at Leeds United ever seems to have been honest with one another. They spoke in subtitles, telling everybody what they wanted to hear O'Leary, especially, appears to have been masterful at this.
The only man who appeared straight was George Graham. "That is all fair comment," Ridsdale sighed. "Funnily enough, he was the manager I inherited rather than appointed, but I had the utmost respect for him. I found him straightforward, blunt to my face and when he wanted to leave for Tottenham, he told me."
O'Leary has described Ridsdale's recollections as 'deranged'. They have fallen such a long way from the time when they would sit at the front of the team bus, the manager amused by his chairman belting out the Leeds battle hymn Marching on Together.
''Initially, he was a joy to work with," Ridsdale said. "But as he became more successful, we began to grow apart. He became more arrogant. David may have thought he was bigger than the club and it came to a point where he thought he could see me off as well. He thought he was indispensable. There are many examples of where, in the privacy of the club, he would say one thing, and in the public domain he would say another.
''When we transferred Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink he backed me to the hilt and then went to the papers and said: 'If they sell Hasselbaink, I will have to consider my position'. Amazing."
Ridsdale is adamant that O'Leary's greatest error was writing Leeds United on Trial, which was launched in January 2002 when Leeds were top of the league. Within six months, O'Leary was sacked, Leeds had missed out on the Champions League for a second successive season and the road to perdition had been joined.
''The title upset a lot of people because we had made it clear that the Bowyer-Woodgate case was not Leeds United on trial, it was two of our employees. Some of the stuff in it was frankly fiction.
''I do know that a lot of the players who read it thought it took private matters into the public domain. Did the book do damage? I don't know. But what I do know is that after it was published we went eight weeks without winning a match. And when we stopped performing on the field, everything else suddenly became a problem."

United We Fall (Macmillan, £18.99). All royalties to St Gemma's Hospice in Leeds

Telegraph

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Sv: NYTT: "United We Fall" av Peter Ridsdale
« Svar #71 på: November 09, 2007, 11:08:48 »
http://www.teamtalk.com/football/story/0,16368,982_2868245,00.html

Ridsdale hevder at han har lært av Leeds oppholdet og at Cardiff fanse er så "begeistret" for ham...ja, ja dem om det!
Yeboahs vitne

Runar

Sv: NYTT: "United We Fall" av Peter Ridsdale
« Svar #72 på: November 11, 2007, 00:55:38 »
Leste hele boken for et par dager siden. God lesning!
 

RoarG

Sv: NYTT: "United We Fall" av Peter Ridsdale
« Svar #73 på: November 17, 2007, 15:12:37 »
Det var noen interresante utdrag,ja. At hr. Ridsdale har ansvaret for mye er helt på det rene. At O'Leary har gått fri fra Leedsfansens vrede er merkeligere. Ridsdale har et vektig poeng at Leeds' nedtur begynte da klubben var ligaledere, og ikke p.g.a. økonomisk rot. Det er selvsagt manageren som har hovedansvaret for de sportslige prestasjonene. Synes nå klubben trenger ro, og da trenger vi tre ting:
1) Et kompetent styre som ikke setter økonomien over styr.
2) En manager som kan fotball, og som ikke setter sitt eget ego over klubben.
3) Gode spillere med gode holdninger, som ikke trekker klubbens ry ned i søla med uanstendig oppførsel og griske lønnskrav.
Jeg tror Ridsdale har rett når han hevder at oppturen har begynt i klubben igjen. Til neste år spiller vi i CCC.
"Jeg tror ikke på Gud, men etter Bielsas ansettelse må jeg nok revurdere", Roar Gustavsen, januar 2020

kjelvi

Sv: NYTT: "United We Fall" av Peter Ridsdale
« Svar #74 på: Desember 21, 2007, 14:30:35 »
Peter Ridsdale: 'You can't succeed in life unless you have failed first'
Brian Viner Interviews: Struggling Cardiff's chairman is still optimistic and ambitious, despite some dark days at Leeds


