Pablo Hernandez is one of the most beloved players from that Leeds United team that won promotion to the Premier League in the 2019/20 season under Marcelo Bielsa.
He left Leeds in 2021 to join his boyhood club Castellon in Spain, before hanging up his boots two years later. However, he has remained a cult hero at Elland Road because of his exploits on the bench.
Hernandez started the season managing the B team at his boyhood club, Castellon, after guiding them to a Tercera Division title on the final day of the 2024/25 campaign.
Just two games into the new season, the 40-year-old stepped into the senior role after first-team coach Johan Plat departed. In one swift move, Hernandez leapt two divisions to take over as caretaker manager.
Pablo Hernandez has started well and is influenced by Marcelo Bielsa
When Hernandez took charge, Castellon were languishing in 20th place in Spain’s second division after losing three and drawing two of their opening games.
Now, they’ve climbed to 11th, just five points off the top, thanks to three straight wins under his leadership. A 1-0 away triumph at CD Leganes was flanked by impressive 3-1 victories over Cultural Leonesa and Sporting Gijon.
Castellon are looking for a new head coach, but they have not ruled out giving the keys to Hernandez as their next permanent manager.
His early success in Spain has sparked suggestions that he could manage Leeds in the future, and Bielsa’s methods at Elland Road have clearly influenced him.
He admitted that he not only learned a lot from the training sessions under the former Leeds boss, but also took rich life lessons from a man who was regarded as a father figure at Elland Road.
“The person who had the biggest impact on me is Marcelo Bielsa, they were the best years of my career”, Hernandez told Cadena SER.
“I learned things I hadn’t realised before in my career. He gave us some rubbish bags and told us to clean up the entire training ground.
“When we finished, we went back to the video room, and he explained why he had made us do it: to make us appreciate all the people who support us and work behind the scenes. The effort they put in to afford a ticket and watch our games.
“I haven’t done it myself yet, but those are life lessons that make you stop and think.”
Is Hernandez Bielsa’s spiritual successor at Leeds?
Daniel Farke is under no real pressure at Elland Road. He has enough credit in his bank after earning promotion for the Whites, and his side have made a decent start to life back in the Premier League.
However, a section of Leeds supporters remain unconvinced by the German and want the attacking flair that the Whites showed under Bielsa, who remains a cult figure.
Hernandez is still in interim charge of a team in Spain’s second division and is far away from being the manager at Leeds.
However, if he continues to perform and gets a job in La Liga in the near future, the chatter around the Spaniard returning to Elland Road in the coming years will grow louder.
For many, he could be a real spiritual successor to Bielsa at Elland Road.
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