Paul Heckingbottom enjoyed watching Barnsley live for the first time season and has backed them for automatic promotion while admitting this team is better than his promotion side of 2016.
The 41-year-old former Oakwell player and head coach was a Sky Sports pundit for Daniel Stendel’s Reds’ 3-2 win against Luton Town. It was the first time he has been back for a full game and interacting with staff and fans at a match since his February move to Leeds United.
Heckingbottom told the Chronicle: “I enjoyed the game and I was really impressed by Barnsley. It would have been a travesty if they didn’t get three points. They look a really good team. The style of play under Daniel Stendel really suits them because, when I was there, lots of those players were doing a really high amount of running every game even for Championship standards, so they are a perfect fit for a manager who likes to counter-attack and press. “It looks like a really good appointment and all the players and staff seem happy.
“There’s no reason that they can’t get in the top two this season. That’s got to be the aim. They have one of the strongest, if not the strongest, squads in the division. It’s great to see them doing so well because I will always be a Barnsley fan no matter what happens.”
Heckingbottom has never met Stendel but is familiar with the German style of play. He said: “When I was studying at university, one of the main teams I covered was Borussia Dortmund under Jurgen Klopp. Barnsley, in the first 20 minutes on Saturday, really reminded me of that team.”
Heckingbottom did not personally sign any of the team that was promoted in 2016, having taken over from Lee Johnson days after the January transfer window. But he was head coach when all but one of Saturday’s squad – Stendel’s fellow German Mike Bahre – were either signed or brought through the academy.
He sees comparisons between the two sides but thinks the latest version is superior to the team he led to Wembley wins in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy and the League One play-off final.
“There are similarities but I would say this team is better. It’s hard to compare all the individuals but, overall as a team, they are much more experienced and confident at League One level because they have played well in that division before, and some players have done well in the Championship too.
"The team that got promotion last time had come from lower leagues and they were just working it all out and getting to know each other, whereas this time the players know they are proven at this level and they have gelled together as a team very early on.”
Heckingbottom was frustrated while the Reds head coach with the club’s inability to tie the majority of the 2016 promotion side down to new contracts or secure adequate replacements, but he believes that has now changed.
“They have kept the squad together over a couple of seasons which is key. In the past, the club sold a lot of players and half of the promotion team was gone by the time we started the next season then it happened again in the next windows so we had to keep re-building and re-building. I think the club has learned from that and the people in charge are getting it right.
“You will never be able to keep every player, but they are getting good deals for the ones they are selling and they have players ready to replace them like with Tom Bradshaw and Cauley Woodrow. They are not having to rely on as many loans as we used to when I was there.”
Heckingbottom enjoyed his return to Oakwell on Saturday and says the warm reception he received is more reflective of the general reaction to him from Barnsley fans since his move to Leeds than the away end at Elland Road when the two sides met in April.
“I went up to the Legends Suite after the Luton match and spent a couple of hours in there, then I went out for a drink with some of the staff I worked with when I was at Barnsley. Everyone has been totally fine with me around the town since I left. It’s obviously different when you are the opposition manager and the fans have had a few drinks.”
Since leading Leeds on a post-season tour of Myanmar then being sacked soon after, Heckingbottom has been spending more time with his family as well as preparing for a return to football.
He said: “I do feel restless now, especially in the last couple of weeks. You miss that 24/7 involvement in football. I had chances to get straight back into football as soon as I left Leeds, and it was tough to turn it down but I knew I had to step away for a while.
“I have been on a couple of visits to other clubs and I have spent time working on my plans and strategies as a coach. Now I am ready to go and it’s just a case of which jobs come up.”