Ridsdale is facing a similarly difficult financial plight at Cardiff City as he did at Leeds United

Peter Ridsdale, the chairman of beleaguered Cardiff City and formerly the chairman of beleaguered Leeds United, will not let football matters dilute his Christmas cheer next week, no matter how Cardiff fare against Sheffield United tomorrow. He will spend the day at home near Lancaster with his wife Sophie and their two daughters, Charlotte and Olivia, and says his loved ones deserve to have him there in full cracker-pulling, novelty hat-wearing mode. After all, it is Olivia's 10th birthday on Boxing Day and she has already pointed out that her daddy won't be there when she wakes up; he will be on his way to watch Cardiff at Watford.
As he drives down the M6, Ridsdale might be forgiven for reflecting that he has hopped from the frying pan into the fire. At Leeds United the dream of Premier League and Champions League success turned not so much sour as rancid and two of his players went on trial for grievous bodily harm, not to mention a near-fatal plane crash, and the murder of two of the club's supporters in Istanbul.
Ridsdale thought he had seen it all at Leeds, and yet he hadn't.
Cardiff have a £24m debt dating from before his time which the creditor, a mysterious company called Langston, wants back. The original loan involved a Swiss bank, money paid through Panama and an address in the British Virgin Islands: exotic stuff for Ninian Park. But Ridsdale could do with less exotica and more transparency. He knows nothing else about Langston, whose demands might yet be settled in court. A date has been fixed for March, and if the case goes against Cardiff, bankruptcy will ensue.
Whether Ridsdale will deliver his promise of a new stadium for Cardiff City is therefore a less pertinent question than whether there will be a club left to play there. On top of which, Cardiff's fortunes on the field have been less than spectacular this season, with pressure mounting on Ridsdale to sack the manager, Dave Jones. This he has resisted, insisting that Jones is the man to take the club forward. "We have sold £14m worth of talent over the past two years," the chairman says. "I can't think of any other manager who would have done that without wincing, but Dave hasn't winced. He's just got on with it."
It's worth adding that informed opinion says Ridsdale, too, is the best man for a difficult job. A prominent sports writer on a Cardiff paper assures me that he has done "magnificently" in trying circumstances.
We meet in Ridsdale's relatively modest office at Ninian Park. The last time we talked, I rather provocatively remind him, we were in his extremely swish quarters at Elland Road, a few hours before Leeds drew 1-1 with Barcelona in the semi-final of the Champions League. That day, seven years ago now, I was there to talk to him about the extraordinary success he seemed to have made of Leeds United. On this occasion it is to talk about his book United We Fall, all the royalties from which are going to St Gemma's Hospice in Leeds. "I am very keen that nobody thinks I'm lining my pockets," he says. "The only benefit I wanted was an opportunity to tell the truth."
The truth, if such it is, makes genuinely compelling reading. Ridsdale pulls no punches, except those he was instructed by his lawyers to pull, and damns some famous football men. He also owns up to becoming "naively intoxicated" by success, although anyone expecting one long mea culpa will be disappointed.
"It's easy to lash out at me," he says. "But I was on the board from 1987 to 1997, and from 1997 to 2003 as chairman. In my time as chairman we never finished out of the top five, we were in Europe five years running, we reached two European semi-finals. And then of course there were the trials, the murders, a plane crash. The book's about all of that, but also about some of the things that happen in football clubs that people never find out about. No other business prepares you for the things you put up with in football."
