Former Leeds United boss shares Hearts manager job near miss as he admits being 'really keen' on role

A former Leeds United manager has revealed the chance he had to become Hearts boss.

Steve Evans has forged a succesful career down south as a gaffer, starting at Stamford and Boston United before stints with Crawley Town, Rotherham United, Leeds United, Mansfield Town, Peterborough United, Gillingham, Stevenage and now in a second spell with Rotherham. Back in the Vladmir Romanov era, he claims to have had interest from the Jambos.

In the end a deal couldn’t be worked out but Evans wonders what could have been if the owner had been different. He said via One-on-One: “I’ve been given an opportunity by two or three clubs to work up there. Totally, totally the right clubs – just the wrong time in my career. The nearest I came was Heart of Midlothian when the owner Romanov was there. I met him and some people who represented him, worked for him, in London.

“Then I went up to Edinburgh. I was really, really keen. I mean, it’s Hearts, a great club. But then – like you’re always advised to do some due diligence, I’d read a few things – and I spoke to the one man who’s been my lieutenant, sadly gone now, Craig Brown.

“But I spoke to others. Craig always put it across in an equal way. The feeling I got, well, it was absolutely one million per cent the right club…but the wrong owner. But Sir Alex has always maintained ‘Pick your football club by the chairman or the owner.’ It was after George Burley had gone.

“I thought ‘This sounds exciting.’ You do all the things, you get on RightMove and looking at where you could live. I looked at the fan-base, and I knew what it was like having played against Hearts when I was a kid. I could picture myself as the Hearts manager. It’s a great club.

“But the words from Craig resonated with me and the words of Sir Alex. If you’re going to make a jump in your career, and it’s somebody who wants you and you’re interested, just make sure you’re going to join the right person in charge.

“I have to say, he was a charming man (Romanov). I didn’t come away from the meeting feeling ‘You don’t look right to me.’ He was respectful. I got a good feeling. It was just I thought I better look into this a bit more. But then the advice was to be wary – and I wasn’t ready, having been in England a long time, to come back to Scotland on a ‘be wary’ basis.”

“The words were I had a deadline to make a decision – which was 24-hours. The plan, the vision for Hearts under him, was to challenge Celtic and Rangers and to dominate Edinburgh, in terms of Hibs and Hearts. That was the plan. When you hear that, when I think of the size of Hibernian Football Club and the respect I have for them…

“When you hear ‘I’m going to back you, I’m going to back you with players, I’m going to back it, I’m going to support you, we want you up in a couple of days’… As welcoming as it was, once I did the homework it just didn’t stack. But I think it takes your breath away any time. I’ve been at Tynecastle…it’s a brilliant stadium, the fans make it. They’re loud, they’re proud.

“When I jumped out of London on a train my heart and my head said ‘Yes.’ But when I’d done my due diligence I had 24-hours to give him my decision. It would possibly have been a brilliant move had the ownership model been different.”