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Episode 30, recorded on 19th May 2011, arrives in the shadow of a seismic off-field development: Ken Bates completing his purchase of Leeds United. With Football League regulations around ownership disclosure having been tightened, Bates — who had effectively controlled the club in one form or another since January 2005 — finalised his acquisition from offshore parties connected to him. Dan Moylan, Michael Normanton, Daniel Chapman (Moscowhite), and Paul O’Dowd (Oddy) take stock of a season that finished seventh with 72 points.
The manner of that seventh-place finish is particularly painful. Leeds had held sixth position as late as gameweek 43, when two defeats and two draws saw them slip out of the play-off places. Wins in the final two games arrived too late to make a difference. Dan, Michael, Moscowhite, and Oddy work through what those last weeks cost — the moments where points were dropped, the gap between what the squad could produce and what it consistently did.
The release of Richard Naylor gets attention from the panel. His boyhood club, two years as captain, a season largely lost to knee surgery — and his final contribution an assist for Max Gradel in the 2-1 win over QPR on the last day. Not renewed.
The Bates acquisition sits over the rest of the discussion. The panel are clear-eyed about what it means: whatever Simon Grayson and his squad managed to build in 2011-12, they would be doing so under an owner whose relationship with the fanbase had never been straightforward.
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