Such as corrupt agents, one of whom he names in his book? "Well, anyone who's negotiated with a footballer knows that the first thing you need is an agent. The agent knows what others are earning, and can put the salary proposal into perspective, whereas players don't have any idea, because they don't tell the truth to each other. Almost all the agents I've dealt with have been straight, but football, like a lot of industries, always has people at the fringes who aren't honest. I was in the fashion business for years, and there were always rumours about buyers taking perks to order more stock from a supplier. In football, don't forget that for every dodgy agent you need a dodgy executive. Are there deals I raise eyebrows at? Of course. Players you've never heard of come in from South America, commanding a massive transfer fee, play for five minutes and then you never hear of them again. Maybe that's just bad management, but it begs questions, doesn't it?"
Returning to the question of Leeds, Ridsdale disclaims responsibility for the club's relegation from the Premier League in 2004, 15 months after he had left. "In October I went to see Cardiff City play at Anfield in the Carling Cup," he says. "We are only one division apart, yet we get £1.7m out of the TV rights, and they get a minimum of £35m. In the context of Leeds, the strategy there was right as long as we stayed in the Premier League. Look at that team I left behind. The week after I resigned, they beat Charlton 6-1 away. Three weeks later they went to Highbury and won 3-2. How could that team get relegated? I do think that there were some poor football management decisions after I left, which contributed to relegation, but that just seems like sour grapes."
A deep sigh. "What I'm saying in the book is that I'm honest, I'm hard working, that we made lots of mistakes, but we did a few things well too, and I don't think I deserved all the abuse I got. David Mellor, a man I'd exchanged Christmas cards with, wrote that if I had anything about me I would go into a darkened room with a pistol and a bottle of whisky. I still find that astonishing. What did I do? I tried to do a decent job with four other colleagues on the board."
Did he, at any time, consider what we might term the Mellor option? "It did go through my mind, yes. I thought about what would happen if I did it. And there were some very difficult low points, like 12 months after I'd left when a man in a suit, on a train from Euston to Lancaster, grabbed hold of me and started punching me, saying 'this is for what you did to my club!' That story's not in the book. But what do you do? You either put your life back together, or you don't."
It is by no means only Leeds fans who have demonised Ridsdale. "Even at the FA Cup final this year I got terrible abuse," he adds. "It's interesting. In America they say you can never succeed unless you've failed. They see it as part of the learning curve. Here we have a culture where the minute you show signs of weakness they want to grind you into the dust. People have said I should never be allowed to work in football again. Why? I never did anything dishonest. Yes, I made mistakes, but does that mean I can't have a life any more? The desire to humiliate is quite eerie. And you can't respond. If you do it's in all the papers."
The book is his eloquent response, but in responding he also implicates others in the decline of Leeds United, not least Terry Venables and David O'Leary. How, I wonder, does he square everything he's just said to me with the possibility that football chairmen might read what he says about O'Leary losing the respect of the Leeds dressing room, among other damning observations, and decide not to employ him?
A small smile. "Well, a lot was written about me, implying I was dishonest. Nobody stood up for me, and I had to work hard to find people who would give me a chance again. If by telling the truth that gives others problems..." – the smile has faded now – "... well, I'm not going to be blasé and say I don't care, but that's part of telling it how it was."

