That article alone has swung me to subscribe to The Athletic. The writing and detail is on another level.
On Fri, 9 Aug 2019 at 09:41, Tim Leslie <t...@3lv.uk> wrote: > On this occasion Rich, I think you're being a bit naive. I think the YEP > version is a cut down of Phil Hays piece in the new Athletic website > (Subscription required, but I signed up on a £30 for a year option. The > writing is VERY good I think). It's clear we were over loaded with > youngsters who weren't going to 'make it' and they needed offloading, > otherwise we'd breach the rules. Doing a Derby and selling the ground > wasn't (apparently) an option due to the buy back recently. So, much as > I'd have loved the two Inter Milan lads, the Spurs centre half AND Ryan > Kent on top of what we did, I think we may be OK judging by what other > clubs are also having to do. > > StigOfThePragmaticDump > > CEO Kinnear: Leeds rejected £35m of offers this summer but finance rules > are ‘pointless’ > > By Phil Hay Aug 8, 2019 > > The Championship is where clubs and owners go to lose money. A chief > executive who now works abroad once summed it up like this: “You’re > going to make losses whether you want to or not. You just have to decide > how much you’re going to lose.” > From time to time there are exceptions to the rule, like the nominal > profit of £976,000 Leeds United turned in 2017. That would pay their > current wage bill for less than a fortnight. And less again after tax. > England’s second division has long been a diverse field in which certain > clubs overspend because they feel they have no choice and others > overspend because they have the cash and the mood takes them. > What CEOs across the league noticed in this transfer window was a > developing trend: that of a high proportion of teams heading for > negative net spends, some by a very comfortable margin. Incoming fees > have been vast: £15 million to Birmingham City for Che Adams, £20 > million to Brentford for Neal Maupay, £20 million to Bristol City for > Adam Webster. In a demonstration of the disparity with the Premier > League, Brighton alone financed two of those signings (Maupay and > Webster). > The mutual prudence of the clubs who pocketed those fees was not a > coincidence. The Championship has been bound by Profit and > Sustainability (PnS) rules for the past three years but in March, > something happened. Birmingham City exceeded the losses permitted by the > EFL and, on the guidance of an independent disciplinary commission, were > deducted nine points. > “The Birmingham decision changed the world in this division,” Leeds > chief executive Angus Kinnear tells The Athletic. “Everybody realised > PnS had teeth.” > Birmingham’s breach of EFL limits, which allow a maximum loss of £39 > million over a rolling three-year period, was public knowledge and > widely discussed but no-one in the Championship was sure how the EFL > would act. The end of the 2018-19 season marked the end of the first > full PnS accounting window and Birmingham became something of a guinea > pig: the only club officially in breach and the only club in harm’s way. > Even the directors at St Andrew’s were in the dark about the likely > consequences. > The lack of clarity was a frustration. “Every club wanted to be > absolutely clear about the sanctions,” Kinnear says. “None of us were > sure if there would be sporting sanctions or if the penalty would be > financial. If it’s financial then a decision over whether to abide by > PnS becomes an economic one, like in US sport if you breach the salary > cap. If it’s a sporting sanction, like a points deduction, then that’s > very different.” > Leeds made a big play of PnS – the EFL’s version of Financial Fair Play > (FFP) – throughout the transfer window just gone. They concentrated > heavily on ensuring compliance internally while trying to manage an > external audience who questioned the numbers involved and, in some > quarters, debated whether the club’s majority shareholder, Andrea > Radrizzani, was merely being tight. > Radrizzani, a charismatic Italian who made a fortune through the sale of > TV rights deals, is heavily invested in Leeds: £45 million for his > original takeover, some £20 million to buy back Leeds’ Elland Road > stadium from its private landlord two years ago and the person whom > Kinnear calls whenever the club need additional funds. > A stake of around 13 per cent was sold by Radrizzani to the San > Francisco 49ers last summer but the £11 million paid by the 49ers went > back into the Elland Road accounts. Leeds are a perfect example of how > life in the Championship works: the team with the biggest annual > turnover in the league, losing more than £1 million a month. > In the first two years of the EFL’s PnS cycle — which began with the > 2016-17 season — Leeds’ deficit stood at less than £4 million, a long > way short of £39 million. But last year, as the wage bill inflated to > more than £30 million, the yearly loss rose above £15 million despite a > turnover of close