NEIL’S NOT LOOKING TO LEAVE LEEDS IN LURCH
Redfearn faces an uncertain future
LEEDS boss Neil Redfearn says he wants to be in the Elland Road hot-seat next term.
Redfearn, whose future is uncertain, watched his troops record a stalemate with Yorkshire rivals Rotherham in front of over 31,000 at Elland Road.
Despite the poor contest served up by both sides, Redfearn says he wants to lead the club forward in 2015/16.
“I want to be manager of Leeds United and be successful,” admitted Redfearn.
“I don’t want another season of being mid-table or fighting relegation. I want this club to be upwardly mobile and positive.
“If you’re going to be successful and get up the table, then you have to keep your better players.
“There was plenty of goalmouth action but I think both sides just lacked a bit of quality in the final third.
“But I thought we had the better of the chances but didn’t do enough to get the goal. It was important we didn’t get beat.
“Although it wasn’t great as a spectacle but it was probably a typical Championship game.
“We’ve done well by and large in Yorkshire derbies and Rotherham are no mugs.”
Meanwhile, Millers’ chief Steve Evans was delighted his side ended the season with a point even bo though their survival had already been sealed.
Evans’ men clinched survival four days prior thanks to a 2-1 win over Reading, but the Scot was still pleased with his team's finish to the season.
He said: “You can see the desire of the players.We tried to get into opposition box, even in the 90th minute.We passed it and moved it around well. You can’t ask any more when we know that we’re safe already.
“All season they’ve worked for us and I’m immensely proud of the boys. I’ve got a meeting with the players on Tuesday and we’ll follow that meeting up with discussions with the chairman.
“It’s about signing quality, not quantity, because we’re in a league full of it. But if we can get the same effort, desire and add some quality to what we’ve got, then we want that in the squad.
“It’s almost the start of a new two or three-year plan.We have to get recruitment right.”
Rotherham came into this contest having already secured Championship football next term, and there was a party atmosphere among their visiting 2,500 fans.
As for Leeds, the match was punctuated with chants aimed at supporting Redfearn and lambasting controversial owner Massimo Cellino.
With both sides having little other than regional pride to play for, the match was high in passion but low in real quality.
A rare foray forward in the first half saw Rotherham’s Danny Ward unleash a shot which Sol Bamba blocked, whilst at the other end Steve Morison found the net midway through the first half only to see the strike chalked out for offside.
Both sides put together some attractive passing moves, especially Leeds although they failed to properly test Damian Martinez in the Millers’ goal.
Arguably the best chance of the half fell to the visitors but Der-
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by shire comically got in the way of Ward’s goalbound effort.
Further efforts followed from Lee Frecklington and Ben Pringle, while Rodolph Austin saw a speculative 40-yard effort blocked for a corner.
The restart saw the hosts come out of the blocks much sharper as Alex Mowatt and Morison linked well before the former's shot was well-blocked.
Another excellent piece of build-up play from the hosts ended with substitute Billy Sharp bringing an excellent interception from Richard Wood in the centre of the Rotherham defence.
Sharp went close again midway through the second half but fired over, while another long-range shot from Austin stung the fingertips of Martinez in the Millers goal.
Millers substitute Jonson Clarke-Harris smashed a late free-kick just wide in the final throes of the game as both sides were made to settle for a point in this finale.