When Ken Bates took charge of Leeds United last January, one fan memorably said it was "like putting King Herod in charge of babysitting".


Yet 16 months on, the Yorkshire club is on a sound financial footing and will regain a place in the Premiership with victory over Watford in Sunday's play-off final.
Leeds were £25m in debt when Bates took over and had been more than £100m in the red when the previous consortium, led by Gerald Krasner, gained control in March 2004.


Elland Road legend Peter Lorimer, the only member of Krasner's board who is still a director under Bates, says Elland Road is a happy place to be once again.

"Going back two or three years, it was a disaster," Leeds' leading-ever scorer with 238 goals told BBC Sport. "The club became a laughing stock, a club which no-one wanted to know. We were on the road to nowhere.
"Once again, the city is vibrant and people are talking about Leeds United again. It's fantastic to be going down to the ground again. There are lots of smiling faces and a lot of optimism.
"Sixteen months ago we didn't know where we were going. Now we've got a realistic chance of getting back in the Premiership and the club is a happy place to be once again."

The former winger has no doubts about who is responsible for that turnaround - Ken Bates.

"The club had major problems until the chairman took over, but he's managed to do a great job in bringing stability to the football club.
"When you've got stability, you know what you're working for and what the goal is.
"There was nothing like that for the previous 18 months. We were wondering if we were going to survive, or go into liquidation.
"Ken Bates has solved all that. He's dragged us out of the gloom. He knows the game and knew exactly what was needed."

Despite Bates' reputation for being abrasive and controversial, Lorimer says he has found the one-time Chelsea supremo a pleasure to work with.

"I've found him a perfect person to work with. He knows what he wants and sets a plan into place. He lets everyone know what's expected of them - from the office to playing staff - and that's what we needed."

Such is the club's new-found stability that Lorimer says it would not be a disaster to lose Sunday's match.

"It's a massive match for this football club and I'd like to think the hard work everyone's put in will be rewarded with a place in the Premiership on Sunday evening," he said.
"But we're 12 months ahead of schedule in terms of Ken's plans for the club. The next step will be consolidation in the Premiership or, if we lose, to push hard for promotion next season."

Lorimer is also full of praise for Leeds manager Kevin Blackwell.

He said:

"Kevin's done a great job. The chairman's backed him by getting the players he wanted, but Kevin's had the judgement to build a team that's taken us to this stage."

And he said he hopes Blackwell can win to further shame the fans that issued death threats against the manager when Leeds went through a rough patch late in the season.

"I would like to think that now we're in the position we are, that people will put an apology to Kevin in the paper on Monday morning,"

Lorimer said.


Source: BBC Sport