Yorkshire Evening Post 13/2/12
Leeds United v Brighton and Hove Albion: Redfearn’s bid suffers knock
By Phil Hay
The problem for Neil Redfearn is that this was always a game of results.
Other candidates for the manager’s job at Leeds United can seduce the club with CVs and track
records but Redfearn will live or die as caretaker on the strength of scorelines like Saturday’s, harsh though it was.
No matter that Brighton’s victory relied on an injury-time goal or that Leeds felt the rougher end of the stick wielded by an erratic referee. No matter, either, that the effort of Redfearn’s players justified their many votes of confidence in him.
Two goals to one in black and white and a defeat which weakened the prospects created for Redfearn by a win over Bristol City and a three-match trial from chairman Ken Bates.
Ruthless as it sounds, another loss in Coventry tomorrow could draw a line under this experiment and return Leeds to the drawing board in search of the appointment they might have made immediately after sacking Simon Grayson on the first day of the month.
It was asking much of Redfearn, United’s academy coach, to steady a ship that sank slowly under Grayson, and a 3-0 victory at Bristol City was as good a start as any. Had Leeds shaded a 50-50 match against Brighton, a game in which their rigid system strangled Albion’s flair, his stock would have risen on Saturday night. But the automatic reaction to the outcome at full-time was to ask if United’s board were twiddling their thumbs while Rome lies short of the play-offs.
Alan Navarro struck the telling blow, beating United goalkeeper Andy Lonergan with an opportunistic hit from the edge of the box. The timing of the strike in the first minute of stoppage-time was decisive, leaving no scope for a repeat of the fightback mounted by Leeds 19 minutes earlier.
Craig Mackail-Smith necessitated that by scoring three minutes after entering the fray as a substitute but Luciano Becchio equalised almost instantly, creating a wealth of possibilities.
Redfearn rued Navarro’s finish, just as he rued the failure of Graham Salisbury to award the most obvious of penalties in the first half. He might also ask if more forthright use of his bench in the 20 minutes leading up to Mackail-Smith’s goal would have tipped the balance in the home side’s favour.
The 46-year-old spoke afterwards of ingrained weakness and familiar problems; the issues, in short, which cost Grayson his job. It is unfair to expect that Redfearn, for all his experience of professional football, could eradicate them in the space of four matches or invoke an alternative style. Nothing about the season’s struggle is his fault or even his responsibility but this was a mirror-image of Grayson’s team and tactics.
Leeds look ever more like a club seeking fresh blood off the pitch and fresh blood on it.
Their game at Ashton Gate a weekend earlier was a challenge for Redfearn, 72 hours after Grayson’s dismissal. United’s meeting with Brighton felt more like an opportunity, the start of a window given to him by Bates to prove that he can be more than a stop-gap.
How comfortably his appointment would sit with the club’s rank and file is questionable – more so after Saturday’s loss – and a march organised by the Leeds United Supporters’ Trust before the loss to Brighton was a demonstration of their disillusionment. West Yorkshire Police estimated a turn-out of around 1,000 during a rally between Leeds City Square and Elland Road.
Redfearn had vowed to divorce himself from matters beyond his control, and the division between club and a section of United’s fans was certainly that. Head down and eyes fixed on Albion, he made no changes to the team which dispatched nine-man Bristol City.
Gus Poyet, the Brighton manager, pulled an age old-trick by dropping Mackail-Smith in the same week as claiming there was “no chance” of the striker losing his place. The scorer of two goals in Leeds’ 3-3 draw at The Amex in September had claimed only two in 23 games since. It was Redfearn’s misfortune to see his touch return.
The danger to United, statistically at least, was Will Buckley whose goals earned Poyet a nomination for manager of the month in January, but Leeds cornered him on the right wing and denied him a sniff before his substitution at half-time.
Sniffs in general were few in number, but Leeds dictated a tight first half. Becchio skewed a header wide after Robert Snodgrass worked enough space out of Joe Mattock to deliver a cross, and it took 12 minutes for Salisbury to reacquaint himself with the Elland Road crowd.
Weight
The Lancashire official is remembered in these parts as the referee who dismissed Max Gradel on the afternoon of United’s promotion from League One. Salisbury’s picky display against Barnsley in November tarnished an already dubious reputation and he exceeded himself by refusing to penalise Brighton defender Adam El-Abd for pole-axing Ross McCormack inside Brighton’s box. El-Abd flattened the striker with the full weight of his body but looked up to find Salisbury motionless and unimpressed by McCormack’s collapse. At first sight the decision looked indefensible and replays of the foul did Salisbury no credit.
