Leeds Rumours Archive November 06 2014

06 Nov 2014 15:13:09
Guys here is a copy and paste from Simon Austin a reporter from The Bun who is pretty close to MC. Explains why we are not buying ER back atm and in my opinion this is about as close to the truth as we will get.

Why hasn't Cellino been able to buy back Elland Road?

Talking to Massimo Cellino over the course of 2014 has taught me that when he says 'the deal is done', he means 'the deal is agreed'.
Not that 'the deal has been signed', which is probably how you and I would interpret it.
This might seem insignificant, but it is an important distinction, as you'll see during the course of this post.
The distinction has been evident when the Italian has talked about transfers, incoming managers and most recently about the attempted buyback of Elland Road.
Back in August, I interviewed Cellino in the stands of the stadium for ITV Calendar.
On a sunny afternoon, he was bullish and buoyant and everything seemed good at Elland Road. Cellino announced that the terms of the share purchase agreement (SPA) with GFH had been renegotiated, essentially meaning that his debt to them was written off until the club reached the Premier League.
So he declared that the club was 'debt free'.
Cellino said all parties realised this was for the best of Leeds United. He would have more capital for the development of the team and purchase of the stadium and the club would have a better chance of reaching the Premier League.
For their part, GFH's stake would be worth a lot more if the club reached the promised land of the Premier League.
There were also suggestions of a disagreement between the parties about the state of the club's finances when it was sold to Cellino, and that this was a good way of avoiding legal action between the parties. A happy compromise.
Cellino also made his now infamous promise to buy back Elland Road 'by November'.
He had originally told me he would buy the ground back the day after his purchase went through in April, but that hadn't happened.
Fast forward to this week and we saw a very different Cellino. Beleaguered. tired and weary.
Now he conceded that he wouldn't be able to buy the ground back by November. In fact he probably wouldn't be able to buy it this year.
The exact reasons have been a little unclear, but I will try and shed as much light on them as I can.
Not only was Cellino a little hasty in promising to buy back Elland Road, he was also hasty in saying a deal had been done with GFH over the SPA.
In fact it hadn't been signed and it still hasn't.
Indeed GFH don't appear to have any intention of doing so. They want the original terms of the SPA to be honoured, including payment by Cellino of the next instalment due to them - in December and for about £6 million.
Perhaps GFH now realise that those hopes of the club getting into the Premier League were a little premature and will have to wait for at least another season.
I've tried to get a response from Salem Patel, via text and email, but received no reply.
Under the terms of the SPA, any substantive decision affecting GFH's shareholding must be ratified by a majority vote of the board, including one of the two GFH-nominated directors, Salem Patel and Salah Nooruddin.
They have been unwilling to ratify a purchase of the stadium involving a contribution commensurate with their shareholding.
GFH have countered by complaining that they thought the £10.75 million gained from the sale of Ross McCormack in the summer would be used to buy the ground.
And, in fairness to them, Cellino did say that himself.
Yet Leeds probably only received about £9 million from the sale of McCormack, as a portion went to his former club Cardiff. The Elland Road buyback is for £16 million.
In any case, the terms of the SPA do not require consultation with GFH over transfers. And would they really have vetoed the sale of a player they had agreed to sell to Cardiff for a fraction of that £10.75 million back in January?
So Cellino has been looking for a mortgage to make up the shortfall.
This has so far proved impossible though, mainly because of the club's poor credit rating, which was hardly helped by the winding up orders issued against it earlier this year.
So Cellino, who is even conservatively estimated to be worth £500 million, was left with a decision.
Pay 100% for an asset that will greatly increase the value of GFH's shareholding, yet to which they not contributed, or not?
The Italian has seemed reluctant to express it in such terms. He said buying the stadium outright could cause the club to fall foul of the Football League's financial fair play rules, yet I called them to check this, they said any spending on infrastructure or stadia was exempt from FFP.
That all seems a bit of a smokescreen.
Cellino has told me he hates breaking promises and letting the fans down, but that's unfortunately what has happened, for the time being at least.
The 58-year-old flies to Miami on Sunday to recharge his batteries and try to think of a solution to the current impasse over Elland Road.
My personal opinion, based on experience, is that this is a man who has good intentions for the club and is not there to enrich himself at the expense of Leeds United.
Yet he can be rash, in terms of both his decision-making and pronouncements, and that has come back to bite him once again.
Perhaps the introduction of a new communications adviser at Elland Road, Matt Child, will help.
For the time being we are left with a club still no nearer to owning its own stadium, which yesterday released a statement saying it aimed to 'stay in the Championship' this season.
That's all a far cry from those heady days when Cellino first took over.