Sport 29-10-2003 United Rub Salt In The Wound who: Manchester United what: Beat Leeds United 2-3 in Carling Cup third round on sorry day for Yorkshire club fortunes where: Elland Road, LEEDS when: Last night snippet: "The long-term survival of Leeds United remains in doubt after the club yesterday announced an annual loss of £49.5m, a record in British football," says The Independent. And their fortunes didn`t improve last night when they played host to Manchester United in the third round of the Carling Cup and lost 2-3 thanks to a spectacular extra-time strike by Eric Djemba-Djemba in the 117th-minute. Leeds United are one place off the bottom of the Barclaycard Premiership and chairman Professor John McKenzie admitted yesterday that they would survive relegation "with considerable difficulty". "Leeds supporters should stop reading now," says Matt Dickinson in The Times, for the sake of the squeamish, explaining that Robbie Fowler, who now plays for Manchester city, "will be paid £500,000 a year by Leeds until 2006", Robbie Keane, who has now moved to Spurs, "will pick up £200,000 a year for the next two seasons" and the club still owes £7million to a loan company for top-earner Mark Viduka. Then there`s the £4million compensation to former manager David O’Leary and £2million to his successor, Terry Venables. As if all that weren`t bad enough, says The Evening Standard`s website, thisislondon.com, "Alan Smith could be in trouble with the Football Association for hurling a plastic bottle into a group of his own fans". The Morror says the Leeds striker "boiled over" last night "just after being booked when a home fan threw a Lucozade bottle on to the pitch in the dying minutes of extra time". [... more]

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