Former Sheffield United striker Carl Asaba has hailed new Blades boss Paul Heckingbottom as a "great manager" after seeing the 44-year-old appointed on Thursday, as he spoke on BBC Radio Sheffield.

Ex-Leeds boss Heckingbottom's appointment was announced at the same time as predecessor Slavisa Jokanovic's departure, with the Serbian being sacked after guiding his side to an underwhelming 16th place with 19 Championship games played.

For a side that were competing in the Premier League just over six months ago, this is a thoroughly disappointing position for the South Yorkshire outfit to be in after retaining the core of their squad during the summer transfer window.

 

 

They struggled to adapt to Jokanovic's 4-2-3-1 formation for much of his tenure, failing to bring in any orthodox wingers during the summer window to provide enough threat out wide and conceding too many goals in this system.

The switch to a back five after the most recent international break did bear fruit as they kept two clean sheets and won four points from a possible six against Coventry City and Reading, but it was too little, too late for the 53-year-old who was unable to continue the Blades' turnaround.

His successor Heckingbottom has already had the experience of managing United before, taking interim charge when Chris Wilder left the club in March and returning to his duties as U23s boss at the end of the 2020/21 campaign.

Winning three of his last six games in charge of the Blades in the Premier League, he will be hoping to utilise this personal momentum as his men face Bristol City tomorrow afternoon, and ex-Bramall Lane favourite Asaba has nothing but praise for him.

Speaking on BBC Radio Sheffield about his appointment, he said (via Yorkshire Live): "Paul is passionate and champing at the bit to get this chance and he is going to work these players and get the maximum from them.

"He knows their strengths and weaknesses and knows what formation to play to get the best, he won't say this is my formation and you guys have to fit in.

"I'm really happy on the players front and the club's front and it's a great decision to give him enough time to storm up the division, which I do believe he can do.

"Paul is a great manager, a young manager and he wants to work for Sheffield United, that's brilliant, but how an earth have we ended up in this situation?

"Who appointed Slav in the first place, that's what I want to know? Who is going to take responsibility for this huge grave error?"

The Verdict

The appointment of Jokanovic was seen as a coup by many at the time - and rightly so. It did feel as though a fresh approach was needed under Wilder after seeing him spend nearly five years at the helm and that's what the Serbian would have brought with a new formation.

Unfortunately, the players didn't adapt well enough and/or quickly enough to this system and to be fair to the Serbian, he did change things after the most recent international break.

They may not have been the most convincing going forward against Coventry or Reading in his final two games, but the defence looked a lot better and after getting the backline right, it would only have been a matter of time before they nailed the attacking side of their game again.

This is why it wouldn't be a surprise to see Heckingbottom get off to a good start because the building blocks have now been put in place to go on an unbeaten run.

Quite frankly, Jokanovic had nowhere near enough time to make his mark and this short-term decision could prove to be costly - because the 53-year-old is a previous promotion-winner and would have been a success at United, providing he had the time and resources to do his job.

You almost have to feel sorry for 44-year-old Heckingbottom because his arrival has been overshadowed by his predecessor's departure - but it will be interesting to see how he gets on. The time he had with the first team towards the latter stages of 2020/21 will only be a benefit for him.