Leeds United: Future looks a lot brighter for Whites - Redfearn INTERVIEW
By Phil Hay
Published on Thursday 26 April 2012 13:31
In a fit of miscalculation, Newcastle United jumped the gun last Saturday and claimed victory over Leeds United in the race for the Premier Academy League’s Group D title.
Their announcement was mistaken but no worse than premature, and a 1-0 win against Barnsley three days later took the championship to Tyneside. Leeds’ Under-18s will finish as runners-up having briefly threatening to make the title their own.
Billy Bremner had an outspoken view on the merits of second place but even he would find respectability in the academy table as it stands. Not so long ago, United’s youth team were the division’s punchbag. This season they have found a way to fight back. The teams beaten home and away by Leeds include champions Newcastle.
This, to a large degree, is the team who were bottom of the league in October 2010. Bottom of the league with one point from 10 games and an appalling goal difference of minus 24. It is often argued that results are a simplistic gauge of a junior side’s progression but United’s results over 18 months show an undeniable sea-change.
So why the dramatic shift, particularly when Leeds recently parted company with Chris Sulley, their academy manager for much of that period?
Neil Redfearn, the Under-18s coach, pinpoints two reasons: an established fitness plan run religiously since the start of the term and confidence drawn from creditable results. “Confidence is one of the biggest things,†Redfearn said. “That’s true at every level of the game.â€
Other factors have helped too. This season, under-18 teams are entitled to field three overage outfield players and one overage keeper. From time to time, the rule has allowed Redfearn to call on the Turner twins, Nathan and Lewis, and left-back Charlie Taylor, a defender who holds a professional contract.
Alex Cairns, the keeper given his first-team debut udner Simon Grayson in November, has also assisted Leeds’ Under-18s.
“The olde players have obviously helped,†Redfearn said, “but if you look at the team, our second-year scholars make up the bulk of the starting XI.
“It’s like everything – having a bit of experience makes a big difference but the lads have been excellent from front to back. That goes for all of them.
“We put a new fitness programme in place at the start of the season and we’ve stuck at it. The F***er the players are the more you can ask them to do on the pitch. That one reason for the improvement.
“Academy football’s not purely about results but it helps to be winning games. Winning gives you confidence and confidence tells in a team’s performances. You feel better about yourself than when you’re losing every week. That goes without saying.â€
A strong run of form including a 2-1 win away to Newcastle on April 7 kept Leeds in touch with the league leaders until Tuesday afternoon, when Marcus Maddison’s goal beat Barnsley and gave Newcastle an unassailable advantage. Redfearn, whose side beat the title winners 4-0 at Thorp Arch in October, said: “I don’t think Newcastle are a better side than us. I just think we dropped points at times when we shouldn’t have done.
“We started off the season with games against Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool and that’s about as difficult as it gets. We’d have liked to have won the title, obviously we would, but the players can go into the summer knowing they’ve had a good year.â€
Regular observers of the Under-18s commend the contribution of leading goalscorer Dominic Poleon – a regular part of United’s second-string until the club resigned from their reserve league in 2010 – Sam Byram and Ross Killock. Young forward Luke Parkin has averaged close to a goal from every two games.
With the new Elite Player Performance Plan (EPPP) due to come into force by the end of the summer, Redfearn will step up from his post as Under-18s coach to manage an Under-21 squad next season. Leeds are still to confirm their plans after parting company with Sulley last month, and his duties could be extended further.
Redfearn is keen to retain a coaching role in the hope of guiding a number of his players into Leeds’ senior squad, saying: “A few of them are showing that sort of potential. But it’s early days. I’ll be looking after the Under-21s next season and I call it work in progress at the moment. There’s work to be done with them.
“No doubt the club have plans and I’ll wait to see if there’s anything else they want me to do but I do feel it’s important for me to stay out on the grass. I think I’ve made an impact with these lads and it’s my job to try and get them to a level where the manager (Neil Warnock) can seriously consider giving them a go.â€
Redfearn returned to the relative calm of youth-team football after four games as United’s caretaker manager in February.
Leeds called on the 46-year-old to take charge of their senior side after sacking Simon Grayson, and Redfearn oversaw wins over Bristol City and Doncaster Rovers and defeats to Brighton and Coventry City before handing the reigns to Warnock.
Warnock admitted on his arrival at Elland Road that Redfearn was “relieved†to have passed on the baton at a time of great unrest among United’s supporters. Redfearn was openly criticised by the club’s fans during a 2-1 loss at Coventry, with the season appearing to lose its thread.
“I still look back on it as a great opportunity,†he said.
“It dropped on me very quickly as these things always do and, as I said at the time, all I could do was go game by game. We took six points from four matches which, if you look back on the season as a whole, isn’t the worst of records.
“I tried to help the club at a time when they needed help and I did the best I could. But a lot of pressure that comes with the job and it does need someone experienced. Someone with Neil’s experience. He’s settled everything down as I knew he would.â€
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