Grayson will not succumb to pressure to splash cash

IF ever a summer has been dominated by signings, or more specifically a lack of them, it has been 2011 at Elland Road.

After finishing last season just three points outside the play-off places, Leeds United were expected to be busy in the transfer market with a couple of new midfielders, a centre-half, a back-up goalkeeper and a left-back all being on the wish list of their fans.

The June sale of Kasper Schmeichel to Leicester City then created one more vacancy that had to be filled, meaning the subsequent dealings that have brought just three new faces into the club have led to a sense of unease descending on the terraces.

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Pessimism, it seems, abounds amid rumblings of who will score the goals in the opening weeks with Luciano Becchio and Davide Somma, two of United’s three top scorers last term, being out injured, along with questions as to why the club is splashing out £7m on improving facilities in the East Stand rather than on a transfer spending spree.

One man, however, who is content with a summer that has so far seen goalkeepers Andy Lonergan and Paul Rachubka join Leeds along with former Sheffield United midfielder Michael Brown is manager Simon Grayson.

“In terms of recruitment, I can maybe understand the frustrations of some people,” admitted the 41-year-old when talking to the Yorkshire Post yesterday lunchtime in his office at Thorp Arch.

“But I don’t feel under any pressure to make signings for the sake of it. If I did bow to pressure then I would have made five or six in June to keep everyone happy.

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“I am happy with where we are at. Of course, every manager always wants to bring more signings in if they improve the squad and I am still hopeful we will be able to get something done before the opening day. But, overall, we are looking good.”

United’s lack of transfer activity has not been for the want of trying with Grayson having attempted to entice Lee Bowyer back to Elland Road along with Jonathan Woodgate and Alan Smith.

Bowyer, in particular, seemed keen and indicated his willingness to fit in with the Elland Road wage structure only to then opt for a move closer to his native London by joining Ipswich Town.

On his summer recruitment, Grayson added: “The squad is evolving. I said at the end of last season that I didn’t want to change too much. Certain players were going to leave and that was our decision. Bradley (Johnson) and Neil Kilkenny also left because they thought there were better opportunities out there.

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“We have brought three (signings) in and they bring with them a wealth of experience.

“The key is having leaders in important positions. Lonergan and Rachubka are both shouters in goal, Paddy (Kisnorbo) is the same and now we have Michael Brown as well.

“That will help the younger ones – lads like Max Gradel, Robert Snodgrass, Jonny Howson – who are all fantastic players but possibly last season needed a few more experienced players alongside them.

“It was an area I wanted to sort out this summer. Michael Doyle had done it to an extent in 2009-10 but I felt we could go out and get better (before last season kicked off), and that is not me being disrespectful to him.

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“Unfortunately, we weren’t able to get that player in and I think it cost us. Football is easy when you are playing a free-flowing game and things are going for you, as was the case before Christmas (when Leeds went on a 12-game unbeaten run). But when you are under pressure, you need that bit of experience and guile to see you through. That was something we lacked.

“At times, we were too naive last season. We conceded far too often in games when we were put under pressure but it is my firm belief that we now have players who will make us better.

“Part of that belief centres around the ones we have kept. We could quite easily have sold two, three or four players this summer – sales that would have made us weaker.

“So, I am happy with where we are at. I wanted us to go for quality rather than quantity this summer and that is what we are doing.”

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Lonergan and Brown both played the full 90 minutes of Sunday’s morale-boosting friendly victory over Premier League Newcastle United as Grayson selected what most expect to be his starting line-up at Southampton on Saturday.

If that proves to be the case, it will mean Patrick Kisnorbo starting his first Championship game in almost 18 months after rupturing his Achilles during the run-in as Leeds clinched promotion from League One.

And it is the 30-year-old Australian who Grayson expects to make a big impact in the coming months.

The United manager said: “Paddy coming back has been like us signing a new player. He has worked very hard over pre-season. We brought him back for 15 minutes against QPR (on the final day of last season) as a psychological thing, just to reward him for all the work he had put in to his rehab.

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“Since then, he has worked hard on his fitness in Australia and then again when pre-season got underway.

“People ask why we haven’t done this or that with certain positions but in terms of the defence I really do see Paddy as being like a new player.

“I said at the end of the year when we went up on the final day that if Paddy had not got injured then we would not have had that blip and instead walked the division. I also believe we would have gone a lot closer last year, too.

“That is not me trying to put extra pressure on Paddy, more an indication of just how highly I rate him.”

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Leeds face a tough start to the new season with Saturday’s trip to St Mary’s being followed by home games against Middlesbrough and Hull plus trips to Ipswich and West Ham.

Grayson added: “It was good to end pre-season on a high by beating Newcastle. All the squad are now players I signed or have wanted to keep. We can do well this season, providing we achieve some form of consistency.

“I really believe that, on our day, we are capable of beating anyone.”