Michael ReevesWhen Michael Duff swapped Barnsley for Swansea City just a couple of short weeks ago he did so with the blessing and the backing of many people most of whom appreciated that he was taking on a challenge a division above just twelve months after taking over at Oakwell.
In that season he almost got the Tykes a return to the Championship in a season where the top three all managed a tally of points that would have been enough to win promotion in every League One season of the past.
Barnsley’s fourth placed finish may have been some ten points back of the third placed Sheffield Wednesday that they eventually lost to at Wembley but their eighty-six point tally was still a good one especially given their relegation the season before.
It is therefore somewhat bewildering that Neil Redfearn – the former Barnsley midfielder – took to Twitter over the weekend to claim that Duff had failed at the “easy” task of getting Barnsley promoted. Redfearn’s response was to the Swans official Twitter channel who were advertising their weekend press conference with Duff and the positivity that went with it.
Redfearn claimed that Barnsley ‘choked’ at Wembley against an average Sheffield Wednesday side – an average Sheffield Wednesday side that amassed 96 points during the course of the regular season. And of course in a game where they were reduced to ten men shortly after half time before losing out to a last minute winner in extra time.
Missed out on the easy bit ,getting Barnsley out of Lge 1 ( too good for Lge 1 struggle in the champ) and choked at Wembley v a very average Sheff W , so good luck Swans back to being average.
— Neil David Redfearn (@neil_redfearn8) July 2, 2023
Redfearn’s comments are all the more amazing when you look at a managerial record that seems to span 33 games in charge at Leeds and 21 at Rotherham where he was sacked after just four months in charge.
Redfearn made a return to football in December 2017 when he was appointed as head coach of woman’s team Doncaster Belles and successfully guided them to the FA WSL 2 title six months later. He was on the move just a month later when he joined Liverpool Ladies as manager but resigned in September 2018 after just one game (a 5-0 loss to Arsenal Women).
In June 2019 Redfearn was appointed assistant manager of Newcastle United’s under-23’s side but left just five months into the role after a reported bust-up with a member of his coaching staff.
To even compare Duff’s managerial record against Redfearn is somewhat akin to comparing the apple flavour of an apple against a Banana. They simply do not compare and Redfearn’s comments largely smell of someone who had all his sweets stolen at school or maybe someone who just cannot accept that his post playing career is anywhere near as full as his playing career (we should not lose sight of his total playing career spanning almost 800 league games)
It is hard to know why Redfearn made the comments that he did other than somewhere he felt that his 54 game managerial record could be translated into getting the Tykes promotion last season. However, whichever way you look at it the comments are disrespectful and unnecessary. And thankfully met with the right reaction on Twitter.
Didnt say it was easy. He said he failed at the easiest bit, which was to get Barnsley back to the Championship. Admittedly we were robbed. Still, I suppose that isnt really clickbait isnt it??
Laugh it up Swans. At end of the day he’s unproved at Championship level, and if he is successful he’ll step over you in a heartbeat.
Micky Long Haul is out for himself. no one else.
Thanks for the insight Neil.
We here at Swansea know better than you lot about being a stepping stone for a manager.
Martinez, Rodgers, Potter and Cooper to name 4 from very recent times.
We fully accept that he’ll leave if he’s successful.
So its not easy
yet its the easiest bit?
Make sense Neil.
I think the point has been twisted is this….
He failed to get us out of League 1. (admittedly we were shafted by the ref, but there you go). That is the easiest bit of it. The harder step is to keep a team in the Championship. The hardest of all is getting to the premier league, where you guys are at the minute.
It’s a little harsh, but he did fail at the easiest of those steps, so Redders has a point, and you need him to succeed at the hardest. Fair play to ya if he does.
I dont agree with that comment about chocking though, we mullered them for 70 minutes with 10 men.
I dont think thats being twisted. He was referencing it should be been easier fro Barnsley to get out of League One than us into the Championship (using your logic)
So if thats the case then using that logic its easier for Salford to reach League One next season than Leicester to reach the Premier League. Quite simply thats not how it works because the starting block is looking at what you are up against and given the resource that seemed available to the three sides above you compared to yours (plus putting together the fact you had just slipped from being a play off side in 21 to being relegated in 22) its more disrespectful to assume that its the easiest task because its a division below.
Redfearn should not have said it is the simple fact especially given his appalling managerial record at pretty much every level. Bar maybe FM21
No. It’s easier for Leicester to reach the premier league because they have a great team and are loaded. It’ll be harder to stop up the year after….
There is a massive gulf in the divisions. Look how Burnley and Sheff Utd walked into the premier league and Plymouth and Ipswich strolled out of League one. If you get relegated, its relatively easy to get back. For Duff to do what you want him to do he is getting past Leicester, Southampton, Leeds, Middlesbrough, Coventry, Sunderland, West Brom. Hope it goes well for ya, but good luck.
I think that’s kind of what Redfearn was getting at. But yeah, maybe better to keep his trap shut.
Haven’t got an issue with you fans, or Swansea as a club. It’s only what we did to Cheltenham 12 months ago. Good luck to ya… My Issue is with the misleading article.
Swansea have done a far better job at continuity than we have. you were in the premier league 3 years after we beat you in a playoff final, and clearly replaced a very good coach with another very good coach. It’s just, that side at Wembley would have strolled league one next year, thats why it stings.
Neil who?????