It was in a high-rise central London hotel that Middlesbrough were first blown away by Kim Hellberg.
Director of football Kieran Scott was leading the search for a successor to Rob Edwards, the man he had battled to install just five months earlier, but who was suddenly leaving for Wolves – albeit for handsome compensation.
Scott had been tracking the progress of Hellberg for some time in Sweden. Tracking other coaches is an important part of contingency planning and Hellberg’s Hammarby team had just finished runners-up for a second season running in the Allsvenskan.
So, who was this young, unheard of coach suddenly pulling up trees in Sweden? Scott was aware he was speaking to Swansea and had already come close to the Swans job just months earlier, when they appointed Alan Sheehan full-time only to sack him in November.
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Scott was also aware that the data Hellberg’s team was showing on the pitch would suit Middlesbrough’s current needs down to the ground. Edwards had sorted out Boro’s defence – they were second in the league only conceded four goals at home – but the attack was still not firing on all cylinders.
Meanwhile, Hellberg’s Hammarby had finished second playing high-intensity attacking football, scoring a lot of goals via a lot of crosses into the box, a lot of passes into the final third, and an abundance of final-third entries.
Data alone was not going to secure him the job, so Scott needed to meet the enigmatic Swede to see if he was the real deal; someone who could not only maintain Boro’s charge towards promotion but someone to work with closely to improve Boro in the long-term.
Both men could not have predicted just how well they would instantly get on and how long into the afternoon their first meeting would go in that London hotel, talking about the Boro team, tactics, style of play, and the wider game.
They talked openly for almost five hours, and Scott was understood to have been impressed at how warm, yet direct Hellberg came across, while explaining quite complex playing and coaching methods in simple terms. They were on the same wavelength on almost every subject.
Hellberg is also said to have been so impressed by Scott that his head was then turned away from Swansea entirely, and he was willing to sit tight while his potential appointment was discussed by the wider Boro hierarchy and board, including chief executive Neil Bauser and owner Steve Gibson.
The urgency and importance Scott’s conviction on Hellberg led to Bauser meeting Hellberg later that evening at the same London hotel, and he is understood to have been equally blown away. The group then raced up to a meeting at Gibson’s home in the northeast the following day to thrash out a deal.
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The Sky Sports Essential EFL podcast looks ahead to the Championship play-off semi-final.
Just three days after that first meeting, Hellberg was appointed Middlesbrough head coach.
Although they just missed out on automatic promotion by four points in the end, Hellberg has made the desired impact, maintaining their promotion push right to the end while improving the attacking aspect. By comparison to the metrics under Edwards, Boro’s attacking is off the charts.
He won his first four games in charge and then they thrashed their play-off semi-final opponents Southampton 4-0 in their first game of 2026. That was the start of five straight wins, and by March they looked to be in the driving seat to finish second.
Perhaps a lack of experience at this level, and in England, among Hellberg and his coaches led to a wobble in late March and into April, which saw Boro go seven games without a win, including home defeats to Charlton, Millwall and Portsmouth.
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Highlights of the Sky Bet Championship match between Wrexham and Middlesbrough.
But the club rallied at the end, beating Sheffield Wednesday and Watford before drawing on the final day against Wrexham to set-up this weekend’s first leg against the Saints.
All things considered, Boro go into the play-offs on a strong run and good form. If they can get past Southampton, who are arguably the play-off favourites, they should be odds-on to beat either Millwall or Hull in the final at Wembley.
Watch Middlesbrough vs Southampton live on Sky Sports Football and Main Event from 12pm on Saturday; kick-off 12.30pm.
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