At last it's over!

Thank heavens that's over.

My hopes for season are:

1. Bates actually does make the necessary funds available (I have to say as I read the current court case and I get more and more of a feeling what he is really like, I get more worried on that score)

2. in the event 1 does not happen, NW walks before the first game in mid August and says why he has done so (or makes it clear in some way)

3. in the event that 3 happens, home gates fall to 15k or less next season, as that is the only fan-speak KB seems to be able to listen to.

Despite my doubts, I am a hopeful little soul, so I am hoping for 1, and that 2 and 3 do not apply. MOTUWBIC

Doppler, there's a balance. The argument I've made for a long time is you have to identify your first choices.

Now, you're not always going to get all your first choices because there are other factors in play, but we NEVER get our first choices, because as soon as the players demands go up (which they do, when they get offers from other clubs), the bates posse turn around and say "**** off all you do is run around a field for 90 minutes".

You need to take all your first choice players, identify the MUSTs, SHOULDs and COULDs of those first choice players, and offer the MUSTs a deal they can't possibly refuse. If they refuse it they have their own reasons. You then go through the SHOULDs and COULDs and do the same but set the bar a bit lower.

Instead of playing this stupid slowly slowly catchy monkey game that has never worked and then wonder why we have to make panic signings in the emergency loan window. There's no Championship level player who would turn down the opportunity to play for Leeds United if Leeds United showed they wanted that player enough. There's just absolutely no contest. But they don't show that they want the players. The board go out there with the wrong attitude "you should want to play for Leeds United no matter what and if you don't then **** off". The manager picks the players, the manager says "I want these players", it's up to the board to ensure the player signs on the dotted line.

Argue till you're blue in the face that it's Grayson's signings and Grayson's fault, I'm just saying how late our signings came in compared to other clubs, that to me says the players we were after earlier on weren't interested in signing. Or they might have been interested potentially, but the board played a slow, inflexible negotiation angle and the player got sick of it and went and signed for someone who - wait for it, drum roll - actually WANTED TO SIGN THE PLAYER!

very good point on the lateness of signings, Marko. Put that with the spin about arrogant players asking stupid amounts, greedy agents, players queuing up to play for Leeds (no doubt true, just unfortunate not many of them were good players....) and you get a feeling that the fans - the customers of Leeds United the business - are being treated as MUgs - maybe thats the wrong m word, perhaps m o r o n is the correct choice.

Our transfer policy of the past seasons has indeed been shambolic. But lets see how the summer develops, by the sounds of it we have players in place to come in straight away. Warnock inspires hope in me when he speaks, Grayson did not.

Lets all hope we fare well in the summer and can push on, but I do understand fans cautiousness

People People People..we DID spend!! Collins,Pugh, to the tune of Ricky Lambert`s cost to Saints.

Graysons notion of quantity over quality screwed us in part.

Doppler, the MANAGER has players lined up that he wants to come in straight away, but it's been the BOARD OF DIRECTORS that fluffed the contract negotiations once the player came in for talks. The BOARD OF DIRECTORS has been insisting that we're not going to rush into signings, we're not going to pay over the odds, agents are on holiday, Olympics, Euroes, the lot. This is what bates has been saying.

Grayson said at the end of 10/11 that he had players lined up that he wanted to bring in to add the finishing touches to his squad and named players he wanted contracts offered to. The board fluffed the negotiations, it's reflected in the activity of last summer and this "wait and see because the manager has said we have players lined up blah blah blah" is futile because the board are lining up to mess up the contract negotiations again.

Mike, Southampton got Rickie Lambert in League One, discovered he was amazing and refused to let go. We brought in Danny Pugh from a Premier League relegation squad that he couldn't get into, and paid the fee because he was "proven" in whatever capacity you can define as "proven" in that he's got into that position. We got him to replace a player that we signed for very little and discovered he was amazing, that we let go for stupid, nonsensical reasons.

We have our fair share of amazing players who cost very little, but the reality is if you want to bring in players of that quality when you already know they are that quality you have to pay the money.

TL;DR - You wouldn't get Rickie Lambert for 500k now. He was playing for them in League One while we were still there.

"People People People..we DID spend!! Collins,Pugh, to the tune of Ricky Lambert`s cost to Saints." Mike, if you think this passes for an argument you must be Ken Bates.

Who says we spent a million on collins and pugh as our transfers are always undisclosed, probably the same person who said we were paying Andy robinson £10k a week.