Please log in or register. Registered visitors get fewer ads.
The Simon Grayson Years 2008-2012
The Simon Grayson Years 2008-2012
Friday, 30th Nov 2012 04:33

A look back at the roller coaster ride under Simon Grayson between December 2008 and January 2012.

Despite the smart money being on established names like Gus Poyet and Aidy Bothroyd in the frame to replace Gary McAllister as Leeds boss, Chairman Ken Bates moved "cloak and dagger" following Simon Grayson's shock decision to quit Championship side Blackpool days before Christmas,

Grayson was installed as Leeds boss forty-eight hours after Leeds crashed 3-1 at MK Dons which proved to be the end of the popular McAlister's reign. Macca had received the dreaded vote of confidence following arguably United's lowest moment in their history, a 1-0 defeat in the FA Cup Second Round at non-league Histon. Our League One form had slipped and we were well off the promotion pace-setters

Grayson said of his appointment "It's a club that's obviously close to my heart, being here as a player and supporting the club ... I certainly would not have dropped down a division to go to any other club but Leeds United."

Although Grayson had been released by Leeds after just two appearances, he had gone on to forge a good playing career with Aston Villa and Blackburn amongst others. His first game in charge saw Leicester, another one of Grayson's former clubs visit Elland Road as League One leaders. United snatched a dramatic injury time equaliser to earn a credible draw and followed this up two days later with a 3-1 win at Stockport County to end 2008 on a high.

With Histon having relieved United of their FA Cup responsibilities Grayson was able to focus on the ask he pulled off at Blackpool, trying to get Leeds up via the playoffs. By the end of January, Leeds were just three points off sixth place however defeats at Walsall, Huddersfield and what was described as a "watershed" 0-2 reversal at Hereford aroused the old suspicions of inconsistency that had plagued the McAllister era.

Of the Edgar Street massacre Grayson would later reflect, "There are defining moments in any season and that was certainly one for us. The criticism they got from the fans was justified. The meeting that we had afterwards as a group ... really focused us on what we needed to do. We knew that after that game the players could either sink or swim... It was a big game in our season."

Leeds charged on into the play-offs and were paired against old foes Millwall, the first encounter at the New Den saw Leeds succumb to a Neil Harris goal. In a tense return leg in Leeds, Luciano Becchio gave Leeds a deserved lead after Jermaine Beckford missed a penalty however in the 73rd minute Jimmy Abou took advantage of Millwall's solitary chance on goal and the Lions were roaring their way to Wembley whilst Leeds faced up to the reality of a third year in the third tier of English football.

The summer of 2009 saw Leeds lose the services of the much coveted Fabian Delph, Aston Villa paying £6m for his services. Grayson typically brought in cheap/free transfer signings such as Paddy Kusnorbo, Jason Crowe, Shane Higgs and Leigh Bromby to bolster his squad. He also managed to retain the services of top scorer Jermaine Beckford, although worryingly for Leeds the striker was transfer-listed having spurned the offer of a new three-year-contract and seemed destined to sit out the final year of his contract before earning a Bosman move.

Other than an expected Carling Cup defeat to Liverpool in Seotember, Leeds did not experience defeat until late October going own to old adversaries Millwall. By the new year, Leeds were sitting proudly top of League One, had an intriguing FA Cup Third Round clash against Manchester United to look forward to and the whites' followers had every reason to believe that 2010 would be the year we finally exited League One.

The date January 3rd 2010 is etched on the memory of every modern day Leeds fan as unbelievably Leeds went to Old Trafford and won courtesy of a Jermaine Beckford goal. Leeds then pulled off a remarkable 2-2 draw at Tottenham in the fourth round before losing the replay.

However what price was cup glory having on Grayson's league season and has mandate to return United to the Championship, an appalling run of results saw Leeds pick up just three wins between their Old Trafford heroics and April 3rd when a Billy Paynter inspired Swindon Town side romped to a 3-0 win at Elland Road leaving Leeds to slip down to fourth spot.

