Tillater meg å sakse et innlegg fra Waccoe som beskriver noe av stemingen i Leeds om dagen. Innlegget er skrevet av Horsforthwhite70. Flott lesing spør dere meg
"I am the first to admit that I was skeptical when Grayson was appopinted manager but if necessity is the mother of invention then Ken Bates could perhaps be hailed the father of fortune. The necessity was the need for a new manager as Gary McAllister’s experiment in lower league ‘sexy football’ looked less like high glamour porn and more like bargain bucket smut. The fortune came as Ken Bates scoured a group of emerging young manager with clubs who would not demand a fortune in compensation. Step forward the needy Blackpool and the solid no nonsense Simon Grayson. The invention is a new look Leeds United, not so much in terms of personnel but certainly in terms of attitude and commitment.
Whether it’s by luck or genius, or maybe – as football so often is – a mixture of both, this is the first time in many a season that fans are genuinely ‘living the dream’. Smiles before October are a rare commodity in this part of the world yet for once we Leeds fans have something of which we can be truly proud. Grayson has generated an understanding amongst the players that despite living the high life at the rented splendour of Thorpe Arch (how many of these players have claimed that it was seeing the training facilities that swayed them to sign on the dotted line?) and playing in front of passionate, partisan crowds week in week out we are just a League 1 club, playing other League 1 clubs and trying to work our way to promotion instead of sitting back as though it were a God given right.
With this in mind, 8 matches into the 09/10 season and on a 15 game winning run of home league games, it feels the right time to start looking at exactly what Grayson has achieved.
If anyone had claimed this time last year that Bradley Johnson would have his name sung with gusto (and deservedly so) around Elland Road one might have expected the men with the straightjackets to make their way into the Kop. This season, as typified by his more than sound performance yesterday, he is a player reborn, a man with a renewed sense of purpose. This goes for many of the squad as Simon Grayson has gone back to basics and done what any manager worth their salt should do, namely play to your strengths.
Johnson is one of the finest headers of the ball in the football league. What he has lacked in the past was a keeper with the pinpoint precision of distribution that Shane Higgs possesses. Signed from Cheltenham Higgs may have been one of those ‘who the f**king hell are you signings’ but he has proved the old adage thus far that you build a team from the back and success will flood forward. His accuracy is finding Johnson time after time yesterday allowed a point of attack that Gillingham could do little or nothing to counter. Some may argue that this ploy will be ‘found out’ by better teams than Gillingham. The curious thing about football is that watching the game it is all too easy to see how it works, countering a genuine skill on the pitch is so much more difficult. At another level, in another world, it’s easy to see what Cristiano Ronaldo does, it’s a very much different thing trying to stop it.
Another ploy that has paid dividends this season, although it was strangely lacking in effectiveness yesterday, is the link up play between another ‘who he?’, Jason Crowe, and Robert Snodgrass. Whilst Snodgrass has yet to rediscover the consistency that made him one of the finds of the season last term, he has formed a formidable partnership with the ever energetic Crowe. How often in the past have we urged Frazer Richardson to get beyond his wing partner and put in crosses from the bye line. No longer is this on the wish list, it’s there for all to see.
In central defence, another key area that has caused some concern in the past (who would ever have thought that Clarke Carlisle would make a Premiership player), Grayson has gone for some common sense stability. Patrick Kisnorbo, one of the few current Leeds players actually punching way below his weight in this division, was an astute piece of business by Grayson, as was the late signing of Leigh Bromby (a player who brings another interesting dimension via his long throw). When Gillingham pulled a goal back and had a spell on top, midway through the second half, the Leeds of old would have panicked and gone to pieces. Not so Grayson’s Leeds. Calm heads in central defence and a tactical change to 532 put paid to Gillingham’s resurgence.
Given the fact that players of the calibre of Snodgrass and Becchio have yet to hit their stride things are looking good for the season ahead. One hardly notices Doyle as a midfield general, partly because he does the messy cleaning up with little or no fuss and partly because he knows the limitations of his passing ability (a tip for the departed Johnny Douglas there methinks). Doyle’s solidity has rejuvenated Johnny Howson. The youngster has more freedom and the opportunity to display the full range of passing ability, not to mention his desire to get ahead of the strike force, which paid off, with a well-taken goal.
When we won the first five games of the 07/08 season I knew that once other managers sussed us out we would be in trouble (as proved to be the case). In Grayson we have a manager who has assembled a team capable of winning this league. What Grayson also demonstrates is an ability to react to a game for 90 minutes. A superb example of this was at the last home game with Stockport when Doyle was booked early on and given a final warning by the ref midway through the first half. Grayson’s action in substituting the competitive midfielder on 40 minutes was an act of astute management, as was his decision to change formation yesterday.
My wife hardly recognises me; I have a smile on my face at 5.30 on a Saturday afternoon and I feel it’ going to stay there throughout the winter months."
Petter
