LEEDS UNITED HAVE confirmed the departure of Paul Heckingbottom from his role as head coach, just four months after the 40-year-old took over at Elland Road.
Heckingbottom left Barnsley to replace Thomas Christiansen in February, but after winning just four of his 16 games in charge has been sacked by Leeds, who finished the season 13th in the Championship.
It means Leeds will begin the process of searching for a 10th manager in the last four years, with former Argentina, Marseille and Lazio boss Marcelo Bielsa the favourite to land the role.
In a statement, the club’s managing director, Angus Kinnear said: “On behalf of the Board of Directors at Leeds United I would like to thank Paul for the commitment and passion he has demonstrated since he joined the club earlier this year. Paul came to us during a difficult period in the season and has conducted himself in an exemplary manner despite results not going as any of us had hoped.”
“Our objective is to bring in a Head Coach with more experience who can help us reach the goals we have talked about since we became custodians of the club last summer. We are confident of making a quick appointment and we thank our fans for their continued support.”
Leeds will start the new campaign with a new manager for the fifth successive season and of their last eight bosses, only Garry Monk managed to last a full year in the position.
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