United We Fall: Boardroom Truths about the Beautiful Game by Peter Ridsdale, published by Macmillan, £18.99.

Board games Ridsdale's mixed record of success
* Leeds United chairman (1997-2003) Borrowed £60m in gambling on Leeds qualifying for the Champions League. Claimed club's demise had nothing to do with him, despite leaving them with £103m debt

* Barnsley chairman (2003-04) Credited with saving club from relegation. Lost revenue from ITV Digital collapse

* Cardiff City chairman (2005-) Recruited to help build new stadium


What they say...
"I now feel compelled to defend myself against this deranged man. It's a smear campaign"
David O'Leary, Nov 2007

"At Cardiff he has a wide and far reaching brief. I believe he is the perfect person for the job."
Sam Hamann, May 2005


The Independent

kjelvi

Sv: NYTT: "United We Fall" av Peter Ridsdale
« Svar #75 på: Desember 21, 2007, 16:10:43 »
Small Talk
The Guardian


Peter Ridsdale



The Cardiff City and former Leeds chairman holds forth on Seth Johnson's wages, why he'd put an Aston Martin in Room 101, and being the singer in 60s band Midnight Orange


Tom Cruise, stars as Peter Ridsdale
 
Morning, Peter
Morning, Small Talk.

It was your book launch last night, you must be feeling a bit hung over after drinking champagne from golden bowls balanced on the heads of beautiful women and whatever else goes on at these high society parties?
[Chipper] No, it was all quite sedate and I feel very good, thank you very much.

Ah! So there were beautiful women serving champagne then! Why did you decide to write the book?
Because I'd kept my mouth shut for four and a half years. A lot of things have been written about my time at Leeds and I finally wanted to put it behind me and tell my side of the story.

[Small Talk places Hard-Nosed Journalist Hat on head] Are you receiving a fee for the book? Some Leeds fans would say you're profiting from their misery ...
All the money is going to St Gemma's hospice in Leeds. Both my parents died of cancer and the staff at the hospice do an outstanding job.

[Small Talk rips Hard-Nosed Journalist Hat off head, stamps on it, and gives it long, resentful stare] There's been a bit of reaction to the book. David O'Leary, for example, called you "deranged" ...
I don't find that statement justified because I think anyone who knows me would argue I'm not. I'm not sure whether he'd read the book or just some of the extracts. I think if people read it, in its context, I think there's a story worth a telling.

Small Talk would quite like to hear about Seth Johnson. Is it true you offered him £20,000 more a week than he was expecting when he joined Leeds from Derby?
It's amazing nobody asks the lad's agent himself whether there's any truth in the story: it's a myth. [Johnson] was on at least £10,000 a week less when he joined than has been rumoured in the press.

Now for one reason or another, Small Talk has wandered the alleys and lanes of Leeds at night and there are some very large men who are quite the pugilists. Can you walk the streets without getting a pasting?
I'm sure if I walked around late at night as the pubs were coming out, there would be some people who may have a view on my career. But I still go back to Leeds, you know, it's where I grew up.

Do you ever miss going to Elland Road?
When I first left Leeds I found it strange because I had been there since I was a schoolboy, every week. In the book I apologise for the mistakes that I made, and I think the book also begs the question of whether others should put their hands in the air and say they made mistakes.

And which people would that be, Peter?
[Tersely] I think if you read the book you can draw your own conclusions.

Gah! Reading's for girls, Peter. Real men have fights in Leeds city centre and play football. Were you much of a player yourself?
I played in goal for my county when I was younger. I played every weekend and loved it.

Who was the best player you brought to the Leeds?
There were some great players, but I'd go for Mark Viduka, who had great feet and created as many goals as he scored. Then there was an unknown striker called Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, who we bought for £2m and sold for £12m, but of course nobody gives us any credit for that one.

You were in top pop band Midnight Orange in your youth ...
Ah yes, I was lead singer. It was in the 60s and we played all sorts of stuff - (If Paradise Is) Half As Nice - I modelled my haircut on Peter Noone out of Herman's Hermits. [Detecting the squeak in Small Talk's voice] You'd be too young to remember all this of course.

Yup, Small Talk is a hip young cat with its finger on the pulse of the modern scene. Apparently there's a band from Leeds called Kaiser Chiefs ...
I think the Kaiser Chiefs are great, absolutely great. We've got their CDs here at home. They're something to be proud of as a lad from Leeds.

Rodney Marsh has just appeared on I'm a Celebrity ... Have you ever been invited to go on?
I'm not going to get involved in reality television. [Out of nowhere] I'm a businessman who takes very seriously doing my job well. You make mistakes and you have to hold your hands up and in most countries in the world people acknowledge that when you make mistakes you're better for it, if you put the lessons learned into practice. Whereas in this country we want to grind people down and that's what's happened to me over the last four and a half years and this is an opportunity to keep my head down and get on and complete the task at Cardiff.

[Small Talk puts a tentative tick in box marked "Not interested in reality TV shows"] Erm, so you're saying there's a culture of knocking people in Britain then?
I can only speak from experience but some people have said very nice things about me, for example during the incidents at Galatasaray, and over the things that were thrown our way during the Woodgate/Bowyer trial and yet today you'd think from reactions today that I'd never done anything right as Leeds chairman, yet for five years we were one of the top teams in the country.

