Leeds director defends agent's appointment

The Leeds United managing director, David Richmond, has defended the club's employment of an agent to look into the sale of a number of their players.

Richmond's response comes after Alan Smith's criticisms of Leeds for seemingly handing Phillip Morrison the responsibility of looking after key deals.

Although Leeds are heavily in debt, the cost of hiring Morrison far outweighs the money they could lose if unscrupulous agents take advantage of their plight, and Richmond said: "All we are doing is if - and it is only an if - we get relegated then we want to be prepared to give ourselves the very best opportunity to come back next season.

"We have employed an agent to act on behalf of Leeds United to look around the market to find out if there is an interest in our players. No one is going to be given away. We are doing what any normal business would do."

Leeds would face a 10-point deduction if they were relegated and went into administration. Until a meeting today, any club relegated would not be liable for the deduction until the start of the First Division season.

However, at an emergency meeting of Football League chairmen, rules have been changed so that clubs entering administration, whether in the Nationwide League or Premiership, will face the same rules.