Uwe Rösler becomes fourth Leeds manager appointed by Massimo Cellino

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/may/20/uwe-rosler-leeds-manager-massimo-cellino

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Leeds United have appointed the former Brentford and Wigan manager Uwe Rösler as the club’s new head coach.

The club announced that the 46-year-old German had signed a two-year contract following talks at Elland Road on Tuesday. He becomes Massimo Cellino’s fourth appointment since the controversial Italian became owner in April 2014.

Neil Redfearn is still under contract until 30 June and had the option of resuming as academy manager, but it remains to be seen whether he has severed all ties with the club after his public stand-off with Cellino.

Cellino branded the former academy manager Redfearn as “weak” and a “baby” after returning to office earlier this month having served a Football League ban for a tax conviction in his homeland last year.

Rösler, a former striker with Manchester City, was sacked by Wigan in November 2014 after less than a year in the job. He had guided Wigan to the Championship play-offs and the semi-finals of the FA Cup the previous season, but departed after the club had slipped into the relegation zone.

CONFIRMED: We are pleased to announce Uwe Rosler has been appointed as the new #lufc head coach on a two-year deal. pic.twitter.com/VHhBK3b4We

Rösler started out in management in Norway in 2004 with Lillestrom, Viking Stavanger and then Molde before returning to England to take charge of Brentford in June 2011.

He guided the Bees to within minutes of automatic promotion to the Championship on the final day of the regular 2012-13 season before a last-gasp defeat to Doncaster. Brentford went on to lose the play-off final to Yeovil and Rösler left the club the following December to take charge of the Latics.

Cellino hired 36 coaches during 22 years as owner of Cagliari and his latest move will fuel the fire in the bellies of his many detractors among Leeds fans, whose numbers have swelled in recent months.

A boyhood Leeds fan, Redfearn, hugely popular among the club’s supporters, spent six years in charge of the academy before being appointed head coach by Cellino following the sacking of Darko Milanic in October 2014.

Redfearn, 49, steered the club away from relegation trouble in the Championship and played a key role in bringing through the club’s latest batch of academy players.

Despite the unexplained sacking of assistant Steve Thompson in early April and a catalogue of off-field distractions under Cellino’s tenure, Redfearn has been widely recognised for retaining his dignity under testing circumstances.