Former Leeds United manager Paul Heckingbottom is now the Hibernian boss.
Heckingbottom was appointed the Leeds head coach in February 2018, but the Englishman parted company with the West Yorkshire outfit in the summer of 2018.
The 41-year-old took the head coach’s role at Leeds after leaving Barnsley, and he has now been appointed as the Hibernian manager.
Watkins, now at Bristol City, worked with Heckingbottom at Barnsley, and the 28-year-old Wales international midfielder has suggested that his former manager should have been more time at Leeds.
Interestingly, the former Norwich City midfielder was linked with a move to Leeds in 2017, with The Daily Mail reporting in April 2017 that the Whites were interested in securing his services on a free transfer in the summer of 2017.
Watkins told The Daily Record about Heckingbottom: “I wasn’t surprised when Leeds came in for him but I was shocked how it turned out.
“He wasn’t given the time there. He took over a team that was struggling but it was never going to turn around in just four months.
“I have absolutely no doubt he would have been a success there given the chance. He would have taken them to to playoffs if he’d stayed there.”
Paul Heckingbottom out, Marcelo Bielsa in
In the summer of 2018, Leeds appointed Marcelo Bielsa as their new head coach, and the Whites have been flying.
The West Yorkshire outfit are at the top of the Championship table at the moment and could get promoted to the Premier League at the end of the season.
