OPINION
In footballing terms, Leeds United managing director Angus Kinnear went in two-footed and with real aggression in a post-script to the Spygate saga that drew to a close last week.
In his boardroom notes in Saturday’s official programme for the fixture against Bolton Wanderers, Kinnear delivered a biting critique of “media hysteria” and the conduct of pundits and rival Championship clubs.
His pithy line, “I know our fans spotted the clear inverse correlation between the level of mock outrage displayed by pundits and the quality of their playing careers” went down especially well supporters on social media.
However, given that a true playing great in Stuart Pearce was the first pundit to call for a points deduction, Kinnear might have been a bit loose with the truth on that jibe.
What is to be made of the executive’s verdict on the breach of EFL regulation 3.4 about the “utmost good faith” standard?
Kinnear claims in his notes, as uploaded on to the personal Twitter account of BBC Radio Leeds journalist Adam Pope, that “it will be interesting to see” whether it is “more literally applied” to “the dark arts of the transfer market”.
Chief Executive Angus Kinnear’s notes are well@worth a read. #lufc pic.twitter.com/7LKVbIw8y3
— Adam Pope (@apopey) February 23, 2019
What exactly does Kinnear mean? Is he expecting the Football League to administer justice when clubs behave untowardly in transfer negotiations? Is he having a dig at one transfer, in particular?
Leeds are likely to be fuming, still, at Swansea City’s deadline-day conduct over Daniel James, when they pulled the plug at the eleventh hour after the player had completed a medical and arrived at Elland Road to sign a contract.
Nevertheless, Kinnear should spill the beans if he has evidence of improper conduct that clearly contravenes Regulation 3.4. It would make for fascinating reading.
Or, is he just trying to justify one wrong by pointing the finger rather vaguely at others?
It should be pointed out that Leeds have hardly been whiter than white themselves in transfer negotiations – the Ross McCormack deal is the best example – in recent years.