C-B
10-05-2003, 11:36:AM
Reid appointed Leeds boss
sportinglife.com
Peter Reid has been told he is under no pressure to sell any more of Leeds' 'crown jewels' following his full-time appointment as manager.
In fulfilling his brief of keeping Leeds in the Barclaycard Premiership after taking up the post on an interim basis following the sacking of Terry Venables seven games ago, Reid has signed one-year rolling contract, which offers several incentives.
Reid has revealed he will be "wheeling and dealing" in the transfer market as soon as the curtain falls on what has primarily been a season to forget at Elland Road.
But despite Leeds' £79million debt, that does not mean the likes of Harry Kewell, Mark Viduka, Alan Smith and Paul Robinson will be sold this summer to ease the club's cash crisis.
The news will come as a relief to the fans who watched in anguish as Rio Ferdinand, Jonathan Woodgate, Lee Bowyer, Robbie Keane and Robbie Fowler were all moved on during Venables' reign.
At least Reid can start rebuilding the United squad from a position of strength as he said: "I fully expect there will be some wheeling and dealing, but when you start off from a base like that it does help.
"It's going to be a busy summer because there will be players coming and going. If I can get some quality players in to strengthen the squad then I'll be really pleased.
"I need to strengthen it and make us a side that is very difficult to beat and try and get us up the other end of the table where Leeds deserve to be.
"But it's difficult to judge the transfer market. It's not awash with hard cash, so it will take a lot of wheeling and dealing.
"I'll be involved in that because there are certain players I've taken a fancy to and certain players will be moving on. That's the nature of any football club.
"But I'm like any other manager, I'm not going into the market place and telling people what I have and haven't got to spend.
"We've some really good players here, though, and hopefully we can get some more good ones in."
Reid has been encouraged by the words of chairman Professor John McKenzie who has insisted the turnaround in the club's financial fortunes is firmly in hand, ensuring star names can stay.
"As far as I'm concerned it would be a very, very difficult situation in which we had to sell, but people have to be wanting to play for the club and they have to fit into what the manager wants," asserted McKenzie.
"So it will only be as a last resort that we would ask Peter to initiate a sale. I can't say if people want to go, but we don't have to deal with that situation. That's as far as I hope it will go."
Reid will be hoping, with Leeds spared relegation and with the managerial situation now resolved, he will be able to persuade Kewell to sign a new contract.
Kewell has a year remaining on his current deal and is understood to be a target for Manchester United, so could yet be tempted to leave for as McKenzie has stressed, it is all about the desire to play for Leeds.
"I will be delighted if Harry puts pen to paper for this football club because he is a quality player," assessed Reid.
"It's a question we will sit down and ask Harry and hopefully it will be a positive answer."
McKenzie certainly expects the matter to be resolved quickly as he explained: "I met Harry's agent (Bernie Mandic) and it was a greatly timed meeting, half an hour after West Ham won their game (last Saturday) and before we played Arsenal.
"It wasn't a sensible time for anybody to shake hands on a contract at that stage because I could have been in a position of losing £25million on a £65million budget.
"It was a very cordial discussion but it was ahead of us being confirmed in the Premier League for next year and ahead of a fantastic performance by the team on Sunday.
"So we'll be getting together as soon as Harry and his agent are ready - and I think Harry is keen to have it settled pretty soon.
"I'm hopeful we will be able to tie something up if they are prepared to do so in the not-too-distant future."
The 3-2 victory at Highbury proved decisive for McKenzie, deputy plc chairman Allan Leighton and Neil Holloway who met to discuss the manager's post.
The win preserved Leeds' top-flight status, and now Reid has to ensure there is no repeat of this season's relegation dogfight as McKenzie stated: "I never again want to be in the position we were last Sunday.
"Its impact on the club was enormous and if we had gone down it would have been an impossible end to a very difficult situation. We must do everything we can to ensure it does not happen again."
sportinglife.com
Peter Reid has been told he is under no pressure to sell any more of Leeds' 'crown jewels' following his full-time appointment as manager.
In fulfilling his brief of keeping Leeds in the Barclaycard Premiership after taking up the post on an interim basis following the sacking of Terry Venables seven games ago, Reid has signed one-year rolling contract, which offers several incentives.
Reid has revealed he will be "wheeling and dealing" in the transfer market as soon as the curtain falls on what has primarily been a season to forget at Elland Road.
But despite Leeds' £79million debt, that does not mean the likes of Harry Kewell, Mark Viduka, Alan Smith and Paul Robinson will be sold this summer to ease the club's cash crisis.
The news will come as a relief to the fans who watched in anguish as Rio Ferdinand, Jonathan Woodgate, Lee Bowyer, Robbie Keane and Robbie Fowler were all moved on during Venables' reign.
At least Reid can start rebuilding the United squad from a position of strength as he said: "I fully expect there will be some wheeling and dealing, but when you start off from a base like that it does help.
"It's going to be a busy summer because there will be players coming and going. If I can get some quality players in to strengthen the squad then I'll be really pleased.
"I need to strengthen it and make us a side that is very difficult to beat and try and get us up the other end of the table where Leeds deserve to be.
"But it's difficult to judge the transfer market. It's not awash with hard cash, so it will take a lot of wheeling and dealing.
"I'll be involved in that because there are certain players I've taken a fancy to and certain players will be moving on. That's the nature of any football club.
"But I'm like any other manager, I'm not going into the market place and telling people what I have and haven't got to spend.
"We've some really good players here, though, and hopefully we can get some more good ones in."
Reid has been encouraged by the words of chairman Professor John McKenzie who has insisted the turnaround in the club's financial fortunes is firmly in hand, ensuring star names can stay.
"As far as I'm concerned it would be a very, very difficult situation in which we had to sell, but people have to be wanting to play for the club and they have to fit into what the manager wants," asserted McKenzie.
"So it will only be as a last resort that we would ask Peter to initiate a sale. I can't say if people want to go, but we don't have to deal with that situation. That's as far as I hope it will go."
Reid will be hoping, with Leeds spared relegation and with the managerial situation now resolved, he will be able to persuade Kewell to sign a new contract.
Kewell has a year remaining on his current deal and is understood to be a target for Manchester United, so could yet be tempted to leave for as McKenzie has stressed, it is all about the desire to play for Leeds.
"I will be delighted if Harry puts pen to paper for this football club because he is a quality player," assessed Reid.
"It's a question we will sit down and ask Harry and hopefully it will be a positive answer."
McKenzie certainly expects the matter to be resolved quickly as he explained: "I met Harry's agent (Bernie Mandic) and it was a greatly timed meeting, half an hour after West Ham won their game (last Saturday) and before we played Arsenal.
"It wasn't a sensible time for anybody to shake hands on a contract at that stage because I could have been in a position of losing £25million on a £65million budget.
"It was a very cordial discussion but it was ahead of us being confirmed in the Premier League for next year and ahead of a fantastic performance by the team on Sunday.
"So we'll be getting together as soon as Harry and his agent are ready - and I think Harry is keen to have it settled pretty soon.
"I'm hopeful we will be able to tie something up if they are prepared to do so in the not-too-distant future."
The 3-2 victory at Highbury proved decisive for McKenzie, deputy plc chairman Allan Leighton and Neil Holloway who met to discuss the manager's post.
The win preserved Leeds' top-flight status, and now Reid has to ensure there is no repeat of this season's relegation dogfight as McKenzie stated: "I never again want to be in the position we were last Sunday.
"Its impact on the club was enormous and if we had gone down it would have been an impossible end to a very difficult situation. We must do everything we can to ensure it does not happen again."