<font size="3"><font face="Calibri">Rebuilding plans back on ice By tim whelan </font></font><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">Date: 5/6/2007 </font></font><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">Dennis Wise will have to put his rebuilding plans for Leeds United on hold until next month despite Ken Bates regaining control of the club. The Football League are to delay their ratification of the deal that took Leeds out of administration, amid reports of a possible legal challenge. </font></font><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">It had been expected that the club's Football League share would be returned at tomorrow's League board meeting in Portugal. But the Yorkshire Post have reported that for legal reasons it will take a further 28 days for the CVA to be formalised, so our League membership can't be ratified until the subsequent board meeting on July 12. Until then the transfer embargo will remain in place, and the manager's rebuilding plans will be further delayed. </font></font><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">According to the Guardian, some of the creditors are taking legal advice with a view to challenging the outcome of the CVA ballot in the high court. One individual who had been present at Friday's meeting said: "There were about 120 people in that meeting on Friday and 115 of them were against Ken Bates's offer. Major creditors are taking independent advice as to whether to mount a high-court challenge. There are 28 days to consider that option." </font></font><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">The key issue is whether the major creditor, Astor Investment Holdings, should have been allowed to vote as an unconnected creditor. According to some sources, there was an admission by a director of the new company set up by Bates as the club's parent company, Leeds United Football Club Limited, that Astor had historically been connected to Leeds United's previous owner, Forward Sports Fund. The administrator, KPMG, stated during Friday's meeting that it had received affidavits swearing that this connection had been severed approximately six months ago. But Leeds director Mark Taylor doubts that any such challenge could succeed in court. "To overturn the decision, they would have to prove that the administrator had been unreasonable. But KPMG acted very professionally throughout." </font></font><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">Wise had hoped to be able to announce a couple of signings as early as next week, and the squad are due to return for pre-season training on July 2, but despite the delay in lifting the embargo he has still been in contact with a number of possible transfer targets. Bates confirmed that Wise will have funds available once everything is sorted out. "We've already held lots of informal discussions, and Dennis has got a long shopping list. Obviously we've had a few setbacks and missed out on a few players, but that's inevitable regardless of whether you're in administration or not. It happens every year and you never get every player you try for." </font></font><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">Seven out-of-contract players will be leaving the club after being told they will not be offered new terms, but Matt Heath, Rui Marques and Tore Andre Flo are expected to be offered new deals once the club exit administration. There is no surprise that David Healy will be sold to raise much needed funds, with at least two Premiership clubs interested in his signature. It has been revealed that he was one of the four players who refused to agree to a wage deferral last month, but despite this, Bates was uncharacteristically kind when he gave the Yorkshire Post the reasons why Healy will be leaving. "I feel disappointed for David and I've always had a bit of sympathy for him. He scores a lot of goals for Northern Ireland and he does it consistently. We can hardly expect him to perform at such a high level one week and then return to League One the next." </font></font>
