Former Hearts star and coach remains in charge of Premiership rival amid continued hunt for next boss
A league rival of Hearts are looking for a new boss and will stick with the ex-Jambos figure this weekend.
A former Hearts figure will remain in charge of Premiership rivals Motherwell this weekend.
The Steelmen are hunting a new gaffer after Stuart Kettlewell’s resignation last month. It has left assistant manager Stephen Frail in caretaker charge of the club since and he oversaw a 3-1 defeat to Celtic last time out in the Premiership, where the Fir Park team put in a spirited display.
Frail turned out for Hearts as a player between 1994-1998 before coaching at the club for four years in the space of 2004-2008, where he also at times took up caretaker positions. Now ahead of this weekend’s Premiership clash with Ross County, Frail will remain in the dugout. He faces another ex-Hearts player in Don Cowie, who manages the Staggies.
Motherwell sit a place above Hearts in sixth by a point and a win could see them go three points off Dundee United in third, yet County currently in the relegation play-off spot could be two points behind if they achieve victory. Frail says the Motherwell managerial position could become clear next week.
He said: “The search is obviously still continuing for the new manager, but I’ve always been tasked with this game. Hopefully things will be more clearer sometime at the start of next week, but all the preparations have been from myself and the rest of the staff to make sure we’re ready for Ross County on Saturday.
“We’ve been able to see right from the start of the week this is how we’re doing things, this is the way we’ll be looking to prepare and organise and to make sure we’re ready. I’m sure when the new manager does come in, he will have his own ideas, his own thoughts on the game, it might be a rip-up of everything that we’ve done, which is fine, but the players know what’s expected of them come Saturday.
“They have been first class in everything that they’ve done, everything that I’ve asked them to do. They’ve attacked it. Their attention in training, their detail in training, the way they’ve worked in training has been excellent.
“They wish they’d had a game last week. They obviously didn’t, but the whole focus after the Celtic game was two weeks later for the Ross County game.”