8/4/2019 Ken Bates Programme Notes Leeds United vs Manchester United 20.9.11 P1

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"I have it on good authority that God is

keeping Fergie on earth for as long as possiol

because he doesn't fancy the competition!"

A SWEET RESULT

For the record, Suzannah and I left Eiland Road at

4.30pm by prior arrangement because we had aplane leaving Leeds-Bradford Airport at 5.30pm.

It's just as well that we did because the traffic on

the airport road was very heavy due to extensive

roadworks.

Unfortunately, we missed McCormack's winning

goal which gave us a thoroughly deserved win, having

showed a great team spirit and talent among the team

whose 10 men out-fought Bristol City.

It was a particularly sweet result after a display

of childish petulance by Kilkenny whose ego is not

matched by his talent. He demonstrated very clearly

why he had no future at this club. To extend hiscontract, we offered him a substantial increase on his

previous wage and his agent demanded a laughable

figure for a player of such limited talent and character.

So he decided to move on to a bigger club and finished

up at Bristol City on a wage which I know is less than

he was demanding at Leeds United.

Here we are, after a run of bad luck, sitting just

three points behind the Play-Off positions. As I've said

before, there is still a long way to go.

. "

Tonight we welcome Manchester United, a perfect

example of a self-made club. They have the

biggest stadium in the country, they trade debt-

free, possess a world-class team and a great

organisation. Food for thought for the small Leeds

United contingent who want instant success.

Fergie seems to be immortal. I have it on good

authority that God is keeping Fergie on earth for as long

as possible because he doesn't fancy the competition!

Fergie's current complaint - which is echoed by

other Premier League managers - is the intrusion of

international matches, including too many meaningless

"friend lies" which disrupt the domestic season. Before

discussing this in detail, we need to step back a bit and

examine the constitution of FIFA.

Every single country in the world with a properly

constituted FA (some more properly constituted than

others) can join FIFA and each country has an equal

vote and can compete in the World Cup. In practice,

this means that the Turks and Caicos Islands has an

equal say to the USA, Fiji has the same say as England,

and Luxembourg and Liechtenstein have the same

say as France and Germany. All the small countries

bureaucracies, see

no more brown envelop

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