Simon Grayson Talks About The Game

Last updated : 15 April 2010 By Thetashkentterror

Simon Grayson
Leeds boss Simon Grayson spoke to BBC Radio Leeds after his side's 3-1 win over Carlisle at Brunton Park, Grayson saying that the Whites dominated the game from start to finish :


" On a 90 minutes basis this is probably the best we have played since a few weeks ago. Obviously over the last few weeks we have played well in patches, the Norwich game was a good performance but we didn't get the result. Tonight I thought was excellent from start to finish, we really dominated the game from start to finish.

" It should have been over at half-time the chances that we had, but obviously we had a sucker punch just on half-time. That was disappointing but there was certainly a mental toughness about the players to keep going, they could have had their heads down but we started the second-half really well. We got the two early goals and from then on we saw the game out quite comfortably really.

" It is a big decision to leave your leading goalscorer (Jermaine Beckford) out when he has been that for the last couple of years. He has been a fantastic goalscorer for the club, the last few games his confidence has been probably a little bit low and his performances, so we are there to make decisions.

" Luciano (Becchio) affected the game on Saturday and that is why we went for it tonight. Him and Max (Gradel) were a real handful for Carlisle's back four tonight and could have probably had a hat-trick each really. I am sure that throughout the game they kept on looking over to the bench and when you are looking over to a bench and seeing Jermaine and Mike Grella you have got to keep working and putting in a performance.

" If Jermaine remains on the bench from now until the end of the season then it proves that the other two are doing their job. But there is that competition for places which we need from now until the end of the season. Jermaine has got a massive role for us, whether it is from the bench or starting.

" Every other team in our division and probably in the leagues above would like to have Jermaine Beckford when he has scored the amount of goals that he has for us. He will play a big part for us, just because he didn't start tonight it doesn't mean to say that he won't start at the weekend. "




" But he is affecting the other two lads that are in the team and have got the shirt at this moment in time. They have got to keep doing the same job they have done tonight to keep him out of the team. I think when people see Jermaine on the bench it sort of can be a worrying sight at times. Because to have that sort of firepower lined up to come at any time, then we feel that it is a big bonus for us.

" As long as the goals hit the back of the net it doesn't really matter what they are like. As a player I never scored too many goals so I will leave that to the strikers to decide which are the better ones. But two good goals, two vital goals for us, but it wasn't the goals that the two strikers got, it was the work-rate that they put in.

" They chased, they harried, they held balls up, they caused the Carlisle back four untold problems. It was good to see, it triggered the rest of the team off, they closed, they pressed, we did the ugly side of the game. We hooked things on on a difficult bouncy pitch at times and then we passed it as well. So overall a good professional performance.

" The two strikers are obviously complimenting each other well at this moment in time, they are obviously playing with confidence. Max has come into the team and done very well, you know what you are going to get with him and you know what you are going to get with Luciano. Hopefully they will continue to work as a pair together, but the energy level was there throughout the team that we closed people down all over the pitch.

" We defended when we needed to and had the quality on the ball as well. So the two lads upfront will get the credit because they triggered things off and got the goals, but the lads behind them certainly did their job by supplying it and affecting the game in different ways as well.

" I would be more than satisfied if we are still second when nobody can catch us. There will still probably be twists and turns from now until the end of the season. All we have got to do is approach Saturday's game with the same attitude that we had tonight, that we are going to be hard to beat and have a real good go at it. "




" It is four games to go, we challenged the players after the second-half performance at Swindon to try to win as many games as possible. Obviously since then we have won three on the trot, hopefully that will continue with quite a few more wins from now until the end of the season now.

" I was just speaking at that time that we had been up there in first or second and we had got used to it all the time. It does become a different pressure when you get into the top two and sometimes into the top six if you have not been expected to be there.

" But we will not get carried away, we know we have got a lot of work still to be done from now until the end of the season. We have got to replicate what we have done tonight and hopefully in a few more games time we will be sitting here and talking about what we have achieved, because we haven't achieved anything yet.

" I think we are winning games in a different manner to before Christmas, tonight you saw that we played half-decent with the football but we worked hard and chased and harried. In the early part of the season we were playing fluent football and winning games, at this stage of the season you would to love to be winning games by getting the ball down and knocking it around, but the pitches don't allow that.

" You will take any victory at this moment in time and that is what we needed after the Swindon second-half performance. A victory to stop the rot as such and obviously we have gone on from there, and you can see the confidence coming back with the players and hopefully that will continue.

" The players seem fine after the game, obviously you have got to compete and you have got to tackle. We always have good competitive games against Carlisle and fortunately we came out on top tonight.