In arriving second to that challenge, El-Abd summed up Brighton for 25 minutes: rarely in the game and unable to bring any weight to bear on Lonergan. For Redfearn, it was a more convincing advertisement of his coaching nous than the first 40 minutes at Aston Gate a week earlier.
Navarro saw both of Brighton’s first two chances in the space of a minute, slashing one volley over the crossbar and driving another more controlled attempt into Lonergan’s arms from 20 yards. Gordon Greer knocked a corner into the stands as criticism of Salisbury’s officiating grew vociferous. The half threatened to belong to him, as it had once before, and his loss of footing in the 34th minute was manna from heaven for the spectators.
A change in the wind seemed evident by the time Lonergan dived to punch away Liam Bridcutt’s sweetly-hit shot, but the remaining minutes before half-time were disjointed and wayward. With 43 gone, Sam Vokes narrowly failed to apply the touch need to bury Ashley Barnes’ knockdown and claim a goal Brighton had scarcely earned.
The opening stages of the second half alone were more promising than all that had gone before. Becchio failed by inches to slide Snodgrass’ cross into the net and two excellent saves from Lonergan – both with his fingertips – denied Mattock and Vokes at the other end. Vokes should have converted the corner which followed his own effort but connected weakly with a cross from Buckley’s replacement, Craig Noone.
The tit-for-tat exchange was akin to the clubs’ first meeting of the season, and the promise of a goal hung in the air. Adam Smith, United’s right-back, hooked the ball over Peter Brezovan’s net after Kazenga LuaLua’s misplaced pass left Albion vulnerable and McCormack did the same when Adam Clayton found him with a clever pass over the head of El-Abd. The attacks checked a Brighton side whose reputed skill was starting to show itself.
Redfearn watched and waited as Tom Lees scuffed a header kindly into Brezovan’s hands and Becchio struck El-Abd in the face, earning one of a clutch of yellow cards. But Mackail-Smith’s entrance came in the 74th minute and so did Brighton’s route to victory, opened within three minutes when the striker side-footed Vicente’s corner into the net from point-blank range.
Just as quickly, Becchio met Snodgrass’ corner with a deadly header, guiding it with precision through a crowded box and beating Brezovan at his far post.
His finish left the game on the edge and there it remained until Navarro struck, driving the ball home as Albion’s players swarmed all over United’s box with the intention of shooting to kill. “Wherever we play,” said Poyet, “we play to win.”
Leeds United v Brighton and Hove Albion: Redfearn’s bid suffers knock
By Phil Hay
The problem for Neil Redfearn is that this was always a game of results.
Other candidates for the manager’s job at Leeds United can seduce the club with CVs and track
records but Redfearn will live or die as caretaker on the strength of scorelines like Saturday’s, harsh though it was.No matter that Brighton’s victory relied on an injury-time goal or that Leeds felt the rougher end of the stick wielded by an erratic referee. No matter, either, that the effort of Redfearn’s players justified their many votes of confidence in him.
Two goals to one in black and white and a defeat which weakened the prospects created for Redfearn by a win over Bristol City and a three-match trial from chairman Ken Bates.
Ruthless as it sounds, another loss in Coventry tomorrow could draw a line under this experiment and return Leeds to the drawing board in search of the appointment they might have made immediately after sacking Simon Grayson on the first day of the month.
It was asking much of Redfearn, United’s academy coach, to steady a ship that sank slowly under Grayson, and a 3-0 victory at Bristol City was as good a start as any. Had Leeds shaded a 50-50 match against Brighton, a game in which their rigid system strangled Albion’s flair, his stock would have risen on Saturday night. But the automatic reaction to the outcome at full-time was to ask if United’s board were twiddling their thumbs while Rome lies short of the play-offs.
Alan Navarro struck the telling blow, beating United goalkeeper Andy Lonergan with an opportunistic hit from the edge of the box. The timing of the strike in the first minute of stoppage-time was decisive, leaving no scope for a repeat of the fightback mounted by Leeds 19 minutes earlier.
Craig Mackail-Smith necessitated that by scoring three minutes after entering the fray as a substitute but Luciano Becchio equalised almost instantly, creating a wealth of possibilities.
Redfearn rued Navarro’s finish, just as he rued the failure of Graham Salisbury to award the most obvious of penalties in the first half. He might also ask if more forthright use of his bench in the 20 minutes leading up to Mackail-Smith’s goal would have tipped the balance in the home side’s favour.
The 46-year-old spoke afterwards of ingrained weakness and familiar problems; the issues, in short, which cost Grayson his job. It is unfair to expect that Redfearn, for all his experience of professional football, could eradicate them in the space of four matches or invoke an alternative style. Nothing about the season’s struggle is his fault or even his responsibility but this was a mirror-image of Grayson’s team and tactics.
