Former Leeds United head coach Dave Hockaday opens up on life under Massimo Cellino

Hockaday, who lasted just 70 days as United's head coach, joined Leeds in the summer of 2014 in what was a shock appointment by then owner Massimo Cellino.

The former Forest Green Rovers boss oversaw a poor run of form, which included a League Cup defeat to Bradford City at Valley Parade, and was sacked in late August alongside assistant Junior Lewis.

In an exclusive interview with the Guardian, Hockaday opened up on his time in LS11 under the volatile Italian and admitted his surprise at landing the job.

“It was just surreal, so cloak-and-dagger," he said.

“I knew his record with managers and I was thinking: ‘Does he want to get an Italian-based manager in and get somebody who knows the English game to support him as the first-team coach? Or does he want an under-23s coach to bring through players, which is really what I’m about.’

“But he said: ‘I want you to be my head coach.’ I said: ‘What, like your manager?’ And he said: ‘Yes, I want you to be my coach.’ I was like: ‘OK, interesting,’ and I was sort of playing poker.

"I said: ‘I can handle the coaching, that’s not a problem,’ but said: ‘There’s a few things we need to talk about.’ He said: ‘You can recommend players but I will have the final say.’ He said: ‘You pick the team, you train them and I don’t interfere with that,’ and, to be fair, he never ever did.”

Hockaday also revealed that Cellino would call him at all hours of the night: "He used to ring me every day, and at weird times – at midnight, 1am, all sorts – and, at that time, I used to pick up every call, which was a bit silly of me."

The 61-year-old added: "He had spies and they were reporting back to him… I was incredibly grateful for the opportunity so I was always going to swallow some of what he was going to throw at me. He wanted a vulnerable, if you like, good coach. He told me he’d let me down and I have talked to him a couple of times since, when he has phoned, out of the blue.”

Read the full interview here.