Leed's hopes of making a fresh start, if not their desperate attempts to fill the coffers, were bolstered by the announcement yesterday that they have reached a settlement with their former manager and Republic of Ireland international David O'Leary that should net him around £2 million.
O'Leary, who spent four years at Elland Road without ever finishing outside the Premiership's top five, was sacked last June with two years to run on his £1.5 million-a-year contract after failing to qualify for the Champions League for the second successive season.
He had been holding out for the £3 million still owed on that deal with a Premier League tribunal due to hear the case on March 3rd. But now the embarrassment of more dirty laundry being aired in public has at least been avoided.
A Leeds spokesman explained: "The club has agreed to pay David compensation plus legal costs incurred by him."
O'Leary, who opposed the £29.3 million sale of Rio Ferdinand to Manchester United last summer and rejected the Leeds chairman Peter Ridsdale's original assertion that his departure was by mutual consent, will seek a return to club management.
Meanwhile, uneasy truce settled upon Elland Road last night as Terry Venables put aside his simmering feud with Ridsdale and instead pledged to concentrate upon reviving Leeds United's increasingly stuttering season.
With widespread protests expected in the stands at tonight's FA Cup replay with Gillingham, Venables - still privately livid at the club plc's decision to sell his England centre-half Jonathan Woodgate to Newcastle for £9 million last week - urged the club's disgruntled fans to unite behind the team rather than in opposition to the beleaguered chairman as Leeds attempt to instigate a "fresh start".
"We've got to forget everybody's differences," said Venables, who intends to stay at Leeds until the end of this campaign, when it is expected the option on the remaining 12 months of his £2 million-a-year contract will not be taken up.
"I'm not happy with certain things, but that's been said and done. Now we've all got to try and pull for everyone's good.
"The chairman seemed quite pleased when I told him I would be staying on. We've still got to have a working relationship, and we will have. He's got to do his job, I've got to do mine and we've got to make as big a success of it as we possibly can. We will all have to be very responsible and act like men, but I think it's fair to say it's a fresh start."
That may not be easy tonight with Ridsdale and his fellow plc board members likely to face a torrid reception at Elland Road. The chairman was subjected to vicious abuse from travelling fans at Goodison Park on Saturday, venting their anger at the Woodgate sale.
Despite a stodgy start to his Leeds managerial career, and with the team having not won for a month, he has since been elevated to something of a fans' favourite with his plans undermined by the board's desperate cost-cutting.
"Making this decision was a weight off my mind," said Venables. "I've got a few things off my chest now and, while the whole situation has been very unfortunate, there's no point looking back."
Unfortunately for him, the loss of Woodgate may be keenly felt tonight with Leeds, beset by injuries, forced to field a makeshift back line. Dominic Matteo and Teddy Lucic are out with a knee injury and concussion respectively, while Lucas Radebe aggravated a long-standing knee problem yesterday after slipping on ice while putting out his dustbin.
But Venables and the club should soon be encouraged by confirmation that Danny Mills, Alan Smith and Harry Kewell, who is out tonight with a tight hamstring, will pledge their long-term futures to Elland Road.
