Despite a row brewing that is bigger than Blackpool Tower, Ken Bates insists Leeds did nothing wrong and new boss Simon Grayson reveals that Leeds were the only club he would drop down a Division for.

Typically Bates was in a bullish mood, as he brushed aside threats coming from Blackpool to take Leeds and Grayson to court over his sudden departure from Bloomfield Road.

According to the Leeds chairman, it was all simple and straight-forward. On Yorkshire Radio, he explained: "We approached Blackpool with a view to speaking to Simon and they refused permission. That was the end of it, but they then told him they had an approach and he told them he wanted the job.

"Then Blackpool put this in the public domain - we said nothing because that's how business should be conducted - but nevertheless because it was in the public domain we felt that we had the right to approach Blackpool again, which we did.

"Meanwhile, Simon saw their chairman and they had a disagreement because he felt he'd done a good job there, wanted this opportunity, and they were stood in his way. He then resigned. As a free agent, we then offered him the job at Leeds."

And speaking for the first-time on LUTV, Grayson explained that the Leeds job was the only one he was prepared to drop down a Division for. He said: "When the opportunity came to come to Leeds United, I wanted to be here as quickly as possible.

"It's a massive club, it's a club that's obviously close to my heart, being here as a player and supporting the club. Ultimately (though] the ambition of the club, the size of the club has been the major attraction for me."

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