Yikes! Let's bring it down a level, Peter. What was the last CD you bought?
I've just bought Katie Melua's one actually. I particularly like If You Were A Sailboat.

Ah, sailboats - that's lovely and calming. And Katie's a nice looking lady, even if she did go out with that bloke from the Kooks.
Yes, a nice looking lady indeed.

Who would play you in a film of your life?
[Genuinely stumped] I don't know actually; that's a very good question. [Laughing] Let's say Tom Cruise.

No can do, Small Talk's already got dibs on Cruise. You're getting Judge Reinhold. What's your favourite biscuit?
It's got to be a Jammy Dodger.

What would you put into Room 101?
[Perhaps misunderstanding concept] The keys to an Aston Martin.

An excellent choice considering the dangers of climate change, Peter. Should we take global warming seriously?
Yes. It's very important that this generation takes environmental issues very importantly because we're only here for a limited time.

A lovely sentiment to end on. Thanks for your time.
Thanks Small Talk, take care.


Peter Ridsdale's book United We Stand: Boardroom Truths About The Beautiful Game is out now

kjelvi

Sv: NYTT: "United We Fall" av Peter Ridsdale
« Svar #76 på: Januar 10, 2008, 22:04:33 »
Nettopp lest ferdig 'United We Fall". Har fått oversendt et signert eksemplar som en forsinket julegave fra en kompis i UK.

En viktig forutsetning når man leser boka er at man ser den som Ridsdales forsvarsskriv og hans forsøk for å redde sitt ettermele.

Boka er lettlest - og handler 99% om hans tids som styremedlem (1987-2003) og styreleder (1997-2003) i Leeds Utd.
Den omhandler 'oppturen' mot opprykk og Div. 1-mesterskap (89-90), seriegull (91-92) og CL-semien (00-01) og 'nedturen' med økonomisk krise, spillersalg/hyppige manager-skifter, Woodgate/Boywer-saken fram til han trakk seg i 2003.
Den er detaljrik når det gjelder drøftinger, vurderinger, forhandlinger, m.m. rundt enkeltepisoder (som f.eks. Cantonas avreise, sparkingen/tilsetting av manager).
I tillegg krydret med en rekke subjektive 'observasjoner' - som f.eks antydniger om at Catona 'beiset' fru Chapman, Woodgate som en av de dummeste, Bowyer som kynisk og egosentrisk rasist, O'Leary som en oppblåst fyr ofte på kanten av det moralsk lovlige (bung-penger, agent-koblinger).

En rekke påstander er tunge - og har skapt diskusjon (ref. avisklippene i denne tråden).
* Støyen rundt bung-penger (£1,75m) til Rune Hauge i f.b.m. med Rio-overgangen er fikset av O'Leary og ikke han.
* Hovedgrunnen til at O'Leary fikk sparken sommeren 2002 var at han hadde mistet spillerenes respekt, bl.a. etter hans bok 'Leeds Utd. On Trail".
* Fotballagenten Pino Pagliari forsøkte å bestikke han i f.b.m. med Keanes overgang til Spurs i 2002. Forslaget var en fake-faktura på £600.000, som igjen skulle deles mellom de to.
* Det var en foreløpig avtale mellom Ridsdale og Martin O'Neill av januar 2003, som innebar at O'Neill skulle overta som Leeds-manager sommeren 03.

Spennende lesning, som gir mange detaljer om hva som skjedde i og rundt klubben
Selv om man stiller seg skeptisk til deler av innholdet, mener jeg at boka fastslår følgende:
* Som styreformann hadde Ridsdale hovedansvaret for Leeds' fall. Det understreker han sjøl også!
* Men ansvaret deler han med hele styret og resten av "Executive"-nivået i klubben, som var med å fatte de aller fleste beslutningene.
* Ingen tvil om at Ridsdale er en lifelong fan - som på tross av alle feilene som er gjort har bare hatt klubben beste for øye.
* Boka gir skildringer at mennesker som bekrefter det inntrykket jeg har hatt. Wilko som en litt asosial særing av den gamle skolen, George som en super-egosentrisk person som stort sett bare var opptatt av å male sin egen kake, O'Leary som bare ville ha flere og flere spillere, samt Venables som skiftet mening og strategi hver uke.

