George Graham: Leeds United’s Bullish Boss
Swiftly hired in September 1996, as manager following Howard Wilkinson’s departure, George Graham’s impact for us left little to be desired.
He lost his first five games and then suffered defeat to Aston Villa in the League Cup and we entered November with the worst defensive record in the Premier League, while we also lost 3-0 to an Arsenal side, now coached by Arsene Wenger.
After a few weeks of work on the training ground, Graham found that his new defensive tactics started to work and we kept six clean sheets during our next seven matches, which included a club-record, five consecutively.
Between mid January and mid March, we kept eight clean sheets in nine matches, which included a rogue 4-0 defeat at Anfield by Liverpool. An interesting statistic met us at the end of the season, where we had climbed to 11th to be the joint-lowest scoring team ever to escape relegation (28 goals), though we conceded just 38 – indeed less that Manchester United who would be crowned champions, in addition to 20 clean sheets (a club record for a 38 game season).
| Attribute | Information |
|---|---|
| Full Name | George Graham |
| Nationality | Scottish |
| Managerial Period | September 1996 – October 1998 |
| Total Matches Managed | 89 (approximate) |
| Wins | 39% win rate (about 35 wins) |
| Draws | 28% draws (about 25 matches) |
| Losses | 33% losses (about 29 matches) |
| Goals For | 118 |
| Goals Against | 99 |
| Highest League Finish | 5th place (Premier League 1997–98) |
| Key Achievements | Secured UEFA Cup qualification; improved defensive reliability with club record clean sheets in 1996-97 season (20 clean sheets) |
| Style | Pragmatic, defensively solid |
| Left Club | October 1998 (moved to Tottenham Hotspur) |
There was a vast improvement during the 1997/98 campaign and under Graham we began to look like an exciting side, finishing fifth in the Premier League and qualifying for what was the UEFA Cup (which would become the Europa League).
Graham also signed striker Jimmy Floyd Hasslebaink for £2 million from Portuguese side Boavista, who became an instrumental player, scoring 16 goals in 22 league appearances. We also scored 57 goals during that campaign.
We had a team that consisted of a young, up-and-coming Harry Kewell as well as fellow midifeld talent Lee Bowyer as well as Stephen McPhail. At the back, Lucas Radebe was starting to showcase his obvious ability, while Rod Wallace would partner Hasslebaink up front which became a potent combination.
In Ocotber 1998, Graham left to take over Tottenham Hotspur acrimoniously after being significantly vocal about wanting to return to London for family reasons.