From optimism to depsair and finally to hope...the opening months of the close season have certainly been eventful, with transfers, takeovers and court cases making the headlines so far. As the new season draws nearer the drama looks set to continue as the saga of the potential takeover drags on and the supposed "major surgery" promised by Warnock yet to really hit full throttle. Whatever the next few weeks hold it is likely to be make or break for Warnock's dream of a record breaking eighth promotion.Optimism. A word never really associated with Leeds fans, but with Warnock's promise of a overhaul and his obvious desire to clinch promotion next season I couldn't help but ultimatley get carried away. This fire was fuelled by the claims that May would be a hive of acitvity, and 3-4 players would join the depleted squad. With the arrival of Pearce, a highly rated centre back, it seemed that Leeds would actually compete this transfer window as opposed to being beaten to every one of their transfer targets by the almighty Ipswich Town.
Despair. A familiar feelings for Leeds fans over the past decade, and one I have become fully accustomed with. Despair paid a visit half way through May for me. The Joel Ward debarcle went into overdrive as protracted negotiations resulted into a move to Crystal Palace. Despite his desire to join Leeds, the inability to pay the required 500k proved a stumbling block. Warnock's hope of two signings within a week failed to materialise as he was left "disappointed" as Leeds failed to close a deal with Paul Green as well as the already infamous Joel Ward. It seemed the impressive start to the transfer window was about to turn sour as all potential deals dried up and Warnock jetted off to the Carribbean, leaving a squad of 12 fit players at his disposal.
Hope. A cruel concept as it can so easily be dashed in an instance, which results in a return for that familiar feeling of despair. But there was real reason for hope as Leeds responded to the wild speculation that a takeover was imminent with the decleration that talks were ongoing about "long term investment". That announcement was on the 29th of May but since then the silence has been deafening. The trail of information seemed to dry up very early on, as the only snippet that could be gleaned was the fact one of the parties orignated from Chicago. A host of names quickly distanced themselves and to this day the identity of the mystery American bidder remains unknown. Over the past few days rumour has been rife. We have been taken over by Kuwaitis, we have been taken over by Canadians, we have been taken over by South Africans...we also seem to have lost our manager to Nottingham Forest whilst Lorimer has also walked. Indeed the rumour mill has been in overdrive but at this moment we can only speculate, in fact all we can do is hope.
Hope is something we all cling onto. We all have our dream outcome. Some want a sugar daddy, but I say them people have short memories - however what all want is investment and ambition. Because with Warnock we have a manager who with financial backing will make us challengers. He knows what this team needs, his claim that "major surgery" was required was not unfounded as the squad lacks depth, pace and quality and he knows it. With Bates still pulling the strings Warnock simply cant assemble a squad with enough quality and cannot address the issues, but maybe, just maybe in a few weeks time he will be in a postion to do just exactly that. It could all take a turn for the worse, Bates could continue his stewardship and Warnock could walk - but the least we can all do is hope.
Article by Peter Hawley
