Former Leeds United striker Noel Whelan has conceded that there is very little Paul Heckingbottom can do from now until the end of the season to affect the Whites squad and their performances.

Heckingbottom’s arrival at Leeds has done little for the team this season as they have continued to tumble down the league table and are on the verge of finishing a season, which started with a lot of promise, with a whimper.




Leeds have won just once since Boxing Day, the win came under Heckingbottom, and their top six hopes have evaporated because of their dreadful run of form in 2018.

If not for the brilliant start to their season, Leeds are currently showing relegation form, but Whelan feels the head coach's hands are tied as he can do little now to change the personnel in the squad.
 


He sympathised with Heckingbottom’s ordeal at Leeds this season, but believes he must identify the problems in the squad and look to address them in the summer.  

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Whelan admits the results must hurt the Leeds boss, but he feels it is important that Heckingbottom and the hierarchy look at the bigger picture going forward.

Speaking about Heckingbottom, Whelan said on BBC Radio Leeds: “In this day and age you don't get very long do you? The lifespan of a manager is nine months.

“He can only work with what he's got, that's it! He cannot buy any of the players.

“Defending is an art. You can put players out there, but they've got to do their job.

“A manager can't affect that.

“You put your back four [and team] out and you’ve got to try and trust them to defend properly. And they haven’t – that’s why they’re conceding goals. It’s not [Bailey] Peacock-Farrell's fault, it's the people in front of him.

“So whether it's the defenders, midfielders, strikers not doing their job right, everyone's to blame. The ball is going from one end to the other and into the back of the net.”

He continued: “Results will be hurting him. Certain aspects of what he's walked into will be hurting him.

“But he's got to get on with the job. He can't change anything now until the end of the season.

“Then we'll see what sort of things he identifies as the problem and we'll see what he's going to get rid of, what he'll keep, what he needs here.

“Then we'll have the bigger picture.”