Firstly, Neil Redfearn has not taken up a position at Leeds that involves him being groundsman as well as Head Coach…I don’t think. I don’t think he’s called young players into his office and lectured them about how to sow seeds to produce crops. There’s a lot of weird stuff happening at Elland Road but I am pretty sure that neither of those things have happened.
I don’t think they have anyway.
However, he has spoken in a press conference warning young stars in the current Leeds first team squad that the grass isn’t always greener on other team’s pitches. With Premier League teams reputed to be circling Leeds United’s talented crop of youngsters such as Lewis Cook, Sam Byram and Alex Mowatt, Redfearn has offered some sagacious and fatherly advice to them stating,
“They know they can play in the Premier League with Leeds United. They know the future is a lot brighter. So the message is just stick with it. Keep playing your football, you’re playing first team football. What they don’t want to do is go to a big club and get lost in the system, because it can happen.”
The bond between Redfearn and the aforementioned players shouldn’t be forgotten seeing as he’s seem them develop through the youth ranks and nurtured them into first team action. The downside of this is that Premier League teams, supported by influx of money from the new Sky TV deal are allegedly ready to offer Leeds sums such as a reputed £8m for Alex Mowatt and £12m for Lewis Cook in an attempt to prise them away from Elland Road to ply their talented trade in the Big League.
Word of warning boys, Wilfred Zaha.
