Leeds United manager Dave Hockaday desperate to defy his doubters at Elland Road this season
Telegraph 2/8/14
Less than a year ago Hockaday was in charge at Conference side Forest Green Rovers. He was sacked last October – and has now been charged with reviving Leeds' fortunes
By Luke Edwards
Dave Hockaday’s appointment as Leeds United’s new head coach came as a surprise to everyone, except the man himself. What he may lack in experience, the club’s eighth manager in 10 years makes up for in self-belief.
“I don’t doubt myself,” he says. “I’ve been involved in professional football for 40 years, I’ve coached in the Premier League and I believe I’ve got a solid CV.”
It seems a curious comment for a man who has never managed in the Football League and who was sacked by Conference side Forest Green Rovers in October last year, but then again Leeds are a curious club.
It has been 10 years since they last graced the Premier League, a decade that has seen seven managers fail to keep results on the pitch in line with the giddy expectations of supporters and directors alike.
There have been old managers and young ones, former players, club legends and even old adversaries like Championship promotion specialist, Neil Warnock, but none have lasted long.
Now it is Hockaday’s turn, the 56-year-old having been personally headhunted by the club’s new owner Massimo Cellino.
To say that his arrival was greeted with disgruntlement by supporters would be something of an understatement.
Even before he had taken a training session, let alone played a game, a poll in the Yorkshire Evening Press revealed that 85 per cent of supporters opposed his appointment.
It is the kind of reception that would have crushed most rookie managers, but not Hockaday.
“I came in and there was a little bit of chaos going on, but I’ve been very pleased with how things have gone” said Hockaday.
“I wasn’t surprised I got the job because I didn’t apply for it. I was approached.
“I met the president a few times and I was offered the job. I weighed everything up, but it only took a split second for me to accept because I’m comfortable with what was offered.
“I’m not the manager in the English sense, I’m the head coach. I don’t do any negotiating on transfers or contracts, I coach the team and that’s my passion, that is what I want to do more than anything else. But I have to earn the respect of the supporters, I accept that.”
Hockaday talks of already seeing “green shoots of recovery” and repeatedly praised the players for their willingness to embrace his ideas, but he also delivered a reality check just in case there are those who expect him to win promotion in his first season.
“Leeds United are one of the biggest clubs in the country, we have fans all over the world, but we are a bottom half of the table Championship team. That’s where we finished and the table doesn’t lie.
“We have more potential than most to play in the Premier League, but we have a million miles to go. That’s the ambition, but we are going to do things step by step and I intend to be here for a long time.”
Cellino was so desperate to buy Leeds four months ago that he took the Football League to court after initially failing their fit and proper persons test for new owners due to having a previous conviction for fraud. As yet, however, he has done nothing to prove he will succeed where Ken Bates and DFH Capital did not.
He was a controversial figure as owner of Italian club Cagliari, and while he has rescued Leeds from another crippling spell in administration, there is little confidence things will improve dramatically on the pitch: this summer has seen stories of drastic cost-cutting at the training ground and goalkeeper Paddy Kenny being sacked reportedly because he was born on May 17 (Cellino considers the number unlucky).
Last season’s captain and top goalscorer Ross McCormack has also been sold to Fulham for £7 million as the Scotland international was disillusioned with the treatment of former manager Brian McDermott.
Hockaday has no say over transfers, which are controlled by Cellino and sporting director Nicola Salerno, and there is a distinctly Italian flavour to recruitment: Marco Silvestri from Chievo, Tommaso Bianchi from Sassuolo, Gaetano Berardi from Samdoria and Souleymane Doukara, from Catania.
Leeds have shown an interest in former Newcastle United striker Nile Ranger, who had his contract terminated by Swindon Town six months ago, but the only domestic signing is goalkeeper Stuart Taylor from Reading.
Cellino has no intention of spending lavishly chasing the promotion dream, which is why Hockaday believes he is the ideal person to look after the team.
“He wants to be successful, he wants to leave a legacy, but when you are climbing Everest it might take you a million steps, but you have to make sure the first one is sturdy or you have no chance of getting to the summit.
"That is what we are doing. The president wants to buy Elland Road back so we are not lodgers, that’s going to take some time, but if he hadn’t bought the club, there might not be a Leeds United. They were going into administration again.
"The business is stable, but I know I will have to improve this team on the training pitch.
“I’ll work with whatever players I’m given. We are changing the culture here and we are trying to play attractive football.
"It’s going to be a bumpy ride, there will be setbacks, but I believe we are already taking steps forward.”
