Former Barnsley manager, and current Bristol City head coach, Lee Johnson,has told the Barnsley Chronicle that Paul Heckingbottom should be handed the job full-time at Oakwell. Alongside Tommy Wright, Heckingbottom has guided the Tykes firmly into play-off contention.
The South Yorkshire club also have a Johnstone’s Paint Trophy final at Wembley to look forward to on the horizon. Now is a very exciting time for Barnsley supporters, but it could get even better yet. Johnson believes Heckingbottom should spearhead that charge.
It was just under two months ago that Bristol City approached Barnsley to speak to Lee Johnson, son of Cheltenham Town manager Gary, and he was soon in the stands watching over his new team win at Charlton Athletic. However he clearly holds a major interest in his former club, and has been invited to attend the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy final against Oxford United as well.
Johnson says that the Barnsley hierarchy need not look any further that the management structure they currently have in place in terms of finding a long-term replacement to him,
“Hecky is definitely the right choice for Barnsley in the long-term.
“He is Barnsley through and through and a very knowledgeable coach. I am not surprised at all that he is doing so well. I am sure Tommy’s experience and guidance has been a big help to him and they are two very good friends of mine so I am very happy for them.
“The test will be when Hecky has difficult times and if he can come through them because it is very difficult to manage a football club. But he’s doing a great job at the moment and long may it continue.”
Johnson expects his ex-club to be involved in the promotion shake-up for the rest of the season and has backed them to jump up to the next level, where hopefully his Bristol City side will also be next season too. Looking back at his time in charge at Oakwell, particularly earlier this season, he admits that player recruitment wasn’t good enough and that was why they started the season so sluggishly,
“Our recruitment was average and that was a massive factor behind the low position in the table. We ended up with a team that took a long time to gel. Usually you have to really coach five or six players every day and the others just get on with it. But, with that team, we had to coach 20 or more very closely.
“Later on we brought in players like Adam Hammill, Kevin Long, Lloyd Isgrove and Aidy White and got rid of a few loan players who weren’t producing. That helped us a lot.”
Barnsley welcome Scunthorpe United to Oakwell this afternoon, who are also under new management in the form of ex-Fleetwood Town boss and Preston North End club legend Graham Alexander.
