Yorkshire Evening Post 23/4/09
Grayson plots play-off path
The draw between Scunthorpe and Northampton which booked Leeds United's play-off spot on Tuesday night confirmed what Simon Grayson already knew.
After Saturday's victory over Tranmere, United's boss was confident enough to tell himself that, from the point of view of a top-six finish in League One, Leeds were home and dry. Nevertheless, official confirmation courtesy of Scunthorpe's stalemate gave him an understandable sense of satisfaction.
When Grayson took over at Elland Road four months ago a place in the play-offs was nothing like a foregone conclusion. Had it been, there would not have been a job available for him to fill. Striking that target with two games to spare is a good measure of the work he has done.
In his time in charge Grayson has maintained a win ratio of 61 per cent – 14 victories from 23 matches. As significant, he says, is a total of only five defeats during that same spell.
It was United's inconsistency that bothered him most when he took charge on December 23 and it is that weakness which he and his coaches, Ian Miller and Glynn Snodin, set out to cure.
It is only recently that they have been able to worry less about the solidity of their team and more about maximising the talent of the players available.
"One of the big concerns I had when I came here was the consistency of the results, or the lack of it," he said. "We'd won quite a lot of games but we'd lost almost as many and the small number of draws in between was something I noticed straight away.
"You don't set out to draw games, or not often anyway, but you have to show a desire not to lose and not to ruin good results with bad ones.
"It can become a case of one step forward, one step back and sometimes it's hard to feel like you're getting anywhere. You never feel real momentum.
"Okay, we've only drawn four times since I came in but the point is we haven't lost those games. One defeat might have been all it took to knock us off our stride and bring on a few more poor results.
"The 11 matches we went without losing really pleased me because that's the habit I wanted to get us into.
"I knew how much quality was here but the main priority wasn't producing expansive performances. First of all, I wanted to get together a team who were organised and solid.
"After that, we could encourage the flair to come out and I think you've started to see that."
Grayson is particularly proud of performances produced by his players in the latter part of his short tenure.He was deeply impressed by the discipline with which United closed out a 1-0 victory at Colchester earlier this month and equally satisfied with their contribution to an open attacking game against Leicester City on Easter Monday, albeit one which ended in an injury-time defeat.
The confidence of his squad was evident in Saturday's 3-1 victory over Tranmere, a game which hinged on several key moments but which Leeds deserved to win.
"The Tranmere win was a big one for us," said Grayson. "I wasn't going to count my chickens or say anything afterwards which might have jumped the gun but I think we all knew then that we were in the play-offs.
"Even so, it's good that we're definitely there and, as people always say, this is where the hard work starts for us. We've done a lot of that so far, but all of it was done to get us to this point.
"We've taken the first step, which we needed to do, but that doesn't make you relax. It just gets rid of any uncertainty over whether or not you'll finish in the top six.
"The signs have been there that we're getting better as a team.
"If we'd been 1-0 up at Colchester at the start of my time here, I'd have been very worried about the possibility of us conceding a goal.
"In that game, we didn't really look like scoring a second goal but at no time did I feel we were going to throw the points away.
"The confidence that gives players is massive. It's a sign that they believe in themselves and that's showing in how eager they are to be out on the pitch – I couldn't get some of these lads out of the team if I tried!"
Evidence of that is found in the players who Grayson is being forced to omit, not only from his team but also form his match-day squads.
Club captain Frazer Richardson – indisputably United's first-choice right-back during the first half of the season – last played at Brighton on January 17, and Bradley Johnson's outing against Tranmere was his first for six matches.
Liam Dickinson, Lubomir Michalik, David Prutton and Darryl Flahavan could not win places on the bench on Saturday and Andy Robinson's first start since February was largely due to Fabian Delph's two-match ban.
Grayson said: "The strength of the squad is as much about the guys who aren't involved as the guys who are. You've got someone like Frazer, who's a terrific player and the club captain, who can't make the bench at the moment, and he's not alone.
"That's what happens when you hit the form that we're in, and if I was to ask whether anyone wants a rest, I wouldn't get many replies. That's what you want to hear."
