“I was worried” – Sheffield United fan pundit speaks out about initial Paul Heckingbottom appointment | OneFootball

This article is part of Football League World’s ‘Terrace Talk’ series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Sheffield United are in dreamland right now in the Championship, with plenty going right for the club since Paul Heckingbottom took charge at Bramall Lane.

When he was appointed, the club was in some disarray. They were sliding down the division under Slavisa Jokanovic and despite possessing a talented squad and with many expecting the team to do better, they were looking down rather than up the table.

Even so, it was somewhat of a surprise appointment by United. With the club struggling, it seemed they should have gone for someone with perhaps more experience of leading a team out of the division and in the right direction and Heckingbottom hadn’t had tons of that.

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His previous best win rate as a boss was a meagre 38% at Hibernian for example. Prior to that, he had an ill-fated stint at Leeds United that produced just four wins in 16, and even earlier than that, he could manage just 23 wins out of 83 for Barnsley.

After better days in Scotland – but only slightly – a small stint with the Blades had produced a win rate of just 27%. The signs were then, that appointing a boss like Heckingbottom could make things even worse for the club and that they wouldn’t be going in the right direction. Fast forward and the manager has not only led them into the play-offs last year but has taken them to the very top of the Championship table this campaign too.

They’ve been the team to beat and he has proven all of the doubters wrong as manager. Now, speaking about when he was initially appointed, Football League World’s Sheffield United fan pundit Owain Wyse has revealed he was ‘worried’ to see the boss linked and didn’t expect to see the success that he has had.

Speaking about the manager then, he said: “I was worried to be honest, I thought it was a strange move at the time. I certainly didn’t see it being as big a success as it has been. However, I’ve got to give credit to the board, they were spot on.

“It was an excellent pick from the club and he understands the needs of the players and of the club itself. He also understands how to get the best out of the squad he has. He’s doing a wonderful job and I just hope it can continue.”

The Verdict

It really has paid off massively having Heckingbottom as their manager but it’s hard to believe anyone thought that he would do this well with Sheffield United.

The manager’s track record didn’t make for good reading. He’d tried in this league before and failed and his best stint really didn’t suggest that he would be much to shout about either. Still, the Blades persisted in appointing him and they proved that they were right and were justified in their call.

Right now, it’s hard to think of anyone who Sheffield United fans would have to come in and replace the manager and that is something you probably didn’t expect to hear when he was initially appointed. Heckingbottom though has just made the Blades click and it really is paying off.

If he can keep it up and get the club promoted, he will be a club hero if he isn’t already.