Who's in charge.

[hgatenasty]

For your amusement a recap in who actually pulls the financial strings currently - aka Marathe & Cline Thomas.

In this respect we as Leeds fans hold a special position again because we are the cynosure of all eyes at all times.

One would hope the current Board now know that and will deliver more positivity going forward as when backs are against the wall there's only one place to fall.

So more positives through my eyes and ears now that i've been in 'town' talking and listening to folks connected within the club and its cities comerce.
For me and many older fans we see similarities of our past chairmen traits of Reynolds, Morris, Woodward, Cussins, Silver & Fotherby slowly emerging in the current* Boardroom, particularly keeping the PR stuff released to a minimum.

Everything "appears" now in place unlike that of Rads chaotic PL regime when too much pressure was created across the club resulting in some shocking decision making, imo, from all club departments.

A Phil Hay article in late July 2023 (The Athletic) explained further...

“There is something different about Leeds. It is not like these other clubs. A lot of these clubs have had great success. Better success than we have had. But we have something that they do not have. There is a movement beneath the surface, and I want to be a part of that movement and I cannot wait to see what that becomes in five, ten years.”

Marathe also spoke about his 20-year history in sports and how his past makes him different from other chairmen in football.

He said: “It has been an interesting ride the last four or five years. I have been a passenger on the train so far. I haven’t really had my chance on the controls or had a front-seat view of how a football club runs. I have learned a lot over that time.

“I am different from your typical chairman or owner. I am not a fifth-generation multi-billionaire who is doing this for a hobby or wants to kill some time. That is quite the opposite. I came up on my own and I grew up loving sports. That is first and foremost who I am. I love competition. I love winning. I have always had a chip on my shoulder because this is not a hobby, this is life to me. This is something that I am meant to do. I am a supporter first.

“I have a particular empathy and understanding of everyone’s jobs at the club because I have done all of those jobs. 23 years at the 49ers starting as an unpaid intern. I have been the head negotiator. I have been the president or chief executive of a team. I have built a stadium. I have hired coaches. I have been through the peaks and troughs of mountains in support. I have seen it all and been through it all. I think that differentiates me from any other club’s chairman.”

As for hands on operations ?

We now have Rudy Cline-Thomas on board as co-owner and vice chairman. Who ?
https://www.salesforce.com/company/l...-cline-thomas/

Easy CV's to digest, so what can go wrong ?
Paragraph 2 is hell of a remit you'll agree ?

MOT - Gill xxxx

Looks a choppy sea the channel.

[hopelesslyoptimistic]

Looks a choppy sea the channel.

Are you sure that isn’t the big lake in Roundhay Park h’nasty?

[ozleeds]

Are you sure that isn’t the big lake in Roundhay Park h’nasty?

The way things are going that might be the future of mankind lol
Hello Mrs. O good to see you alive and well and taking on WTF

[WTF11]

https://twitter.com/Larrydn22/status...004676098?s=20

FAO WTF.
Tom Brady ?

Larry Vance Jr of New Orleans Pelicans (NBA) flew over to see the WBA game at ER & was in the Old Peacock pub opposite ER drinking with fans before kick-off checking out his investment.

Also seen various club factual articles not always seen stating that.....

20 acres surrounding the ground (neglected for so long) will also be put to good use in the coming years.

Investor Peter Lowy, the leading Australian businessman whose family recently sold the Westfield Group for £26bn is in talks currently with Leeds city council about that vast area surrounding ER.

Leeds has for too long been a city held back by a transport system that consists of buses and more buses as their is no underground, no tram network.
Discussions include the prospect of Elland Road becoming a transport hub to link neglected South Leeds with a city centre it has been disconnected from since the building of the M621 back in the early 70s.

Other work has been quicker to come to fruition. One example is staffing levels. Leeds United, one of the big names of English football, had half the number of workers of Brighton and Hove Albion !
Example: The stadium manager not only also looked after the TA training ground but staggeringly tripled-up as the director of IT.

A new recruitment drive was launched on the commercial front and up until recently Leeds did not have an efficient CRM system - a customer database and a key component in maximising revenue. For a business of its size it is unthinkable.

