John McGlynn responds to Hearts manager question as pundits react to Steven Naismith sacking


The news that Hearts had parted company with head coach Steven Naismith is a little over an hour old but already the pundits have been reacting and one manager has been questioned if he’d be interested in the role.
Former Jambos boss John McGlynn had joined the pre-match coverage team at Celtic Park ahead of the League Cup quarter final clash between his current side Falkirk and the Scottish champions. The 62-year old was asked outright by former Hoops and Scotland defender Charlie Mulgrew if he’d be interested in the vacancy.
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Hide AdHe said: “I'm happy here (at Falkirk) right now Charlie. The boys are playing really well and I'm quite happy working away here now.”
McGlynn had a decade plus association with the capital club and was head coach between 2012 and 2013. He won promotion from League One with Falkirk last season going unbeaten in the league, has won five from five of his Championship matches so far and of course knocked Hearts out of the league cup.
On Naismith’s sacking, he added: “You never like to see a fellow manager lose their job. I'm sure Steven will have learned a lot during his time there. When he took over as caretaker he got a great reaction out of his players and last season he had a great season.
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Hide Ad“It's still really early and maybe he could have turned it around but there's big expectations at a club like Hearts and the fans are not very patient and obviously that will have lead to this happening. I'm sure Steven will bounce back and I wish him well to get back into football.”
Plenty of Scottish football pundits have already commented on Naismith’s sacking including former Hearts midfielder Michael Stewart who was also at Celtic Park when the news broke. He said: “I'm not surprised. It just shows you there is not a great deal of sentiment that can be shown in football in regards to what happened last season .
“This season has not been good enough and I think there is a good base of a squad there but there needs to be some adjustments to it. Eight defeats in a row is a record I don't feel anybody could survive.”
Also part of the Premier Sports coverage were the aforementioned Mulgrew and former Hibs midfielder Marvin Bartley.
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Hide AdMulgrew said: “At a club like Hearts if you don't win in a long time then the writing is on the wall. Steven won't be surprised either. Only Hearts knew what the long term plan was and you need to question why they're not sticking by that. When you don't get results in football that's the nature of the game.”
Bartley added: “It's been an extremely difficult start for him. I thought that Hearts were absolutely brilliant last season and even recruited well in the summer and it just shows you that in football unexpected things can happen. To go eight games without victory isn't acceptable for Hearts and I feel sorry for Naisy because he's put everything into it but it just hasn't worked. It just hasn't been good enough recently.”
Over on BBC Sportsound, former Hearts defender Allan Preston was at the forefront of the immediate reaction to Naismith’s sacking. Unlike Bartley he didn’t believe the club’s summer recruitment had been god enough and hopes that potential investor Tony Bloom will have a say in finding a new head coach.
He said: “I think the recruitment has been dreadful. They've got nine central midfield players and one right back to the point where when Taylor didn't play against Dundee United they put a left back in Kingsley at right back. I know as a left footed player how difficult that is, it narrows the game because he's always wanting the ball on his left foot.
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Hide Ad“The last couple of years they've had three strikers in Boyce, Vargas and Shankland. Boyce has been injured for virtually 18 months so they'v e had two strikers at the club and you're thinking 'go and get another striker'. What do they do? They sign more central midfield players. The recruitment has not been good enough.
“Hopefully Tony Bloom and his people come in and that'll get sorted and equally I want them to be involved in the recruitment of the new manager. I watched that podcast on Brighton about how when De Zerbi left and they already knew who the new manager was. He's in place now and I certainly hope Hearts tap into that and get some information which will help get a new manager in.
“If I was to pick someone in Scotland it would be Derek McInnes. He's done a great job at Aberdeen, you see what he's done at Kilmarnock but I just think Hearts might go down a different route.”
Also speaking on Sportsound were former Celtic goalkeeper Pat Bonner and ex Hibs midfielder Stephen McGinn.
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Hide AdBonnar said: “I hate to see a young Scottish manager sacked but there has to be lessons from this. Hearts are one of the big five teams in Scotland, they are a massive club who have everything in place. They have got a very strong fan base but in the past they've gone with young inexperienced managers. I remember Ian Cathro coming in which didn't work out.
“Is that the lesson? A club that size has got to go with somebody who has experience? Steven had experience as a player but management is a different story. It's fine when things are going okay but when things start hitting the bumpers that's when you need experience to step in.”
McGinn added: “I was at the game yesterday and around the 70th minute the Hearts fans almost united as one to let their feeling be known. I actually thought Hearts were the better team in the first half but three set piece goals in the game is very tight margins.
“I think at any point, third in the league last year going to fifth is going to be a tricky enough game but it has been a really terrible run and you're not really sure what his best team is and I'm sure that's a horrible place to be in as a coach.”
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