Neil Kilkenny. YEP, 04/02/2011

"I knew when I went away (to the 2011 Asia Cup) that the club might sign other players,"
Kilkenny said. "They wanted cover for me and it sounded like a new midfielder had been on the manager's mind for a while anyway.

"Whatever happened, I wanted to come back and do what I've been doing for three years – play regularly and play well.

"I'm not a new signing but if I can lift the squad in any way then I will. I said before I left that we had a great chance of getting into the play-offs and that hasn't changed too much. We'll need a good run of results to do it, but we're more than capable and thought so at the start of the season – even if I wasn't prepared to say it in public."

"You never know where football will take you so I'm not assuming anything," he said, "but the experience (in Qatar) was fantastic.

"Everything around it was new to me – the pressure of a major international tournament and the pressure building up to the final. We were one of the top sides there, so people expected us to do well.

"The difference with the Olympics was that I went there expecting to play. I was told that I'd play and it didn't happen. With the Asian Cup, I was surprised to be in the squad in the first place. I knew I'd have my work cut out to play at all and to appear in four games made it a big success. I liked the coaching staff and they seemed happy enough with me. I hope I made a decent impression on them.

"They had some really talented players over there – not all household names in England – but guys with good pedigrees.

"There's a defender called Sasa Ognenovski who plays in Korea and won the Asian version of the Champions League. People here might not have heard of him, but he's a quality player. A lot of the lads play in top leagues across the world. You don't walk into the Australian team.

"If going to the Asian Cup means that I'm considered for the World Cup qualifiers at the end of the year then that's all I'm looking for at the moment. I'm still at the stage where I need to think game by game and go from there."

"I've got four months left and if I do go at the end of the season then want I'd like to go out in the best possible way," he said. "All I want is to be involved as much as possible and to make the most of the position we're in.

"Getting ourselves promoted would be a huge achievement, but I'm sure we can do it. To be perfectly honest, at the start of the season I thought we had a massive chance of going up. I played things down, and so did everyone else, but that's what I was thinking.

"The squad is talented and the players are hungry. You can see the hunger week after week. Something special could happen here, which isn't to say that it definitely will. But the chance is there."

http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/leedsunited/Leeds-United-Talent-and-hunger.6711232.jp

Neil Kilkenny, leedsunited.com, 04/02/2011

"I knew they (Austrailia Socceroos) had a settled team and I was a part of the squad," he explained.

"The manager (Holger Osieck) had a settled team and his substitutes, but he gave me a bit of chance. He'd said 'come along and we'll see how good you are' and I felt I did well.

"I was involved in four of the six games (at the 2011 Asia Cup) and I really, really enjoyed it.

"Obviously it was disappointing to lose in the final, (to Japan) but it's one of those things. We were happy we got there, but we wanted to win it.

"You have to move on, though, and I'm back here now and looking forward to the rest of the season."

"I've missed playing 90 minutes, but I had a decision to make," he said.

"I went away, enjoyed it, and now I'm back here and I'm looking forward to being involved on Saturday.

"My next step is to play as regularly as possible here and if I can do that, hopefully I'll be involved in the squads again.

"My main priority now is to get back in the team here and do well."

http://www.leedsunited.com/news/20110204/killas-sights-firmly-on-club-duty_2247585_2284984

Simon Grayson, leedsunited.com 04/02/2011

"We'll be trying to accumulate another three points on Saturday," said the boss. "We're in a good position, we've lost one in 16, and we're well placed.

"We'd have liked to have turned some of the draws into wins, but it's a tight division. We are where we are on merit, and we have an opportunity to kick on for the rest of the season.

"We'd have taken this at the start of the season, now we have to push on,"

"I watched them (Coventry) against QPR a couple of weeks ago when they played well, but came away with nothing," he said.

"They have players who are capable of winning games and Aidy (Boothroyd) plays a certain way which can make things difficult.

"I think they are playing better than their results have shown, so we certainly won't be underestimating them."

http://www.leedsunited.com/news/20110204/three-point-accumulator-is-the-target_2247585_2284960

Simon Grayson. YEP #2, 04/02/2011

"We brought people in to make us better and if you look at the players who were in the team on Tuesday night – Schmeichel, Connolly, O'Brien, Bruce and McCartney – most clubs in the Championship would take that back five.

"It's not just about what they do, but about what the whole team do as a rule. We've got a lot of attack-minded players and I could set out to get a nil-nil every week but then people would be asking why we're not scoring enough goals. There's a fine balance to be had.

"If you look at where our defenders have come from, it says it all. We've got good enough players, definitely."

"The one thing that does disappoint me is that we've been letting in goals from setpieces,

"That's something we can eradicate and it's something we looked at yesterday morning.

"I'd love us to be the top goalscorers and the team who concede the least but it doesn't always work like that. We're working hard on the training pitch and it's not like we're sending the team out and saying 'go and do what you want.'"

