Leeds United 0 Rotherham United 1: Millers urged to kick on from derby win by Neil Redfearn

NEIL REDFEARN has challenged Rotherham United to use the first win of his reign as the catalyst for a charge up the Championship 
table.
Rotherham United manager Neil Redfearn shows his determination during Saturday's 1-0 win over his former club Leeds United. Picture: Simon Hulme.Rotherham United manager Neil Redfearn shows his determination during Saturday's 1-0 win over his former club Leeds United. Picture: Simon Hulme.
Rotherham United manager Neil Redfearn shows his determination during Saturday's 1-0 win over his former club Leeds United. Picture: Simon Hulme.

The 50-year-old’s return to Leeds United proved an ill-tempered affair as both clubs were reduced to 10 men following an ugly clash between Gaetano 
Berardi and Leon Best.

Redfearn was also left unhappy by what he claimed to be a refusal by the home club to provide him with a car park pass, the Millers’ chief labelling Massimo Cellino “childish”.

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On football matters, however, the Rotherham manager could not have been happier with a 1-0 victory at Elland Road that lifted his side off the foot of the division.

Redfearn said: “It was a sweet victory because we really needed those three points. I felt we deserved the win. Leeds maybe shaded the first half but, over the 90 minutes, I thought we wanted it more than them.

“People put their bodies on the line and I felt we got our just rewards. This can be a catalyst for our season. One swallow doesn’t make a summer, I appreciate that. But what this win gives the boys is some belief. We can get our season up and running.

“There will be a lot of twists and turns this season but, if we can put in performances like that, we can start picking up points.

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“My first six games were against sides in or around the top 10. That is a tough run but, never once, did I get down over it. There had to be some perspective because of the sides we were facing.”

Redfearn’s satisfaction at claiming his first win as Millers manager at the seventh attempt was added to by it coming in the wake of what he considered to be the petty actions of his former club over the failure to provide a car park pass.

“Very childish,” said the former Leeds head coach when asked about the snub, which he believes emanated from Cellino. “He needs to grow up.”

Asked where he parked instead, Redfearn quipped: “Batley. I am getting the bus back.

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“No, seriously, I managed to get a space somewhere else. I learnt about it on Friday so what happened is (fitness coach) Paul Warne drove my car in and parked it under his name. So they are not that clever, are they?”

Leeds, however, refute Redfearn’s claim over the snub. A spokesman said all visiting clubs receive six car park passes per game and the distribution of those is entirely at that club’s discretion.

As for the fortunes of his former employer, Redfearn added: “If I look at last season and the momentum we had picked up, we had 56 points from 36 games. Over 46 games, that would have got us 10th.

“Momentum in football is an unbelievable thing. But, this summer, they started again, went through another manager and now have Steve (Evans). At some point, this club has to have some stability. There has to be planning in place.”

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On his own departure last summer, Redfearn added: “It wasn’t handled well from Leeds United’s point of view, without going into any great detail.

“It wasn’t right and the Leeds United supporters are possibly nearly as pleased as the Rotherham supporters (by Saturday’s result) because they know it was an injustice.”

Redfearn’s joy at getting one over Leeds was in stark contrast to how Evans felt at the final whistle after losing to a club he had left just 54 days earlier.

“Of course it hurts,” said the Leeds chief. “You take it twice as hard. I always take defeats in a bad way and we lost to a club that I served with real pride for three years.

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“Neil has got his first win. We congratulate them and wish them good luck. I hope they win games, I really do, because I know what it took to get them there. But we feel we contributed to them getting the points.

“We should score, shouldn’t we? We have had a number of chances, but we have to up the tempo, we have to be on the front foot more, we have to pass it more and we have to get on the ball.

“I don’t think we really did that until it went to 10 v 10. Rotherham were in front then and sitting very deep. You should be doing that at 11 v 11 in an attempt to force the game.”

Leeds missed some decent chances, particularly in the second half when Mirco Antenucci twice shot wide and Chris Wood headed straight at goalkeeper Lee Camp from close range.

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Evans added: “You don’t expect big Chris to miss a good header. You don’t expect Antenucci to miss the chances he had with the form he has been in.

“But it is not just about the strikers.

“The midfielders weren’t at it. Young (Lewis) Cook is a fantastic talent, but he has been away for eight or nine days with England Under-20s and they perhaps don’t do things the way we do.

“He looked a shadow of himself and so did young Alex (Mowatt). But that is younger players.

“You have more concerns about the more experienced players when they don’t produce. Kids will have ups and downs.

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“We know we need to get stronger and add to a group. We are trying to do that.”

Evans spent time in the referee’s room after the final whistle, the red cards handed out to Best and Berardi among the questions he raised with Keith Stroud.

The United head coach, who was without Sol Bamba due to a fractured toe, added: “I just asked for his explanation. His view was complicated but, from what I can work out from him, Leon Best went for an elbow.

“Berardi went for an aggressive push. From what I can understand, there may be some further action from Best for a headbutt as they both come to their feet.

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“I can only talk about my player. I wouldn’t insult Neil Redfearn by talking about Leon Best. You can’t react the way Berardi did. He is a good kid, he has been absolutely smashed when you look back at the footage.

“It is quite a horrific elbow. He did react but he shouldn’t react. We will deal with him in house.”

Evans is still hoping to bring Liam Bridcutt to Elland Road from Sunderland despite a loan move first having been mooted three weeks ago.

However, Leeds’s hopes of bringing Kyle Lafferty to the Championship from Norwich City appear doomed – at least until January, after Canaries manager Alex Neil indicated last week that no players would be leaving Carrow Road before this week’s deadline for Football League clubs to make any loan signings.