A mini-revival of sorts and favourable results elsewhere saw Leeds go into the final game of the season in second place, the pressure was on as Swindon, Millwall and Huddersfield could all mathematically trump United if they slipped up against Bristol Rovers at ER. In a tense game, Leeds typically did it the hard way, Max Gradel getting himself sent off, 10-men Leeds going 1-0 down before a brilliant Howson equaliser and Everton bound Jermaine Beckford with a 63rd minute winner!

Grayson agreed a new three year deal in the summer of 2010, ending speculation over his future having been linked with Leicester, Aston Villa and later on Burnley. He had a clear-out of sorts, allowing Casper Ankergren, Tresor Kandol, Andy Robinson and Alan Sheehan amongst others to leave whilst bringing in Kasper Schmeichel, Fede Bessone, Paul Connolly, Billy , Lloyd Sam, Alex Bruce and loanees Sanchez Watt and Adam Clayton.

Grayson was good to his word that Leeds were not there "just to make the numbers up" and Leeds overcame an opening day defeat at Derby by losing just once in their next five league outings. Suspicions that Grayson's team had not quite mastered the art of defending arose in September when his team crashed 2-5 at Barnsley and Preston came away from Elland Road with an amazing 6-4 win.

Despite these blips, Grayson's popularity remained high. Leeds renaissance under his tenure was again brought to the nations attention with another high profile FA Cup result, 1-1 away at Arsenal on this occasion, Leeds denied a famous win by an injury time penalty. A second successive promotion along with a revitalised Norwich City seemed at best an outside bet but there were few complaints with the respectable seventh placed finish Grayson guided his team to.

The summer of 2011 was one where Leeds should have been looking to build on their encouraging Championship return, instead the only major building work seemed to be going on at Elland Road with a multi-million pound revamp of the East Stand. Leeds fans could only look on in envy as Norwich, who two seasons earlier had started life in League One alongside Leeds persuaded Bradley Johnson to join in their Premiership return. Leicester under new Thai ownership were spending big and Kasper Schmeichel joined them after just one season at Leeds and former Fox Max Gradel was off to St Etienne before the end of the August transfer deadline.

A difficult start to the season, including defeats to Southampton and Middlesbrough plus protests from fans against the Ken Bates regime made it an unhappy start to the new season for Grayson. However Leeds seemed to be able to play below par and grind out results, however the frailties and limitations of Grayson's side were exposed when his former club Blackpool gleefully romped to a 5-0 win at Elland Road on a night which is remembered for a calamitous goalkeeping display by Paul Rachubka, ironically himself a former Blackpool employee.

Jekyll and Hyde Leeds then bounced back with a 1-0 win at big spending Leicester four days later.

November ended with the club United in grief and Grayson leading the tributes to former Leeds midfielder Gary Speed, who tragically died on November 27th and signed for Leeds on the same day Grayson did in 1988.

Going into Christmas, Leeds were handily placed for the play-offs and in his programme notes for the pre-Christmas clash with Reading Ken Bates would ratchet up the pressure on Grayson by demanding promotion, a wretched festive season followed with defeat to Reading and away losses to Derby and Barnsley.

January 2012 dawned and thus Grayson's final 31 days in charge. Despite wins at home against Burnley and Ipswich, the latter played out in the backdrop of fans protesting at the sale of Leeds-born Jonny Howson to Norwich, his time was up on the 31st, ironically the last day of the transfer-window when Birmingham romped home to a 4-1 win at Elland Road.

So that was the roller coaster ride of three and a bit years under Simon Grayson, who will be desperate to put one over us tomorrow. I think Jon Howe writing for the sabotage times last February sums up his place in our history perfectly: "Grayson was clearly operating with both hands tied behind his back, having no power to keep his current players or bring in the players he would want to fulfil his dream, as a Leeds-born player and fan, of managing the club in the Premiership. For this reason I would forgive Grayson for the constant reliance on short term loan players (for which he had a very poor success rate) and I would also partially forgive him for the continual plethora of 'dead wood' we seemed to collect each season."

Photo: Action Images



Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.


You need to login in order to post your comments

Port Vale Polls

About Us Contact Us Terms & Conditions Privacy Cookies Advertising
© FansNetwork 2024