Archive for everythingleeds.myfastforum.org 
 


       everythingleeds.myfastforum.org Forum Index -> Leeds United Chat
eddiesleftfoot

Ridsdale's Book

Have I been duped?

I've just read this book from cover to cover today and am initially inclined to feel that perhaps we may have been a bit harsh on him. Or is this just his PR working overtime to show him in a better light? No doubt the guy was passionate about Leeds but definitely naive in many of his dealings - a recurring theme in the book. Interesting too to see the way the O'Leary relationship fell apart, but once again, I was left wondering who was actually telling the truth. What is also beyond question was the fact he had to go when he did, but I have to say I have always felt that others at ER got away relatively scot-free - The other Directors, O'Leary and definitely the players who, at the time of relegation, were, in the main, full internationals.

Either way I found the book unputdownable ( ignored everyone all day ) and the memories it brought back went from tears for Chris and kevin to sheer delight after Milan and many other fantastic times.

So, has he hood-winked me or have we been too quick to judge a man that at one time was every fan's idea of the perfect chairman? Whisper it quietly but I reckon it's somewhere in the middle.
nlag

Sounds like you enjoyed the read.

Speaking for myself, I won't put money into Ridsdale's royalty fund. I wish him or his family no harm.

Whenever I hear the words Ridsdale and O'Leary I think of the Titanic - Exspensive, over sold, badly managed, unsinkable.........and........ sunken.
raveydavey

You can only judge a man on his record over the fullness of time.

Which proves to me that Grimsdale is a dick of the highest order. Never shy of courting publicity when there is something in it for him but never the one to blame. He was the bloke in charge, the buck stops with him.

Perhaps I'm doing him an injustice. After all I'm told he was the "Top Man" at Burtons when they had their financial difficulties wasn't he? And wasn't he a director of ITV Digital? And lets not forget the roaring success he enjoyed at Barnsley after leaving us. Or indeed the ongoing success he is generating at Cardiff, who were recently reported as being on the brink of adminstration due to massive debts he knows nothing about....

I wouldn't wipe my arse on his book.
Gopher

It would hurt.  Wink
HarryofOz

Like any autobiographies it no doubt paints him in the best possible light. According to any autobiography that I've read (sports ones) the author is never in the wrong no matter what happened.
Oz White

Two Bob's worth!

Haven't read the book, and doubt whether I ever will.

There is sufficient spin in the media expressing Ridsdale's point of view to reasonably imagine what he may have written to justify his undoubted incompetence. However, apart from O'Leary, the players and others mentioned, Messrs Leighton, Harrison, in particular, and other Directors in general, had a fiduciary responsibility to ensure Ridsdale was not allowed to do what he did. The checks and balances were there, they just did not apply them.

The buck stops at Ridsdale, who is in deluded denial, but should never have got that far if Leighton etc were doing their job.

For a team with the potential of Kewell, Robinson, Woodgate and others, who were brought into the team at little or no cost, it was a matter of time before that talent blossomed. The exit of George Graham and the non-appointment of Martin O'Neill was to have disastrous effects. From two parsimonious similar type Managers to O'Leary was a bridge too far. Ridsdale and O'Leary were a very combustible cocktail. The explosion they caused can still be seen rippling through to present day.

Who is to blame? http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=r5nVTUTsNUg

Cheers
NE1

Re: Two Bob's worth!

Oz White wrote:
Haven't read the book, and doubt whether I ever will.

There is sufficient spin in the media expressing Ridsdale's point of view to reasonably imagine what he may have written to justify his undoubted incompetence. However, apart from O'Leary, the players and others mentioned, Messrs Leighton, Harrison, in particular, and other Directors in general, had a fiduciary responsibility to ensure Ridsdale was not allowed to do what he did. The checks and balances were there, they just did not apply them.

The buck stops at Ridsdale, who is in deluded denial, but should never have got that far if Leighton etc were doing their job.

For a team with the potential of Kewell, Robinson, Woodgate and others, who were brought into the team at little or no cost, it was a matter of time before that talent blossomed. The exit of George Graham and the non-appointment of Martin O'Neill was to have disastrous effects. From two parsimonious similar type Managers to O'Leary was a bridge too far. Ridsdale and O'Leary were a very combustible cocktail. The explosion they caused can still be seen rippling through to present day.

Who is to blame? http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=r5nVTUTsNUg

Cheers


very articulantly (sp?) put. I couldn't agree more.
raveydavey

Re: Two Bob's worth!

Oz White wrote:
Haven't read the book, and doubt whether I ever will.

There is sufficient spin in the media expressing Ridsdale's point of view to reasonably imagine what he may have written to justify his undoubted incompetence. However, apart from O'Leary, the players and others mentioned, Messrs Leighton, Harrison, in particular, and other Directors in general, had a fiduciary responsibility to ensure Ridsdale was not allowed to do what he did. The checks and balances were there, they just did not apply them.

The buck stops at Ridsdale, who is in deluded denial, but should never have got that far if Leighton etc were doing their job.

For a team with the potential of Kewell, Robinson, Woodgate and others, who were brought into the team at little or no cost, it was a matter of time before that talent blossomed. The exit of George Graham and the non-appointment of Martin O'Neill was to have disastrous effects. From two parsimonious similar type Managers to O'Leary was a bridge too far. Ridsdale and O'Leary were a very combustible cocktail. The explosion they caused can still be seen rippling through to present day.

Who is to blame? http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=r5nVTUTsNUg

Cheers


Very well said.
If I may risk going a touch OT for a moment, isn't Leighton the chap who is busy running the Post Office into the ground so it can be sold off as a basket case to the first bidder, or am I thinking of someone else?
       everythingleeds.myfastforum.org Forum Index -> Leeds United Chat
Page 1 of 1