Leeds supporters will no doubt point out they have heard it all before. Hockaday and Cellino both have much to prove.
Less than a year ago Hockaday was in charge at Conference side Forest Green Rovers. He was sacked last October – and has now been charged with reviving Leeds' fortunes
By Luke Edwards
Dave Hockaday’s appointment as Leeds United’s new head coach came as a surprise to everyone, except the man himself. What he may lack in experience, the club’s eighth manager in 10 years makes up for in self-belief.
“I don’t doubt myself,” he says. “I’ve been involved in professional football for 40 years, I’ve coached in the Premier League and I believe I’ve got a solid CV.”
It seems a curious comment for a man who has never managed in the Football League and who was sacked by Conference side Forest Green Rovers in October last year, but then again Leeds are a curious club.
It has been 10 years since they last graced the Premier League, a decade that has seen seven managers fail to keep results on the pitch in line with the giddy expectations of supporters and directors alike.
There have been old managers and young ones, former players, club legends and even old adversaries like Championship promotion specialist, Neil Warnock, but none have lasted long.
Now it is Hockaday’s turn, the 56-year-old having been personally headhunted by the club’s new owner Massimo Cellino.
To say that his arrival was greeted with disgruntlement by supporters would be something of an understatement.
Even before he had taken a training session, let alone played a game, a poll in the Yorkshire Evening Press revealed that 85 per cent of supporters opposed his appointment.
It is the kind of reception that would have crushed most rookie managers, but not Hockaday.
“I came in and there was a little bit of chaos going on, but I’ve been very pleased with how things have gone” said Hockaday.
“I wasn’t surprised I got the job because I didn’t apply for it. I was approached.
“I met the president a few times and I was offered the job. I weighed everything up, but it only took a split second for me to accept because I’m comfortable with what was offered.
“I’m not the manager in the English sense, I’m the head coach. I don’t do any negotiating on transfers or contracts, I coach the team and that’s my passion, that is what I want to do more than anything else. But I have to earn the respect of the supporters, I accept that.”
Hockaday talks of already seeing “green shoots of recovery” and repeatedly praised the players for their willingness to embrace his ideas, but he also delivered a reality check just in case there are those who expect him to win promotion in his first season.
“Leeds United are one of the biggest clubs in the country, we have fans all over the world, but we are a bottom half of the table Championship team. That’s where we finished and the table doesn’t lie.
“We have more potential than most to play in the Premier League, but we have a million miles to go. That’s the ambition, but we are going to do things step by step and I intend to be here for a long time.”
Cellino was so desperate to buy Leeds four months ago that he took the Football League to court after initially failing their fit and proper persons test for new owners due to having a previous conviction for fraud. As yet, however, he has done nothing to prove he will succeed where Ken Bates and DFH Capital did not.
He was a controversial figure as owner of Italian club Cagliari, and while he has rescued Leeds from another crippling spell in administration, there is little confidence things will improve dramatically on the pitch: this summer has seen stories of drastic cost-cutting at the training ground and goalkeeper Paddy Kenny being sacked reportedly because he was born on May 17 (Cellino considers the number unlucky).
Last season’s captain and top goalscorer Ross McCormack has also been sold to Fulham for £7 million as the Scotland international was disillusioned with the treatment of former manager Brian McDermott.
Hockaday has no say over transfers, which are controlled by Cellino and sporting director Nicola Salerno, and there is a distinctly Italian flavour to recruitment: Marco Silvestri from Chievo, Tommaso Bianchi from Sassuolo, Gaetano Berardi from Samdoria and Souleymane Doukara, from Catania.
Leeds have shown an interest in former Newcastle United striker Nile Ranger, who had his contract terminated by Swindon Town six months ago, but the only domestic signing is goalkeeper Stuart Taylor from Reading.
Cellino has no intention of spending lavishly chasing the promotion dream, which is why Hockaday believes he is the ideal person to look after the team.
“He wants to be successful, he wants to leave a legacy, but when you are climbing Everest it might take you a million steps, but you have to make sure the first one is sturdy or you have no chance of getting to the summit.
"That is what we are doing. The president wants to buy Elland Road back so we are not lodgers, that’s going to take some time, but if he hadn’t bought the club, there might not be a Leeds United. They were going into administration again.
"The business is stable, but I know I will have to improve this team on the training pitch.
“I’ll work with whatever players I’m given. We are changing the culture here and we are trying to play attractive football.
"It’s going to be a bumpy ride, there will be setbacks, but I believe we are already taking steps forward.”
Leeds supporters will no doubt point out they have heard it all before. Hockaday and Cellino both have much to prove.