Cellino pays Redfearn the Ultimate Compliment

Article by Jeremy Taylor @jezaldinho

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After a brief period of reflection in Miami, Massimo Cellino has returned to Yorkshire and quickly moved to end any speculation that Neil Redfearn might be given the head coach position at Elland Road; a move that has been greeted with enthusiasm and relief from most Leeds fans it seems.

Normally this would be due to the name in question being deemed unsuitable or just not good enough, but in the case of Redfearn it’s down to a genuine fear for his safety. A concern that, should he actually step into the Cellino ‘sausage machine’ for football coaches, then there would be no turning back should it all go wrong.

Neil Redfearn has been the only true stalwart at the club over the past five years, the only person closely associated with the inner workings to retain any dignity and stature throughout the various dramas that have unfolded.

His work has continued quietly, fastidiously observing the progress of the academy talent in an attempt to create new and exciting footballers. In recent years this has been less prevalent as ultimately his produce had the sole purpose of generating transfer revenue, seeing the likes of Danny Rose sold on before they had a chance to lift Leeds United.

However, things have changed now and Redfearn’s end product is being thrust into the limelight in a different way. Alex Mowatt and Lewis Cook are the obvious examples given that they are both under twenty years old and both featured heavily in the midfield that battled to a point on Saturday. There are others lining up behind them who he feels could have similar impact. Not every club can say that.

What’s encouraging is that Cellino has recognized this and publically given Redfearn a far stronger endorsement than simply handing him the first team reigns. He’s protecting him and making it clear to the footballing world that at this moment Redfearn is indispensable.

It also sends out a strong message about Cellino’s approach to the club as a whole. It demonstrates that Cellino’s vision is embroidered around building from within and creating a nucleus of talent that grows together.

This is sensible for a variety of reasons, but primarily because it creates the kind of squad unity that is so difficult to imitate via a patchwork effect. Football is littered with great examples of teams that grow together as youngsters to become formidable units. Squads that require slight tweaks rather than regular overhauls such as the Manchester United of the nineties or the Barcelona of the 2000’s.
This approach leads to long-term success and serves to build dynasties rather than a successful season or two.

The hard part is actually creating young talented footballers, and it’s becoming even harder at the top level. Clubs like Chelsea and Manchester United have training and development facilities that are as good as any in the world, but what they don’t have is a fast track to the first team. All the training and reserve games in the world can only take a footballer so far – it’s the first team exposure, the playing in front of thousands of emotion fuelled fans that completes the picture.

Such is the lack of margin for failure at the top clubs, they cannot afford to give their youth this opportunity; something that leads to players stagnating in their development.
This is the big advantage for Leeds United, as players like Mowatt and Cook can grow much quicker from first team exposure and become the next Danny Rose’s and Fabian Delph’s in front of our eyes.

It won’t happen overnight though and this season is about stability and foundations. It takes more than a few weeks to repair over ten years of systematic abuse and creating a nucleus of a young talented team is what this season is about. Equally though, we can’t hang about either as young talent of the likes regularly produced at Leeds will have the vultures circling quickly. We need to keep growing and improving.

Back to Redfearn and it’s a huge relief that no matter what happens over the coming weeks he’ll still be in his tracksuit overseeing the production line, helping out with the first team and generally being a pillar at the club.

Massimo has recognised his qualities and has realised that allies such as him are necessary when running a club the way he does.

It also seems that Cellino understands the magnitude of how important his next decision is. He simply cannot afford to appoint the wrong man again.

The only real threat to Leeds United’s climb back to the heights of English football is abject failure on the pitch. If we continue to fail and linger in and around the relegation zone then the atmosphere at the club becomes totally different. Eagerness gives way to nervousness and the spectre of relegation begins to permeate the dressing room. Such conditions counteract the building of solidity and make it very difficult to breed success.

However, assuming Cellino gets it right this time and brings in someone that can get the best of our this new squad then the future is looking bright. There probably isn’t another club in the division that has as much young talent at its disposal – a true blueprint for the creation of a footballing success story.

The closest thing the Championship has seen recently was Burnley of last season. A young team that grew together under the watchful guidance of a man that galvanised them in a way that made them unplayable at times. That’s exactly what Leeds United need right now; their very own Sean Dyche.

Cellino has hinted at having found someone foreign and experienced who he thinks could be “right for us”. Whoever it may be, the fact that he’s using words
like ‘us’ won’t be lost on the Leeds fans. They recognise that Cellino is becoming increasingly white, blue and yellow and ‘one of us’.

@jezaldinho

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