What will Hecky’s next job be?

[blade67]

This season has shown him up as the extremely limited manager many of us knew we had.

Tactically rigid, naive, stubborn and awful in-game IQ.

Slimane playing yesterday was more of the same we’ve seen since Wilder has come back, comes in and looks fantastic. Technically gifted and fearless, but he didn’t know ‘the shape’ so he can’t play under Heckyball rules.

Then you’ve got the Souza/Norwood conundrum which has now been proven correct. He looks a lot better without Norwood.

We MUST always play a back 5. Except when we don’t and get a clean sheet…

Everything that’s happening is painting Hecky as a manager in a worse light, I can’t see anything above Rotherham for him. He got the best side in the league up with the best player in the league upfront… apart from handling the off field stuff really well I don’t think he did anything out the ordinary.

I see a situation for him where he’s out of work for a long time. He will think he’s worthy of x job, but in reality he’s still pretty unfashionable and this season going the way it has will have killed all the good stuff he’s built for his reputation.

Very interested to see what happens next for him, and I do wish him luck.

A 40% win rate, mostly in the Championship, means he'll get a decent job if he wants it at a club that needs a steady man in charge.

I saw your post and immediately thought of Mick McCarthy

 

[Roygbiv]

Sunderland job ?

Been interviewed according to some on their forum

 

[CarlMcBlade]

Sunlund?

 

[Zipwire]

I’m not gong to drag Hecky over the coals for his perceived failings because he doesn’t deserve that. I also think that by ripping him apart for his failings won’t provide us with a true reflection of his time at the Lane.

In his first stint he gave us a bit of pride and dignity in getting a few more points on the board when he was effectively already down.

Then when he was given the job full time he turned round a season that was rapidly going down the pan under Slav, and if he had been appointed a few weeks earlier we would have been top 6.

Last season we was in the top 2 all season and clinically saw the season through without being spectacular with a series of unspectacular and workmanlike performances.

This season he was shorn of his two best players in the summer. He appointed a defensive coach that didn’t work out as he planned and his tactics primarily consisted of trying to keep it tight and get something on the break and it didn’t work. The back 3 saw the wing backs get hemmed in and pushed back to almost make it in to a flat back 5, and playing two defensive midfielders made it very hard to get forward as there was no outlet.

Sacking him was always going to be a gamble as there wasn’t any guarantees that whoever came in would be able to do any better and Wilder had two mixed spells at Boro and Watford. After Spurs when the possible return of Wilder was first muted it wasn’t a popular move but the ongoing poor form made the change more justifiable and fortunately for us it is working out.

I’m not sure if a role as manager is Heckys strength, I think he would make an excellent U23 coach with a remit to develop and produce players or if he was to be a number 1, it would be at a club with a reliance of developing youth players. I think he would be an excellent appointment for the FA at the U21s for example. I also think that we could do a lot worse than getting him back to work with the u23s. His departure from the club doesn’t seem particular sour and I’d imagine he still has a good relationship with Wilder

 

[CarlMcBlade]

…that would be a cracking job for him

 

[BladeInIreland]

Can see him becoming one of them managers who get hired to weather the storm of off field problems without kicking up a fuss or demanding much.

Don't think he would thrive at a club as big as Sunderland. He has already taken big jobs though in us and Leeds but you would think he would do better at a club with lower expectations e.g. Barnsley.

 

[JackSUFC]

I think all he did was instill a bit of belief in his first half season. Coupled with the fact he had a decent team.
Said to my son after we got promoted and he asked why aren’t you as happy as last time?
I said the football has been boring, yes we win matches but the whole set up is wrong.

If we didn’t have players that could unlock the door as you say we were shite most matches and ground out results.

I think that was part of his plan looking back. Keep it tight at the back with pragmatic low-risk football and let Ndiaye, McActee and Berge do their thing in the final third.

It wasn’t easy to watch and there were plenty of ugly 1-0s but in a year where it felt like promotion or bust, he got the job done and we finished on 91 points. No one can argue with that.

 

[Slim Man]

Can't believe what a bunch of revisionist bullshit being spouted here...