to £50 million. (Leeds, commercially, have few serious > rivals below the Premier League). > Certain costs are exempt from PnS calculations. Financial experts > estimate that a category two academy, which Leeds have, removes around > £1.2 million from the total annually, but United worried that another > round of heavy losses this season would put them in breach. Even now, > Kinnear says, their figures are extremely close to the limit. > The wage bill is where Leeds have stretched themselves most. According > to Kinnear, it is two and a half times higher than it was when > Radrizzani bought out Massimo Cellino in 2017, and not by accident. > “Over the past 10 years or so the club’s average finishing position in > the Championship was around 12th and the wage bill when Andrea first > came here was in line with that,” Kinnear says. “We’ve done a lot of > analysis of this. > “There’s always the odd exception but, in general, a wage bill of £15 > million or £16 million will get you a mid-table place. A wage bill of > £25 million will get you into the play-offs. And over £30 million will > get you promoted.” > Less than £10 million – the reality for a newly-promoted side like > Charlton Athletic –will most likely bring about relegation. > “The reality when Andrea started was that players here weren’t being > paid enough,” Kinnear says. “They were underpaid.” By acquiring > goalkeeper Kiko Casilla from Real Madrid in January, United were > committed to a wage of £35,000 a week. > When this transfer window opened, the club had three priorities beyond > the new signings they were targeting: to retain their most important > players and staff, including head coach Marcelo Bielsa; free the squad > of fringe players who had no chance of playing and to cover their back > against the EFL by selling a few who figured in the manager’s plans. > Bielsa extended his contract in May and players unlikely to play under > him became a hindrance when it came to complying with PnS — particularly > in light of the threat of a points deduction. > Most of the names who left were surplus. Caleb Ekuban took up an offer > from Turkey, Yosuke Ideguchi went back to Japan and Tom Pearce joined > Wigan Athletic. “In the past these were players who you might have kept > to develop,” Kinnear says. “But with the way PnS is, it’s simple: you > cannot afford to have them on your balance sheet. You cannot afford to > have them doing nothing.” > Other sales were more high-profile and politically sensitive, the type > over which supporters fret. Tottenham Hotspur paid £9.5 million for Jack > Clarke, though loaned the winger back to Leeds immediately. Pontus > Jansson joined Brentford for £5.5 million – a transfer driven as much by > deteriorating relations between the Swede and Bielsa – and Anderlecht > bid £6.5 million for Kemar Roofe days before the window closed. Leeds > had allowed Roofe’s contract to run into its last 12 months and could > not tempt him with the late offer of improved terms. In all, Leeds > estimate that £27 million has been raised through outgoing deals. > At points they had scope to make far more. Kinnear says incoming offers > which Leeds rejected totalled £35 million, the largest of which was made > for Kalvin Phillips. The 23-year-old, the player whose development at > Elland Road has been most stratospheric on Bielsa’s watch, was the > subject of an approach by Aston Villa but Leeds were always adamant that > Phillips would stay unless he asked to leave. > “I can’t think of another team in the league who’ve kept a £20 million > player,” Kinnear says. “That was very important for us.” > Bielsa fell into the same category as Phillips: someone who was > irreplaceable in the same shape or form and who was worth the biggest > coaching salary United have ever paid out. Bids for Luke Ayling, Adam > Forshaw and Pablo Hernandez, none of which were ever publicised, also > failed. > “This is where I get a bit frustrated about the criticism of Andrea’s > financial investment,” Kinnear says. “If he was only thinking from a > financial point of view, he’d have sold them.” > Fulham have worked in a similar fashion since their relegation from the > Premier League, despite the tranche of parachute money which came with > it. Anthony Knockaert, Ivan Cavaleiro and Harry Arter are expensive > loanees but Fulham raked in £25 million by selling Ryan Sessegnon to > Spurs on deadline day. Like Leeds and Phillips, one of their biggest > priorities appeared to be the retention of Aleksandar Mitrovic and Tom > Cairney. Manager Scott Parker described that as “vitally important”. > Leeds’ signings came to six, five of them on loan and one – Helder Costa > – on a temporary deal which will automatically convert into a permanent > move next summer. He will cost Leeds £16 million over the course of his > permanent four-year contract – one of the most expensive purchases in > their history – but an initial loan kept the first amortised payment to > Wolverhampton Wanderers off the books for another 