FOOTBALL Sunderland boss plans to ditch misfits THE NIFTY SHADES OF GRAYSON
New Black Cats gaffer is a canny, streetwise achiever
SIMON GRAYSON may not be the dazzling name Sunderland’s fans hoped for – but underestimate this streetwise Yorkshireman at your peril.
Ask Jermaine Beckford. Then again, perhaps not. The forward probably still doesn’t know he was hoodwinked by his then boss.
Eight years ago, the striker thought he was top man at Leeds. He was cutting through League One defences with relative ease in November 2009 – a campaign that eventually saw Leeds promoted to the Championship.
With yours t ruly having completed an interview with Grayson in the team hotel, we chatted prior to a Johnstone’s Paint Trophy clash against Grimsby.
It was suggested to the manager that a break for his prized striker might be in order.
“No chance,” came the reply, “he thinks he’s going to be rested. But we will get a performance from him tonight.” I asked how he could be so sure. “He’s got his eyes elsewhere and the game’s going out live on television,” came the reply. “He knows people will be watching him – he’ll put in a shift.”
Impressive
Fifty-five minutes into the tie Leeds were winning 3- 0 and Beckford ( right) was on the scoresheet. It was job done.
Grayson is not a household name – even one of those supporters caught outside the Stadium of Light by Sky television on Friday afternoon admitted he had never heard of him.
But it is a fact that he has four promotions to his name. Never mind the CV – impressive though it is – the former Leicester City and Aston Villa defender has never been out of work as a
manager for more than two weeks. In a cut-throat business such as professional football, that takes some doing.
And the Wearsiders need someone with an earthy edge, that desire to turnaround a ship that has been moving in the wrong direction for way too long.
It’s not been for the want of trying but this is Sunderland’s seventh manager in as many years. Something isn’t right.
That malaise stretches from the boardroom downwards. There is a negative air hanging around Wearside.
Even this season’s home kit l aunch was greeted with indifference that eventually ended in downright derision.
One of the supporters websites posted a top 10 of items similar to the new jersey. Three of those were the following: jackets worn by a barber shop quartet, a picture of ‘ Bully’ from ‘ Bullseye’ and a deckchair.
Grayson intends to look any new recruits in the eye before they sign on to his Black Cats blueprint.
He said: “It doesn’t matter what football club you are at, you’ve got to give everything.
“I’ve told the players at the clubs I’ve been at that when they wake up the morning after a game they should have no regrets.
“That’s a big thing – and I want the players here to be like that.
“I want them to be here for the right reasons. Ultimately, I can sense that when I’m talking to them.”
Grayson added: “When a team is relegated from the Premier League, footballers might think they deserve to be somewhere else.
“They will be individuals who hopefully buy into what we do and enjoy it here and think to themselves, ‘I can see this place developing’.”
If they don’t the warning is clear. Grayson hasn’t spent the past 12 years getting a job as big as that at the Stadium of Light without knowing how to get results.
Just ask Jermaine Beckford.