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Following the defeat to Charlton Atheltic last weekend, Paul Heckingbottom was met with jeers by the travelling faithful. “Hecky, time to go” was the chant the former Sheffield United manager was greeted with when he approached the away end to thank for them for their support. Seemingly turning away from the fans, Heckingbottom continued to thank his players for their efforts, snubbing to give the fans any more of his appreciation. Understandably, the fans are frustrated – after a torrid last half of the season and losing the first three league games of the season, the supporters’ patience is wearing thin. With a couple of days of the transfer window left, calls to sack the manager are a bit nonsensical. All the while, transfers can still happen without a manager, as evidenced by Jeppe Okkels move following Ryan Lowe’s sacking, it does bring things into disrepute when there’s more than one signing. North End are chasing four signings before the deadline, with two returning, a loan move, and another potential deal, they can fall through if the manager isn’t to be present. The manager, whether people realise it or not, is a part of the broader appeal for a player’s decision to move – whether it’s from a tactical standpoint or a respect perspective, the manager presents a project to the player. Without that presentation, the likelihood that player signs is significantly impacted as they will leave with more questions than answers, one of them wondering if the new manager will play them. I’m not suggesting we keep Heckingbottom as a PowerPoint presentation, but in a way he had to remain for these last few days of the transfer window. Give him the opportunity to see out the Bristol City and Blackburn Rovers clashes with his team and new signings before jumping the gun and bringing the transfer business into oblivion. So far, the performances haven’t been good enough and that is enough to call the manager into question, but it’s not worth sacrificing potential deals for players who can change the course of the season for the better. In my opinion, Paul Heckingbottom should get to see the next two league matches with all of his transfer targets realised as that will give us a better indication as to whether he’s got what