Batty is a disgrace
By JIMMY GREAVES
DAVID BATTY should never again be allowed near a Leeds shirt, never mind kiss the badge of that famous club.
Over two barren years — when successive managers decided he was not fit to play — the fans stood by him, chanting his name and willing him to keep fighting.
Those same Leeds supporters who shell out a third of their wages every week to follow this rag-tag team.
So how did Batty repay them this week when he had his chance? He refused to let any of his “hard-earned” wages be deferred to help out his “beloved” Leeds.
A man already rich beyond most fans’ wildest dreams was not prepared to give anything back.
It was not as if he would never see the money again. The idea was for the players to have their pay delayed.
As the PFA representative and most senior of the Leeds figures, he had the power to bang his fist on the table and demand all players made this gesture.
If he had set the example others would have followed.
The players would have shown they care for their club as much as the fans do.
However, should we have been surprised at their refusal to do so in this money-grabbing, selfish game? Sadly not.
Batty’s attitude does not surprise me for it is not the first time he has been happy to abdicate responsibility.
Remember when he missed that penalty against Argentina in France 98?
No remorse, no apologies to the fans, no tears of sadness as was the case with Gareth Southgate.
The attitude of the Leeds players to the fans has been a disgrace on and off the field.
They have allowed the financial mismanagement of the club to cover up their hopeless displays.
And before you ask, yes, I would have given a third of my wages to help Spurs survive if the situation had warranted.
I was then on £100 a week but the club meant more to me than money.
It is not easy losing your best players yet I still look down the Leeds teamsheet and wonder why they are in the bottom three.
Are they really that much worse than, say, Bolton. Wanderers are heavily in debt but, with no money to spend, have found the grit and determination to fight.
Leeds’ overpaid stars have simply found a convenient excuse to slumber in their financial comfort zone without trying to help the club — on or off the field.
The Leeds fans will not desert their club, even though they have every reason to.
Treated with contempt, they are victims of one of sport’s great betrayals.
Yet I wonder now to what or who they owe their allegiance. Is the club there any more, the real essence of the club?
The players don’t care. The board members have been happy to use it as a plaything — the soul has gone.
Might I suggest Leeds need to go down to rise again. They must get rid of those who don’t care about it and find a group of people who do.
Those players who do not want to defer their wages can find another fool to pay them their tens of thousands a week for such a paltry return.
Batty was supposed to be at the very soul of the club. Yet this week he sold it.
Shame on you, Batty. Shame on you all.
GREAVSIE was talking to NEIL CUSTIS
http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2002390000-2004033128,00.html
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Spot on Jimmy
By JIMMY GREAVES
DAVID BATTY should never again be allowed near a Leeds shirt, never mind kiss the badge of that famous club.
Over two barren years — when successive managers decided he was not fit to play — the fans stood by him, chanting his name and willing him to keep fighting.
Those same Leeds supporters who shell out a third of their wages every week to follow this rag-tag team.
So how did Batty repay them this week when he had his chance? He refused to let any of his “hard-earned” wages be deferred to help out his “beloved” Leeds.
A man already rich beyond most fans’ wildest dreams was not prepared to give anything back.
It was not as if he would never see the money again. The idea was for the players to have their pay delayed.
As the PFA representative and most senior of the Leeds figures, he had the power to bang his fist on the table and demand all players made this gesture.
If he had set the example others would have followed.
The players would have shown they care for their club as much as the fans do.
However, should we have been surprised at their refusal to do so in this money-grabbing, selfish game? Sadly not.
Batty’s attitude does not surprise me for it is not the first time he has been happy to abdicate responsibility.
Remember when he missed that penalty against Argentina in France 98?
No remorse, no apologies to the fans, no tears of sadness as was the case with Gareth Southgate.
The attitude of the Leeds players to the fans has been a disgrace on and off the field.
They have allowed the financial mismanagement of the club to cover up their hopeless displays.
And before you ask, yes, I would have given a third of my wages to help Spurs survive if the situation had warranted.
I was then on £100 a week but the club meant more to me than money.
It is not easy losing your best players yet I still look down the Leeds teamsheet and wonder why they are in the bottom three.
Are they really that much worse than, say, Bolton. Wanderers are heavily in debt but, with no money to spend, have found the grit and determination to fight.
Leeds’ overpaid stars have simply found a convenient excuse to slumber in their financial comfort zone without trying to help the club — on or off the field.
The Leeds fans will not desert their club, even though they have every reason to.
Treated with contempt, they are victims of one of sport’s great betrayals.
Yet I wonder now to what or who they owe their allegiance. Is the club there any more, the real essence of the club?
The players don’t care. The board members have been happy to use it as a plaything — the soul has gone.
Might I suggest Leeds need to go down to rise again. They must get rid of those who don’t care about it and find a group of people who do.
Those players who do not want to defer their wages can find another fool to pay them their tens of thousands a week for such a paltry return.
Batty was supposed to be at the very soul of the club. Yet this week he sold it.
Shame on you, Batty. Shame on you all.
GREAVSIE was talking to NEIL CUSTIS
http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2002390000-2004033128,00.html
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Spot on Jimmy
............HAHA
