Are Leeds United fans being too quick to slate Paul Heckingbottom?
Five points from five Championship games has meant that Paul Heckingbottom is already becoming an unpopular figure among Leeds United fans.
Leeds’ 3-0 defeat at Middlesbrough on Friday night did little to help the 40-year-old – who replaced Thomas Christiansen in February – and another loss to Championship leaders Wolves tomorrow night would further damage the perception of him among the Elland Road faithful you imagine.
But it is worth remembering that the 40-year-old manager is barely through the doors at Thorp Arch and the fact that he has enjoyed a better start to life in West Yorkshire than Garry Monk is enough of a reason not to write him off.
Monk, who quit his role as Leeds boss last May, managed to only win four points from his first five league games in charge of United – a difficult start which included a 3-0 defeat at QPR on the first day of last season.
Crucially, the 38-year-old also had a big advantage over Heckingbottom in the sense that he had three months to build a team, whereas the former Barnsley boss is working with a team built by Director of Football Victor Orta and Christiansen, a team that was already deemed insufficient in a number of different areas prior to his arrival.
Monk’s side finished five points adrift of the playoff spots last season in seventh, but that fact alone is enough to illustrate that the new Birmingham City manager turned things around dramatically despite a difficult start and there is nothing to suggest that Heckingbottom won’t do the same in time.
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