'I would have loved' - Paul Heckingbottom on Sheffield United return and what he's trying to replicate at Preston North End
PNE’s boss left the Blades in December 2023 and returned to work in August
You’re going back there for the first time, but is the focus on what your team can do?
“Yes, I think it's two totally different things,” said Heckingbottom. “I would have loved to have gone back as a fan earlier. But as it stands, you're going back to try and win and that's the difference. You get there and it'll be business as usual, that's it. It would have been nice to go back and have a different experience and see people in a different capacity, but that's not what I'm there for tomorrow. It's just a game.”
Your time at that club as a manager did move your career forward, didn't it?
“Yes, before I went there I'd made the decision not to manage anymore,” said Heckingbottom. “I wanted different things. I took over a bit when Chris left the first time. I was adamant I wanted to protect my job with the 21s. Lots of things about managing don't appeal to me. I think I actually found the 21s job a bit harder. I’d go home with more headaches and more frustrations.
“The second time, it was a no-brainer for me when I had the opportunity to work with the people I wanted to work with. Macca was one... Jack Lester came up out of the academy. The other thing was I was already embedded in the club and that makes a massive difference. I can't explain, you feel more responsibility to do it. I knew the first team players, I knew the academy players coming through.
“I had a big belief that we could achieve something. It's totally different. You feel much more responsibility when you're straight in. When you're first coming into a club, for example when I first came to Preston your job is to get that connection. Your job is to go and understand the club and the people. If you've already got that when you step into it, it's a totally different feeling. I loved it; I loved my three and a half years there.”
What do you think of their current team and how can you counter their challenge on Saturday?
“They're up there on merit,” said Heckingbottom. “Some big players; big moments. I think they've strengthened really well in January, so they're much stronger now than they were. I think the biggest difference between them and us, and the stats suggest it, is they've just been relentless in winning games. We had a spell, I think it was that 15 games where we probably won three, maybe lost two, 10 draws.
“I think in that same spell they had won 10/11 games. Statistically, we were matching them if not outperforming them. But their big moments... players have done it before; been at the top end. There's an expectation, a manager driving them and that's what's kept them right up there. Now I think they're in a much stronger position. You look at the bench, the changes... it's going to be a real good game for us.”
In terms of the success you had there, what are the key things you're trying to replicate and bring here that that may be missing?
“It's totally different,” said Heckingbottom. “Different club, different set-up, different problems. The easy bit is always the football; the consistent bit is always the football. Working with players is the best bit. The bits I've been pleased about with us is the level of consistency we're at. And it's almost a given we have to perform this way or we won't be happy.
“I think that's a big thing and we managed to get it at Sheffield United. But then the difference is we could win games when we weren't at our best. We're still having to be dominant. That's been the difference, and that's back to ‘What do you want to do in the summer and how can we improve?’ That's the biggest way we can improve. Not let any of our levels drop, get recruitment right, options right, so that we turn half those draws into wins...
“16 points better off, look where we'd be. That's how fine the margins are. No-one who's watched us can say that we haven't deserved to win at least eight of those games. It's one thing saying you deserve it. The difference with the teams at the very top to us at the minute is they make it happen. They probably win a lot more games that they don't deserve to win.”
Are there similar feels to the two clubs in terms of up-north, the fans and history? They've obviously had better recent times.
“Better times, so there's a bigger expectation there,” said Heckingbottom. “In terms of what the fans would like to see, I think there's definite similarities. I think sometimes people complicate football. No matter what they say, they want to see the same thing. They want to see the team giving their best, trying their best, trying to win the game. Everyone responds well to that.
Were you not able to go back as a fan because it was the same season you'd left? And then you're straight back into work this year?
“Yeah, just never had the opportunity,” said Heckingbottom. “I was busy working the first year. If I hadn't have come in here in August, I would have definitely been back by now. Then you just get swallowed up in working. When I've been out watching games, I've never been back to Bramall Lane. It's just been that way. As I say, it's just a game tomorrow.
“A big game, a good game for us. Because I've gone back for the first time, people talk about it. The feel could be different if I did go back in three months' time but as a fan, just watching a game or whatever. It’d be relaxed and I'd catch up with people. But tomorrow, it will be about trying to get points.”