Middlesbrough: How Boro hired Kim Helberg – Rob Edwards’ successor who dreams of a Premier League return | football news

Middlesbrough’s Kim Helberg first blew up in a high-rise hotel in central London.

Director of football Kieron Scott led the search for a successor to Rob Edwards, who he fought to install just five months ago, but who suddenly left for Wolves – albeit for handsome compensation.

Scott had been tracking Helberg’s progress for some time in Sweden. Tracking down other trainers is an important part of the contingency plan and Hellberg’s Hammarby team have just finished runners-up at the Allsvenskan for the second season running.

So, who was this young, unknown coach who suddenly pulled a tree in Sweden? Scott was aware he was talking to Swansea and had already come close to the Swans job a few months earlier, when they appointed Alan Sheehan full-time only to sack him in November.

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The Scot was also aware that the information Hellberg’s side were showing on the pitch would suit Middlesbrough’s current needs on the ground. Edwards sorted Boro’s defense – they were second in the league only conceding four goals at home – but the attack was still not firing on all cylinders.

Meanwhile, Helberg’s Hammarby played high-intensity attacking football and scored a lot of goals with lots of crosses into the box, lots of passes in the final third and lots of final-third entries.

Data alone wasn’t going to secure him the job, so Scott had to meet the mysterious Swede to see if he was the real deal; Someone who could not only maintain Boro’s promotion responsibilities, someone who could work closely to improve Boro in the long term.

Talking about the Boro team, tactics, style of play and the wider game, neither could have predicted how well they would get on immediately and how long their first meeting in the afternoon would be in that London hotel.

They spoke candidly for about five hours, and Scott understood how warm, yet direct Helberg came across, while explaining quite complex sports and coaching methods in simple terms. They were on the same wavelength on almost every subject.

Hellberg was so impressed by Scott that his head was completely off Swansea at the time, and he was willing to sit tight while his potential appointment was discussed by the wider Boro hierarchy and board, including chief executive Neil Bowser and owner Steve Gibson.

Because of the urgency and importance of Scott’s conviction to Helberg, Bowser met Helberg that evening in the same London hotel and was understandably equally surprised. The group then rushes to Gibson’s home in the northeast the next day on a deal.

Just three days after that first meeting, Hellberg was appointed Middlesbrough head coach.

Although they ultimately missed out on automatic promotion by four points, Hellberg made the desired impact, improving the attacking side while maintaining their promotion push right to the end. Compared to the metrics under Edwards, Boro’s attack is off the charts.

He won his first four games in charge and then they beat their play-off semi-final opponents Southampton 4–0 in their first game of 2026. It was the start of five straight wins, and by March they were in the driving seat for a second place finish.

Perhaps a lack of experience at this level, and in England, led to a rift between Helberg and his coaches between late March and April, which saw Boro go without a win in seven games, including home defeats to Charlton, Millwall and Portsmouth.

But the club rallied late on, beating Sheffield Wednesday and Watford before drawing against Wrexham on the final day 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 in contention to beat Millwall or Hull in the final at Wembley.

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