After the mother-of-all pre-seasons, when Leeds United were unable to buy or sell players due to the restrictions of their Administration Order, manager Dennis Wise was left with the unenviable task of persuading players to entrust their futures to a club which was battling to save its very existence.
Those dark days have left Wise more qualified than most when it comes to dealing with such adversity. Speaking after seeing his previous side Swindon Town become the latest team to leave Elland Road empty handed, the boss was clearly in no mood to listen to a sob story from current Robins manager Paul Sturrock. Swindon themselves are currently subject to a transfer embargo, but Wise has been unimpressed by the noises coming out of the County Ground in the past few days.
'Please stop crying, Paul,' he advised. 'We have been in the same situation ourselves. It's how you deal with it that counts. At the moment I know he can't do anything and it must be frustrating for him. He just has to get on with it. He has some decent players who caused us problems and I'm sure they will do well in this league.'
