Today we take a look at four Championship sides from Lancashire and Yorkshire who have been facing a number of financial and, in some cases, ownership challenges. Three of them (Blackpool, Bolton and Leeds) lost their opening day matches, while Blackburn drew a home against Cardiff on Friday.
Today we take a look at four Championship sides from Lancashire and Yorkshire who have been facing a number of financial and, in some cases, ownership challenges. Three of them (Blackpool, Bolton and Leeds) lost their opening day matches, while Blackburn drew a home against Cardiff on Friday.
Taking them in alphabetical order, Blackburn’s situation is perhaps better than it was, although they have come from rock bottom in terms of mismanagement by the owners, Indian conglomerate Venky’s. The chant ‘You don’t know what you’re doing’, which is usually reserved for incompetent referees, could well have been directed at them,
Last season, however, they finished eighth after a twelve game unbeaten run and could well be contestants for promotion this year. This was achieved with a side drawn heavily from the youth system and a constrained budget arising from the need to cut the club’s bloated wage bill.
Venky’s are still there, of course, and remain unpopular with the fans. They are very unpredictable. However, at least global adviser Shebby Singh appears to have taken a back seat. As far as is known, he is still drawing a salary, but the days when he used to try to pick the team seem to be over.
Blackpool are in a much worse state. Yesterday morning they had only nine eligible players and, despite making use of two 17-year old Academy players could only place four players on the substitutes bench. Manager José Riga was well regarded by Charlton fans after he saved them from relegation. However, he has said, ‘I can’t stay in this situation a long time.’
Blackpool fans want to know what Karl Oyston has done with all the money, but at the moment they aren’t getting any answers that they find acceptable. Oyston insists that the Tangerines are in a great position as a cash rich, debt free club. However, one has to be able to field enough players, although there are some registrations in the pipeline.
Bolton Wanderers have had a generous owner, but have run up a £163m debt and are now on cold turkey. Manager Dougie Freedman says that ‘cash is king’ and states ‘You can’t dictate the market’. Does he realise that this echoes a famous statement by Margaret Thatcher, ‘You can’t buck the market.’?
Leeds United were losing £1m a month until recently and new owner Massimo Cellino has tried to get spending under control. There were even suggestions at one time that players would have to wash their own kit and bring in their own lunch.
He may have gone too far in appointing 56-year old David Hockaday as coach. Hockaday, describing the circumstances of his appointment on Radio 5 yesterday, said that he was ‘not daft’. But one wonders if his boss is, even though Hockaday is thought to be on around £100k a year compared with around £750k for Brian McDermott.
Hockaday built his reputation at the Cirencester Academy in the 1990s. His four-and-a-half years at Conference premier side Forest Green Rovers were hardly a glittering success and the ambitious owner eventually got rid of him, He is a good youth coach, but that does not qualify him to carry out this role for a Championship side.
Leeds have failed for many years now to realise their potential as a club and it doesn’t look as if that’s going to change any time soon.