Eddie Gray on Leeds

With Leeds top of the Premiership, assistant manager Eddie Gray answered your e-mails.

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Gray enjoyed 18 years as a player at Leeds between 1965-1983, playing 559 games and winning 12 Scotland caps.

He managed the club between 1982 and 1985, going on to gain managerial and coaching experience at Hull City, Rochdale and Middlesbrough.

Gray was the immediate choice as David O'Leary's number two when the Irishman became Leeds boss in October 1998.

Gray's book, Marching on together - My life with Leeds United (Hodder & Stoughton, £16.99) is in the shops now.

real 14k Click here to listen to Eddie

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Paul How, England

Eddie, does losing the 1975 European Cup final rank as the biggest disappointment in your football career? I was 11 at the time and have since seen the game again and strongly believe we were robbed.

It was a disappointment, but the thing about playing in European Cup finals is that it's a great achievement to get there. When you look back on your career there are always a lot of disappointments. I think we were aggrieved at a few decisions that went against us that night, and it was a disappointment in that respect.

But we weren't far away from winning the Champions League last season and losing in the semi-final was another blow. I think when you play professional football you can accept disappointments as part of the game, as long as you're winning trophies along the way.

I think in 1974 it would have been more of a disappointment for everybody connected with the club if Don Revie had still been the manager, because it was his great ambition to emulate Real Madrid. Don't get me wrong, it was a major disappointment, but you have to put these things in perspective, and it goes down as a career memory.

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Don Speight, UK

Does the appointment of Brian kidd have any impact on your role at Leeds United and has your role changed since his appointment?

My role has changed at the club. Brian does the coaching, and David O'Leary's role has also changed. He's stepped back from the coaching role a bit, but he still gets very much involved in the day to day running of the club, as we all do.

Brian's got his own ideas on how the game should be played, and David is open to ideas. Brian's worked at the highest level, and he's come into the club at the right time. The club has some top class players, so it was a nice time for him to come in.

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Sean Kelly, Cyprus

I remember going to watch Leeds when you were manager in the mid-80s. You had a talented crop of youngsters then - Irwin, Linighan, Sellars. Although new blood has come through, the emphasis now appears to be on buying talent. Are there any future prospects to look for coming through the academy?

One or two players at the club are useful, but it's always difficult for the young boys to break through now. If you think of the boys that were about when we won the Youth Cup, there are the likes of Paul Robinson, Jonathan Woodgate, Alan smith, Harry Kewell, Stephen McPhail and a few others, so it will always be difficult for the younger players to break through. We have a highly talented group of players, and if you look at the Manchester United situation it was similar then with players like Scholes, Giggs and Beckham coming through.

David bought Rio Ferdinand for one reason - he thinks he's the best centre-half in the country, and I agree with him. So it is difficult for the young boys at the club to break through because we already have several young international class players. That's why the club now has to look at a really top class youngster if he's going to break into the side. There are a few boys that maybe have a chance, but it's not going to be easy for them.

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Jonny Spence, England

You were sacked by Leeds in '85 with what many thought was a good young side. How do you view that sacking today, and do you see any comparison with the young players you had then and young starlets of today's Leeds Utd?

It's a bit like the European Cup question. It was a disappointment, but it's all relative in the game. You know when you become a manager that you're going to get the sack one day, or you're going to move on. It was a disappointment at the time, but I look back on my time at the club then and take some satisfaction from it.

Some of the players at that time went on to be successful - Denis Irwin is still playing at the highest level. Other players include John Sheridan, Scott Sellars, Andy Linighan and numerous other players.

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Ian Doughty, England

Do you believe the present wave of player power could lead many clubs to financial ruin? Will wage capping for clubs be a reality in the future?

I think it could, and I think a lot of clubs are in way over their heads at the present time. But that's the nature of the game at the moment, and it will be interesting to see what happens when the television contracts run out - that will be the testing time for football.

But right now I think it's a great time to be a player. Everyone knows they earn great money, and I think it must be great for a player to know that he doesn't have to worry about paying the mortgage, and is financially secure. It's a great game, and if they can't enjoy it under the present circumstances they shouldn't be playing.

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Steve Broughton, England

What similarities do you see between the Leeds team of the 60s and 70s, and the present side? Which players of today's team, if any, resemble the players of your era?

In many ways I think Nigel Martyn reminds me of Dave Harvey. He's not spectacular, but he is a very solid goalkeeper, and Dave Harvey was like that. A lot of people compare Harry Kewell and myself, but I think Harry and I were different types of player. I always considered myself as a frustrated midfield player that played out wide because of the circumstances at the club.

We had some great midfielders and Revie felt that I would be better out wide because I could go round people. I don't like to compare individual players, but there are a lot of similarities between the ambition, the drive and the abilities of the players of now and then.

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Dean Knox, England

Have you ever thought about moving back into management yourself, or had any offers that have tempted you?

I'm extremely happy in my current job, and I've thoroughly enjoyed it since I've come back to the club. I think to get offers you've got to make it known that you're interested, and I'm not interested in moving on at the present time. I'm just enjoying the job I'm doing now and I hope it continues for a long time.

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Allastair McGillivray, Australia

I regard the goal you scored against Burnley in the early 70s as the greatest individual goal I've ever seen. Pure magic. Do you regard it as the best you scored?

Funnily enough, I scored two goals that day, and the first goal gives me the greater pleasure. As soon as the ball was cleared from the box I saw the goalkeeper off his line and decided I was going to chip him. So I had to have a good touch on the ball, I had to set it up right, and the chip I hit had to be well executed. That gave me a lot of satisfaction.

The second goal I scored - the goal everybody talks about - was something I could do naturally. And when you pick the ball up there (on the dead ball line), it's something that just evolves. Going by people was just something I was always able to do, so the first goal gave me more pleasure.

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Mark Bond, Russia

Has there ever been a better Scotland side than the one of 1974, the backbone of which was provided by Leeds?

Traditionally, we've always had good players in Scotland so it's difficult to say, but I think the '74 side was as good as any. When you look back at the history of Scottish football, even before I was playing, Scotland have always had some great players. Unfortunately they've never gelled, but people tend to forget that we're a small footballing nation.

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Mike Law, England

How do you relax away from football? I enjoy playing golf. My partner is an ex-team-mate of mine, Mike Betts, who I used to play with in the 60s and 70s. We've had a few needle games against my old assistant manager at Leeds Jimmy Lumsden, who's now coach at Preston, and Arthur Graham, who I used to play with. It gets quite competitive.

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Ben Dirs, London

The Leeds side of the 70s had a reputation for being aggressive. How did you get through your career without ever being booked?

Because I never got involved. We had enough players in our side who could take care of that side of things, and I think the game has changed from how it was in the 60s and 70s. If you look back at some of the old videos and apply today's rules to those matches, you'd end up playing four-a-side. Also, once the referee had made a decision, I could always accept it because I knew he wasn't going to change his mind.

Nowadays, I think that's how a lot players end up getting booked. They aggravate the linesman or the referee so much sometimes that the ref will take the first opportunity he can to book them. I was never like that - it wasn't in my nature, and we had plenty of people in our side who could look after themselves. I think the reputation came around because teams were a little jealous.

We had good footballers and if they tried to hurt us physically they would end up coming off second best. But if they wanted to play football we could play as well, and we could match them in any way they wanted to play the game.

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