Former Hibs boss Paul Heckingbottom in no rush to return to dug-out

Former Hibs manager Paul Heckingbottom pictured during a Hibernian training session on October 24

Former Hibs boss Paul Heckingbottom says he is in no rush to return to football management following his Easter Road sacking.

The former Leeds United and Barnsley head coach has been out of work since being replaced by Jack Ross in November after a poor start to the season left the club languishing 10th in the Scottish Premiership.

Heckingbottom has had offers to return to the dug-out, but after living away from his South Yorkshire home during his nine months in Edinburgh, he is enjoying spending time with his family.

“It has made me think – without being too philosophical – about the pace and quality of life," Heckingbottom told the Yorkshire Post.

“I lived away from my family for a year and it has been nice to get back with the kids being off school. My wife has been at work with the NHS.

“It has made me think where I want to be situated and how much it would take to get me away from my family again, without a doubt.

“There have been opportunities that have not been right. Sometimes, I think owners and football clubs think you are desperate to be a football manager.

“I am not, I want to work for good people who inspire you and you think you ‘get’. Someone who you would like to do well. It will be interesting to see what happens when things get moving again.”

Heckingbottom was appointed Hibs boss in February last year following the departure of Neil Lennon and enjoyed a positive start, steering the side to a 10-game unbeaten run and winning the Premiership Manager of the Month award for March. Two days later he claimed victory in his first Edinburgh derby against Hearts at Tynecastle - Hibs' first away derby win in six years.

The Easter Road side finished the season in fifth position before Heckingbottom overhauled the squad in the summer, bringing in a number of new signings, however, many of his new arrivals failed to have the desired impact as he won just one of his first 11 league games, a record which saw him and his assistant Robbie Stockdale sacked.

His final match in charge was the 5-2 defeat to Celtic in the League Cup semi-final on November 4, and in the six months since then he has been making the most of his spare time to boost his qualifications by working on a project he started during his time at Hibs.

“With any time out or holidays you might have with the family in the close season, you think you are relaxing," he said. "But I have found out through this that you are not, you are still working and focused on doing your job and trying to get a job and get better.

“As it stands, this has been a forced relaxation period. It has been nice and good, but I am ready to do some work now.

“I have been doing lots of fitness stuff and thrown myself into business big time. I also started a professional doctorate into sports coaching last year when I was up at Hibs.

“It is five years of research and a big piece of work. You can investigate anything to do with your practice and my research starts, in earnest, in the next few months.

“Keeping studying was something I knew I needed to do when I left Leeds. I wanted to get mixing with people outside of football more and also having a different challenge to day-to-day management stuff.

“I am coming into a year of that and that is keeping me busy and there are a few deadlines to hit.”

To read the full Yorkshire Post article, click here.