ENGLISH FA CUP: Michael Walker talks to the Leeds United caretaker manager, Eddie Gray.
Eddie Gray permitted himself about 60 seconds of nostalgia yesterday. The FA Cup third round may continue to send the BBC and the rest of the country into a sepia lather but, despite three Cup final appearances, including the victorious one against Arsenal, Leeds United's visitors tomorrow, Gray is focused on the here and now. And at Leeds the present is sufficiently precarious for the current edition of the club's magazine to tout itself a Special Still-In-Business Issue.
But as Leeds' caretaker manager started his 52nd day in charge at Elland Road he allowed his mind to flit back some 41 years to the day in 1963 when he left school in Glasgow. Waiting at the gates for the 15-year-old that day was Don Revie. Every club in Britain, Arsenal among them, wanted a young footballer who would later be described as "Nureyev on grass". But Revie had got in first even though Leeds were then in the Second Division and had never won anything.
"I'd come down on the Christmas before, I was just 14," said Gray. "I trained with the first team because Don wanted to impress upon me that Leeds was the place to come even though they were only a Second Division club. I had a lot of clubs chasing me and to be honest I had never heard of Leeds, because they weren't a fashionable club. They were a yo-yo team. Don put a lot of effort into attracting young schoolboys, him and the chairman Harry Reynolds used to come up to Scotland. They did it the year before with Peter Lorimer and Jim McCalliog. I came down and enjoyed it and the day I left school Don picked me up in Glasgow."
It was the beginning of an association that has spanned four decades. Player, manager, youth coach, assistant manager and caretaker, Gray has been everything at Leeds. To many fans he remains everything. But his commitment to Leeds goes beyond nostalgia. Arsenal in 1972 has its place but January 19th, 2004, is the significant date now for Leeds.
By a fortnight on Monday Leeds must have found new owners or the club will slump into administration. For Gray February 19th also looms; that is the date his dispensation to be caretaker manager without the required coaching badges elapses.
"That's something I don't think about," Gray said of February's deadline. "That's just something where we'll have to see what happens. I'm just a caretaker, the club haven't said they want me to be manager. My situation will have to be addressed at some time but I'm only thinking about picking points up and trying to give the Arsenal a game on Sunday.
"Coaching badges aren't something I think of. You've got to remember I was out of the game in the summer anyway, I've only been back six weeks or so. I take it day by day and I'll wait and see what happens. What's more important to the club is January 19th. Then we can sit down with the new owners, or whoever comes into the club, and think about the future. They may say 'thanks very much, someone else is coming in'. That's fine. My only ambition is to keep the club in the Premiership."
How did Leeds get to the stage where survival is the only ambition? Many Leeds fans will say the decline began the day David O'Leary edged Gray aside as his assistant in favour of Brian Kidd.
"I don't really get involved in that kind of talk," Gray said diplomatically. "David came in as manager and managers make decisions. That was David's decision; I didn't necessarily agree with it. It's football. I'd come back with Howard (Wilkinson) and Paul Hart to work with the youth team. It was David's prerogative to change things. I don't dwell on it."
If pushed, what would he dwell on? "Obviously the club spent too much money, not only buying players but on their upkeep. That's what's making the club struggle at present, wages. Apparently we're still paying players to play for other clubs, which isn't really conducive to running a successful business."
Is it credible O'Leary, as he has claimed, did not know the full extent of those wages? "If I was manager I'd like to know what my players were earning because I'd like to discuss with the chairman what I thought the player was worth. You've got to take responsibility. Peter Ridsdale and David O'Leary have to take some responsibility, everyone does . . . But I wouldn't particularly put any blame on to David for that. If the club were willing to spend the money and pay the players this money, and you wanted the players, then fair enough. That's up to the powers that be, the ones who run the financial side."
Their task was complicated yesterday by another back page linking a Leeds player, this time Alan Smith, with a move to Old Trafford. Gray is realistic.
"You have to be. The overall picture is that the club is in financial trouble and something has to be done. We are in a situation where a few players are coveted by other clubs and, if they go, or decide they want to leave, you have got to accept it."
Leeds were the last team in England to defeat Arsenal, 3-2 last May at Highbury, though November's 4-1 defeat by Arsenal at Elland Road is of more relevance. Then it is Newcastle, Tottenham and Southampton in the Premiership before the 19th and Gray's longevity and experience at least ensure the date will not provoke a nervous breakdown.
"When I was a manager here (1982-85) it was a real hard time. We had to sell players, cut the wage bill, similar problems. Then £2 million debt was a lot of money. The club sold the ground and there were instances when there were people knocking at the door. It wasn't a healthy state. When you get a bit older you realise these things happen in football. There have been a lot of highs but things were never really smooth." - Guardian Service
