"Lucky Leeds"

raveydavey · Posted: Thu Oct 29, 2009 6:48 pm Post subject: "Lucky Leeds"

http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.c...ited-Grayson-hits-back.5776783.jp

Simon Grayson has dismissed accusations made by Charlton Athletic manager Phil Parkinson that Leeds United have ridden their luck on the way to a four-point lead at the top of League One.
The Elland Road club established their substantial advantage on Tuesday night after a 4-0 rout of Bristol Rovers, and Grayson rejected the claim that a disproportionate amount of good fortune was a contributing factor to their run of one defeat from 14 league games.

Leeds relied on a goal three-minutes into injury-time to seal a 2-1 win over Norwich City last week, a result which Grayson admitted had flattered his side, but United held the only unbeaten league record in the country until they were beaten at Millwall on Saturday.

Reflecting on that result, Parkinson, whose team hold second place in League One and drew 0-0 at Elland Road on October 3, said: "I think it's good for the rest of the division that they lost.

"Simon will be the first to admit that in recent weeks a lot of things have gone for them. But you've got to take your luck when it comes and capitalise on it, which they've done."

Grayson responded by saying: "You earn your luck, and we work hard as a team. Hard work gets you a long way.

"But we've got quality players as well. Phil's entitled to his opinion and we were fortunate to score a winner after 90-odd minutes against Norwich but there was absolutely no luck on our performance (at Bristol Rovers)."

United's victory at the Memorial Stadium was a convincing riposte to their first league defeat of the term, and Rovers' manager Paul Trollope took a different attitude to Parkinson. Trollope admitted his team has been "beaten by the better side" and describing the 4-0 defeat as a "reality check" for a club who have made themselves out to be promotion candidates this season but now sit 11 points adrift of Leeds.

United have an ideal opportunity to consolidate their position on Saturday when they host a Yeovil Town team who won at Bristol Rovers last weekend but have generally struggled for form away from home.

Their victory at the Memorial Stadium was their first in an away league fixture.

Any thoughts that United's defeat at Millwall might bring on a more sustained loss of form were comprehensively tackled by Tuesday's result in Bristol, and Grayson countered the claim that the assurance of his players might have been challenged by their results over the past month.

Grayson said: "We haven't lost too many games and we're top of the division so I don't think confidence was dwindling or anything like that.

"In the first eight or 10 games, we set a standard that we matched against Bristol Rovers, but going to somewhere like Millwall is never easy. We've got a poor record there in the first place so that was probably stacked against us.

"We put that to bed at 5 o'clock on Saturday night and reacted like we wanted to."

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HarryofOz · Posted: Thu Oct 29, 2009 7:08 pm Post subject:

We were lucky to beat Norwich but as Simon said - you earn your luck.

As for Parkinson, well next time that Charlton lose he can console himself by saying that football was the winner as it was good for the rest of the league Twisted Evil

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Garp · Allan Clarke Joined: 06 May 2008 Posts: 694

I remember George Graham, when he was managing a successful Arsenal team, was asked what he thought about the "lucky Arsenal" tag. He replied words to the effect "the harder we work, the luckier we get". Very Happy

halfaperson · David Batty Joined: 13 Jun 2007 Posts: 1157

Oh aye we're well known for our good luck we are, Tit

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