I tillegg rydder boka opp i flere vandrehistorier - som Seth Johnsons lønnsfastsettelse, leasing-festen (biler, akvarium, ..), agent-honorarer, Fowler-prisen, Grahams overgang til Spurs, bruken av privatjet-er, m.m.

Anbefales!
Men bør leses som en skyldig persons forklaring og bortforklaringer.
Den gir også en spennende innsikt i livet i styrerommet og en slags forståelse av fotball-foretningsdrift.


Promotion 2010

Sv: NYTT: "United We Fall" av Peter Ridsdale
« Svar #77 på: November 25, 2010, 15:32:54 »
Min første Leeds-kamp:
Strømsgodset vs Leeds, 19.september 1973

jarle

Sv: NYTT: "United We Fall" av Peter Ridsdale
« Svar #78 på: November 25, 2010, 17:06:03 »
Jeg er ikke entydig negativ til Ridsdale...

Som han sier ... hvilket lag cruiser i Europa, topper PL til jul for så ikke vinne en kamp på mnd..

Det er ikke styreformannen sin skyld ihvertfall...

Den store tabben var EL Tel!!! 
Jeg er sikker på at vi skulle kunne håndtert den gjelden... vi hadde jo spillere verdt haugevs av kroner... som var egne talenter... så null i kost!!


Kato

Sv: NYTT: "United We Fall" av Peter Ridsdale
« Svar #79 på: November 25, 2010, 17:47:12 »
Av alle håpløse valg gjort siste ti år synes jeg det desidert verste var Peter Reid.
 

p0ndus

  • Gjest
Sv: NYTT: "United We Fall" av Peter Ridsdale
« Svar #80 på: November 25, 2010, 18:28:57 »
Nå på vei til Plymouth.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/p/plymouth_argyle/9228231.stm

Stakars klubb!  :o
Stakkars lille Plymouth, Ridsdale  kommer til og investere De ned i rennesteinen. Sann mine ord.

lojosang

Sv: NYTT: "United We Fall" av Peter Ridsdale
« Svar #81 på: November 25, 2010, 18:44:26 »
Null kost? Vi hadde et lønnsbudsjett i størrelsesorden BNP for et middels U-land, lånene var brukt på spillerinnkjøp og fantasilønninger med sikkerhet i framtidige inntekter. Risikovurderingen til Ridsdale og hans styre har vært på nivå med norske Terra-kommuner.

Det som forundrer meg mest er hvordan den mannen kan forlate klubb etter klubb med røde tall og framdeles ha enorme summer til å investere i nye klubber. Og at styrer verden over ser ut til å ansette konkursspøkelser gang på gang "fordi de har erfaring" med å gå konk.

Jeg er ikke entydig negativ til Ridsdale...

Som han sier ... hvilket lag cruiser i Europa, topper PL til jul for så ikke vinne en kamp på mnd..

Det er ikke styreformannen sin skyld ihvertfall...

Den store tabben var EL Tel!!! 
Jeg er sikker på at vi skulle kunne håndtert den gjelden... vi hadde jo spillere verdt haugevs av kroner... som var egne talenter... så null i kost!!


- Leif Olav

jarle

Sv: NYTT: "United We Fall" av Peter Ridsdale
« Svar #82 på: November 25, 2010, 19:10:58 »
Null kost? Vi hadde et lønnsbudsjett i størrelsesorden BNP for et middels U-land, lånene var brukt på spillerinnkjøp og fantasilønninger med sikkerhet i framtidige inntekter. Risikovurderingen til Ridsdale og hans styre har vært på nivå med norske Terra-kommuner.

