Could Leeds win spark turnaround in Paul Heckingbottom’s spell?

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Paul Heckingbottom was surely under pressure before Leeds United got back to winning ways at the weekend.

When Kyle Bartley scored in the 87th minute during Leeds’ clash with Blackburn Rovers in September 2016, then head coach Garry Monk would have been forgiven for believing that that may have been the goal that would save his job at Elland Road.

Despite only arriving that summer, Monk had faced questions about his future at the Whites for much of his tenure up until that point, with the Daily Mirror reporting that Massimo Cellino had even considered sacking him after his first competitive game in charge.

The win over Blackburn was not an inspiring one by any means, with Rovers bottom of the table and Leeds just a couple of places higher, but the three points was probably huge for Monk’s spell and went on to become the first step in a turnaround that nearly led to the Whites reaching the play-offs last season.

Fast forward to last weekend, and Paul Heckingbottom may have had a similar feeling when Gjanni Alioski scored from close range during Leeds’ clash with Barnsley for what proved to be the winning goal.

There is no official suggestion that Heckingbottom is fighting for his future with Leeds, but there is no doubt that his critics were becoming louder and his supporters were finding it harder to justify why he should not be discarded so abruptly by the club he only joined earlier this year.

Defeat against relegation-threatened Barnsley – of course, the 40-year-old’s old club – would have seen the head coach come under even more pressure, perhaps the sort of pressure that would have left Andrea Radrizzani considering his future.

Much like the 2016 win over Blackburn, it was not pretty. But Leeds did bag the three points by the same scoreline, so perhaps there is the potential for Saturday’s win to be reflected upon as the turning point for Heckingbottom in the same way that the victory against Blackburn was for Monk.

Heckingbottom has arguably not helped himself with some of the decisions that he has made during his tenure, but he is a talented coach who appears to have his eye on some big changes that will take time to implement.

The pressure may not be gone by any means, but perhaps the three points has given him the kind of breathing space that could make all the difference in the coming months.