By Andrew Warshaw
February 3 – First he was the manager, then he wasn’t, then he was again: all within 24 hours. The mayhem surrounding the prospective Italian takeover of iconic English club Leeds United took several farcical twists over the weekend when Brian McDermott was re-instated by the club’s directors after seemingly being sacked.
The country’s League Managers’ Association said it was still waiting for clarification after a bizarre series of incidents linked to Cagliari owner Massimo Cellino taking charge.
McDermott did not attend Saturday’s 5-1 victory after Huddersfield in the English Championship after apparently being informed by a solicitor that Leeds were terminating his contract, only to learn that the person concerned did not represent the owners.
Off-the-field dramas are de rigueur at Leeds who agreed late last week to sell a 75 per cent majority stake to Cellino, subject to Football League approval.
Current owners Gulf Finance House Capital (GFH Capital) confirmed the news in a statement ahead of the Huddersfield game though it appears Cellino, who has reportedly had 36 managers in 20 years at Cagliari, acted prematurely by attempting to remove McDermott incurring a furious backlash from Leeds fans.
A statement read: “Following recent media reports and speculation, GFH Capital would like to confirm that it has agreed to sell a 75% stake in the club to Eleonora Sport Ltd, a company owned by the Cellino family who have many years’ experience in football and who plan to invest substantially in the club including the re-acquisition of Elland Road.
“The Cellino family is a well known Italian sports family, who have owned Serie A side Cagliari since 1992. They come to English football with an ambition to support Leeds United financially to take it to the Premier League and a belief that the club can sustain top-flight status.”
Cellino became the number one bidder when the Sport Capital consortium led by Leeds managing director David Haigh collapsed but he could still face opposition from the Football League since he has a previous conviction for fraud.
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