When it comes to all things Leeds United, Yorkshire Evening Post journalist Phil Hay is about as respected as anyone can be. His excellent coverage is always honest, he tries to be positive but never shies away from the big issues.

He's added his respected voice to the fallout from news that Leeds could be readying themselves to dismiss Paul Heckingbottom after a disappointing spell in charge of the club.

Responding on Twitter to being questioned about the news, he said; "Honestly not sure where this is going atm. There is still support for Heckingbottom at Leeds and much the club like about him but the results are poor and from my perspective, there's been no improvement under him (at least in part because of the state the squad is in)."

Since joining the ailing club his record has been worse than that of his predecessor Thomas Christiansen, winning just two of his twelve games in charge.

Hay continued; "The results speak for themselves and the club expected a bigger impact than this. That's fair to say. But from what I'm told, they like the way he coaches and manages and a fair amount of blame is falling on the players. But Leeds being Leeds, you'd never bet against anything."

Heckingbottom joined from Barnsley on February 2nd, with Leeds reported as activating a £500,000 release clause in his contract to free him up for the move.

The Verdict

Phil Hay watches as much Leeds United as anyone and he understands the club fully, which explains that final comment 'Leeds being Leeds, you'd never bet against anything.' I seem to write the words 'long-suffering' an awful lot when discussing Leeds' fans, but it is an accurate description of the turmoil and upheaval they seem to go through on a monthly basis.

My only hope would be that if he does leave and another man does come in, that manager gets time and space to build a squad of his own, not sacked because he can't turn a previous manager's bad players into good ones.