Yorkshire Evening Post 19/12/11
‘I still believe in the players’ - Grayson
Simon Grayson denied that he was under growing pressure after a toothless performance from Leeds United ended in a 1-0 defeat to Reading.
Leeds were booed at the final whistle as a crowd of over 23,000 vented their frustration at a tepid loss, but Grayson expressed confidence in his squad and reiterated his promise that new
signings will arrive at Elland Road in the January transfer window.
United’s struggle against the Royals came seven days after a forgettable outing at Watford – a display which prompted Grayson to say his side “have to play better than that” – and it occurred on an afternoon when chairman Ken Bates spelt out the challenge in front of his manager and squad.
Writing in Saturday’s programme, Bates said: “The fight for promotion is getting interesting. The future is in the players’ hands. We need to avoid the customary Leeds United lapse at Christmas and the New Year and we should be there.
“Simon and his backroom staff don’t have a bad record. This year is the ultimate challenge for him, his staff and just as importantly, the players.
“For those whose ambition is to play in the Premier League, get us there. For those who are seeking a substantial pay rise, get us to the Premier League and we can afford it. If you don’t then if you are still with us, we will pay you what we can afford.”
But asked if he felt additional pressure on his shoulders after almost three years as manager, Grayson said: “No, not at all.
“Everyone wants to get promoted and you have to do something about it. You can’t just expect to turn up, get your wage and say ‘if we win today then happy days. If we don’t then I’m not bothered’. You’ve got to earn your money and that’s what this club, the supporters, the chairman and myself demand from the players every week.
“If these players don’t want to do that then other players will have to come in. But I do believe that the group we’ve got, with one or two additions, will keep us where we want to be.
“Even if we were 15 or 20 points clear we’d be looking for players in January, or if we were 10 points adrift at the bottom of the table. Every club wants new players and hopefully playing for this club is an attraction which makes it easier to get people in.”
Leeds held onto the Championship’s last play-off position despite falling to Simon Church’s solitary goal in the second minute, but another poor display asked fresh questions of Grayson and his players.
Church scored with a lob over goalkeeper Andy Lonergan – back in Grayson’s line-up for the first time since breaking his finger and named in place of the ineligible Alex McCarthy – and the United boss described the early goal as a “big body-blow”.
Grayson refused to blame Lonergan’s hesitancy for the concession, saying: “It got to an angle where Lonners wasn’t sure whether to come or not. Should he have come for it? That’s a difficult question and it was a good finish from Church.
“But it was a really big body-blow. You can’t give away an easy goal after a couple of minutes. It knocked the stuffing out of us and I’d wanted a positive start. We never really recovered.
“We huffed and puffed but the performance was like the performance at Watford. We didn’t have any spark or enough possession of the ball. We gave it away too much and when we didn’t have it, we didn’t have the energy to close Reading down.
“In the last couple of games, too many players have played below par in terms of the standards they’ve set. You can get away with that when one or two are doing it but when you’re taking about six or seven then it’s difficult for the team to win.
“The biggest cheer we got was when Michael Brown went into a hard tackle and that’s what supporters want – players playing for the shirt and running through a brick wall. There wasn’t enough of that.
“Reading are a good team and they’ve got the nucleus of the side who got the play-off final last year but the concerning part is that we never threatened them.
“We seemed stretched when we were defending but their goalkeeper didn’t have much to do. Players have got to take responsibility by trying to get on the ball and passing it better, but they will.”
Grayson rejected the claim that his side were suffering from damaged confidence, saying: “Watford wasn’t good enough and the performance against Reading wasn’t good enough, but I’ve got a lot of belief in the players and I’ll get performances from them.
“When the window opens we’ll hopefully get one or two players in, just to freshen the squad up. We’re still in a good position with half of the season to go.”
‘I still believe in the players’ - Grayson
Simon Grayson denied that he was under growing pressure after a toothless performance from Leeds United ended in a 1-0 defeat to Reading.
Leeds were booed at the final whistle as a crowd of over 23,000 vented their frustration at a tepid loss, but Grayson expressed confidence in his squad and reiterated his promise that new
signings will arrive at Elland Road in the January transfer window.United’s struggle against the Royals came seven days after a forgettable outing at Watford – a display which prompted Grayson to say his side “have to play better than that” – and it occurred on an afternoon when chairman Ken Bates spelt out the challenge in front of his manager and squad.
Writing in Saturday’s programme, Bates said: “The fight for promotion is getting interesting. The future is in the players’ hands. We need to avoid the customary Leeds United lapse at Christmas and the New Year and we should be there.
“Simon and his backroom staff don’t have a bad record. This year is the ultimate challenge for him, his staff and just as importantly, the players.
“For those whose ambition is to play in the Premier League, get us there. For those who are seeking a substantial pay rise, get us to the Premier League and we can afford it. If you don’t then if you are still with us, we will pay you what we can afford.”
But asked if he felt additional pressure on his shoulders after almost three years as manager, Grayson said: “No, not at all.
“Everyone wants to get promoted and you have to do something about it. You can’t just expect to turn up, get your wage and say ‘if we win today then happy days. If we don’t then I’m not bothered’. You’ve got to earn your money and that’s what this club, the supporters, the chairman and myself demand from the players every week.
“If these players don’t want to do that then other players will have to come in. But I do believe that the group we’ve got, with one or two additions, will keep us where we want to be.
“Even if we were 15 or 20 points clear we’d be looking for players in January, or if we were 10 points adrift at the bottom of the table. Every club wants new players and hopefully playing for this club is an attraction which makes it easier to get people in.”
Leeds held onto the Championship’s last play-off position despite falling to Simon Church’s solitary goal in the second minute, but another poor display asked fresh questions of Grayson and his players.
Church scored with a lob over goalkeeper Andy Lonergan – back in Grayson’s line-up for the first time since breaking his finger and named in place of the ineligible Alex McCarthy – and the United boss described the early goal as a “big body-blow”.
Grayson refused to blame Lonergan’s hesitancy for the concession, saying: “It got to an angle where Lonners wasn’t sure whether to come or not. Should he have come for it? That’s a difficult question and it was a good finish from Church.
“But it was a really big body-blow. You can’t give away an easy goal after a couple of minutes. It knocked the stuffing out of us and I’d wanted a positive start. We never really recovered.
“We huffed and puffed but the performance was like the performance at Watford. We didn’t have any spark or enough possession of the ball. We gave it away too much and when we didn’t have it, we didn’t have the energy to close Reading down.
“In the last couple of games, too many players have played below par in terms of the standards they’ve set. You can get away with that when one or two are doing it but when you’re taking about six or seven then it’s difficult for the team to win.
“The biggest cheer we got was when Michael Brown went into a hard tackle and that’s what supporters want – players playing for the shirt and running through a brick wall. There wasn’t enough of that.
“Reading are a good team and they’ve got the nucleus of the side who got the play-off final last year but the concerning part is that we never threatened them.
“We seemed stretched when we were defending but their goalkeeper didn’t have much to do. Players have got to take responsibility by trying to get on the ball and passing it better, but they will.”
Grayson rejected the claim that his side were suffering from damaged confidence, saying: “Watford wasn’t good enough and the performance against Reading wasn’t good enough, but I’ve got a lot of belief in the players and I’ll get performances from them.
“When the window opens we’ll hopefully get one or two players in, just to freshen the squad up. We’re still in a good position with half of the season to go.”