"Even though they've had a couple of poor results recently, they've actually been playing quite well,"

"They could have beaten the leaders but ended up losing. That's what the division's like.

http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/sport/Leeds-United-Grayson39s-case-for.6711023.jp

Simon Grayson. YEP #1, 04/02/2011

"The 93-day rule is something we have to consider. If we do bring any signings in too early and get to the (play-off) semi-finals or the final, then they would be ruled out. The other danger is if we leave it too late and don't get there.

"It is a fine balance and will be approached on a game-by-game basis. If the team are doing well, then we might not need to do something for a few weeks anyway."

"We asked the question of a few clubs last week and that hasn't stopped just because the transfer window has closed.

"The level we are looking at would be Premier League players who play for big teams. With all due respect, I am not looking to bring anyone in from Leagues One or Two."

"It is disappointing to concede the goals we do because we work hard on the training pitch. We don't send the team out and say, 'Do what you want'.

"Goals against are not necessarily all about what the back four do but the whole team and we do have a lot of attack-minded players.

"If I wanted to get a 0-0 every week, I could send out my team 4-5-1 and get the wide lads to double up as full-backs. But we wouldn't score many goals, either. Then people would be asking, 'Why aren't you scoring?' It is a fine balance."

http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/football/Grayson-bides-time-over-loan.6710982.jp

Aidy Boothroyd (Coventry Manager) Pre Leeds vs Coventry, Coventry Telegraph 04/02/2011

“Elland Road – that’s a nice easy one on the back of the run we’ve been having,” he joked.

“It’s a fantastic football arena but it’s certainly no place for cowards or shirkers. Going to a place like that and facing that screaming mob takes some bottle – and I’m absolutely dying for it.

"At times like this you find out what you’re all about. It’s very easy to take the pats on the back and the plaudits when you’re on a roll, but when a bit of adversity comes your way you’ve got to be able to deal with that as well

“The signs are there that we’re not that far away.

"We’ve played well against the best sides in this league, entertained and scored goals, but we’ve been punished for making silly errors.

"We weren’t making those errors in the early part of the season, so we’ve got to get back to those basics.

“Against Leeds at the Ricoh we didn’t get started for 20 minutes but after that we laid siege to their goal for long periods.

"I thought Forest were there for the taking the other night and the pressure we put them under in the last 20 minutes shows how close we are.

“There’s certainly not a chasm of class. We’ve been done by one goal in so many games and they’ve been tight because we’re always in it, we’re always at it, we’re always likely to score. The important thing is how we learn from those experiences.

http://www.coventrytelegraph.net/coventry-city-fc/coventry-city-fc-news/2011/02/04/aidy-boothroyd-relishing-battle-in-front-of-leeds-united-s-screaming-mob-92746-28112986/

Simon Grayson. givemefootball.com. Commenting on Snodgrass FA CUp Penalty vs Arsenal 03/02/2011

 “I never watch penalties. I turn the other way, but I could tell from the reaction of our fans that Snod had scored.”

http://www.givemefootball.com/championship/leeds-ace-takes-january-crown

Carl Baker (Coventry City), Pre LUFC v CCFC Fixture, CCFC Official Website 03/02/2011

"To be honest the Leeds game will be the best kind of game to have because it will be a big crowd, big atmosphere and a chance for us all to pull together,"

"We're still scoring goals to win games but we're not getting the cleans sheets like we were earlier in the season so going to Leeds now is a great game for us.

"It was a good fixture with them at home earlier in the season and because of the way that game went we feel like we've got a point to prove."

http://www.ccfc.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10269~2283984,00.html

Simon Grayson, YEP, 03/02/2011

"I had many players offered to me and there are plenty who I'd be able to bring in on an emergency loan next week. It gives their clubs the option of taking them back after 28 days and I'll utilise that in a week's time or whenever I need to.

"The transfer window was difficult for us and for other teams because clubs are quite reluctant to let players out on loan until the end of the season unless they're sure that they're not going to need them.

"Sometimes the players who are on offer aren't right for you either. We weren't in the market for squad players – we were in it for top players.

"But I'd have thought that some of the players I was looking at will be available (on emergency loan).

"I've spoken to four or five managers about that, all of whom are in the Premier League. The players I'm looking at will definitely make us better as a team and I'd like to think they'll be available as and when I decide to get the business done."

Grayson said Sheffield United's offer (for Neil Collins) was "good for the club", 

"We did a little bit of business early on in the window with Andy O'Brien and George McCartney and we've brought a keeper (David González Giraldo) in from Manchester City.

"I was close to doing a couple of deals on Monday but at the last minute the clubs changed their minds.

"I could have brought in half a dozen other players quite easily they wouldn't have made us too much better. They'd only have been squad players and when I went into the market, I was going in for top-calibre players.

"Unfortunately it didn't quite happen for us but the level of player I was going at was very high. I said early on that people who come here have to be good enough to go straight into the team. We've already got good players here and it would be unfair to bring others in if they're
not going to have much chance of playing.

"I'd still like to have a few more players, and you can see what we've got. But Kilkenny's back now and one or two others have recovered from injury.

"We do have a good squad but I always want to add to it because that's what made us successful in the past and that's what'll make us successful in the future."

http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/sport/Leeds-United-Grayson-focusing-in.6710116.jp

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11095_6720014,00.html