Bates appoints Wise and Poyet to man the Leeds lifeboat

Dennis Wise and Gustavo Poyet were last night confirmed as the new management team at Leeds United and will officially begin their task of reviving the ailing Championship club this morning.

The pair spent yesterday discussing personal terms with the club's owner, Ken Bates, before attending the third-round Carling Cup tie against Southend United at Elland Road last night, which Leeds lost 3-1.

Wise, 39, replaces Kevin Blackwell, who was sacked last month, while Poyet, 38, who was a Chelsea team-mate of Wise under Bates's chairmanship there, becomes his assistant.

Leeds parted company with their caretaker manager, John Carver, on Monday evening following a 5-1 defeat at Luton Town on Saturday, and after initially failing to agree compensation with Swindon for Wise and Poyet, settled on a deal worth around £200,000.

Bates, 75, who lives as a tax exile in Monaco, flew to England yesterday to attend the match and thrash out the new appointments' contracts. Andrew Beasley, a goalkeeping coach, will also move to Elland Road as part of the deal.

Bates said yesterday: "He [Wise] will get 110 per cent effort, fight and determination from the players otherwise they won't put on a Leeds shirt again. He is a bad loser and bad losers are usually winners."