18,593 Reasons Why Leeds Take Over May Yet Flounder

If the 1-6 scoreline didn't make GFH gasp, and the fact that Leeds are now sitting in seventeenth in the table hasn't raised question marks over the deal, then surely the pitiful attendance for the Watford game has caused some head scratching inside the accountancy department of the dodgy Islamic bank. When GFH confirmed their interest in the club, it was on the basis of Leeds being one of the top ten supported clubs in the country; well based on gates of 19,106, they barely qualify as one of the top ten supported clubs in the Championship!

There has been much debate on this blog about the relative status of Leeds and West Ham, but one thing is indisputable, West Ham's lowest home gate last season was 19,879 - and that was for a Carling Piss Pot game against Aldershot when everybody knew a reserve team would be picked. In the league, the lowest home gate was 25,680 and that was for the televised game against Cardiff when a fair percentage of Hammers fans were still on their August holidays in Benidorm!

If Leeds are really such a big club, why was the ground half empty for such a crucial game? Leeds fans will moan about high prices and talk about the Bates boycott, but none of that washes. The truth is, the fans have deserted the club in huge numbers and are using excuses to justify this act of betrayal.

Yes Leeds were a big club once - for a relatively brief period given the narrow windows during which trophies were won - but there were 18,593 empty seats on Saturday to testify to the fact that those days are long gone. And that must be a huge worry for GFH and any other prospective buyers.

Success cannot be guaranteed in football, as Leicester discovered last season when a splurge of spending and a high profile manager failed to secure them a place in the play offs, never mind automatic promotion. All GFH's calculations are seemingly based on the cash cow of the Premiership, but how much will it cost to get Leeds there, and how much more to keep them up should the goal be achieved?

I warned before the season kicked off that this was a poor Leeds team, and so it is proving. Portsmouth and Doncaster were relegated last season for a reason, so recruiting their players was always an act of desperation. Add to that Green who has done nothing in a long career to date, Peltier who is a famed underachiever and the other bits and pieces of mediocrity and old muckers signed by Warnock, and you have a perfect recipe for a struggling side; and that's how it is shaping up.

There's optimistic talk of a £10m cash injection for transfers should the take over happen, but what will that get you in January? Players not wanted by their existing clubs and players who will demand inflated wages to join a mid table team. It would be more sensible to write off this season and develop the youngsters - but GFH know nothing about football and seem to want success overnight. The danger is that good money will be chucked after bad, and the following season will be a write off too.

Do the sums. Before they know it, GFH will be pumping money down the toilet, money they can ill afford to waste. If they can't rely on the fans to turn up during a dip in form, how the hell are they going to make the venture pay? Every one of those empty seats on Saturday may represent a nail in the coffin of the proposed deal with the 'Bates boycott' condemning the club to even more years of his ownership!