Leeds United Bygones: '˜The Hock' days were numbered from outset

Such is the whirlwind nature of modern football, a club who currently has Marcelo Bielsa in the hot seat parted terms with David Hockaday four years ago this week, the day after an embarrassing League Cup defeat at Bradford City.

Hockaday hinted at a marriage that would see the club return to the Champions League, but for many supporters, his tenure was the footballing equivalent of a one-night stand you’d rather forget, a fleeting union that you’re told, one day, you’ll look back on and laugh about.

Plucked from the obscurity of non-league Forest Green Rovers during a purple patch of Massimo Cellino’s ‘eccentricity’, ‘The Hock’ was a man who was never going to last long at Elland Road.

In fact, his 70-day tenure lasted longer than many believed it would.

Quite how he came to convince the Italian of his credentials remains shrouded in mystery. The most high-profile position he had held was as Aidy Boothroyd’s number two at Watford and the overriding feeling is that he had been appointed for what he wasn’t, rather than what he was.

What Cellino wanted a was a yes-man who wouldn’t concern himself with club matters in the way that previous incumbent Brian McDermott had. And that he got. Dealt a tricky hand with the club at its most manic, Hockaday was a man out of his depth. That’s not to say he didn’t deliver good times. A white-knuckle League Cup win against Accrington Stanley was the set-up for a genuinely impressive win against Middlesbrough. But two wins from his six matches was all his Leeds side would muster.

Whilst mocking Twitter accounts and sarcastic chants didn’t help the experiment along, Hockaday didn’t help himself. With the world expecting him to fail, he was candid in his optimism and ambition.

One press conference stands out in which, speaking about Cellino, he said: “This guy wants Leeds to be in the Champions League, he does. I believe over time that will happen. I think it’s inevitable.

“The timescale I don’t know, I want to be part of that journey, a big part of that journey. I am going to fight tooth and nail to be here for as long as I can, to be as successful as I can.”