Is Hockaday under threat?

Recent comments from Leeds United owner Massimo Cellino in the Telegraph and Daily Mail seem to have fuelled speculation about the future of manager David Hockaday, but has anything really changed?

It is well known that Cellino is a ‘mangiallenatori’, a manager eater, having had 37 coaches in 22 years as owner of Cagliari Calcio. Hell, he even sacked Brian McDermott before he had even bought Leeds United and didn’t waste much time in the off-season dispensing with the first manager of his Leeds United tenure. When Hockaday took the job on he knew exactly who he was working for and his track record.

The point is though that Cellino doesn’t employ managers, he employs coaches. It is clear from the outset who is really in charge and that is Massimo Cellino. From top to bottom Cellino overseas everything at the club. If he doesn’t like the way someone is doing something, he will do it for them and that goes for the coach as much as anyone else at Elland Road.

“I had more or less 50 coaches in my existence, they are all the same. I used to have a boat, I used to pay the captain of the boat. You know what my strategy was? If he doesn’t do what I like to do with my boat, then I can drive my boat on my own. I put myself always in a position to be free and to run a company the way I like, because I use my face, my name, my credibility. If they don’t do what I like to do, I do on my own!”

It is clear he trusts Hockaday little in terms of the hiring and firing of players, that’s what Graham Bean and Nicola Salerno are for. Hockaday has recommended players to but Cellino has refused his requests and his input on the current squad does not seem to be taken seriously either. He is there to coach, not manage.

“David Hockaday, the first day he heard McCormack wanted to go he said, ‘I don’t want him in pre- season, sell him’. I told Hockaday, ‘Did I ask your f****** advice? No. So shut the f*** up’.”

“He has asked me about five or six players. Don’t forget where he came from, league five. Talking with managers of Premier League clubs, Championship clubs, is a new thing. He’s like a baby, who is in a toy shop.”

Cellino also shows little sign of sentiment. Benito Carbone had seemed like his right hand man when he first arrived, appointed in charge of the academy and overseeing the development of the young players, the future of the club. Carbone’s departure this week for ‘family reasons’ shows that Cellino does not have time for people who do not do things his way.

“He went to Italy without permission, to see his sick mother, and wasn’t in Ireland when the under-21s had a game there. He gave them the chance to ***** him, he made a mistake. Who is going to be the next to make a mistake?”

So who is going to be the next to make a mistake? Are Cellino’s recent comments a sign that Hockaday is close to the exit door already? I don’t think so, not any closer than when he put pen to paper anyway. This was always going to be a volatile job, working for a volatile man. Hockaday must have known that he would always be working under the constant threat of the axe. Cellino’s comments to the press aim to do what he has always done, ensure everyone knows who is in charge. His thoughts on Hockaday, despite these recent comments; “He’s ok, but needs some babysitting”