Det som forundrer meg mest er hvordan den mannen kan forlate klubb etter klubb med røde tall og framdeles ha enorme summer til å investere i nye klubber. Og at styrer verden over ser ut til å ansette konkursspøkelser gang på gang "fordi de har erfaring" med å gå konk.

Jeg er ikke entydig negativ til Ridsdale...

Som han sier ... hvilket lag cruiser i Europa, topper PL til jul for så ikke vinne en kamp på mnd..

Det er ikke styreformannen sin skyld ihvertfall...

Den store tabben var EL Tel!!! 
Jeg er sikker på at vi skulle kunne håndtert den gjelden... vi hadde jo spillere verdt haugevs av kroner... som var egne talenter... så null i kost!!




Null i kosts... så mente jeg,,, egne talenter som er brakt fram i klubben har ikke kostet oss noe i innkjøp... altså null kost... ved et salg ville det været netto kroner inn.

auren

Sv: NYTT: "United We Fall" av Peter Ridsdale
« Svar #83 på: November 25, 2010, 19:35:00 »
Null kost? Vi hadde et lønnsbudsjett i størrelsesorden BNP for et middels U-land, lånene var brukt på spillerinnkjøp og fantasilønninger med sikkerhet i framtidige inntekter. Risikovurderingen til Ridsdale og hans styre har vært på nivå med norske Terra-kommuner.

Det som forundrer meg mest er hvordan den mannen kan forlate klubb etter klubb med røde tall og framdeles ha enorme summer til å investere i nye klubber. Og at styrer verden over ser ut til å ansette konkursspøkelser gang på gang "fordi de har erfaring" med å gå konk.

Jeg er ikke entydig negativ til Ridsdale...

Som han sier ... hvilket lag cruiser i Europa, topper PL til jul for så ikke vinne en kamp på mnd..

Det er ikke styreformannen sin skyld ihvertfall...

Den store tabben var EL Tel!!!  
Jeg er sikker på at vi skulle kunne håndtert den gjelden... vi hadde jo spillere verdt haugevs av kroner... som var egne talenter... så null i kost!!




Null i kosts... så mente jeg,,, egne talenter som er brakt fram i klubben har ikke kostet oss noe i innkjøp... altså null kost... ved et salg ville det været netto kroner inn.


Du glemmer en annen skjult kostnad også: Det koster penger å drive Thorpe Arch og maaange av spillerne ender opp som kun talenter og går gratis fra klubben. Noen som har en idé hvor mye det koster å trene én enkelt spiller? Det er derfor man betaler klubber utdanningskompensasjon for spillere under 23 (?) år.

auren
"Guardiola said: 'You know more about Barcelona than I do!'"
Marcelo Bielsa, 16.01.19, etter Spygate-foredraget sitt.

Kickthemdown

Sv: NYTT: "United We Fall" av Peter Ridsdale
« Svar #84 på: November 25, 2010, 19:40:44 »
Jeg er ikke entydig negativ til Ridsdale...

Som han sier ... hvilket lag cruiser i Europa, topper PL til jul for så ikke vinne en kamp på mnd..

Det er ikke styreformannen sin skyld ihvertfall...

Den store tabben var EL Tel!!! 
Jeg er sikker på at vi skulle kunne håndtert den gjelden... vi hadde jo spillere verdt haugevs av kroner... som var egne talenter... så null i kost!!


Mye av det du skriver er jeg sensasjonelt nok enig i, men dette.... What?  ???

jarle

Sv: NYTT: "United We Fall" av Peter Ridsdale
« Svar #85 på: November 25, 2010, 23:08:32 »
Jeg er ikke entydig negativ til Ridsdale...

Som han sier ... hvilket lag cruiser i Europa, topper PL til jul for så ikke vinne en kamp på mnd..

Det er ikke styreformannen sin skyld ihvertfall...

Den store tabben var EL Tel!!! 
Jeg er sikker på at vi skulle kunne håndtert den gjelden... vi hadde jo spillere verdt haugevs av kroner... som var egne talenter... så null i kost!!


