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Wednesday 7 August 2013

Pressure on McDermott to sell as Leeds United's owners' profits sink lower?

With rumours that Middlesbrough are sniffing around Ross McCormack, the last thing Leeds fans want to hear is that GFH Capital continue to struggle, with profits once again falling.

When word started circulating about the takeover, Leeds fans came on here in their droves, boasting about how oil money would fund an early return to the Prem and then domination of Europe, but as I warned, things were not quite as the misguided numpties chose to believe. This was no oil fuelled mega bank, more a camel pot outfit built on sand.

And apart from the one million capture of Murphy, very little money has been made available to Nice Guy Brian to spend. When Becchio left, Leeds fans took their heads out of their backsides to exclaim, "We've got Morison, we've got the better part of the deal". It always sounded a bit hollow, but with Morison now loaned out to Millwall, the truth of the matter has been fully exposed: Becchio went because Leeds couldn't afford his wages; and Morison has been moved on because he is crap and McDermott has been told to shrink his wage bill.

No surprises there, of course, when you read that GFH are seeking to "extract value from our existing assets" to bolster plunging profits. It is very sobering to see that the whole business made a paltry profit of just $4.2m on the first half year of trading, and that was only achieved by operating costs being reduced by $7.3m. Take away that cost saving, and you can only slash costs so far, and the bank would actually have posted a loss of $3.1m!

So, the bank is struggling, it is on a cost cutting drive and it is, according to its own statement, looking to "extract value" from its assets. Tell me, what are the implications to McDermott and Leeds?

Instead of pondering who Leeds might sign before the window slams shut, the question is, once again, who might they sell? It was Captain Snakeinthegrass last summer, Becchio in January and now? Maybe McCormack. Or maybe, God forbid, young Byram. It has to be a worry when the sale of a young footballer, carrying an injury, could, even if sold at a knock down price, more than DOUBLE the half year profits of the entire company!

Master Bates claimed his sacking was a smokescreen and this latest profit statement lends credence to his assertion. Yes Leeds beat Brighton on Saturday, but Brighton lost at home to Newport yesterday so any cockiness may be a tad out of place. Poor McDermott is doing his best to reshape the squad but he appears to be doing so with both hands tied behind his back, and the fear must be that even if players are sold, the cash will be retained rather than reinvested.

And before Leeds fans go off on one, tell me, what exactly does "extract value from our existing assets" mean? McDermott seems to know given his statement that honesty is everything!

16 comments:

  1. I know u been away but we spent 1 million on murphy knocked bids back for several players & buying elland rd back with big investment coming in u silly looking idiot that always struggles with the fact that 2+2 =4 not 5

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  2. Latest breaking news Mrs McCockney has eaten a bad jellied eel, he blames the pollution in the Fleet for his/her gender problems. She/he believes that they are fattening, no wonder the sewage pipes are blocked. It is very difficult for water companies to find them as the whole of the area, football included is sh*t.

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  3. Haha HF is back. So funny to read this blog because he knows he gets more hits on his shitty site by insulting leeds fans than he would get from his own boring teams news. Still his entertainment value is worth the read.

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  4. as a leeds fan,i would sell ross mac,reasoning that boro always buy shite,so we must be overrating the boy,cash him in fast

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  5. What a dreadfully 'glass half empty' post this is. The entire content is based on 'extracting' 2 words from a full paragrapgh and making it fit the doom and gloom you appear to have drawn from this.
    What about the Chairman stating in his own voice, not through heresay, the fact he has 'told BM to get a couple of players in before the window shuts' (sic). Obviously we want to move some players on, name me a club that doesn't?. Demeaning our victory against Brigton because they got beat last night is bordering on ridiculous, it has no logic to it at all. If they were to beat Man U in the FA Cup does that make us the best team in the country????
    There is a huge positive swell of feeling at the club at the moment. If that is proved to be shortlived then so be it but I for one will base my emotions on fact and will moan at the appropiate time; now is not that time if it happens at all!!!!

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    1. Don't bother explianing to Neville , its a waste of time & text space mate

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  6. Sometimes I think about reading about West Ham but then as they're such a grey anonymous pointless team, I think why bother.

    But hey they did once feature Trevor Brooking and he was pointless too!

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  7. As much as I don't usually agree with this cockney tosser, he's right this time.

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  8. Despite any profit or loss from gfh hq, compared to west ham we are much better off!!!! Fact!! You spending money you dont have!!! Fact!! My money is on west ham being the first club to be hit hard under the new fair play rules!!! As a club we have more cash!!!

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  9. the season for us is 5 days old and I notice you have posted 5 times about Leeds already. like last season, I got bored with your "nice guy Brian" and "Arab bank built on sand" for f*** sake go and bore someone else. Does anyone know how to block this bitter and twisted loon? I look on "news now Leeds" every day for proper news. Not speculation and bile from an idiot who knows nothing about my club or reads speculation elsewhere then twists it into something that it isn't. Get a life or some friends as I doubt you have any on here.

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    1. Why don't you just come out, you know you love us! Your obsession is embarrassing!

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  10. What...you mean we haven't got any money? When in the hell did that happen!!??

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  11. He was just a poor little cockney bastard his face was all tattered and torn... He made me feel sick... So I hit him with a brick... And now he doesnt sing anymore.

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  12. Well obviously you have never run a company..."Extracting value..." is not taking cash out, but increasing the asset value of the company, as you so ponderously calculated Sam Byram's value is now 8.4m. What value Poleon? Dawson? Lees? Thompson? et al...
    I think you would agree the assets are appreciating!!

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  13. It will be interesting to see the attendance on Saturday. With it been televised and an early kick off. Leeds need those spondulies at the turnstiles. If they hit 30000 again that will be nothing but a great boost for the club. I wait with intrigue.
    On the business front, a large attendance would attract more business interest. These coming weeks are crucial for GFH. They are on tele again against QPR later in the month. Another large attendance would be very welcome.
    It was interesting to note that Preston/Bolton got the biggest Cup attendance last week even though it was televised. They had 4 more than the Leeds game.
    If the crowds stay big, the business can play with more confidence.

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