Yorkshire Evening Post 30/10/10
Whites need a win to Iron out problems - Hay
Days before the season began, I asked Leeds United's manager whether 21st position – the magic number for Championship clubs whose focus strays no further than self-preservation – struck him as an acceptable aim.
"I certainly expect us to have a better season than that," he said, wary of classing survival as worthless but admitting that, as aspirations go, it lacked imagination. Credible consolidation in his mind was a more ambitious concept.
The striking thing about Simon Grayson's rhetoric throughout the summer was the infrequency with which he spoke of the possibility of relegation. As a topic of conversation – and a natural one for a promoted club – it rarely came up.
Occasionally he would warn of the worst-case scenario, remarking once that a resumption of the wilderness years in League One would "waste a lot of seriously hard work", but he gave the impression that retaining a place in the Championship was an outcome he anticipated. Promotion was the result he could not discuss with any certainty.
The club's position in the league has hitherto made talk of relegation irrelevant. For nine weeks, they held a place in the upper half of the division, a safe distance from trouble. It spared Grayson from relevant questions about the ability of his squad to meet the standards of the Championship but questions of that nature will be unavoidable if tomorrow's game at Scunthorpe does not create breathing space.
He reflected a sense of unease on Monday night by conceding that his squad were caught in a "sticky patch". That slightly underplayed the reality of four defeats from five games, two victories from eight, and demoralising losses at regular stages of the past month. This season is in danger of losing its thread without a shot in the arm.
It is hard to recall a regular league fixture creating so apprehensive a mood as that which preceded Cardiff City's visit to Elland Road. The anxiety was not only an appreciation of the richness of Cardiff's squad but a by-product of doubts about United's ability to live with it.
Expectancy on Monday night felt unusually low, to the point of being non-existent. A month-and-a-half ago, Leeds were a team whose energy and confidence promised their opposition a game; there is now some urgency about finding their next win. For the sanity of Grayson and his dressing room, they cannot look beyond Glanford Park for it.
Grayson has himself conceded that the rationale for United's poorer results is wearing thin: that losses to Barnsley and Preston North End were freak occurrences; that Leeds were well beaten by both Cardiff and Leicester City; that basic and fundamental mistakes are undoing so much of his work. He is past the point of constructive explanations and into territory where results will speak for him.
Some time has elapsed since he was able to argue that a defeat of his side was demonstrably unlucky or ill-deserved. Derby County, on the first day of the season, stands out more than most. Losses per se do not cause tension; it is created more by the feeling that a club's losses have been merited. The strands of consolation have been limited since Bradley Johnson won a tepid derby against Sheffield United.
Both Grayson and Jonathan Howson defended the club last week in media briefings that were forthright and honest. It was pleasing to hear their passion but telling also to note that criticism of the club had become strong enough for United's manager and vice-captain to speak out against it. It was, perhaps, a first sign of pressure.
Cardiff were liable to heighten that, and the laws of chance said they would win at Elland Road and win comfortably. For all Howson's admirable protestations, Cardiff do have a stronger squad than Leeds, in more than names alone. They are the wrong choice of club by which to judge Grayson's players.
Scunthorpe, on the other hand, should inspire no awe – a club who average crowds of under 6,000 and lack any semblance of Cardiff's resources. Monday's defeat was not a sign of trouble ahead; a poor outcome at Glanford Park could be. Scunthorpe are an established Championship side and a fine example of maximised potential but their benchmark is one that Leeds should have the strength and financial capacity to exceed.
Grayson's saving grace at Elland Road has been an ability to generate results at pivotal times. The victories at Yeovil Town and at home to Bristol Rovers last season were perfect examples. A result tomorrow would be no less timely, a means of dispersing the pressure that is starting to build and clarifying the direction in which this season is heading.
Whites need a win to Iron out problems - Hay
Days before the season began, I asked Leeds United's manager whether 21st position – the magic number for Championship clubs whose focus strays no further than self-preservation – struck him as an acceptable aim.
"I certainly expect us to have a better season than that," he said, wary of classing survival as worthless but admitting that, as aspirations go, it lacked imagination. Credible consolidation in his mind was a more ambitious concept.
The striking thing about Simon Grayson's rhetoric throughout the summer was the infrequency with which he spoke of the possibility of relegation. As a topic of conversation – and a natural one for a promoted club – it rarely came up.
Occasionally he would warn of the worst-case scenario, remarking once that a resumption of the wilderness years in League One would "waste a lot of seriously hard work", but he gave the impression that retaining a place in the Championship was an outcome he anticipated. Promotion was the result he could not discuss with any certainty.
The club's position in the league has hitherto made talk of relegation irrelevant. For nine weeks, they held a place in the upper half of the division, a safe distance from trouble. It spared Grayson from relevant questions about the ability of his squad to meet the standards of the Championship but questions of that nature will be unavoidable if tomorrow's game at Scunthorpe does not create breathing space.
He reflected a sense of unease on Monday night by conceding that his squad were caught in a "sticky patch". That slightly underplayed the reality of four defeats from five games, two victories from eight, and demoralising losses at regular stages of the past month. This season is in danger of losing its thread without a shot in the arm.
It is hard to recall a regular league fixture creating so apprehensive a mood as that which preceded Cardiff City's visit to Elland Road. The anxiety was not only an appreciation of the richness of Cardiff's squad but a by-product of doubts about United's ability to live with it.
Expectancy on Monday night felt unusually low, to the point of being non-existent. A month-and-a-half ago, Leeds were a team whose energy and confidence promised their opposition a game; there is now some urgency about finding their next win. For the sanity of Grayson and his dressing room, they cannot look beyond Glanford Park for it.
Grayson has himself conceded that the rationale for United's poorer results is wearing thin: that losses to Barnsley and Preston North End were freak occurrences; that Leeds were well beaten by both Cardiff and Leicester City; that basic and fundamental mistakes are undoing so much of his work. He is past the point of constructive explanations and into territory where results will speak for him.
Some time has elapsed since he was able to argue that a defeat of his side was demonstrably unlucky or ill-deserved. Derby County, on the first day of the season, stands out more than most. Losses per se do not cause tension; it is created more by the feeling that a club's losses have been merited. The strands of consolation have been limited since Bradley Johnson won a tepid derby against Sheffield United.
Both Grayson and Jonathan Howson defended the club last week in media briefings that were forthright and honest. It was pleasing to hear their passion but telling also to note that criticism of the club had become strong enough for United's manager and vice-captain to speak out against it. It was, perhaps, a first sign of pressure.
Cardiff were liable to heighten that, and the laws of chance said they would win at Elland Road and win comfortably. For all Howson's admirable protestations, Cardiff do have a stronger squad than Leeds, in more than names alone. They are the wrong choice of club by which to judge Grayson's players.
Scunthorpe, on the other hand, should inspire no awe – a club who average crowds of under 6,000 and lack any semblance of Cardiff's resources. Monday's defeat was not a sign of trouble ahead; a poor outcome at Glanford Park could be. Scunthorpe are an established Championship side and a fine example of maximised potential but their benchmark is one that Leeds should have the strength and financial capacity to exceed.
Grayson's saving grace at Elland Road has been an ability to generate results at pivotal times. The victories at Yeovil Town and at home to Bristol Rovers last season were perfect examples. A result tomorrow would be no less timely, a means of dispersing the pressure that is starting to build and clarifying the direction in which this season is heading.