Mye av det du skriver er jeg sensasjonelt nok enig i, men dette.... What?  ???


Du mener vel heller ikke at det er styreformannen som spiller fotballkamper...
Så det at laget kollapset etter jul og da ledelse i PL.. var vel ikke hans skyld...
Hadde ikke dette skjedd og vi kom med i CL igjen hadde vi vært safe!

Ja jeg mener ansettelsen av El TEl som hadde hatt ferie i 10 år på spanske kysten var idioti og ødela Leeds som lag.. derfra gikk det en vei og det nedover...

Det var jo den sportslige nedturen som sørget for at det gikk som det gikk.

Er sikker på at boka til DOL ikke var så veldig smart heller...
Heller ikke ansettelsen av Brian Kidd som var DOL's avgjørelse.. etter det spilte vi nesten ikke en god fotball kamp. Kjøpet av kokain avhengige Liverpool spisser var vel heller ikke Pete's valg.

Poenget mitt er at det å henge Pete som den ansvarlige for all elendigheten er feil...

Da skal han også få æren av 2 semifinaler i Europa og mye annet gøy også...
Det er ihvertfall den beste perioden min som Leeds fan...

Utrolig stolt av dette laget som spilte fantastisk fotball og besto av kids fra Leeds!!!
Utrolig... vil vi noen gang se et lignende lag i Engelsk fotball... nå er det jo bare pengene som rår...

Promotion 2010

Sv: NYTT: "United We Fall" av Peter Ridsdale
« Svar #86 på: November 26, 2010, 14:34:07 »
Sitat
Poenget mitt er at det å henge Pete som den ansvarlige for all elendigheten er feil...

Da er det vel rett og rimelig at vi henger Bates for alt som har skjedd det siste tiåret da!


Rett og rimelig............rett og rimelig...........rett og simelig.........  ;)
Min første Leeds-kamp:
Strømsgodset vs Leeds, 19.september 1973

jarle

Sv: NYTT: "United We Fall" av Peter Ridsdale
« Svar #87 på: November 26, 2010, 16:02:15 »
Sitat
Poenget mitt er at det å henge Pete som den ansvarlige for all elendigheten er feil...

Da er det vel rett og rimelig at vi henger Bates for alt som har skjedd det siste tiåret da!


Rett og rimelig............rett og rimelig...........rett og simelig.........  ;)


Nå støttet vel Pete managern sin litt mer når det gjaldt spillerkjøp... ( he he)
Bates har vel vært noe mer gnien...

Så slik sett kan kanskje Bates ha noe mer skyld i mangelen på sportslig suksess...
3 år i 3 div.. HAALLOOOO!!!..

Ellers mener jeg Pete gjorde mye bra for klubben på og utenfor banen... anti rassisme etc..
Bates gjør ikke annet enn å krangle med alt og alle...




lojosang

Sv: NYTT: "United We Fall" av Peter Ridsdale
« Svar #88 på: November 26, 2010, 16:15:01 »
Han spilte hazard med klubben som innsats. Og styret hans lot ham få lov til det.
At han også gjorde noe bra veier ikke opp for det. Mannen er ikke Anti-Krist, for all del. Og styret må jo ta på seg i hvert fall halve skylda for uføret vi havnet i.
- Leif Olav

columbi

Sv: NYTT: "United We Fall" av Peter Ridsdale
« Svar #89 på: November 27, 2010, 23:36:58 »
Har en følelse av at Ridsdale ikke var erfaren nok som styreformann samtidig som O'Leary tok litt mye styring. Kan jo hatt en sammenheng. Ridsdale var Leeds-gutt i sitt hjerte og manglet nok kanskje styrke til å si nei når han burde. Noen må skyve på , mens andre må holde igjen. I boardroom på Elland Road var det ingen som turde å stå imot og se konsekvensene når resultatene uteble. Ridsdale gav jo boka til O'Leary skylden for nedturen og etter nyttår i 2002 var det kun en vei.