McDermott Satisfied With Pay Deal

Last updated : 01 April 2014 By .

United’s backroom team and their entire group of players agreed to accept part-payment of their salaries for March on Friday after a dispute between club owner Gulf Finance House and would-be owner Massimo Cellino left Leeds without enough money to fund their entire wage bill.

GFH and Cellino refused to provide the necessary cash last week with the Bahraini bank arguing that responsibility for funding lay with the Italian businessman under the terms of the deal to sell United to him. Cellino in turn saw the wages as GFH’s problem.

Cellino’s 75 per cent takeover – a deal worth £25m to GFH – faces a critical and definitive test today as a judge in London decides whether the Football League was justified in rejecting his buy-out on the grounds that his recent conviction for tax evasion in Italy breached the governing body’s Owners and Directors Test.

The wage deferral with McDermott and his players was agreed on the basis that the remaining 50 per cent would be paid after today’s hearing, though the dispute between Cellino and GFH could reignite again if his appeal fails.

McDermott revealed that he rather than senior officials from the club or GFH had taken it upon himself to outline the situation to his players on Friday as it became clear that the squad had not been paid.

The strain on the former Reading manager has been increased by the form of his squad who were beaten for the 17th time this season by Doncaster on Saturday. The 2-1 loss was United’s fifth in six games.