Sometimes players at football clubs need to be told, they need to be knocked down from their pedestals and brought back down to earth. Neil Redfearn did just that to his players after Rotherham’s defeat at Huddersfield.
The Terriers’ 2-0 win at the John Smith Stadium gave new coach David Wagner, and his gegen fußball, their first win at home in an encouraging display against what was a poor display by the Millers, something picked up on by Redfearn in his post-match interview with assembled journalists. Huddersfield secured the three important points thanks to a 31st minute opening goal opening from Mustapha Carayol, later doubled by a 64th minute strike from Ismael Miller.
As for the Rotherham manager, his forthrightness and brutal honestly were fully on display in the after-match interviews. Touching on many things, Neil Redfearn started by discussing the matter-at-hand in the abject manner of Rotherham’s capitulation. On this matter, Redfearn didn’t mince his words or use any euphemisms,
“[They] took a b******ing at half time which is a cardinal sin for a footballer to take a b******ing. If they’ve got pride they should perform right from the first minute. Took a b******ing for the second half performance which we did perform in the second half.”
It wasn’t just the performance on the night that worried Redfearn as his Rotherham side sit nestled in a relegation spot, it was also what lies ahead as they enter the busy Christmas period. On this, the Millers boss said,
“We’ve just got to try and nick points where we can nick points. I mean, listen, in the last few games, by and large, I can fault ’em for effort.”
Neil Redfearn also mentioned that you “can’t blag your way” out of the Championship and said that Rotherham hadn’t really replaced quality in to counter the quality that left during the summer, such as players like Ben Pringle. Speaking about this, Redfearn hinted that things needed to change at the New York stadium and that the next transfer window could be where this would be.
“Better players than what we’ve recruited…So January is going to be massive, you know there’s no two ways about it. January is a massive month, we’ve got to recruit well. We’ve got to recruit four or five at least, in my opinion.”
