Earlier this week, a single event rankled Leeds United owner Massimo Cellino – turning him into a reluctant poster boy.
All it took was the placement of on poster with a series of his own words; a series of words that turned out to be nothing other than broken promises to the wounded ears of Leeds United fans. The placement of the poster in question was genius, not only right outside Elland Road but also right outside the East Stand, the poster (below) there for all to see.
However, any joy at the placing of poster soon ran out with the poster being taken down by the advertising agency under threat of legal action, citing harrassment, by solicitors instructed by Leeds United themselves. Less than a day after it was posted, the above display was bereft of its representation of ‘Massimo’s Missives’ and any victory or notoriety that the original commisioners of the poster, anti-Cellino group ‘Time To Go Massimo’, intended was swept away under legal threat.
The poster was paid for by a ‘crowdfunded campaign’, with the instructed lawyers Ward Hadaway also demanding that the advertising company, City Ads Yorkshire, should release information on the people who commisioned the poster’s placement. Should this disclosure not be forthcoming, Ward Hadaway said, “If necessary we anticipate being instructed to obtain the appropriate court order to have you disclose this information and will seek the costs incurred in doing so from you.”
However, a spokesperson for the group told the Yorkshire Post that the rationale behind the poster was that, “With so many fans frustrated at the Cellino regime, we wanted to hit the ground running following another unsuccessful transfer window. The generosity, tenacity and passion of Leeds United fans never ceases to amaze – in just under a week we have the funds in place to run a substantial advertising campaign to highlight why we feel it’s time for a change in ownership.” The phrase “substantial advertising campaign” hinted that the poster wasn’t all that was involved with talk also that there was to be a leaflet blitz at the Middlesbrough game this coming Monday.
We're finally getting it together. Help seriously committed #LUFC fans do the spectacular on Monday.
PayPal cellinooutdonations@yahoo.com
— Adam J (@Ken_DeMange) February 12, 2016
With this tweet, @Ken_DeMange more than hints that something will be happening come Monday’s game against Middlesbrough, a game that will be under the glare of the Sky Sports cameras. What it is to be seems shrouded in mystery with @Ken_deMinge admitting, in reply to a question from another Leeds United fan as to what was occuring, that, “no details [have been] revealed yet. If they’ve any sense they won’t do so in advance at all. I simply trust those in charge to deliver.”
Twitter user @MassimoTimeToGo also seems to be of the opinion that action on Monday will be taken but it will be protest “driven by the fans, for the fans.” They also say that the exact nature of the planned protest will be revealed should Twitter followers reach 500 this weekend. One tweet confirming this said, “If we reach 500 followers over the weekend, i will post some details about a proposed boycott/protest.. If we have enough interest [it will go ahead].”
There also seems to be some sort of campaign to deliver posted ‘min-versions’ of the initial poster to Elland Road for Massimo Cellino to read at his leisure. An example of this #Flyer4ALiar initiative is picking up pace on the anti-Cellino Twitter profile of @NorthernMisery with a couple of sardonic tweets saying, “Don’t print out the harassing picture, mark it “Private and Confidential” and send it to Massimo at ER” and “I’m positive he’d hate if you send him purple glitter and confetti if you send him a flyer. So please don’t do that either.”
It also seems that the phrase “substantial advertising campaign” from earlier is ringing true with the following tweet confirming that to be so.
https://twitter.com/NorthernMisery/status/698494565418975232
So, from poster boy to no poster boy and possibly now forming part of a larger, ‘planned’ protest, it seems that Leeds United owner Massimo Cellino is destined to remain in the forefront of many Leeds United fan’s minds over this coming weekend.
