‘FEMALES CAN BOSS THE MEN’
FORMER Leeds United boss Neil Redfearn believes that a Premier League or EFL club could one day have a female manager or coach.
In charge of his third women’s team, Championship side Sheffield United, Redfearn has seen the women’s game flourish and produce outstanding players and coaches.
Manchester City’s Lucy Bronze has recently received the highest accolade in the game after being named FIFA’s Women’s Player Of The Year.
And, with this country’s Women’s Super League going from strength to strength and emerging from the shadow of the men’s game, 2021 promises to be an exciting time, with the Olympics offering a lofty stage for the Great Britain side.
Managers such as Chelsea’s Emma Hayes (below), who has won three titles, are becoming household names – and Redfearn says they are starting to be talked about in male game boardrooms.
“If you have the experience and you are good enough, why can’t a woman manage or coach in the men’s game?” he said.
“It’s a difficult profession to go into because it is quite cut-throat. You’ve got to be prepared for that.
“I’ve come across some very talented coaches in the women’s game and Emma Hayes is definitely one.
“There’s Vicky Jepson, who I took in as assistant when I was at Liverpool and who is now in charge there. She is a really good coach, thinks outside the box, is bright, brings something different and understands the game.
“She’s not on her own. There’s a lot of good coaches out there who are capable of going on and doing good things.
“It’s a different world now. It might have been unthinkable, say 10 years ago, to think in terms of coaching or managing in the men’s game.
“But I believe that now club owners look at anything and everything. There are a lot of clubs which are stats based in terms of how they recruit managers and players.
“So why not a woman? We’re more in tune now about how people work and how to get the best out of players.
“Whether that’s a man or a woman doing it is immaterial. If you can get them doing the right things and winning matches, that’s the main thing.”
“We’ve got the Olympics coming up in the summer which will involve a Great Britain side. Look at the massive viewing figures the London Olympics attracted for the women’s football.”