Kim Hellberg was officially appointed Middlesbrough head coach earlier in the week, but Thursday represents a big day for the new boss. The Swede will lead his first Boro training session this morning and will then host the media at Rockliffe in the afternoon for his first press conference as Boro boss.
It is all in aid of building up to his first match in charge, which comes on Saturday at the Riverside against Derby County. Hellberg will be fully aware of the challenge at hand after taking a watching brief on Tuesday night.
Teesside is quite excited about his arrival, but there is also optimism that he can help Boro maintain their strong league position by reversing a recent decline in performance. How is he going to get that boost?
The opinions of our fan panel, which includes Twe12th Man member John Donovan, Boropolis co-founder Chris Cassidy, Boro Breakdown co-host Dana Malt, and YouTube expert Phil Spencer, are provided below.
Kim Hellberg’s Middlesbrough Rockliffe plan and first squad meeting
The timeline for Kim Hellberg to take over first-team operations has been made public, and he is now formally Middlesbrough’s new head coach. This weekend, when Boro hosts Derby County, Hellberg will officially assume leadership of Boro for the first time.
The match will be the first of five difficult games for the new head coach, who will quickly learn how tough the Championship is. Boro will play the first five games till Christmas.
With four games in only nine days between Boxing Day and January 4, the new manager’s time on the training ground will be restricted due to the festive season. But first, this is Hellberg’s challenging Championship debut.
Under Rob Edwards, Middlesbrough has a lot going for them, but our misfiring offence is beginning to raise some red flags and has to be fixed. According to what I’ve read and seen, Hellberg is an aggressive, attack-focused boss who enjoys playing on the front foot.