12 months. Bielsa does > not often throw his weight about with transfers but he was relentless in > pressing Leeds to get Costa signed as the days before pre-season ticked > down. Wolves’ willingness to help made it happen. > At that stage, Elland Road was still being circled by rumours of > imminent investment from Qatar Sports Investments (QSI), the Middle > Eastern muscle behind Paris Saint-Germain. Officials at Leeds doubt that > the reports had substance, which is not to say QSI might not have plans > for the future, but the impact of an immediate injection of cash was > nonetheless moot. > PnS rules limit shareholder investment and the club were close to the > red line. “The reality is that if someone had given us £40 million, we > couldn’t really have been able to spend a penny of it,” Kinnear says. “I > mean, we could have made the academy look nice or built a new stadium > (infrastructure costs do not count towards PnS) but not (spend it) on > players. We were already right at the limit.” > Leeds’ willingness to abide by PnS regulations hides a general feeling > of contempt for them. The EFL’s structure has been plagued by > suggestions of creative accounting and attempts by owners to > circumnavigate the restrictions. Derby County are the subject of legal > action from Middlesbrough after using the sale of Pride Park to owner > Mel Morris to comply with EFL limits. Aston Villa and Sheffield > Wednesday employed the same strategy, exploiting a loophole which the > EFL is yet to close. > “We’ve no complaints about those clubs doing that,” Kinnear says. “Our > complaint is that the rules are so porous so as to be pointless. We > think the loopholes need to be closed up because the rules aren’t fit > for purpose. The permitted loss is an arbitrary figure which can’t be > properly enforced.” > There are other ways of sidestepping costs, too. Clubs in the > Championship believe one team last season kept a prominent player > registered as an academy footballer to avoid his wages contributing to > PnS. Yet despite the problems, Kinnear thinks fewer than 50 per cent of > clubs want to see PnS revised. > Birmingham’s nine-point penalty came late in the day last season, a > matter of weeks before the campaign finished. Now that the EFL has > established clear sanctions, Championship boards expect that similar > penalties will be enforced at the start of a season, potentially > wrecking it before it begins. The maximum deduction of 12 points is > deliberately punitive and too severe for clubs to treat with disdain. > But all the while, the failure of the EFL to convince the Premier League > to automatically impose sanctions on promoted sides tempts owners to go > big regardless, in the hope of escaping the EFL’s claws before the > governing body can strike. > Kieran Maguire, a specialist in football finance at the University of > Liverpool who runs the insightful Price of Football Twitter account, > believes few clubs are well served by the system as it is. “You’re > damned if you do and damned if you don’t,” Maguire says. > Leeds and Bielsa did not look damned at Bristol City last Sunday, where > their football outshone every other performance in the Championship over > the course of the season’s opening weekend. The club added Eddie Nketiah > to their squad before the transfer deadline, talking Arsenal into > loaning them a striker who numerous clubs were crawling over glass to > sign. Even Nketiah, a 20-year-old with a tiny amount of senior football > behind him, commands a loan fee and a salary which, when all is said and > done, will leave precious little change from Leeds’ sale of Roofe to > Anderlecht. > “The days of Championship clubs buying six or seven players for > substantial fees is gone,” Kinnear says. “That is until the market > resets itself or until PnS rules evolve, which I think they have to.” > Birmingham were bitten and the Championship is twice shy. For now, at > least. > > > > > > On 2019-08-08 22:10, Richard Walker via Leedslist wrote: > > I read the article and got no answers only that they'd refused another > > £35 million of offers. > > Yes we don't want another Ridsdale situation but 27 million out and > > not a penny spent in can be considered sensible or just lacking in > > ambition. > > As I say, promotion on the cheap hopefully. > > On Thursday, 8 August 2019, 22:07:08 BST, Richard Naef > > <rich...@triumph-computers.co.uk> wrote: > > > _______________________________________________ > Leedslist mailing list > Info and options: https://mailman.gn.apc.org/mailman/listinfo/leedslist > To unsubscribe, email leedslist-unsubscr...@gn.apc.org > > Find us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/leedslist/ > > RIP Jimmy WAC-COE > _______________________________________________ Leedslist mailing list Info and options: https://mailman.gn.apc.org/mailman/listinfo/leedslist To unsubscribe, email leedslist-unsubscr...@gn.apc.org Find us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/leedslist/ RIP Jimmy WAC-COE
