Antoine Semenyo says one of Leeds United’s worst managers ever completely changed his career

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Bournemouth forward Antoine Semenyo has credited one of Leeds United’s least successful managers with saving his career as a young prospect.

A seemingly never-ending cast of managers attempted to return Leeds United to the promised land between their relegation from the Premier League in 2004 and their return in 2020.

However, the Massimo Cellino era saw the highest turnover of coaches at Elland Road, as the Italian lived up to his nickname of “The Manager Eater”.

Cellino sacked six Leeds managers during his time with the club, before he sold his stake to Andrea Radrizzani in 2017.

Now, Premier League star Semenyo has singled out the influence of one of those unlucky few who attempted to manage Leeds during Cellino’s chaotic reign.

Which former Leeds player would you have back, if you could pick one? Raphinha surely has to be up there💎

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Antoine Semenyo singles out the influence of ex-Leeds United manager

Speaking to Away Days, Semenyo revealed the unlikely influence of former Leeds boss Dave Hockaday on his football career.

Hockaday was the most surprising appointment of the Cellino era at Leeds, with his most recent senior managerial experience coming at Forest Green Rovers.

However, according to Semenyo, the ex-Leeds boss took a chance on him after he had faced multiple rejections for being too small and helped him join Bristol City as a youngster.

Semenyo said: “[Hockaday] gave me my opportunity, he took a chance on me, took a gamble, got me fit, and I’m where I am today because of him.

“He gave me that confidence as a kid. I had no confidence being rejected so much. But he gave me that boost, and I couldn’t be happier.”

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David Hockaday struggled at ‘dysfunctional’ Leeds United

Hockaday’s appointment at Leeds took everyone by surprise, including the man himself, as Cellino took a gamble on an unknown quantity.

Ultimately, his short time at Elland Road went the way most people expected, as he failed to register a competitive win before leaving his position after just six games.

Speaking to The Guardian in 2019, Hockaday admitted that Leeds was the “most dysfunctional” environment he had ever worked in, as he said: “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,” before adding: “‘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. You pick the team, you train them and I don’t interfere with that’ – and, to be fair, he never ever did.”

He concluded: “It was the most dysfunctional squad I’ve ever played with, trained with, coached – whatever. It was a terrible environment.”