Dave Hockaday- Leeds United
Many people were caught off guard by this appointment. When Hockaday was first linked with the Leeds job people just shrugged it off, tarring it wild ‘paper talk’. But on the 19th of June it became reality, Dave Hockaday had been appointed the new manager of Leeds United on a three-year- deal. It’s fair to say that Hockaday is a fairly unknown figure in the Championship, until recently of course. His only previous managerial job was with Conference side Forest Green Rovers and his record there wasn’t exactly scintillating. He won just 64 of his 189 games in charge losing 75 of them, a poor record considering his side had one of the biggest budgets in the Conference for the past few seasons.
So what does new United owner Massimo Cellino see in his new man? Well, we can’t be too sure. In a recent interview Cellino compared coaches to watermelons stating “you only know [how good it is] when you open it,”. This is an indicator that Cellino is trusting his own judgement more than anything and is prepared to take a huge gamble on his new head coach. It’s clear that Cellino prefers a manager to be given the title ‘first team coach’ and have them working with the players on the training more than a manager probably would. That’s what I expect Cellino sees in his new man, someone who can work on the training ground and help develop players.
So why is he under pressure? Well the answer is simple. He has just taken a colossal jump from the Conference to being in charge of the Championship’s biggest club. Not only that but Cellino has already stated that he will sack Hockaday if it becomes apparent that he has made the wrong choice, quoting “Sometimes you don’t want to fire a coach because you try to pretend that you didn’t make a mistake. That’s a dangerous thing. I can’t do that because I have to look after the interests of my club, not the pride of my choice.” With this in mind Hockaday will already be feeling the weight of the task at hand. Leeds need to get off to a good start. It’s been a hectic summer for the club with the departure of Brian McDermott, who was a well liked figure at Elland Road. Stories have come out that the players have had to wash their own kit and bring in their own packed lunches, it’s a hard life isn’t it? Hockaday will also be putting himself under-pressure. He needs to do well at Leeds, this is a huge chance for him to put himself on the map in footballing terms and prove to the doubters he has what it takes to manager at this level.
