Hard sell must continue at Leeds

Gerald Krasner warned long-suffering Leeds fans yesterday that there is worse to come before the relegation-threatened club turns the corner.

Krasner's consortium of local businessmen maintained a veil of secrecy over two months of negotiating the complex £22million deal that has rescued the club from the edge of oblivion.

Now installed as chairman of a new six-man board that includes Leeds legend Peter Lorimer, Krasner warned:'I'm a blunt Yorkshireman and I'll tell it like it is. It's not the end of the pain - there will be more in the slimming down operation, but we will try to keep it to a minimum.' Insolvency expert Krasner confirmed Leeds will have to savage a near-£40m wage bill if the club is relegated - the worst-case scenario that the new regime planned for before taking over.

He said: 'The average wage bill in the Nationwide First Division is £10m. Ours was £53m last year. I can't give any assurances on individual players' futures. I won't say that the sales will stop here. 'If you don't make things financially right, everything else is secondary. I think that the fans are beginning to see the reality.

'I'm going to say things sometimes that will make me unpopular. That is the harsh reality of being boss in any industry. I'm aware of what happened to Peter Ridsdale.You don't take this job without knowing.'

Former chairman Ridsdale, who received death threats before quitting and is blamed for Leeds' £100m debt, sent a congratulatory email to Krasner - the first recent contact between the two life-long fans of the club. Lorimer, a stern critic of Ridsdale's regime, said: 'It's been hard for the guys trying to sort out this mess. This was the place where lots of people found their rainbow's end and went away wealthy people.

'It was the club that suffered. People let a little bit of success go to their heads. There has been gross mismanagement.

'Apologies are due to the fans. Don Revie used to tell us never to forget they paid our wages. Don and Billy Bremner would be turning in their graves. But I'm sure lessons have been learned.'