Wilder wins one game and all of a sudden Heckinbottom is 'unemployable'. Let's conveniently forget the season he took over and got us to the play-offs, followed by promotion with 91 points and an FA Cup final... What a bunch of moaning old women you lot are....

We really don't deserve nice things do we.

Has anyone said that?

 

[Toronto Blade]

If they played like cunts deliberately they want fucking shooting.

It happens in every team sport once players realize the manager or coach's plan or tactics start to fail. The losses build the player's only way to change things is to keep playing the same way which gets higher management's attention.

 

[Weasel]

Has anyone said that?

No. No one on this thread has said that, but it's just easier (if you don't agree with a number of posts in a thread, most of whom have been written in a considered way expressing why that poster thinks what they have written) to just spout nonsense and make things up about what you perceive people to be saying rather than what has actually been said.

It reminds me of Angry Frank the character from the Fast Show who used to be fine and then start making things up in his head about what has been said in his imagination, and he ends up shouting and frothing at the mouth in the pub seething with anger. All the while, nothing of the sort has actually been said by anyone.

'Now if that Alan Titchmarsh who's a lovely fella was to knock on my door and tell me that his car had broken down and he needed a hand, I would be happy to oblige him...but if that same Alan Titchmarsh was to knock on my door...smiling like a smug bastard, and then tell me be was seeing my daughter and that he wanted to shag my wife as well in a threesome, and he had also had the audacity to kick all my flowers killing em all.....(startes gnashing of teeth and swearing).....'

 

[ghandi]

Before we appointed him no other Championship club would’ve considered him. His previous permanent job had been Hibernian where he’d been sacked. In that sense he fell lucky that was already with us and was a quick, cheap option.

However, he took us from the lower end of the Championship to a penalty shoot-out away from a play-off final, before following it up with automatic promotion and an FA Cup semi final appearance. You can’t take that away from him.

People can argue that he should’ve done it with the squad, but football has never been that simple.

I think his stock will have risen enough to get another job in the Championship. Maybe not a club expecting to challenge for promotion, but definitely mid-table and below.

I can’t see it being anytime soon though. He’ll have his pay-off from us and probably wants a break.

Or maybe he won't be seeking a managerial role?

 

[Bladezz]

He would have been good for Rotherham. But he’s best of sitting and waiting for a job that’s good.

 

[Bladezz]

Can't believe what a bunch of revisionist bullshit being spouted here...

Wilder wins one game and all of a sudden Heckinbottom is 'unemployable'. Let's conveniently forget the season he took over and got us to the play-offs, followed by promotion with 91 points and an FA Cup final... What a bunch of moaning old women you lot are....

We really don't deserve nice things do we.

He won’t get a top job as everyone will say it was Wilder team. Wilder come back and done better than he did so far.

It’s a harsh world we live in.

 

[LBA_Blade]

Hecky did a great job with our U23s, then a playoff semi that could have gone either way followed by a bounce back whilst under a January transfer embargo. He probably isn’t a Premiership manager unless he goes by Paulinho Heckio and that might get someone interested. He needs to take a lot of credit for what he did, the limited resources certainly haven’t helped but a further £100millon thrown at the current squad would be scratching the surface. I wish him well wherever he ends up either way hopefully enjoys a bit of a break at least!

 

[Sheffsteel]

Sacking him was always going to be a gamble as there wasn’t any guarantees that whoever came in would be able to do any better and Wilder had two mixed spells at Boro and Watford.

Don't understand the, "it was a gamble" comment.
I suppose technically every manager change is a gamble, but this was, in the short term, a no lose gamble.

We were on course to lose every single match, with maybe the odd draw.
Our performances suggests we weren't going to break 10 points this season.
I've been watching us 50 years and never seen anything like it, where you arrive at match knowing we have lost,
realistically expecting a 2 or 3-0 defeat but worrying that it might be 5, 6 or even 7-0.

We never looked a team and all our players looked poor with no tactics to score apart from a big boot upfield from Norwood and maybe a long throw from Robinson. Our midfielder didn't function, everyone treating the ball like a hot potato with zero passing interplay
Archer and Hamer looked decent on their debuts but gradually became worse as each match passed, looking lost in recent matches.
Thought Archers body language was really poor, he almost looked depressed because no one ever passed the ball direct to his feet.

