Leeds United fans are enjoying a welcome surge in form that has seen the Whites leap from second bottom after the home defeat by Huddersfield to claim a place in the promotion play-offs in just 10 games.
After gaining just four points in their opening six games, Leeds United have gained 22 from their last 10 and have shot up the table to the extent that fans are getting a little more than excited that the usual sense of despondency about mid-table mediocrity is about to banished from a season that they will feel is long overdue.
One thing that some fans will not be enjoying is the constant bubbling up of ‘takeover news’, something that has seemeingly been on the agenda at Leeds United for at least all of this season so far. The takeover talk is like an onion, each layer seemingly peeled back leaves fans with watering eyes.
Early September there were some saying that the takeover of Leeds United was on the horizon, documents were supposedly with the Football League, and a deal would be appearing in the press within the month. It is now late October and it is neither here nor any closer really.
Of course there are many opinions put forward as to why the supposedly ‘agreed’ deal hasn’t come to fruition with the complexity of the deal, Cellino’s legal position with the charges he is facing, in fact anything seems to become an obstacle to a successful takeover.
Less than a week ago this Leeds fan asked Sun journalist Alan Nixon on Twitter whether there was a link between the behnid the scenes changes being made at Elland Road and the likelihood that a takeover of the club was linked.
@reluctantnicko big change of PR at #LUFC atm. Massimo not spoken since August ? Takeover imminent?
— Glenn (@glennhall4lufc) November 2, 2016
Journalist Nixon replied (below) saying that his understanding of the situation is that Massiomo Cellino is not looking to sell up and move on, rather he is looking for stregic outside investment in the club.
The difficulty is that no-one really knows just what the current, objective lie of the land is on the takeover talks. Whilst some are saying that Italian businessman Andrea Radrizzani is the name behind a purported deal to take over the Whites, others are saying that this is not the case, with Nixon questioning, in another tweet, why Cellino would sell atthe moment when things were going well.
However, Alan Nixon’s fellow Sun journalist Fred Nathan said in reply to one Leeds fan that he believes the takeover is still viable, somewhat contradicting his colleague. Responding to a question about the ongoing FA investigation into allegations that Cellino instructed money to be paid to an unlicensed individual linked with the transfer of Ross McCormack from Leeds to Fulham, Nathan stressed that the takeover was a live entity.
This week I think, FA have made their decision but had to wait. Takeover ongoing I believe! Must be frustrating for you all
— Fred Nathan (@FreddieNathan) November 8, 2016
This response from Sun journalist Nathan obviously brought a flurry of interest from Whites fans keen to see a resolution, one way or the other, of this long, drawn-out affair. When pressed on the manner of the takeover
Majority stake I think
— Fred Nathan (@FreddieNathan) November 8, 2016
Fred Nathan’s assertion that the current state of play is that a “majority stake” is what is being sought behind closed doors to form a takeover of Leeds United flies in the face of what his colleague Alan Nixon is saying. Some fans on social media are rubbing their hands in glee at the thought that Leeds may soon be rid of what many see as a tyrannical owner, but others are sceptical of this.
These sceptics point out that some of those celebrating to soon-to-be new owner/s of the West Yorkshire club need to stay their enthusiasm somewhat, pointing out that a deal has supposedly been with the Football League since September and that a completion date has been blown out more times that an airport windsock.
Only one thing’s for certain in this ‘takeover affair’, and one thing only. No one is really 100% sure what is really going on. There’s of course the obligatory opinions from both sides that scenario X and plan Y is/isn’t/might/might not be being played out, but certainty isn’t in agreement. It’s like the senseless bickering of Tweedledum and Tweedledee at times with claim and counterclaim being accepted as true by one group and as the depths of falsehood by others.
I mean, if two colleagues on the same newspaper can’t even agree on the basic constituents of the supposed deal, where does that leave the rest of us?
