Daniel Stendel's 'brutal honesty' will be good for Hearts, insists goalkeeper who followed him from Hannover 96 to Barnsley

Goalkeeper gives insight into German's approach as he insists the head coach is an enjoyable manager to work under

Daniel Stendel's honesty will be a good thing for Hearts, according to his former player

Daniel Stendel’s brutal honesty when things are going badly is offset by the fact he will foster a harmonious environment during better times, according to a man who chose to follow the Hearts manager from one club to another.

The German has ruffled feathers in some quarters due to the ruthless manner in which he has cut loose Christophe Berra, Glenn Whelan, Jake Mulraney, Craig Wighton and Colin Doyle as well as coaching trio Austin MacPhee, Jon Daly and Liam Fox.

However, goalkeeper Samuel Radlinger has worked under Stendel at both Hannover and Barnsley and has never had any issue with the way the Tynecastle boss goes about his business.

“Daniel’s very honest,” Radlinger told the Evening News. “If he doesn’t like things he will tell you. For me, that is very good because it makes no sense to talk like everything’s fine when it isn’t. He’s that kind of person. He’ll tell everyone if he doesn’t like something. I think this is a good thing. Of course for the players who are not good enough for him this is not so good. But he is always clear in his mind and he makes it clear what he wants.”

Although some Hearts players have clearly got off on the wrong with Stendel, Radlinger is adamant that he is an enjoyable manager to work under. “If I didn’t enjoy working under Daniel, I wouldn’t have gone to Barnsley with him,” said the Austrian keeper who was signed by the German at Oakwell last summer. “Mike Bahre also made the same move as me from Hannover to Barnsley so that’s another sign that players want to work with him. Daniel did good work whenever I played under him.

“It’s always good as a manager when you work well with players and they want to work with you. All the time I have played under Daniel, I’ve sensed a good feeling from the rest of the team. I’m sure when things get settled down at Hearts, they will be successful under Daniel and Jorg Sievers. It is the same at any team - when things are going well and the team is having success, it is fun in training and you have lots of fun with the coaches. If the Hearts team is successful, the players will all be very happy with Daniel.”