Paul Heckingbottom has been made aware of a huge decision he would have to make if he joins Sunderland.
Paul Heckingbottom is one name that has regularly come up since Michael Beale was sacked at Sunderland in February.
Despite winning promotion to the Premier League last season, the 46-year-old was sent packing by Sheffield United before Christmas and has been unemployed since.
With two promotions under his belt, Heckingbottom is seen as a contender to take the permanent job at the Stadium of Light in the summer.
It’s unclear whether the coach is eager to join the Black Cats or whether he has been in discussion with the club, but it is believed that he may have to make a decision he doesn’t want to make if the move does happen.
Heckingbottom’s huge decision
Speaking via his Patreon, journalist Alan Nixon said: “Paul Heckingbottom may have to bring only ONE member of backroom staff if he takes the Sunderland job.
“Hecky is favourite for the post, as we revealed last week, but the Black Cats want to keep some of the existing staff.
“And there could just be room for two arrivals, including Heckingbottom. He would have to choose between out of work Stuart McCall or Sheffield United coach Jack Lester.”
Bringing in your own staff was also an issue for Michael Beale who arrived by himself, while it has been reported that Danny Rohl would want to bring his own team if he joined Sunderland.
Heckingbottom may still well be open to moving to Wearside even if he can’t bring his usual backroom staff, but it is a situation that many managers won’t like.
What does this mean for our manager hunt?
We are already restricting what they are responsible for and are pretty much only involved in the on-the-pitch aspects of the club, but to now say they have to work with coaches that they maybe haven’t even met before is a little controversial.
Whether we even get Heckingbottom is another question though, as surely if we wanted him, we would have brought him in by now.
The former Blades manager has been without a club for four months and surely has no plans before the summer, so wouldn’t it make sense to just appoint him now if we wanted him that badly?
That makes me think he probably isn’t first choice and perhaps someone like Will Still or Danny Rohl is actually our main priority.