That size, and the opportunity to maximise revenue, was a key component in catching the 49ers' eyes. Leeds will sell 330,000 shirts this year. That puts them around sixth in the country. On domestic sales, they attract similar revenue to Spurs and Arsenal, with huge numbers of supporters in Ireland and in London.

While internationally they are nowhere near the Big Six, the potential is huge. Take parachute payments out of it and nobody in the Championship would be able to get anywhere near their turnover. That they spent 16 years outside of the Premier League is viewed as gross mismanagement.

Positives out there for sure ......

Hello Mrs O.

My reference to Tom Brady was to point out out that not only did the board of the new Birmingham City owners fly over for the match against LUFC, but Brady is now part of the management team, responsible to assisting in player psychology management specifically. Not sure if he is also an investor in monetary terms, but clearly "invested" in the success of the club. In contrast, apart from the visit of Mr Vance, there has been little or no evidence of our new owners paying a visit at this crucial period of the clubs re-development.

On the subject of transport infrastructure in relation to Leeds, we are in agreement as to it's failures. Unfortunately remedying them, even if there is consensus as to how that might happen, will take decades and i know of what I speak. As an example TfGM (Transport for Greater Manchester) adopted the responsibilities of the Greater Manhester PTE in 1974, but the Manchester Metro wasn't in operation until 1992 (and that was without having to depend on, or negotiate with, any government body in relation to subsidy).

And whilst I'd also agree that suitable staffing (numbers and competencies) are important, I'd suggest that the key "service" LUFC provide is on the pitch, and as yet, we haven't seen much of the new owners intention of addressing gaps we have all commented upon (and that before the recent exodus), so IT and the management of TA may improve, but will mean diddly squat if the 1st team languishes at the foot of the table (as we do at present). same applies to the CRM investment, no point having a really swish way of engaging with your customer base, if that customer base shrinks because the thing they are most interested in, 1st team success, isn't being delivered at the same time (ask First Trans Pennine Customers what they want, CRM or trains that run on time, regularly).

Your post has a theme, the commercial advantages that the new owners see being available to them from a "brand" that is recognised globally. Again, we agree on the concept and the potential, but as yet, we have seen next to nothing in terms of investment to exploit the potential (a freebie, a returning prodigal, a stand-by GK and Ampadu) and equally scarce communication as to where the new owners see us going (as opposed to the warm words as to where the co-owners have already been.

Message to Marathe, more action, less self-serving hyperbole.

[WTF11]

The way things are going that might be the future of mankind lol
Hello Mrs. O good to see you alive and well and taking on WTF

Hey, I don't consider the dialogue Mrs O and I are engaged in represents anyone "taking on" anyone else, it's called debate!

[hopelesslyoptimistic]

Message to Marathe, more action, less self-serving hyperbole.

You must be kindred spirits

[UbiqueLUFC33]

The CV of Mr Cline-Thomas is somewhat in need of an update as it currently reads:

Cline-Thomas is also co-owner of the Leeds United Football Club of the English Premier League and Plymouth Argyle F.C. of the English Football League One.

Seemingly wrong on both counts and what's with "the" Leeds United Football Club?

[WTF11]

The CV of Mr Cline-Thomas is somewhat in need of an update as it currently reads:



Seemingly wrong on both counts and what's with "the" Leeds United Football Club?

Depends where you got that from Ubique, Wikipedia content isn't "managed" as a formal site might be (all a matter of who "curates" the site content. No matter, the bĺurb regarding both names co-owners is largely irrelevant (hopefully) wrt LUFC.

Marathes "previous" in being a big cog in a big machine at the 49-ers means next to the square root of f00k all in UK football (he has admitted as much in the piece quoted by Mrs O), and Clines ambition to invest in new organisations to progress the interests of black people is just about as relevant to where LUFC finds itself.

Can we for once in half a f00king century, yes, HALF A F00KING CENTURY, have owners who see their responsibility as to those who have supported and kept alive this club through thick and thin, rather than as another cash cow to be asset stripped until cut to the bone. And if I'm wrong in my assessment, Mr Karate, show me the EVIDENCE, not your warm, ineffectual and meaningless words.

[WTF11]

"Mr Karate", I like that, predictive texting being quite so prescient. 😉

[WTF11]

Oh, and for the record, should Marathe (not "Karate"!), or Cline offer a personal audience, this time I might just accept.