Middlesbrough have hijacked fellow Championship club Swansea City’s move for Hammarby manager Kim Hellberg – agreeing a deal to appoint the young manager, who turned down a contract from his current club.
The 37-year-old, extremely highly regarded in Scandinavia, had talks with Swansea City and Norwich City, but ultimately decided Boro, 2nd in the Championship, were best for him.
Steve Gibson, Middlesbrough owner, has never before appointed an in-contract manager from elsewhere. It will be a first for him, and with the club in promotion contention, the 67-year-old has put his money where his mouth is.
After Rob Edwards ditched the Boro for Wolves, will their top target continue unfinished business and take them to the top flight for the first time since 2016/17?
A Shift In Style
Hellberg adopts a much more offensive style than the former manager that Boro fans will wish to forget quickly, Rob Edwards.
Kim Hellberg’s Hammarby side has always finished second in the Allsvenskan under his leadership, achieving this in 2024, and currently holds this position in the 2025 season.
They lead much of the data in the division, apart from set-piece xG, this season:
| Metric | Total | League Rank |
| Possession | 62% | 1st |
| Open Play xG | 51 | 1st |
| Open Play xGA | 31 | 1st |
| Set Piece xG | 8 | 7th |
| Set Piece xGA | 5 | 1st |
| Expected Points | 58 | 1st |
| Shots | 495 | 1st |
| Shots Faced | 296 | 1st |
So far this season, much of Middlesbrough’s play has been focused on setting up well out of possession. Hellberg will look to improve them with the ball, an area that has clearly needed improvement.
Despite Boro sitting 2nd in the league, they are tenth for goals per game in the Championship (averaging 1.3 per/90) and have extremely overperformed their xG of 16, scoring 19 – a three-goal swing.
Fans seem aligned that the football was not as good as the results were showing under Edwards, and that they’d eventually be found out.
This kind of success was not sustainable. Hellberg will look to make it so that their football does the talking.
In my article covering Edwards leaving, I wrote ‘Could Edwards leaving Boro in a fortunate league position to attract new managers, while getting the club a bit of compensation, be a blessing in disguise?’
The exciting appointment of Hellberg appears to back that up.
Can Boro Achieve Promotion?
A side full of hard-working players who the league knows are great without the ball have just pinched one of Europe’s most exciting offensive coaches.
While some style changes are detrimental and unnecessary (see Nottingham Forest replacing Nuno Espirito-Santo with Ange Postecoglou), especially with a side in good standing, this switch-up could be ideal for Middlesbrough and push them on.
Boro currently sit 2nd in the Championship after fifteen games, on twenty-nine points, two points clear of 3rd-place Stoke City.
Hellberg could swing the balance and take Boro back to the promised land!
