Leeds United legend hails Grayson
Date: 13 June 2010
By Leon Wobschall
A suitably impressed Norman Hunter insists Leeds United boss Simon Grayson "came of age" in the club's rocky road to promotion at the end of 2009-10.
Contemplating management at one of the hotbeds of English football at the turn of last year, Grayson – in terms of his tender years still a comparative rookie in the gaffer stakes – was entitled to think he had cracked it.
Life was good for the former Blackpool chief, who had just turned 40, with his team riding high at the summit of League One and boasting a formidable-looking eight-point lead with a game in hand ahead of the strains of Auld Lang Syne after tasting defeat just once in 23 league matches.
For most footballing folk, it was a question of when and not if automatic promotion and most probably the title would be clinched, with some cup kudos gained in a gallant Carling Cup exit to mighty Liverpool, with arch foes Manchester United lying in wait in a juicy FA Cup third-round installment, further adding to the sense of well-being.
Grayson's managerial star then illuminated as never before when Leeds pulled off a monster shock at Old Trafford, with the lifelong Whites fan seemingly having the golden touch.
Admirably, Grayson refused to get carried away amid the hype and hullabaloo of toppling the Red Devils and it was just as well.
Inexplicably, Leeds hit the buffers and did a very passable impersonation of Devon Loch in claiming a sorry three wins from their next 16 league outings, causing much mirth among their rivals and apoplexy from their own stunned supporters.
Amid it all, Grayson was true to his beliefs and just as he didn't pop the champagne corks on that fateful Manchester afternoon at the start of the New Year, so he didn't start swallowing the pills when United plumbed the depths.
Character and nerve was key in the tensest of run-ins, with Grayson
making several bold decisions, including the axing of Jermaine Beckford, before United finally edged over the line following a run of five victories in their last seven matches to pip their rivals to runners-up spot behind Norwich City.
United legend Hunter said: "We can all manage when things are going well. You turn the team out and make substitutions and they all pay off for you. But you are tested when things start going against you and things did turn badly against us and Simon came of age in a way.
"Simon stuck to his guns and was very positive and I think he handled the Beckford situation brilliantly.
"He left him out because of what Max Gradel did and he, as much as anybody, lifted the spirits with four or five games to go when he was absolutely brilliant for us. It was good management on Simon's part and fair play to him as there were times when we were struggling a bit."
Following the highs of promotion on a never-to-be-forgotten spring afternoon against Bristol Rovers, thoughts have promptly turned to next season back in the Championship, which United exited in ignominious fashion at the end of a wretched 2006-07 when everything that could have gone wrong most definitely did.
By common consent, there will be a step up in class in a fiercely competitive division, the third most watched league in Europe, where its aspiring clientele are vying for the equivalent of a lottery ticket in gaining promotion to the Premiership Promised Land.
All eyes are currently on Grayson, with his recruitment plans having already yielded fruit in the likes of highly-rated keeper Casper Schmeichel – son of great Dane Peter and rated as one of the top young custodians in Europe, let alone England – and a seasoned goal predator in Billy Paynter, in the form of his life last term in plundering a whopping 29 goals for Swindon Town.
Hunter has been impressed by Grayson's purchases thus far, although he expects the business to continue over the course of the close season.
The capture of another forward – to both increase the competition up top and soften the blow of losing goal machine Beckford to Everton – and a rugged centre-half to supplement the absence of defensive kingpin Patrick Kisnorbo is paramount, according to Hunter who was part of Don Revie's all-star line-up which took on allcomers from the late 1960s to the mid-70s.
Looking ahead, one-time defensive enforcer Hunter, a regular at Elland Road, said: "It all starts again, doesn't it...I think this is the only industry in the world where you can be successful and three months later, before a ball is kicked, you are under pressure!
"But it's a nice position for us. I just hope Simon gets in the players he wants and we've already got a couple in, in Casper Schmeichel, who sounds like a really good young goalkeeper, and Billy Paynter, who is a recognised goal-scorer.
"We certainly need probably two or three more and I think we might get in another forward and another big centre-half, with (Patrick) Kisnorbo being out with his Achilles tendon; we've got to be looking in that area.
"We had (Neill) Collins towards the end of last season and I think he enjoyed his time at Leeds. He started out a bit shakily but as time wore on, he looked a good signing to me.
"The bigger the games, the better he played.
"I was happy enough with the back four. I thought (Leigh) Bromby was a good acquisition and he did well enough. I was always a bit concerned about left-back with (Aidy)White being so young and (Ben) Parker having a nightmare with injuries, although the lad is a good player.
"We needed a natural leftie in there, but (Andrew) Hughes did an absolutely magnificent job for us last season."
Grayson did secure the signing of a full-back on Thursday evening – but for the right side of defence.
Scouse right-back Paul Connolly swapped Derby County for their new Championship rivals.
The 26-year-old penned a three-year deal at Elland Road after leaving Pride Park on a free transfer.
Connolly, who spent a brief loan spell at Sheffield United late last season, said: "In my eyes, I've left a big club, but come to a massive club in Leeds and I'm buzzing."
