Aidan Keena: Craig Levein told me my Hearts career was over - I could never get a hold of Daniel Stendel

Irish striker reveals impromptu chat which sealed his fate at Riccarton

Aidan Keena was told his Hearts career was over by Craig Levein whilst standing at Riccarton’s back door. The striker revealed today that he did not speak to manager Daniel Stendel and was informed of his fate by Levein, who is sharing some of the sporting director duties since being sacked as the Edinburgh club’s manager.

Hartlepool United moved quickly to take 20-year-old Keena south on an initial 18-month contract. They have an option to extend that agreement for a further year should he fulfil his potential in England’s National League. Although his departure from Hearts was amicable, he left harbouring plenty frustration.

Keena felt he never got the chance to showcase his goalscoring ability at first-team level. He was also surprised at the speed and manner of his departure. Stendel started the Irishman in his first game in charge of Hearts last month, and also used him as a substitute against Hibs on Boxing Day.

Aidan Keena says Craig Levein told him he was finished at Hearts

'It was Levein you had to speak to'

However, taking his seat for a team meeting inside the club’s training ground at the start of last week, Keena had no idea what awaited him. “I had been asking what the plans were but I could never get a hold of him [Stendel]. It was Levein you had to speak to,” he told the Evening News.

“I was sitting down for a team meeting and I got called out to the back door to Levein. He told me I was free to find a new club. I hadn’t spoken to the manager.

“I had a good start under the new manager and he seemed to like me in training the first week. I was in the team for his first game and it was my first start since April.

“I wasn’t match sharp or anything and I knew that myself. I didn’t feel match sharp from the first whistle but I thought: ‘If I get one little chance, I’ll score.’ Then he took me off at half-time and I said to myself: ‘I’m not going to kick on if this is the way it’s going to be.’ One start every six months isn’t going to make me better.”

The decision was taken out of his hands when Levein told him he was surplus to requirements. “I’m not going to start slating the manager or saying anything bad about the club,” explained Keena, who joined Hearts in 2017 from St Patrick’s Athletic.

“I’ve got a lot of good memories from Hearts and I met a lot of good people there. It’s nothing to do with the people at the club or any of the coaching staff. If the manager doesn’t want me, then he doesn’t want me. It’s as simple as that.”

'At Hearts, the chances were few and far between'

The forward believes firmly in his goalscoring ability and would have liked a sustained run in the team to demonstrate that to the Hearts support.

“There is a bit of frustration that I never did get the run of games I needed,” he said. “Whenever I went on loan and played games, I scored goals. At Hearts, the chances were few and far between. It was tough to come into a game when you hadn’t played for six weeks.

“I was maybe getting the last five minutes of a game to show what I could do. It was never ideal. I can’t blame anyone for that. It’s a big club and I’m a young player. They don’t owe me anything, it’s just frustration personally.”

Recently-departed Hearts coach Jon Daly helped Keena move quickly. He played with Hartlepool’s manager, Dave Challinor, at Stockport County.

“Jon put in a good word for me,” said Keena. “This is a chance for me to start playing regularly and hopefully scoring goals. I always said to myself I’d like to come down to England at some stage. This maybe isn’t the level I hoped to come to but it’s definitely not too much of a step down. Plenty players make the step back up again from here.

"I’ve had Hartlepool fans and Hearts fans wishing me well. I want to come down here, score a few goals, maybe get the club back up to the play-offs and then see what I can get at the end of my contract.”