I'll Drag People Along With Me

PAUL Heckingbottom may not be the man Leeds fans want, at least if the outcry on fans’ forums is any gauge.

- Chris Dunlavy

But after six months of a season that has veered from the sublime to the ridiculous, the 40-year-old Yorkshire-man may be the man they need.

In the 14 years since Leeds’ relegation from the Premier League, 19 men have occupied the Elland Road dugout. For many - not least Thomas Christiansen that seat proved far too hot.

As defeats mounted amid a disciplinary meltdown, the Dane became increasingly subdued and monosyllabic.

Serious

Even in the good times he appeared introverted and serious, a perpetually furrowed brow betraying the pressure of managing this fallen behemoth.

“I felt the players were a little bit stressed when they went into games,” said owner Andrea Radrizzani (pictured right), who rather harshly called Christiansen “a mistake”. “We needed a coach with personality to calm them.”

At first glance, Heckingbottom, lured from Barnsley after two years of quiet overachievement, doesn’t fit the bill. The former Manchester United trainee certainly isn’t a larger-than-life character in the mould of Neil Warnock or Harry Redknapp.