Kim Hellberg officially begins his reign as Middlesbrough head coach today
New Middlesbrough manager Kim Hellberg applauds the Riverside crowd(Image: Getty Images)
Kim Hellberg officially starts his Middlesbrough head coach role today, as Adi Viveash handed over the reins following Tuesday evening’s defeat to Coventry City.
Viveash led Boro through three games after Rob Edwards’ exit, and will now move back into his assistant head coach role alongside new coach David Selini, to support Boro’s new head coach. His first game in charge comes at the Riverside on Saturday against Derby County.
There’s much to do for the 37-year-old head coach between now and then, however, and little time to do it in. Boro’s players have a scheduled day off today in order to recover and recuperate after the hard-fought Coventry loss. In their absence, Hellberg will be meeting staff at Rockliffe, following on from similar tasks on Tuesday before he was then present at the Riverside to meet supporters and take in the action against the league leaders.
Thursday will be his first day working with the players as they return to Rockliffe looking to bounce back from their cruel defeat. He’ll take his first training session that morning before attention on Thursday afternoon switches to previewing the Derby game and introducing himself in more detail to supporters and the media as he holds his first press conference.
And then, Friday will be more training and, as is standard the day before a game, tactical meetings as they set out their final plans for the Derby County game.
“Kim met the players yesterday,” Viveash explained. “Kim and David [Selini – assistant coach]. They were introduced to the players downstairs. He spoke a few words about tonight’s game and that he’d be watching in the stand and how excited they were to be working with the group.
“They look forward to Thursday when they have their first day with the players. They were both in today, meetings with staff, they’ve got meetings with other staff tomorrow, and then there’s a lot of planning going on and they’ll start to take things forward from Thursday.
“I’m sure he’ll have seen things tonight that he’ll feel he can work with and move forward, because there was a lot of that. I’m sure he’d have liked the drive and the energy going forward. But he’ll have seen things around the defensive structure where I’d imagine he’ll think, ‘there’s a bit of work to do there’. Which there is.
“But it’s a good platform, and now it’s now about what you do moving from the platform. It’s still a good platform and he can now try and move it forward in the way that he wants to. Hopefully, that happens very quickly.”
Viveash now hands the reins to Hellberg, but, crucially, remains part of the setup at Boro. It’s widely felt that his Championship experience and knowhow will prove vital to the Swede as he spends the first few weeks and months getting to grips with a completely new and very unique league.
On how he’ll support the new head coach, Viveash said on Monday ahead of the Coventry game: “I think in the support role, in the role that I’ll be moving forward in after tomorrow night with Kim, that’ll be vitally important. He needs to know that he can trust me to be able to pass a message across, maybe in a slightly different way than he would like, or he wants to do it.
“He’s 37 and he certainly looks a lot younger than me, so he’s going to be full of energy. Rightly so. He’s leading a massive football club. He’ll do it in a very different way to me because we’re different people. But I think if you marry the two together, and obviously have David’s input as well, in a slightly different way, then you can still get the messages across.”
On his thanks for the support and trust he was given by key figures at the club, Viveash added: “I’m extremely thankful to the powers that be, the three main men at this football club, have trusted me over the last ten days to try to keep this ship steady. That isn’t lost on me.
“I hope and I’ve tried to fulfil the role to the best of my ability. I’ve enjoyed it. It’s been challenging, but the players have given me a lot back and I thanked them on that. Before the game, I could say thank you for all they’ve given me, it’s certainly much appreciated.
“It was a big trust to put in someone who was part of another team arriving at the football club, and that wasn’t lost on me at all. The owner has been first class. I spoke to him on Sunday morning and we spoke about the game.
“I’d like to thank the support I’ve had from him, Neil [Bausor] and Kieran [Scott] while I’ve been doing this role, but also since I first walked into the club.”