McKenzie slams Leeds 'indulgence'

Leeds chairman John McKenzie today blamed “irresponsibility and indulgent spending” for the club’s financial state.

Professor of Economics McKenzie has been left stunned by what he has also described as “the frivolous nature of the expenditure” for a cash-strapped club which just seven weeks ago, and upon his appointment as successor to Peter Ridsdale, announced debts of £78.9m (€110.5m).

McKenzie has sifted through the club’s accounts and discovered a number of startling revelations, including: £5.7m (€8m) in compensation to former bosses David O’Leary and Terry Venables; £600,000 (€841,000) a year on a fleet of over 70 company cars, with £70,000 (€98,00) spent on one vehicle; £70,000 (€98,00) in one year on private jets for directors/senior management; £70,000 (€98,00) recruitment expenses on a senior management figure who left the club less than six months later.

Leeds are also contributing £500,000 (€700,500) a year to Robbie Fowler’s wages, despite the fact he was sold to Manchester City in January.

Remarkably, the club also spent £240 (€336) a year on goldfish for the chairman’s office. The fish have now gone as part of the cost-cutting measures undertaken by McKenzie.

McKenzie’s findings will come as a major surprise to fans who have constantly asked this season why the club is in such financial dire straits and why the sale of several star players barely scraped the surface of the debts.

The supporters now have their answer, with McKenzie stating in the Yorkshire Evening Post: “The club has been guilty of indulgent spending on several fronts.

“This is unacceptable at any time, but especially at a time when the club was losing vast amounts of money.”

McKenzie believes Leeds’ parlous position could have been avoided, adding: “It’s a simple business, but the complexity lies in sorting out the borrowing and the frivolous nature of the expenditure.

“There’s been irresponsibility and indulgent spending, yet if we’d been prudent elsewhere in the administration side of the business there’s a fair chance that the club could have carried on living the dream.”

McKenzie’s cutbacks have led to a number of redundancies with the club saving more than £5m (€7m) annually.

Only this week, assistant manager Eddie Gray and first-team coach Brian Kidd also left, slashing another £1m (€1.4m) off the company wage bill.

The resignations of Ridsdale, finance director Stephen Harrison and operations director David Spencer will also eventually save Leeds a further £1m (€1.4m).

The behind-the-scenes changes have been necessary for the financial survival of the club, with McKenzie claiming: “People may think I’m ruthless, but that’s not the case at all.

“I’ve had to make a lot of unpleasant decisions since I came in, but the business must come first or else everyone loses the fans, the team and the employees.

“There are sadnesses, particularly because I liked the three directors who have gone.

“Equally, on the football management side, Peter Reid will want his own staff in and it would have been a mistake not to change anything.”

McKenzie, who was strongly opposed to the £9m (€12.6m) sale of Jonathan Woodgate to Newcastle in January – a transfer which provoked uproar at Elland Road – is convinced the club’s narrow escape from relegation was due in part to the turmoil off the pitch.

“I think the malaise running through the business maybe had an effect on the playing side last season,” said McKenzie.

“I’ve no intention of knocking the players, but no-one has been given strong incentives, including the management, and that rubs off.

“There may have been a time when people could hide behind other things, but I hope that’s not the case now.”

McKenzie is confident the tide is turning. He added: “It’s like an oil tanker that was heading straight for the rocks and the shareholders have put someone else on board to turn it around.

“The trouble with oil tankers is they’re two miles long and they don’t turn around in two minutes.

“But I’m much more optimistic than I was five weeks ago. The philosophy has changed now and it has to work itself through.

“If you don’t stop it, someone at the end of their line loses a job. Things like that start at the bottom. That’s not fair. Some things are just unforgivable and we’re working hard to change them.

“We will get back on a winning trail, but I would ask the supporters to get behind us and be patient while we sort it out. There is a real determination to get it right.

“It’s a totally new management team now and future success is quite possible if we all pull together.”

Reid, meanwhile, has been linked with a move for Liverpool midfielder Patrik Berger, who is available on a free transfer.

The Czech international, though, has had injury problems in the past, with any deal subject to stringent medical checks.