Grayson plots play-off path
The draw between Scunthorpe and Northampton which booked Leeds United's play-off spot on Tuesday night confirmed what Simon Grayson already knew.
After Saturday's victory over Tranmere, United's boss was confident enough to tell himself that, from the point of view of a top-six finish in League One, Leeds were home and dry. Nevertheless, official confirmation courtesy of Scunthorpe's stalemate gave him an understandable sense of satisfaction.
When Grayson took over at Elland Road four months ago a place in the play-offs was nothing like a foregone conclusion. Had it been, there would not have been a job available for him to fill. Striking that target with two games to spare is a good measure of the work he has done.
In his time in charge Grayson has maintained a win ratio of 61 per cent – 14 victories from 23 matches. As significant, he says, is a total of only five defeats during that same spell.
It was United's inconsistency that bothered him most when he took charge on December 23 and it is that weakness which he and his coaches, Ian Miller and Glynn Snodin, set out to cure.
It is only recently that they have been able to worry less about the solidity of their team and more about maximising the talent of the players available.
"One of the big concerns I had when I came here was the consistency of the results, or the lack of it," he said. "We'd won quite a lot of games but we'd lost almost as many and the small number of draws in between was something I noticed straight away.
"You don't set out to draw games, or not often anyway, but you have to show a desire not to lose and not to ruin good results with bad ones.
"It can become a case of one step forward, one step back and sometimes it's hard to feel like you're getting anywhere. You never feel real momentum.
"Okay, we've only drawn four times since I came in but the point is we haven't lost those games. One defeat might have been all it took to knock us off our stride and bring on a few more poor results.
"The 11 matches we went without losing really pleased me because that's the habit I wanted to get us into.
"I knew how much quality was here but the main priority wasn't producing expansive performances. First of all, I wanted to get together a team who were organised and solid.
"After that, we could encourage the flair to come out and I think you've started to see that."
Grayson is particularly proud of performances produced by his players in the latter part of his short tenure.He was deeply impressed by the discipline with which United closed out a 1-0 victory at Colchester earlier this month and equally satisfied with their contribution to an open attacking game against Leicester City on Easter Monday, albeit one which ended in an injury-time defeat.
The confidence of his squad was evident in Saturday's 3-1 victory over Tranmere, a game which hinged on several key moments but which Leeds deserved to win.
"The Tranmere win was a big one for us," said Grayson. "I wasn't going to count my chickens or say anything afterwards which might have jumped the gun but I think we all knew then that we were in the play-offs.
"Even so, it's good that we're definitely there and, as people always say, this is where the hard work starts for us. We've done a lot of that so far, but all of it was done to get us to this point.
"We've taken the first step, which we needed to do, but that doesn't make you relax. It just gets rid of any uncertainty over whether or not you'll finish in the top six.
"The signs have been there that we're getting better as a team.
"If we'd been 1-0 up at Colchester at the start of my time here, I'd have been very worried about the possibility of us conceding a goal.
"In that game, we didn't really look like scoring a second goal but at no time did I feel we were going to throw the points away.
"The confidence that gives players is massive. It's a sign that they believe in themselves and that's showing in how eager they are to be out on the pitch – I couldn't get some of these lads out of the team if I tried!"
Evidence of that is found in the players who Grayson is being forced to omit, not only from his team but also form his match-day squads.
Club captain Frazer Richardson – indisputably United's first-choice right-back during the first half of the season – last played at Brighton on January 17, and Bradley Johnson's outing against Tranmere was his first for six matches.
Liam Dickinson, Lubomir Michalik, David Prutton and Darryl Flahavan could not win places on the bench on Saturday and Andy Robinson's first start since February was largely due to Fabian Delph's two-match ban.
Grayson said: "The strength of the squad is as much about the guys who aren't involved as the guys who are. You've got someone like Frazer, who's a terrific player and the club captain, who can't make the bench at the moment, and he's not alone.
"That's what happens when you hit the form that we're in, and if I was to ask whether anyone wants a rest, I wouldn't get many replies. That's what you want to hear."