O'Leary/Ridsdale row heats up

The war of words between Leeds chairman Peter Ridsdale and former boss David O’Leary shows little sign of abating.

O’Leary was axed in the summer despite overseeing one of the most successful periods in the club’s history as they reached the semi-finals of both the UEFA Cup and Champions League.

However, Ridsdale is reported as claiming the decline started while O’Leary was still in charge.

“When I got the sack at Leeds I was disappointed because I had done what I thought was a very good job,” said O’Leary.

“I believe that I left Leeds with a very, very good side and whoever came in was going to be very lucky.

“No disrespect to Terry, but if you read what he said at the time, he was so delighted to get the job and he thought he could win the league with that squad.”

O’Leary added on BBC Radio Five Live: “I feel very aggrieved that all of a sudden it is a bad team and I left it a bad team.

“I think it’s disgusting really and I’m very disappointed.”

Leeds manager Terry Venables is set for showdown transfer talks with chairman Peter Ridsdale to discover if another six players need to be trimmed from the squad.

Venables has already intimated Leeds’ parlous financial position – with the club now around £78m (€123m) in debt – was not clarified when Ridsdale first sounded him out about the United job in the summer.

Soon after Venables’ arrival, his first task was to sell Rio Ferdinand to rivals Manchester United for £30m (€47.2m).

The former England manager was also forced to let Robbie Keane go to Tottenham for £7m (€11m) to further ease the club’s debts, a move which quickly came back to haunt him on Sunday when the Republic of Ireland striker scored a stunning second in Spurs’ 2-0 win.

Now it transpires, contrary to what Venables apparently believed, more sales need to be made, particularly if he wants to bring in his own players when the transfer window re-opens in January.

Already hampered by an injury list which shows no sign of abating - midfielder Nick Barmby the latest to join the casualties with an Achilles injury which will keep him out until Christmas at least – it is not news the 59-year-old wanted to hear.

When asked on last night’s The Premiership programme on ITV1 about Ridsdale’s comments at the weekend that sales would have to be made before signings, Venables said: “I read that.

“It’s very difficult to do one without the other, especially when you’ve only got this period (in January) to make transfers in or out of the club.

“I want to try and keep as many of our players as possible and add to it, now if the club policy is different, that is something me and the chairman will be discussing.”

There was good news for Venables, however, with Robbie Fowler scoring on his latest comeback from a hip injury in the reserves last night.

Fowler, who required hip surgery in the summer following his return from the World Cup, had previously played just 68 minutes of reserve team football this season.

That action was five weeks ago as he later suffered another problem with his hip which led to a longer-than-expected spell on the sidelines.

But on his second return, Fowler scored in the 24th minute of a 1-1 draw against Sunderland before being withdrawn just after the hour mark with no apparent problems.

There is now a slim chance he could be on the plane to Malaga tomorrow morning for Leeds’ UEFA Cup tie on Thursday bearing in mind the continual nightmare with injuries the club are sustaining at present.