New Hearts management team confirmed as Wouter Vrancken arrives in Edinburgh
The Belgian coach will take charge at Tynecastle for season 2026/27
Wouter Vrancken is poised to finalise his appointment as Hearts manager in the next 24 hours after verbally agreeing terms with Tynecastle officials. The 47-year-old arrived in Edinburgh today and should complete the formalities of his move before meeting the first-team squad on Thursday at Riccarton.
Vrancken is bringing two fellow Belgians with him to work as his assistants in Scotland. Tim Smolders, 45, and 35-year-old Cederique Tulleners are the men set to join his coaching staff and complete the new-look Hearts management team. After former head coach Derek McInnes took his assistants, Paul Sheerin and Alan Archibald, with him to Rangers, Vrancken is now ready to pick up the reins in Gorgie.
He was identified by Hearts’ recruitment partner, Jamestown Analytics, before being formally interviewed along with Dutch coach René Hake and fellow Belgian Maarten Martens. The Tynecastle sporting director Graeme Jones and club chairman Calum Paterson conducted interviews and Vrancken became their first choice.
He has moved quickly to enlist Smolders and Tulleners to work with him. Smolders left his job as a coach at French club Stade de Reims last month having been assistant to Karel Geraerts. He previously worked as assistant coach at German club Schalke and Belgian side Union Saint-Gilloise - one of the clubs Hearts shareholder Tony Bloom holds a stake in. Smolders also coached in the Club Burgge youth academy and worked with Belgium’s under-19 international squad.
Tulleners has a varied background having coached Cercle Brugge’s B team and worked as an assistant with the Lithuania under-19 and under-21 teams. Priot to those roles, he coached Beerschot’s under-23s and managed Al-Hilal United in Dubai. He also worked in China, managing Xiamen Nanhu and as assistant at Shenzhen Peng City.
Vrancken built a reputation in Belgium as a coach capable of overachieving. His teams play with energy and aggression and he likes high-tempo play with a high press on opponents. Vrancken won the Belgian Cup with Mechelen in 2019 and guided Genk to a runners-up place in the Belgian top flight in 2023 - missing out on the title in the dying seconds against Royal Antwerp.
After an impressive season with Sint-Truiden last year, in which he guided them to third place and European qualification and was named Coach of the Year, he is now preparing for pastures new. He had reported interest from Anderlecht, Burnley and Lorient, plus Bulgarian side Ludogorets, but now has the chance to manage Hearts.
His first competitive game in charge will be the Champions League second qualifying round first leg away to Sturm Graz on 21 July. The return leg is a week later at Tynecastle Park and Vrancken will want to get off to a strong start in Scotland. Having only previously managed in his homeland, this will be his first venture abroad as a head coach. Players return to Riccarton on Thursday for two days of testing before flying to Spain next week for a warm-weather training camp.