A Whites supporter has said he was given £500 per month to praise the club’s owner online in a bid to raise support for the Italian.
A Leeds United fan has described the club as “rotten to the core” after claiming to the Daily Mail that he was paid £500 per month by the club to post messages on social media supporting controversial owner Massimo Cellino.
The Italian businessman has been the subject of a high profile campaign attempting to force him out of the club in recent weeks, with fan dissent appearing to be at an all-time high.
However, a fan named Scott Gutteridge has alleged that he was paid by the club as they attempted to swing public perception of Cellino in the other direction.
He claimed that he received the money to work with a Facebook group called ‘Cellino In’, which is now under the title ‘In Massimo We Trust’.
Gutteridge told the Mail: “I was approached because of my IT/website design background by an unnamed member of Leeds United to assist in the creation and running of a group called Cellino In.
“I was told I would receive a nominal payment depending on activity and contribution. It balanced out at £500 per month. The club felt that a positive influence from a small number of fans could go a long way and sponsoring this group would be worth their time.
“I started to realise what was going on behind the scenes. This was nothing more than propaganda with the wrongdoings being covered up by the club using the Facebook group to counter arguments. Leeds is a club rotten to the core.”
Gutteridge was eventually dropped from the group for leaking information, and whilst the Mail reports that his claims have been supported by other Whites fans, the club themselves were quick to rubbish the suggestions.
A Leeds spokesman told the paper: “There is nothing in this. But unfortunately, because of the hysteria surrounding Leeds, groups of fans don’t believe what the club say.”
Cellino has been a controversial figure throughout his tenure at Elland Road, receiving criticism before he had even officially taken over the club for firing Brian McDermott as manager in 2014.
Since then, Leeds fans have seen a high manager turnover and listened to unfulfilled promises, whilst the Italian was handed a five-month ban from running the club by the Football League at the end of 2014 after being found guilty of tax evasion in his home country.
Contrary to Cellino’s pledge that the club would reach the Premier League by the end of the current season, United are currently mired in the bottom half of the Championship table, sitting in 17th position.
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