There was a 90% certainty that any manager would improve the team performances, not necessarily the results.
Think we were so shockingly bad that I have wondered whether Hecky lost heart and deliberately tried to be sacked.

There was a 100% chance that any new manager couldn't be worse.
Common sense was to give it a scapegoat manager, someone cheap, willing to accept a short contract, that a list of incredible shit desperate managers, the best on the list was Wilder followed by Warnock because at least we would then be guaranteed to better Derbys record and become more difficult to beat.

Then start afresh bringing in a new manager over the Summer.
Thought we had nothing to lose and everything to gain....because we were down anyway in embarrassing fashion.

Regards Wilder we have seen he can create incredible miracles, so nothing should be a surprise really.
Also my theory was Wilder is in last chance saloon, his career is almost over and he's not exactly young
so he'll be the most determined, committed manager in the PL. Feel sorry for the players, Wilder will take no prisoners.

 

[IdLiketoRogerMoore]

Has anyone said that?

Erm, you describe him as "extremely limited"

If extremely limited is play offs followed by automatic promotion and an FA Cup semi, whilst single handedly overseeing the development of the best player of recent times in a Blades shirt - then fuck me sideways.....

 

[Sheffsteel]

Hecky did a great job with our U23s, then a playoff semi that could have gone either way followed by a bounce back whilst under a January transfer embargo. He probably isn’t a Premiership manager unless he goes by Paulinho Heckio and that might get someone interested. He needs to take a lot of credit for what he did, the limited resources certainly haven’t helped but a further £100millon thrown at the current squad would be scratching the surface. I wish him well wherever he ends up either way hopefully enjoys a bit of a break at least!

The embargo had little effect really, we already has one of the best squads in the league and were never going to sign another plauyer
it just stopped us bringing in a loan replacement for Khadra.
We needed to raise funds but rejected offers and kept all our best players, a big gamble that worked.

Agree about the name, really think the name Heckingbottham, his Barnsley accent and the fact that he never had a big playing career really puts off the average fan on the street. They'd rather have Lampard or Rooney, crazy really.

Also agree about the limited resource but he has spent £60 million on players over the Summer, offsetting sales then the spend was £30 million net, which isn't nothing. Anyway even if £10 million was spent, you accept that we are 99% down but a manager should still be accountable, not regards results (because Hecky has valid excuses) but performances, tactics and effort (this is where Hecky greatly underperformed). At least he leaves with his reputation with the fans intact, it never turned really nasty towards him and he'll be welcome back anytime.
Good bloke, nicer than Wilder and wish Hecky well.

 

[Slim Man]

Erm, you describe him as "extremely limited"

If extremely limited is play offs followed by automatic promotion and an FA Cup semi, whilst single handedly overseeing the development of the best player of recent times in a Blades shirt - then fuck me sideways.....

He is extremely limited (at the very least tactically) for the reasons I’ve stated that doesn’t mean he’s unemployable. Which no one has said. At all

 

[Sheffsteel]

Erm, you describe him as "extremely limited"

If extremely limited is play offs followed by automatic promotion and an FA Cup semi, whilst single handedly overseeing the development of the best player of recent times in a Blades shirt - then fuck me sideways.....

Agree, not limited....I'd say pragmatic....focussing on the result....and performances were irrelevant.
However often think performances offer an insight into future results.

However in fairness to Hecky......last season it was all about the result.
We were facing financial meltdown, so the reality was to win....at any cost.

Think Hecky identified that the defence was really good but slow (Egan and Robinson)...could be caught on the break. Under Slav we dominated games much more and he had our defence pushed up to the halfway line but we often used to concede on the break.

So he thought if the defence defend on the edge of their area they would be really tough to break down.
He also knew players like N'Diaye and McAtee could produce magic and score from nothing.
It worked and he deserves huge credit and thanks for saving us.

 

[Bladesman]

No. No one on this thread has said that, but it's just easier (if you don't agree with a number of posts in a thread, most of whom have been written in a considered way expressing why that poster thinks what they have written) to just spout nonsense and make things up about what you perceive people to be saying rather than what has actually been said.

