Richard Walker wrote: > Hey up Rob, > > Yes I also found the Ridsdale book very interesting
I've just started reading the book courtesy of Rich, and to be quite frank I can't be as easy on Ridsdale as others might, he always has an excuse for everything, always has someone else ready to blame and only with hindsight is he ever not to blame. There's a lot missing from the book, I know what he told me in the conversations I had with him and I know what other directors who I was much closer had to say. (I'm saving them for my own book :-), but much of what was said was reiterated on the list.) Perhaps the most depressing thing about the book is that Ridsdale comes over as a Billy no mates. He went to matches as a kid on his tod and there doesn't seem to be anyone individual with whom he has an enduring relationship with. He explains this away to some extent when describing his relationship (or lack of such a thing) with his dad. in his later years he seems to be by his own admission a serial adulterer. It's almost as if he's constantly wanting to have someone paying him close attention in the way that his dad didn't. Sad because this mixed up individual (and I really don't think he is anything else) was put in charge of the football club I support and he used the fanaticism which we do that with as an excuse for his actions. The only excuse he should have for fucking up is that he wasn't a very good businessman when it came to running Leeds United. He recognised all the detail of the business but not the effect of those details and that's where a good businessman would have succeeded. Vision is just so much more than "living the dream". Read this book but don't be taken in by it. The definitive story of the meltdown at Leeds has still to be told and it's not just about Ridsdale, its starts in 1919 and its not quite over yet. Betty _______________________________________________ the Leeds List is an unmoderated mailing list and the list administrators accept no liability for the personal views and opinions of contributors. Leedslist mailing list [email protected] http://list.zetnet.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/leedslist DELETE THE FOOTERS WHEN REPLYING YOU LAZY SODS!!!! DELETE THE FOOTERS WHEN REPLYING YOU LAZY SODS!!!!
