Cellino blames the Football League for exacerbating Leeds’s problems and claims his only mistake was not investing enough in public relations

Massimo Cellino says that he is ready to give Leeds United fans what they want and quit the ailing club. As the Football League considered his reinstatement as chairman after two bans and an acquittal on tax-evasion charges, the controversial Italian said: “I’ve had enough.”

The decline of Leeds is a warning to Newcastle United. Twelve years after relegation the Elland Road club are mired in mid-table mediocrity in the Sky Bet Championship and on their sixth manager in two years.

Recent problems have involved Nazi hashtags posted on social media by Cellino’s son, Ercole, and an imported Range Rover, while imaginative fan protests have ranged from projecting “Time To Go” messages on to the stands and bringing out fake coffins. Cellino, though, blames the