Former Premier League star, 51, who won four promotions reveals winning league title in NEPAL is biggest achievement
SIMON GRAYSON is celebrating winning the Nepal Super League - and rates it alongside anything he has achieved in football.
The Yorkshireman, 55, twice reached the Prem as a player with Leicester and won four managerial promotions from League One with Blackpool, Leeds, Huddersfield and Preston.
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He had been out of work following a spell managing Indian Super League side Bengaluru, so when the call came to boss Lalitpur City for their eight-week season, he took it.
Grayson's team beat Pokhara Thunders 2-1 in Saturday's title decider to give him another triumph on his CV.
Speaking from Kathmandu, the former Foxes captain said: 'An agent rang me up and asked if I would be interested in managing in Nepal.
'I spoke to the owners and thought, 'Why not?'
'It's a seven-team league and the season only lasted two months but we've gone unbeaten and won the play-off final last weekend.
'It's been a fantastic football and life experience but I wasn't out here for a holiday — I wanted to win the league.
"I said this to the players — and I genuinely mean it — but winning this title in Nepal is just as important to me as everything I achieved as a player and manager.
'To be the best team in the tournament and win the final made it very much mission accomplished.
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'Since I've been at Lalitpur, I've got three players into the Nepal national squad for the first time.
'The owners have been chuffed to bits with what we've achieved and the players have been great.'
Grayson has lived alone in a hotel for two months and says there has been surreal moments — including meeting Brazil legend Roberto Carlos.
During a game against Pokhara earlier this month, an opposition official protested a decision and ended up fighting with the match commissioner.
Grayson added: 'I've been in football nearly 40 years and seen some things but nothing like that.
'They disputed a goal not being given but there was no way anyone could say if it had crossed the line or not because we don't have VAR.
'It was crazy to see the Pokhara official rolling around with the match commissioner before the police got involved.
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'Roberto Carlos was out here to promote the league, so it was nice to catch up with him.'
Grayson heads home to Yorkshire this week with a renewed appetite for management... and English grub.
He explained: 'The Nepalese cuisine is OK but quite repetitive and I've missed having some roast beef and Yorkshire pudding.
'I'm looking forward to a full English breakfast and fish and chips.
'I've missed my family and my dog, so I'm looking forward to getting back home to some normality.
'But it's been a great opportunity while I'm waiting for jobs to come up.
'After my first game, some Reading fans here on holiday said, 'You've certainly not lost your passion for it.'
'I was probably let down at Blackpool and Fleetwood by owners who promised me the world but delivered nothing.
'But I've had clubs who have backed me, so I know what I can do.
'I've been out of my comfort zone in Nepal but it has confirmed I still have the fire in my belly.'
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