Thank God I went out last night instead of being involved in this.
A few points:
1. I too would be gutted if Grayson left for a smaller club like Aston Villa.
2. Millwall have won no major honours in living memory, whereas Leeds have been 3 x first division champions, 1 x FA cup holders, 1 x League Cup holders, 2 x Intercity champions and 3 x UEFA top club.
3. When someone argued against the stability point above, the stability doesn't come from sticking with loads of the same players, it comes from sticking with the same manager rather than chopping and changing our philosophy every six months. The grass isn't always greener.
4. Grayson has made us progress every season and our wins in the cup ties show that he has some tactical tricks up his sleeve. We all know his flaws like failing to rest key players on Tuesday nights and his hit-and-miss record in the transfer market, but players we've picked up under him like Gradel, Somma, McCormack, O'Brien and Nunez aren't bad signings; the latter four just haven't fulfilled their potential yet in the white shirt, it's definitely there.
5. For United's apparent lack of ambition, you can't blame Grayson specifically. It costs £4-5m over two seasons to get a promotion to the Premiership, that's the way it is sadly. We've spent £1.2m over two seasons. Since we have no idea whether it's Grayson being thrifty, Bates not giving him the money in the first place, Gwyn Williams foisting signings on Grayson or any other scenario, it's unfair to blame Grayson for a lack of spending/ambition. In fact, the only person it is sensible to blame is Bates because if the manager's not spending enough or being ambitious enough, he needs to force him to be. The constant annoying rhetoric about copying clubs like Blackpool and Burnley suggests that it is in fact Bates being tight.
