Defeat at home to Watford had all but ended Leeds hopes of the play-offs, unless Neil Warnock could inspire an unlikely Easter Rising in LS11.

APRIL I remember waiting for Warnock to emerge for a chat/photo/autograph after the Watford defeat only to be moved on by security at 7:30pm as he was locked in conference with his staff about the ongoing crisis and the sheer size of his task. Warnock announced he would be seeking a showdown with Ken Bates over his transfer budget when the Leeds chairman returned to the UK at Easter. Leeds turned in a spirited performance at leaders Reading, but the loss of Zac Thompson to a red-card and two late goals from Adam Le Fondre confined us to a 2-0 defeat. Three days later on Easter Monday Derby won at Elland Road by the same scoreline.

Warnock finally recorded his first and only home win of his time in charge during the 2011/12 campaign, a 4-1 thrashing of Peterborough. His summer cull began early, Ben Parker and Mika Valrynen both had their contracts terminated, the Finn reportedly costing Leeds a whopping £500,000 in wages having only arrived the previous September. Darren O'Dea was next one out, having been sent-off in the 1-0 defeat at Blackpool, Warnock told the Irishman to go home early and prepare for Euro2012. O'Dea was effectively a free agent as his parent club Celtic had not renewed his contract.

Early rumoured incoming replacements included Derby's Paul Green and an seemingly unrealistic move for Doncaster's El Hadji Diouf, which given the bad feeling at the Rovers game in February and Warnock's own claims that Diouf was "a sewer rat" from his QPR days, it all seemed a bizarre piece of transfer speculation. One man who would be welcomed back at ER was Jermaine Beckford, who received an amazing reception when he returned to Leeds on the final game of the season for the first time. Beckford was subbed at half-time but even without him Leicester ran out 2-1 winners and Leeds had achieved an unwanted club record having lost eleven league matches in a season.

MAY

Neil Warnock told Messers Nunez, Paynter, Connolly, O'Brien, Rachubka, Bruce, Sam, Forsell, Webber and Maik Taylor they had no future at the club, but the biggest shock was the transfer-listing of Adam Clayton. The midfielder, considered one of the brighter success stories of 2011/12 moved to Huddersfield in a £500,000 deal.

On the fortieth anniversary of our famous FA Cup triumph over Arsenal, May 6th saw the unveiling of a statue of Don Revie on Lowfields Road with many of his great team in attendance to witness the event billed as "The Don's Homecoming". Revie died in 1989 from Motor Neurone Disease.

Jason Pearce arrived from Portsmouth, the highly rated young defender signing for around £500,000 however Leeds missed out on his team-mate Joel award prompting rumours of a cash-flow crisis at Leeds. Meanwhile Ken Bates claimed the protests against him cost the club a £20m cash injection from a would-be Saudi benefactor.

With Aidy White and Ross McCormack both appearing to snub new deals and Derby and Crystal Palace ready to pounce, there were rumours that Warnock himself would be off....to Nottingham Forest. Forest were on the verge of a takeover from a wealthy Kuwaiti, who had also been linked with investing in Leeds United. However when the club did announce they were in talks with potential investors, Twitter almost went into meltdown as speculation who the mystery bidders were with initial rumours pointing to Canada and the USA.

JUNE

Anxious supporters were given some reassurances about our ability to bring in new signings when Norwich's Adam Drury and Derby's Paul Green both arrived within 24 hours of each other.

The future of Ross McCormack looked to lie elsewhere with Crystal Palace, Bristol City and Huddersfield all reportedly vying for his signature.

The rumoured source of Leeds investment had switched from the western world the east, with the Middle East said to be where the money was coming from. Leeds officially confirmed "due diligence" was taking place and a confidentiality clause was in place.

JULY

As expected Paddy Kenny is reunited with Warnock, consequently Andy Lonergan moves on to Bolton after just one season as Leeds number one.

Leeds pre-season tour starts in Devon and Cornwall boosted by the news that Aidy White has snubbed Derby to sign a three year deal with Leeds. A glut of signings came our way with Jamie Ashdown, David Norris and Luke Varney taking the number of Portsmouth old boys to four. Highly rated Jamaican international Rodolph Austin also signed in a £300,000 deal from Sk Brann. Leeds also snapped up Andy Gray, now a free agent having left Barnsley and returning to the club where it all began for him.

However just when things began to look more positive, the future of Jewel in the Crown Robert Snodgrass is resolved as he joins Norwich in a £3m deal linking up with ex team mates Johnny Howson and Bradley Johnson. . The Bahraini bank GFH capital emerge as the main bidders for the ownership of Leeds United.

AUGUST

In a massive u-turn, Ross McCormack agrees a new deal with Leeds after a fee had been agreed with Palace. In another u-turn controversial El Hadji Diouf signs as a non-contract player. Leeds also completed the signing of Lee Peltier from Leicester City.

Leeds start the season with a comfortable 4-0 win over Shrewsbury in the Capital One Cup. Freshly relegated Wolves are beaten 1-0 on the opening day of the Championship season but all eyes are on Ken Bates guests in the Directors Box, despite a statement indicating the takeover of Leeds United by GFH Capital was off just 48 hours earlier, representatives of the firm are spotted alongside Bates. Leeds stumble to defeat at Blackpool, but bounce back at Peterborough. Amazingly El Hadji Diouf is hailed as a hero by initially doubting Leeds fans and he agrees a short-term contract with the whites.

Although no further new signings make it through the door prior to the closing of the August transfer deadline, Leeds have a plumb third round league cup tie against Everton as a reward for beating Oxford in round two. The takeover is still dragging on and a "Pens for Ken" campaign begins where fans post pens to the Leeds chairman urging him to sign the club over to new buyers.

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