Chris Sutton admitS he feels sorry for Paul Heckingbottom after he was sacked as Leeds United manager on Friday afternoon and feels that perhaps the club’s hierarchy who make the decisions should follow him through the exit doors at Elland Road.
The Whites confirmed the 40-year-old has been dismissed and departed Elland Road alongside backroom staff Jamie Clapham, Nathan Winder, Alex Bailey and Gianni Vio.
Heckingbottom departs after just four months in charge of the Yorkshire giants and won four games in his 16 appearances.
Pundit Sutton has raised question marks over the manager’s dismissal and pointed the finger at the decision makers, with owner Andrea Radrizzani, director of football Victor Orta and managing director Angus Kinnear perhaps in the frame.
“You have to feel sorry for Paul Heckingbottom 16 games and sacked….Leeds is a great club but have been rudderless for years… Maybe the decision makers should sack themselves!!!” Sutton wrote on his personal Twitter account.
You have to feel sorry for Paul Heckingbottom 16 games and sacked….Leeds is a great club but have been rudderless for years… Maybe the decision makers should sack themselves!!! https://t.co/ceaViNTVQe
— Chris Sutton (@chris_sutton73) June 1, 2018
OPINION
Heckingbottom’s departure has hardly come as a major surprise after an underwhelming finish to the season at Leeds, but perhaps he was up against it from the start. The board have opted against giving him the chance to build his own squad over the summer and that begs the question as to how confident they were in his appointment in the first place. Football Insider report that Leeds have held face-to-face talks with Argentinian boss Marcelo Bielsa about becoming their next manager and feel the 62-year-old can make a difference. It appears like the Whites are wasting no time in trying to appoint Heckingbottom’s successor and that is certainly the smart thing to do. Bielsa would arrive at Elland Road with a lot of pedigree and seems to be a world away in terms of experience to Heckingbottom, something that should help galvanise the current group. However, the dark cloud hanging over him is that he has never managed in England before despite his prior successes.