Peter Ridsdale and his magic book have stirred up plenty of controversy of late. It is perhaps time that someone stopped printing bits of it!
United We Fall: Boardroom Truths About the Beautiful Game tells of Mr Ridsdale’s adventures as Chairman of Leeds United as the club fell apart due to severe financial mismanagement.
Already in the last fortnight, through excerpts printed in the press, O’Leary has been blamed for everything and the club had Martin O’Neill lined up to take over from Terry Venables under a signed written agreement.
David O’Leary, whilst not the most popular of Leeds United figures, has hit back at Ridsdale, claiming that the ‘deranged’ former chairman, now at Cardiff City has now broken a confidentiality agreement that was agreed upon the former Leeds and Aston Villa boss departing Elland Road.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, O’Leary said: ‘I signed a confidentiality agreement, which was incorporated in a Premier League tribunal order, and so did Leeds,’
‘I have honoured that but I now feel compelled to defend myself against this deranged man.
‘My dad rang me the other morning to tell me what had been written as part of the book serialisation in a paper. ‘
Meanwhile, Aston Villa boss of the present Martin O’Neill admitted that an agreement had been made, but it was wrong to suggest that his move was cancelled due to Ridsdale leaving the club: ‘The suggestion he has made that I didn’t go to Leeds because he wasn’t chairman is absolutely not true.’
I signed a statement of intent on the understanding that it had quite a number of conditions, one of which was that Terry Venables, who was the manager at the time, wanted to leave. I spoke to Terry about that. Terry was not thinking of leaving.’
Now for the most comical of suggestions from the big man himself. Mr Ridsdale wishes to do a book signing in Leeds as an apology to Leeds United supporters for the downturn of the clubs fortunes. With April Fools Day nearly 6 months away, it remains to be seen as to just how and/or why Ridsdale believes he’d be welcome back in Leeds at all, let alone anywhere near Elland Road.
Mr Ridsdale’s PR people should perhaps suggest that the tabloid newspapers stop promoting the book, as it’s quickly becoming a PR nightmare.
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