Derek McInnes reveals how he will rebuild Hearts with Tony Bloom's help as Tynecastle is 'sanitised'

Having managed in Scotland since 2007, Derek McInnes has encountered the best and worst of Hearts. From unknown Lithuanians to Scottish Cup-winning heroes, he knows what works and what doesn’t at Tynecastle Park. He breezed into Gorgie on Monday after a difficult departure from Kilmarnock ready to put his own stamp on the place. Opponents should probably brace themselves.

The Edinburgh club’s new head coach is clear in his mind about what he wants from players and is eager to harness the raucous energy Tynecastle can generate. Supporters can play a massive part, likewise McInnes and coaches Paul Sheerin and Alan Archibald, plus there is the influence of Tony Bloom and Jamestown Analytics. Brighton and Hove Albion’s chairman is awaiting approval on a £10m investment proposal designed to help Hearts challenge again.

McInnes answers expansively when asked how he intends to bring all the different threads together at a club currently underperforming. His focus is on the team, its approach and how to use Tynecastle’s intimidating environs. “I think of the best Hearts teams that I've come up against as a player and as a manager - whether it was Jim Jefferies' first team, George Burley's teams, Craig Levein's first teams. When you come to Tynecastle, you get hit between the eyes pretty quickly, both physically and with aggression and a pace and an intensity.

“Sometimes I feel, when teams come here now, it's a bit sanitised. Once the kick-off goes, teams enjoy it, bed themselves into the game. I'd like it to be the opposite. I'd like players to think that they don't like going to Tynecastle as much as they have previously, and it's such an intimidating place. For that, we need to have our players enjoying the atmosphere and thriving on that as well. You turn up at Tynecastle at 3pm and the fans are here, they’ve done their bit, so it’s up to us to give them a game to enjoy.

“The Hearts teams I have played against in the past could hit you with intensity, hit you with aggression and the noise would get louder and louder. That’s something we have to tap into because I’ve come here as an opposition manager looking to quieten the crowd. We have to recognise the responsibility we have to bring the crowd with us in games, bring an energy and mindset to games.

“Being too precise and slow sometimes with the build up gives teams confidence and the chance to take a breath. We want teams to feel they’re not okay coming here - that’s an easy thing to say but a more difficult thing to work towards. But it’s something I feel is important. Hearts teams when I was younger always had a strength about them, not people who would just kick you, but fitness and energy. You had to stand up to that. While you want to be technical and good on the eye with players who can handle the ball, there’s also got to be that other dimension.

Scottish football compared to Europe and other countries

“Scottish football is the league we’re in and I do think we’re different to a lot of other leagues. In Scandinavia and the like, it’s all very technical, all very coachy and slower-paced. But in our country you have to play with an extra edge, passion and show that extra bit of determination in early parts of games. You have to have that fitness and wherewithal to deal with what’s expected of you.

“The truth of the matter is: What’s expected of me and my team is to be successful. So I have to build a team that represents me and represents what Hearts should be. That’s energetic, fit and also have the confidence and personality to deal with playing here.”

Bloom’s role will be from a distance, however the multi-millionaire businessman carries a reputation for breeding success wherever he goes. Brighton and Union Saint-Gilloise in Belgium are the other clubs benefiting from his investment, both evolving into far greater animals because of his involvement. He intends Hearts to follow suit.

Brighton in the EPL and Union in Belgium

“I haven’t spoken to him but I have to people who have worked under him,” said McInnes. “I’ve looked closely at the work he’s been involved in, everyone at the club is excited about the partnership, the collaboration and the added investment. There’s real evidence, USG in Belgium will likely win the league next week and that’s a great story. Brighton - everyone knows the improvements there over the last while.

“I think there’s a lot of people out there who scoff at it all and are sceptical of it all because it’s not the norm in Scottish football. For me, having that expertise, knowledge and infrastructure is important because they can help me build a squad. It’s up to me and my staff to build a team within that. Having them on board with us is a real comfort as a manager and I’d rather have them with me than against me.”

For years, McInnes yearned for a chance to manage Hearts. As Robbie Neilson, Ian Cathro, Craig Levein, Daniel Stendel, Steven Naismith and Neil Critchley passed through the Tynecastle technical area, the 53-year-old harboured an inner belief that he could excel there. Now he gets the opportunity after Hearts sporting director Graeme Jones recommended his appointment to the club’s board. He signed a four-year contract with a hunger to justify it.