Leeds look ever more like a club seeking fresh blood off the pitch and fresh blood on it.
Their game at Ashton Gate a weekend earlier was a challenge for Redfearn, 72 hours after Grayson’s dismissal. United’s meeting with Brighton felt more like an opportunity, the start of a window given to him by Bates to prove that he can be more than a stop-gap.
How comfortably his appointment would sit with the club’s rank and file is questionable – more so after Saturday’s loss – and a march organised by the Leeds United Supporters’ Trust before the loss to Brighton was a demonstration of their disillusionment. West Yorkshire Police estimated a turn-out of around 1,000 during a rally between Leeds City Square and Elland Road.
Redfearn had vowed to divorce himself from matters beyond his control, and the division between club and a section of United’s fans was certainly that. Head down and eyes fixed on Albion, he made no changes to the team which dispatched nine-man Bristol City.
Gus Poyet, the Brighton manager, pulled an age old-trick by dropping Mackail-Smith in the same week as claiming there was “no chance” of the striker losing his place. The scorer of two goals in Leeds’ 3-3 draw at The Amex in September had claimed only two in 23 games since. It was Redfearn’s misfortune to see his touch return.
The danger to United, statistically at least, was Will Buckley whose goals earned Poyet a nomination for manager of the month in January, but Leeds cornered him on the right wing and denied him a sniff before his substitution at half-time.
Sniffs in general were few in number, but Leeds dictated a tight first half. Becchio skewed a header wide after Robert Snodgrass worked enough space out of Joe Mattock to deliver a cross, and it took 12 minutes for Salisbury to reacquaint himself with the Elland Road crowd.
Weight
The Lancashire official is remembered in these parts as the referee who dismissed Max Gradel on the afternoon of United’s promotion from League One. Salisbury’s picky display against Barnsley in November tarnished an already dubious reputation and he exceeded himself by refusing to penalise Brighton defender Adam El-Abd for pole-axing Ross McCormack inside Brighton’s box. El-Abd flattened the striker with the full weight of his body but looked up to find Salisbury motionless and unimpressed by McCormack’s collapse. At first sight the decision looked indefensible and replays of the foul did Salisbury no credit.
In arriving second to that challenge, El-Abd summed up Brighton for 25 minutes: rarely in the game and unable to bring any weight to bear on Lonergan. For Redfearn, it was a more convincing advertisement of his coaching nous than the first 40 minutes at Aston Gate a week earlier.
Navarro saw both of Brighton’s first two chances in the space of a minute, slashing one volley over the crossbar and driving another more controlled attempt into Lonergan’s arms from 20 yards. Gordon Greer knocked a corner into the stands as criticism of Salisbury’s officiating grew vociferous. The half threatened to belong to him, as it had once before, and his loss of footing in the 34th minute was manna from heaven for the spectators.
A change in the wind seemed evident by the time Lonergan dived to punch away Liam Bridcutt’s sweetly-hit shot, but the remaining minutes before half-time were disjointed and wayward. With 43 gone, Sam Vokes narrowly failed to apply the touch need to bury Ashley Barnes’ knockdown and claim a goal Brighton had scarcely earned.
The opening stages of the second half alone were more promising than all that had gone before. Becchio failed by inches to slide Snodgrass’ cross into the net and two excellent saves from Lonergan – both with his fingertips – denied Mattock and Vokes at the other end. Vokes should have converted the corner which followed his own effort but connected weakly with a cross from Buckley’s replacement, Craig Noone.
The tit-for-tat exchange was akin to the clubs’ first meeting of the season, and the promise of a goal hung in the air. Adam Smith, United’s right-back, hooked the ball over Peter Brezovan’s net after Kazenga LuaLua’s misplaced pass left Albion vulnerable and McCormack did the same when Adam Clayton found him with a clever pass over the head of El-Abd. The attacks checked a Brighton side whose reputed skill was starting to show itself.
Redfearn watched and waited as Tom Lees scuffed a header kindly into Brezovan’s hands and Becchio struck El-Abd in the face, earning one of a clutch of yellow cards. But Mackail-Smith’s entrance came in the 74th minute and so did Brighton’s route to victory, opened within three minutes when the striker side-footed Vicente’s corner into the net from point-blank range.
Just as quickly, Becchio met Snodgrass’ corner with a deadly header, guiding it with precision through a crowded box and beating Brezovan at his far post.
His finish left the game on the edge and there it remained until Navarro struck, driving the ball home as Albion’s players swarmed all over United’s box with the intention of shooting to kill. “Wherever we play,” said Poyet, “we play to win.”