Under siege Ridsdale faces supporters’ wrath

LEEDS chairman Peter Ridsdale will next week set about convincing angry supporters he remains the right man to continue leading the troubled club.

Ridsdale's reign has been called into question recently by the fans, with their fury sparked by the sale of Jonathan Woodgate prior to the closure of last month's transfer window.

The £9m departure of a player previously regarded as one of the crown jewels proved the final straw for the supporters who had seen Rio Ferdinand, Robbie Keane, Lee Bowyer, Olivier Dacourt and Robbie Fowler moved on since the summer.

Now Ridsdale faces a grilling on five fronts in relation to a number of decisions which have been made by himself and other members of the plc board, leading to the sale to ease staggering debts and cut an exorbitant wage bill.

Three invitation-only meetings have been arranged with independent fans, the first of which is on Monday, while the club's official website will also be putting questions to Ridsdale after asking supporters for their queries.

Since the request was posted on www.leedsunited.com yesterday, the website has received more than 1,700 emails in just 24 hours.

Ridsdale should have met with another group of fans today, namely the chairman of the Shareholders Trust in John Boocock, Simon Jose of the Leeds United Independent Fans' Association, as well as members from the Safe Standing Committee, the two fanzines To Elland Back and The Square Ball and a representative for the many unaffiliated websites.

But an apparently unavoidable business meeting in London has forced Ridsdale to postpone the meeting until next Thursday, much to the disappointment of all who were due to attend. But that does not mean Ridsdale will be let off the hook and despite the exclusivity of such meetings, Leeds fans are due to discover exactly what the United chief has to say.

"If we ask straight questions and we get straight answers then we will publish them on the websites and in the fanzines," said Boocock.

"That's the reason why we are going, so we can feed information back to people, although obviously to do it in a responsible way because we will not be there to have a go. It's the club we support after all.

Top of the agenda for Ridsdale will be a full and frank explanation as to how Leeds arrived in the mess which led to them selling their top stars, and whether or not they will continue to let players go in the summer.

Other questions relate to why Ridsdale so freely backed an inexperienced manager in David O'Leary in the transfer market; why, as a businessman, he failed to foresee the club's financial demise; whether the board intends to increase season ticket prices.