In recent comments made on TalkSPORT’s GameDay podcast, former Leeds United boss Simon Grayson revealed that he once had a conversation with then-Leeds owner Massimo Cellino regarding a return to the club.
Grayson was manager of Leeds from December 2008 until February 2012, overseeing 166 matches, of which he won 80, drew 41 and lost 45.
In his first half-season at the club in 2008/09, he guided Leeds to a fourth-place finish in League One, eventually losing on aggregate to Millwall in the play-off semi-final, before taking the club back to the Championship in his first full season in charge, finishing second in the third tier in their 2009/10 campaign.
He then fell just short of guiding the Whites to a play-off place in their impressive first season back in the Championship, finishing in seventh place, just three points behind Nottingham Forest in sixth.
In the following 2011/12 campaign, Leeds were sitting in 10th place in the Championship table by the end of January, and, although they were just three points outside of the play-off positions once again, Grayson was sacked as the club’s manager on 1 February.
However, speaking recently on the GameDay podcast, the 50-year-old revealed that he had the opportunity to return to the club during his time as Preston North End manager, after he spoke with then-Leeds owner Massimo Cellino about a potential move.
He said: “I was at Preston at the time and I met Massimo, and it was one of them that my heart wanted me to go back to Leeds, but my head was telling me that this wasn’t quite right.”
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Following Grayson’s sacking in 2012, Leeds United went on to have 10 different managers before the appointment of Marcelo Bielsa in 2018, two of whom – Dave Hockaday and Darko Milanic – lasted just six games.
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As such, considering the progressive job that Grayson did at Leeds, taking them from League One to just outside the Championship play-off positions, it is no wonder why Cellino wanted the 50-year-old back, and why Grayson thought better of it.