Former Leeds United head coach Paul Heckingbottom has spoken about the 'stick' Kalvin Phillips was getting from fans when he arrived at Elland Road.
Heckingbottom spent just four months in charge at Elland Road, taking over from Thomas Christiansen in February 2018 before being replaced at the end of a campaign which saw the club limp to a mid-table finish.
The former Barnsley boss inherited a side on a downward trajectory following a strong start to the 2017-18 campaign and the 13th-place finish saw fans air their frustrations at yet another mid-table campaign.
Since then, Marcelo Bielsa has arrived and transformed the club both on and off the pitch, using largely the same squad that Heckingbottom had at his disposal.
Home grown midfielder Kalvin Phillips is perhaps the poster child of what Bielsa has so far been able to achieve at Leeds, as he went from a promising youngster who was shifted across the midfield to the Championship's best defensive midfielder and being talked up for a place in the England squad.
Heckingbottom says that Phillips is now showing what a 'brilliant' player he can be - but only after he helped him restore his confidence during a tough time for 24-year-old.
“When I first went to Leeds, it was the first time him [Phillips] and Ronaldo Vieira were getting a bit of stick from the home fans," Heckingbottom told the Guardian. "Usually, as a homegrown lad, and a Leeds fan, you get spared of that. But they had been coming under a bit of a fire and it was a case of getting their confidence back.
“They were fantastic players with great ability but you have to step out of the shadows and not be that young lad with great potential – you have to go and run the team. Ronaldo got a good move to Sampdoria and Kalvin has shown what a brilliant player he is.”
Heckingbottom, who has since had an unsuccessful stint at Hibernian since his Elland Road departure, also reflected on the challenges he faced upon his appointment at Leeds, claiming that 'deadwood' needed shifting - something Bielsa has done during his two years in charge.
“People said to me Leeds were in a bad place and that it was a basket case of a club, but it wasn’t – it was really close-knit,” he continues.
“There were a lot of good players, but there was also a lot of deadwood and it needed a real shakeup. It doesn’t matter how good a coach or player you think you are, if the environment is not right, it will drag you down. It was more important to get rid of people than it was to bring people in.”
