A lot of things are out of my control but one thing you can make sure you do is fight
SAYS PAUL HECKINGBOTTOM
ANY football manager who believes himself to be the undisputed master of his own fate is either deluded or in denial.
All who volunteer for the life of a head coach know — or quickly learn — that the concept of being ‘in charge’ varies greatly from club to club, owner to owner.
And when all seems in danger of being lost? When it’s obvious that only a complete turnaround in fortunes will prevent an inevitable parting of the ways?
Effort spent fretting is energy wasted. Desperate changes of tack rarely pay off. And pulling a few crowd-pleasing, board-pacifying stunts in search of immediate salvation will only create even bigger problems down the line.
This is the footballing philosophy of Paul Heckingbottom, anyway. Whether or not he will get the time to see it play out at Hibs is, as he knows himself, open to question.
Speaking ahead of this evening’s Betfred Cup semi-final against treble Treble winners Celtic at Hampden, the Yorkshireman is fully aware that he is under pressure.
If Craig Levein’s departure from Hearts moved attention across Edinburgh for 24 hours, that decision also serves to highlight the case against Heckingbottom — a manager whose team have not recorded a regulation-time victory since the opening weekend of the league season.
More than aware of the simmering discontent created by that 12-game run, Heckingbottom was asked how it felt for him to be in the middle of this storm.
‘What, personally?’ he asked. ‘It’s difficult. And I try to hold a lot back. You have to hold a lot back, professionally. But you hold a lot back, anyway, because sometimes it’s the right thing to do.
‘You don’t want to be in that position. One hundred per cent, you don’t want to be there.
‘It certainly drives you and narrows your focus. You have to be happy going to bed at night, thinking: “Right, have I done everything I can?”. You have to be like that. But everyone’s got a different reason for doing it.
‘I’m pretty principle-led. I like to know that, if I’ve worked as hard as I can, I’ve done all I can and I’ve behaved in a way that my family can be proud of, that’s all I can do.
‘A lot of things are out of my control. But I’m in control of how hard I work, how I behave, how honest I am with people.
‘That’s probably what you always go back to. Or I do.
‘There are certain things I wouldn’t bend, in those principles, just to stay in a job. Without a doubt. They are more important to me.
‘But one thing you can make sure you do is fight and fight and fight.
‘Because the biggest thing you can do is be the role model — and behave in a way you’d want everyone else to follow.
‘I had a chat with an ex-England international before coming to Hibs and we were talking about all things management, football and coaching.
‘Just picking each others’ brain. He said something like: “I’ve never had an argument with an owner”. I said: “You’re not doing your job properly, then!”.’ Heckingbottom’s relationship with new Hibs owner Ronald
Gordon is, according to the manager’s own descriptions of meetings and conversations, on a solid professional footing.
Neither of them are going to pretend that they are best mates. Even if they were, it would not influence any big decision looming on the horizon.
A shock win at the national stadium this evening would change the narrative for Hibs. A heavy loss to a team laden with scoring threats? One more reason to at least consider a change.
If a lifetime in football has inured Heckingbottom to the effects of being judged on a game-by-game basis, starting from his first days as a youth player, the transition to coaching introduced him to a new concept — being measured on the efforts of others.
‘I think there have been moments when I’ve probably only been in charge of ten per cent of things,’ he said. ‘The job is too big for you to be in control of everything. So you have to delegate a hell of a lot of trust. That’s running the club, making decisions.
‘In an ideal world, you know your little role. Well, it’s a big role. But, as long as you know your role within the club, that’s the ideal.
‘You can find yourself in some circumstances where an owner changes their mind on a decision.
‘And they’re the boss. Without you even knowing, that can be six months of hard work absolutely wasted.
‘What’s the point? That six months could have been spent on something else.
‘These things happen all the time in lots of places. There will be lots of people pulling their hair out over decisions like that, which can ultimately end up costing you.
‘There is no point in worrying about your job when you are a manager. Not at all.
‘The one thing you have to get your head around, and what you have to understand, is that you get judged on everything.
‘But you’re probably in control, depending on the club you’re at, of nowhere near anything.
‘That’s probably the most difficult for me, personally, to get your head around. But you have to. Because that’s how it is.
‘It’s pointless worrying about it or trying to base decisions on it. You have to make decisions based on the longer term, all the time.
‘As soon as you just focus on
the immediate things, this, this and this, it’s the things you’ve ignored that will get you the sack six months later anyway.
‘So just keep doing the right things.’
Heckingbottom was lured north partly by the chance to play in games like this. He’s never been pitch side at Hampden before. But he expects the experience to beat chasing promotion with some middleweight club in the English lower leagues.
As for whether his team can at least emulate the effort, guts and organisation that saw them hold Celtic to a 1-1 draw at Easter Road back in September, well, it would be out of character with recent showings.
Assessing the threat posed by Neil Lennon’s men, a grinning
Heckingbottom said: ‘I don’t want to scare anyone to death… but, if you look at them, they’ve got good players all over the pitch, with a front four with lots of movement.
‘They are good at handling the ball and they have experience all over the pitch.
‘So we know they are a really good footballing side and that, athletically, they are top drawer.
‘They sign players to try to go and compete in the best competition in Europe, so they have pace and power all over the pitch, which a lot of times is overlooked.
‘Look at the size of their centre-backs at set-plays, or the pace of their full-backs.
‘But, in my time here, we’ve competed really well against them. You’ve got to enjoy that and go and test yourself against the best.’