Venables: I'll stay

Leeds manager Terry Venables has vowed to stay at the club until the end of the season.

The former England boss considered walking out on the Elland Road club following the £9m

(€13.8m) sale of defender Jonathan Woodgate to Newcastle, saying he had been “kept in the dark”.

Venables felt he has been “treated like a patsy” by Leeds and admitted bridges had to be rebuilt with chairman Peter Ridsdale if he was to remain at Leeds.

However, before yesterday’s training session, Venables told his players he intended to stay until the end of the season.

“I called the players and backroom staff together and told them I want to stay,” he told the Daily Mail.

“We have an important FA Cup tie against Gillingham on Tuesday and my intention is to concentrate all my efforts on preparing for that and the rest of the season.”

Venables has had to put up with an exodus of top players since succeeding David O’Leary at Elland Road.

Rio Ferdinand, Robbie Keane, Lee Bowyer, Olivier Dacourt and Robbie Fowler have all headed through the exit door.

Losing them was hard enough to bear but it was the sale of 23-year-old England defender Woodgate that left Venables seething with frustration, particularly as Ridsdale assured him Woodgate need not be sold once Fowler had been off-loaded.

Better news for Venables is striker Alan Smith’s intention to stay at Leeds.

The loss of so many leading players had led to speculation that more top players, including Smith, would now be desperate to leave Leeds.

However, Alex Black, the player’s representative, told The Sun: “Alan is happy at Leeds and wants to stay.

“Provided we can come to the right agreement he will sign a new contract.”

Meanwhile, club captain Dominic Matteo has urged supporters to take it easy on Ridsdale.

Matteo feels the chairman has been unfairly targeted and that the criticism has gone too far.

The Scotland international feels sorry for Ridsdale, and believes there is still plenty for Leeds to be optimistic about.

“You realise how upset everyone is but I think it has gone too far with the criticism of the chairman,” Matteo told the Daily Star.

“No one person should take the blame because more than one person is making the decisions, and really they are decisions that had to be made.

“It has got to ridiculous levels. There have been death threats and that is unpleasant for the chairman and it must be awful for his family.

“He is a man who has given everything for Leeds and tried his hardest to take the club to the very top so it is not right to target him this way.

“The bottom line is that the chairman has had to say what has had to happen and that is a difficult job.

“But sometimes difficult decisions have to be made and now they have been made there is no turning back.

“I feel sorry for him that he has had to take all the flak. I know the supporters will feel it is a desperate situation but there is plenty to be optimistic about.”