It reminds me of Angry Frank the character from the Fast Show who used to be fine and then start making things up in his head about what has been said in his imagination, and he ends up shouting and frothing at the mouth in the pub seething with anger. All the while, nothing of the sort has actually been said by anyone.

'Now if that Alan Titchmarsh who's a lovely fella was to knock on my door and tell me that his car had broken down and he needed a hand, I would be happy to oblige him...but if that same Alan Titchmarsh was to knock on my door...smiling like a smug bastard, and then tell me be was seeing my daughter and that he wanted to shag my wife as well in a threesome, and he had also had the audacity to kick all my flowers killing em all.....(startes gnashing of teeth and swearing).....'

 

[Bartleby]

I was wondering yesterday, if Heckys watched that game, what’s he thinking?

Why didn’t they play like that for me?

Why couldn’t I get them to play like that?

Why do Slimane & Brooks look good?

Set of cunts


Hopefully he will look on and realise you have to change/try things and every now and then it’s ok to not be ok - been calmness personified isn’t always the way to a desired outcome

Honestly thought Wilder was going to start ruering on final whistle, missed that.

I think he'll get it. He took over a team in similar circumstances when CW left, got a bit of a tune out of them to make it a less depressing end to the season (2 wins out of final 3 games, brought Jebbo in)

 

[DifferentClass]

Fallowfield Rangers second XI.

 

[Charlieblade]

Has anyone said that?

The turnaround with Wilder using basically the same plays will not improve Hecky’s reputation that’s for sure.

 

[Houston_Blade]

I hope he gets a decent job as a manager and does well, nice guy, gave us a great season and half before reaching his ceiling and struggling for a couple of months having been setup to fail and completely demotivated by his superiors.

Definitely benefitted from having MGW and Ndiaye at his disposal but rescued a sinking ship overall.

I’d also love him not to find a suitable job and end up back in our u23 setup at some point, he’s clearly good at youth development.

 

[Weasel]

It will be interesting to see how he gets on at his next job. Proof will be in the pudding if/when he doesn't have a player or two who are way above the level of the rest of his team and his tactics and talents need to be the difference. Mmhhh. We'll see.

 

[Shakespeare blade]

This season has shown him up as the extremely limited manager many of us knew we had.

Tactically rigid, naive, stubborn and awful in-game IQ.

Slimane playing yesterday was more of the same we’ve seen since Wilder has come back, comes in and looks fantastic. Technically gifted and fearless, but he didn’t know ‘the shape’ so he can’t play under Heckyball rules.

Then you’ve got the Souza/Norwood conundrum which has now been proven correct. He looks a lot better without Norwood.

We MUST always play a back 5. Except when we don’t and get a clean sheet…

Everything that’s happening is painting Hecky as a manager in a worse light, I can’t see anything above Rotherham for him. He got the best side in the league up with the best player in the league upfront… apart from handling the off field stuff really well I don’t think he did anything out the ordinary.

I see a situation for him where he’s out of work for a long time. He will think he’s worthy of x job, but in reality he’s still pretty unfashionable and this season going the way it has will have killed all the good stuff he’s built for his reputation.

Very interested to see what happens next for him, and I do wish him luck.

The Xisco kid did the same at Watford, he to showed what is possible if you have the best players

 

[Shakespeare blade]

Can't believe what a bunch of revisionist bullshit being spouted here...

Wilder wins one game and all of a sudden Heckinbottom is 'unemployable'. Let's conveniently forget the season he took over and got us to the play-offs, followed by promotion with 91 points and an FA Cup final... What a bunch of moaning old women you lot are....

We really don't deserve nice things do we.

I never believed in Hecky, please check my previous posts, undoubtedly steadied the ship, but a game plan was already there he just needed to use it, the players understood it and he had the best squad in the league for both seasons, he was a total train wreck in the premier league where he brought in other players, new coaches and a new playing style ( I think), board where a fucking shambles to him but as wilder has proved it’s possible to inspire these players to be better than Hecky ever got out of them, I appreciate the work Hecky did but how much was him and not previous managers work that got him where he was, he never changed my opinion of him he surprised me no doubt, I thank him for his efforts and achievements and wish him luck moving forward.