“If I’d been looking from the outside whoever got this job I’d have been gutted, to be honest, because this is one I felt I could really make a good fist of,” explained McInnes. “With the added investment, it’s a job I felt if I was staying in Scotland this could give me everything I wanted. There’s no sense of entitlement getting it, but there were times when it came up I hoped I’d get the opportunity to speak to the people here.

“This was the first time and everything happens for a reason, it’s worth waiting for and I believe it’s the right time now. Did I think the chance had gone? No, not at all. All you can do is just work away as a manager, sometimes seasons are better than others. It’s ironic that last season was a far better season, getting into Europe, getting Manager of the Year. This season was more challenging, a bit more difficult, but sometimes you hope the body of work you’ve had helps when it comes to a decision.

“You can’t make people like you and want you. You just have to hope someone recognises your work. If it’s a younger manager people want or if it’s a foreign manager, then that’s their way - or a more senior manager with a track record. However the club arrived at their decision, I’m just glad they have. I’ve always thought this was one which would be a good fit and was certainly one I always wanted.

Aberdeen and Hearts similarities as McInnes gets ready for Tynecastle life

“I used to come here as the Aberdeen manager and it was a similar club, the size, the ambition and the demands. Hearts have a lot in place, the stadium, the training ground and the fans. It’s quite unique in a lot of respects, given how much the fans put in here. I don’t think there’s anything like it elsewhere.

“I want to have a team who can achieve something, we all want that as managers but ultimately it’s about having the tools to do it. It’s similar to Aberdeen. People would say to me it was a graveyard for managers. My first impression when I went in to the club was that we had so much more resource than what I had at St Johnstone, so many more advantages. I just didn’t think it was working hard enough or effectively enough as a club.

“Just because you have 18,000 or 19,000 coming through the door, got the season tickets and the budget to give you every chance, it’s only an advantage if you use it. For me, there are similarities to when I went into Aberdeen. The team is in the bottom six this season and there’s a reason for that. You need to find out the reasons because with the squad, the money here and the advantages you have here, it should be better than what was served up.

“So the challenge here is to build a squad, with the help of Jamestown Analytics, build a team and see what we can do. I really believe we can annoy people, get amongst it and see where it takes us. I believe we can do something here. The intention is to try and deliver silverware, bring sustained success on the pitch, and just be the biggest animal we can be and try and meet the expectation that's there from everybody.”

Key to that success could be a new contract for captain Lawrence Shankland. Talks have taken place between the Scotland internationalist and the Hearts hierarchy as his exisiting deal expires. Now McInnes will have his say. The pair worked together at Aberdeen between 2013 and 2017 when Shankland’s top-flight career was still very much in its infancy. He is now a more mature and rounded footballer, one McInnes wants to keep in Edinburgh.

“We felt Lawrence was the kind of signing we should be making at Aberdeen [from Queen’s Park]. He was a young player who’d scored goals in the lower leagues, and he had potential. He did brilliantly for the reserves. We won the league that year and Lawrence scored 30-odd goals. Him and wee Cammy Smith were outstanding, with good service from wingers. But it just never happened for him.

“I think he thought [Adam] Rooney was too far ahead of him at the time and it didn't really work out for him. Maybe a lack of belief, maybe a wee bit of lack of everything at that time. A goalscorer is a goalscorer and when he left Aberdeen, it never really quite worked out for him at St Mirren and Morton. It was only when he went to Ayr United under Ian McCall, he made him feel important. The penny dropped with Lawrence. It looked as if he was enjoying his football again. He looked leaner, more confident and scoring goals again. The goalscorer in him has always been there. He thrives on service.

“If we've got an opportunity to keep him then we should do all we can to keep him, because he's Scottish, he gives you 20-odd goals a season. He could maybe get more than that if you give him the right service and get him closer to the goal. I do believe that working with Lawrence would be brilliant. We've got someone already there who can give us what we are looking for at the top end of the pitch.

“Ultimately, it didn't work out for him at Aberdeen and there is no shame in that. Sometimes it takes a player a bit longer to find his way. But he did find his way. He became a Scotland internationalist, he goes to the Euros, he becomes a really relevant player in the Scottish Premiership and a player that I would love to work with, because he's a boy that I'm really fond of. I know his family. I would love to continue with him.”

READ MORE: McInnes speaks on transfers and Jamestown