Neil Redfearn formally resigned from Leeds United this morning, saying his position at the club had become "untenable".

When Redfearn agreed to take the job of ‘head coach’ last season he insisted that a clause was inserted into his contract that if it didn’t work out he would have a cast-iron guarantee that he would be able to return to his previous job at the club’s academy. It seemed at the time that this would avoid the situation we all feared, that Redders’ talent would be lost to the club altogether if his time as head coach was ended by the notoriously impatient Cellino.

And when he was replaced in that role by Uwe Rosler in May, the new Chief Executive Adam Pearson seemed to have confirmed that Redfearn would indeed be able to go back to the excellent work he had previously been doing at the academy. At his first press conference Perason said “It is definitely a realistic offer because I made it. It was said with all credibility and it’s been given to him.”

But that was obviously too good to be true, and the truth of the situation was that the relationship between Redfearn and Cellino had completely broken down. Probably we shouldn’t have expected anything else after Cellino’s extraordinary comments that Redfearn was “weak” and acting “like a baby”, an outburst that may well have been prompted by jealousy of Redfearn’s popularity amongst our fanbase.

Redfearn has been absent from the club throughout the summer and has not played any part in pre-season training. We now know that Pearson has been trying to mediate between Cellino and Redfearn to try to reach a settlement for Redders contract to be terminated, but even that has proved to be impossible. So this is now likely to drag the club into yet another court case, as Redders seeks compensation for constructive dismissal.

Redfearn released a statement released this morning saying “It is with great sadness that I am resigning from my employment at Leeds United with immediate effect. I am desperately disappointed that Adam Pearson’s ‘offer’ of a return to my old position as academy manager was not genuine and the club have since made my position untenable by refusing to let me take up my post at Thorp Arch.”

"I would, however, like to place on record my thanks to everyone connected with the first team, including the fans, for making last season both productive and beneficial after a difficult start. Very importantly I would like to pay a special tribute to the academy where I proudly worked along with others for the best part of six years. I would like to wish Uwe Rosler and his staff and players every success for next season and beyond so that Leeds can back to the Premier League very soon.”

Leeds are planning to issue the club’s own official statement later today.

This is certainly an exceptionally shoddy way for Cellino to treat a thoroughly decent man. Most Leeds fans would agree that Redders did a decent job as ‘head coach’ last season in difficult circumstances, getting some good results before the mysterious suspension of his assistant Steve Thompson (which still hasn’t been explained).

It may well be that Rosler will prove to be a better manager (and by all accounts the pre-season if going pretty well with him in charge) but Redders should certainly have been allowed to do what he does best, and pick up where he left off at the academy. He leaves with the fans’ best wishes, and with his good reputation in the game it shouldn’t be too long before he is back in work with another club.

Photo: Action Images

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