Earlier in the season, Rob Edwards left Middlesbrough to join Wolverhampton Wanderers. His decision to leave the Riverside Stadium forced the Championship side to look for his successor. Boro ended up appointing Kim Hellberg from Hammarby IF on November 26th, and it’s gone rather well.
The Swedish media had accused him of leaving Hammarby for Middlesbrough for a huge pay. This didn’t please the coach, who made it clear the criticism was “a bit unfair.”
Back in November, Hammarby captain Nahir Besara backed Hellberg to have a successful spell with the English club.
The Swede has managed 14 games for Middlesbrough, winning nine and losing four. Boro have won their last four matches and have five wins in the last six. Now second in the table, they’re level on points with leaders Coventry City.
Fotbollskanalen got in touch with Oscar Johansson Schellhas and Victor Eriksson, who have both previously played under Hellberg.
The Middlesbrough boss managed Schellhas at IFK Värnamo and Hammarby. The 30-year-old midfielder has used Markus Karlsson an example to explain why his compatriot has been successful so far in his management career.
“Hellberg has such an eye for football. He moves certain players who have never played in a certain position, and you can take Hammarby, Värnamo and Middlesbrough as examples of that,” he said.
“He changes players according to their qualities, more than a position that they have played in. That is what is great, that he can see it so quickly and that is also why he achieves such good results.
“He dares. I think it is also about that, that he dares to believe in his thing. If that means changing “Mackan” [Karlsson] from right-back to midfielder, then so be it. You can also see that there it has worked, as he has become an incredible midfielder.”
Hellberg putting imprint on Middlesbrough
Schellhas admits it’s difficult to follow Middlesbrough’s recent fixtures but he easily identifies Hellberg’s patterns.
“I try to see some highlights and have seen a half here and there. Of course, you see the influences directly and a team with self-confidence, which makes a lot of sense. It’s really fun that it works so well,” Schellhas explained.
He has backed the Boro boss to reach the top.
“I think he can reach all the way to the top. If you look at the qualities that he has, and what we know he can do, and that he dares to believe in himself and that he believes in what he does, then he can go as far as you want,” he added.
Eriksson, a 25-year-old defender, played under Hellberg at Hammarby. He too follows his former coach and isn’t surprised that he’s doing well at Middlesbrough.
