Paul Heckingbottom believes his former club Barnsley will stay up this season and has denied he showed a lack of loyalty in moving to their bitter rivals Leeds United.
The 40-year-old from Royston left his hometown club last week, following two years in charge and almost a decade in total at Oakwell as a player, youth coach and first team coach.
Asked what he thought of accusations from some fans that he had shown a lack of loyalty after the club gave him his first coaching role and then a new contract during a run of one win in his last 16 matches, he told the Chronicle: "I can't just stay forever at one club until I am sacked. These things happen. I was pushed out of the club as a player but I didn't see it as a lack of loyalty from the club. It's just the nature of football.
"There are a lot of people who have been upset by me leaving, but there have been even more who have got in touch and told me that they understand and wished me all the best.
"The big decision was taking the role as head coach permanently in the first place because I knew that, in a couple of years, I would either be sacked or I would move on to another club because I am very ambitious."
Barnsley drew their first game under caretaker coach Paul Harsley 1-1 against Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday, while Heckingbottom's Leeds were beaten 2-1 at Sheffield United. Results later in the day saw the Reds drop into the Championship relegation zone for the first time since the opening weeks of the season. Heckingbottom – although now focused on cutting the eight-point gap between Leeds and the play-off places – insists the Reds are capable of bouncing out of the drop zone.
He said: "It's unfortunate that they are in the bottom three now. But I believe they have got enough to stay up and I certainly hope that they do. They have a very good squad there with competition in every position. It was good to see Issy (Lloyd Isgrove) back on Saturday and I am really pleased we got Oli (McBurnie, who scored against Wednesday) in in January because you saw what a good player he can be on Saturday.
"The hardest thing was leaving the players and staff because we had built up a very close relationship and that was a real wrench."
Barnsley are due to visit Elland Road for their third-last game of the season on April 21. Heckingbottom – who signed every current Barnsley player apart from goalkeepers Adam Davies and Nick Townsend as well as winger Adam Hammill – said: "It will be a big one and a strange day for me. Not so much managing against Barnsley because I have played against them as a player and that is part and parcel of football, but more the fact that I was there so recently and I will know every player on the pitch inside out. That will be a new experience for me and it will be a different game to the others. It will be surreal."
Heckingbottom, who began watching Barnsley as a child with his grandfather in the 1980s, insists he will always love the club he gained promotion with as a player in 2006 and head coach in 2016. He said: "You can change the club you work for or play for but there is only one club that I grew up supporting and only one town I am from. I'll always be a Barnsley lad but I am giving everything to Leeds United now.
"It's been a really good grounding in coaching at Oakwell. The stuff on the pitch has probably been the easiest part of it but the stuff off the pitch has really shown me a lot about the world of football and being a manager. There is still a lot of fondness and happiness when I look back at that time. I wish everyone at the club and all the fans well.
"The two Wembley wins (in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy and the play-offs) are obviously highlights and they set everything going."But last season was the most enjoyable because of where we finished with a newly-promoted team and the points total."
Heckingbottom was critical, when Oakwell head coach, of those above him for not tying down his promotion heroes on longer contracts and for selling top-scorer Sam Winnall and captain Conor Hourihane in January last year which the Reds began eighth in the Championship, four points off the play-offs. They finished 14th.
Asked if he ever thought about what might have been if that team had stayed together, he said: "I honestly don't. It's gone. Decisions were made and we have to live with them and get on with it."
Heckingbottom's first game in charge at Elland Road will be on Sunday at 4.30pm on Sky Sports against Bristol City, who are managed by another former Barnsley boss Lee Johnson who he worked for as a coach at Oakwell then replaced as head coach.
