Next Hearts manager: The Tony Bloom factor, job candidates and St Mirren's curse on five Tynecastle bosses
Steven Naismith was relieved of his duties at Tynecastle on Sunday
The image of an empty Tynecastle Park dugout belies the prestige attached to it. Being Hearts manager comes with ever-growing responsibility at Britain’s largest fan-owned football club, where expectations are high and continuing to rise. If you are not third in the league you are almost deemed to be failing. When you are bottom of the table, there is only one outcome.
Steven Naismith’s sacking as Hearts head coach at lunchtime on Sunday had an inevitability about it. A 2-1 defeat at St Mirren the previous day was the eighth in succession during the worst start to a season in Tynecastle history. One win in 15 competitive games since April left many supporters outraged. Chants of “Naismith, Naismith, get to F***” from the away end in Paisley conveyed their feelings.
The timing of Naismith’s exit alongside assistants Frankie McAvoy and Gordon Forrest is not connected to Hearts’ recent talks with the British entrepreneur Tony Bloom. However, the Brighton owner’s prospective introduction to Scottish football now assumes added significance. Bloom’s highly-renowned recruitment system, which Hearts will adopt when they finalise a £10m deal, has worked wonders helping clubs like Brighton and Union Saint-Gilloise sign players. It also identifies coaches and managers.
Brighton had already pinpointed Fabian Hurzeler as their next figurehead long before agreeing to part company with Roberto De Zerbi in May. De Zerbi was always in line to replace Graham Potter before him, too. Succession planning underpins Bloom’s operation, and Hearts now intend to use those algorithms developed by his companies Starlizard and Jamestown Analytics to source their next head coach. The agreement should be signed off within days with Bloom’s system able to offer up potential replacements for Naismith.
There will certainly be plenty interest in the vacancy at one of Scottish football’s leading clubs. Especially one about to begin a lucrative UEFA Conference League campaign. Alex Neil is out of work but would command a huge salary having worked in England for the last nine years at Stoke City, Preston North End, Sunderland and Norwich City.
The Kilmarnock manager Derek McInnes and St Mirren’s Stephen Robinson are two men who have recently achieved notable success with their respective teams in Scotland. Both have been interested in managing Hearts at different points in the past. Tony Docherty is also mentioned in the odds list for Tynecastle after earning respect in his first managerial job with Dundee.
These are merely speculative early shouts bookmakers have jumped on, it should be noted. The final appointment is likely to be found outwith the usual clutch of managers and coaches who frequent the Scottish league. A foreign appointment holds a certain appeal, especially with Bloom’s technology leading the search. He has already conducted an external review of the Gorgie club.
His system is capable of plucking people from far-flung locations with the potential to adapt to British football. Again, Brighton offer a good example of this. Hearts interviewed the Spanish coach Marti Cifuentes last summer before appointing Naismith permanently, and directors were impressed with his input. He was then with Hammarby in Sweden and moved to Queens Park Rangers a few months later.
Somebody needs to take charge of training at Riccarton this week, hence the interim appointment of Liam Fox. Hearts play Ross County on Saturday before a gruelling journey to Azerbaijan for their first Conference League tie against Dinamo Minsk behind closed doors. From there, it is straight to Aberdeen to play the joint-Premiership leaders at Pittodrie. That’s three games between now and the next international break, allowing time to find a permanent incumbent.
Fox, the current Hearts B team coach, was the obvious choice to take the reins on a short-term basis. He holds a UEFA Pro Licence and can therefore manage in European competition. He will be assisted by Angus Beith, the B team assistant, and Lee Wallace, currently assisting the under-18 side. Those moves buy time as the news of Naismith’s departure ripples across the Scottish football community.
His exit leaves Hearts seeking their eighth new manager in the last 12 years. Dive deeper into those eight individuals’ past and you discover a quite bizarre coincidence that St Mirren sounded the death knell for five of them. Naismith’s final game in charge of Hearts was at the SMiSA Stadium on Saturday, he replaced Robbie Neilson after a 2-0 home defeat by Saints in April 2023, and Daniel Stendel’s last match with Hearts was a 1-0 loss at St Mirren in March 2020 before the Covid shutdown. Further back, a 1-1 draw in Paisley in 2014 proved to be Gary Locke’s last as Hearts manager. He, of course, had taken over from John McGlynn in February 2013 after a 2-0 reverse at - you’ve guessed it - St Mirren.
Future Tynecastle coaches might understandably be wary coming up against those from Greenhill Road. Whoever is next in line permanently faces a sizeable task to galvanise a squad struggling to score goals and leaking them in alarming fashion. Issues needing resolved urgently include: Who is the first-choice goalkeeper out of Craig Gordon and Zander Clark? How do you revitalise a lethargic captain in Lawrence Shankland? How do you tighten a disjointed defence which looks vulnerable at almost every cross ball and set-piece? How do you get the best out of some summer signings who have so far flattered to deceive? How do you become a creative, attacking force again? That’s just for starters.
Managing Hearts is a big job. Rebuilding Hearts is an even bigger one. Bloom and his companies’ technology will offer an advantage when it comes to recruitment, but the Tynecastle board will ultimately make the appointment. It is one they daren’t get wrong. Thousands of fans who pay hard-earned cash into the club through Foundation of Hearts will eagerly await the outcome.