For the past couple of years I have had a lot of admiration and respect for Paul Heckingbottom.... but NOT NOW. How can you respect a man who till now had openly spoken about his love for the club, who spends time building a squad which is starting to appear competitive, who recruits players who claim his guidance to develop their skills was a main reason for them coming to Oakwell, and who signs a new contract just a few days ago. THEN.. without any warning (if we are to believe the official club statement) walks away from the club TAKING WITH HIM, other notable personalities in the Oakwell coaching team. AND moves to a club which was the target of his abuse and criticism, and furthermore which he also stated he hated!!!! As I said how can you respect such a man? I urge Hecky to come clean and explain why he has let us all down. Has that evil root of all evil just reared its ugly head again, or is there something else behind his betrayal.
Great when things were going well. He came across as modest and down to earth. Crafty when things started to unfold though. He knew the fans were fully behind him and started to drop little hints about "people not listening" for the fans to read into. Always ended up with "heckys not happy" "is hecky going to leave us" "must be the boards fault" Deflected any blame away from himself, which is quite easy when people are continually wanting to crucify the board.
He knows the score... after all he is a fan. He knew the consequences yet did it anyway. There will be those that say 'it's football' or 'it's just a job', but the man himself has played the 'I'm a fan' card too many times to pretend it's 'just a job'. It's sad (really sad), but the damage is done and can't be repaired. I was one of his biggest fans, not because he was a great manager, but because of what I thought he stood for. He more than most knows what this move will mean to us fans. Good luck to him but he is well aware that any good will towards him will have gone the second he signed that contract. It's a shame, he'll never find that kind of loyalty again.
