Football: Risdale defends Leeds spending

Peter Ridsdale has hit back at John McKenzie after he blamed "irresponsibility and indulgent spending" for Leeds' shocking financial state.

Professor of Economics McKenzie has taken over as chairman from Ridsdale and has been left stunned by what he has also described as "the frivolous nature of the expenditure" for a cash-strapped club which just seven weeks ago announced debts of �78.9m.

McKenzie has sifted through the club's accounts and discovered a number of startling revelations which included �5.7m in compensation to former bosses David O'Leary and Terry Venables, �600,000 a year on a fleet of over 70 company cars and �70,000 in one year on private jets for directors/senior management,

Leeds are also contributing �500,000 a year to Robbie Fowler's wages, despite the fact he was sold to Manchester City in January, and the club also spent �240 a year on goldfish for the chairman's office.

But Ridsdale has not taken McKenzie's revelations lying down and issued a statement which read: "Since leaving Leeds United I have kept a dignified silence.

"The comments by my successor John McKenzie are therefore extremely disappointing as they make reference to expenditure and a culture which are in some cases taken out of context, in some cases sensationalised and in some cases inaccurate.

"I will continue to keep a dignified silence whilst wishing Leeds United all the best for the future.''

What an absolute joker! Own up Risdale, you made big mistakes and Leeds are now suffering because of it.

Man risdale is a joke,Leeds will continue to suffer with him at the helm..I can see a few more players leaving in the summer as the creditors might not put up with it much longer and put the pressure on..

There has been alot of money wasted at leeds i mean seth johnson for �8 million or there abouts is another example...

He resigned weeks ago....

Seth Johnson was a definate waste of money! The only palyer they have made a profit on when selling is RIo Ferninand, every other deal has been a loss. Shame they stayed up really.

Yeah i thought they might have gone down.....Well it looks like they might lose quite a few players before the season starts so they might struggle a bit...

Leeds chairman John McKenzie insists the club will do all it can to hang on to star player Harry Kewell.

The Australian forward has been linked with Manchester United, Arsenal and Barcelona among others over the last couple of weeks with the Yorkshire club still in financial difficulty after over-stretching themselves under former chairman Peter Ridsdale.

However, McKenzie regards Kewell as a major asset and seems very reluctant to sell, even though he knows the player can leave on a free transfer under the Bosman ruling in 12 months' time.

soccernet.espn.go.com...

Yeah i read this,i think that leeds are banking on turning their fortunes around and having a good season as the last was dismal....So then Kewell will sign a new contract and stay...

See this is the 4th striker that Man United have been linked with and they are only buying one...Its all speculation Kewell will stay as the main one Man Utd want to get is Ronaldinho who is much better than kewell...

Same goes for Arsenal they have been linked with at least 4 aswell...