Steven Naismith opens up on Hearts, mistakes and Jamestown as Scotland World Cup campaign begins

Steven Naismith has opened up on his 14-month tenure in charge of Hearts and admitted mistakes were made but also that plenty positive work took place. Naismith is now preparing for Scotland’s World Cup opener agianst Haiti as assistant to national coach Steve Clarke, but he reflected on his time at Tynecastle Park in an in-depth interview.

Hearts appointed their B team coach Naismith - then 36 - as interim manager after sacking Robbie Neilson in April 2023. Naismith then took charge permanently that summer and guided the club to third place in the Scottish Premiership as they finished 12 points ahead of Kilmarnock in fourth. That secured European football, however a run of eight straight defeats saw Naismith sacked in September 2024 with Hearts bottom of the league.

The 39-year-old admitted he was naive at times in what was his first senior management job. In particular, he felt recruitment was too slow at times but stressed that finishing third and reaching both the League Cup semi-final and Scottish Cup final were evidence of progress. He also experienced the early working relationship between Hearts and their data recruitment partner, Jamestown Analytics.

“The situation going in, it was going to be tough but I thought I was ready for it. I don’t think anything does really prepare you for management,” said Naismith on The Warm Up. “What you think is going to happen and what it can be like, there is nothing that can compare to it.

Asked if he would have preferred a job at a smaller club before stepping up to Hearts, Naismith replied. “I don’t because of what I had and the intensity. I think you could have had an easier route if you go to a club lower down, but I think if that doesn’t go well you are going to really struggle.

“At Hearts, what we managed to do in the first year was [for me] going to be the biggest test. Robbie had a brilliant time and probably was unfairly moved on because he had built something that was really good and came third. When I was offered the job, I was thinking: ‘I need to make an impact here.’

“If you go and be run-of-the-mill, mid-table and miss out on Europe, you are going to go along and then drop off. I thought: ‘You really need to do it.’ I was still going in at that moment with the thought: ‘I’ve got a way of playing, I want to do this, I want to do that.’ But our recruitment in the first summer was really late, which then impacts everything so a lot of that changes.

“We slow-started. We won the first game of the season [at St Johnstone] but it was a slow start. It wasn’t perfect and I think, at a club like Hearts, you need to get that engagement with the fans and get it going. If not, it can be a slow burner and it can be hard to turn it. When I look back since I lost my job, we did a lot of good and I think, the way we worked, there was lots of good.

“From going to other clubs and seeing the way that successful managers work, it was good. There were things you would change. I wouldn’t say regrets but I think we made bad decisions at certain times. Whether that be in-game - but again you’re learning on the job, so you make a change that you think will work and it doesn’t work. You put your faith in a player, bringing him on thinking he’s going to have a spark and do something, and it goes flat and the game turns. They are all decisions you learn from but they are not regrets.

“To finish the first season third, comforably, get to two semi-finals - probably we didn’t give ourselves a chance in any of the semi-finals because we were too safe. We probably didn’t push the players enough to say: ‘Just go at them. If we lose, we lose.’ You go through the semi-finals, not really throwing a punch, and get put out. It’s a bit deflating, but to finish third comfortably, then you look behind that at a lot of the stats.

“Defensively, we were better than the club had been I think since George Burley, had the most points since George Burley, the run of away results was excellent. Could our preformances have been more entertaining? Definitely. But I think, as you grow, you become better at getting your team to be that way. I don’t think there were any regrets.”

Naismith expanded on how players were signed. “In the second season, we were signing players for whom Hearts was their biggest club. I needed players to come in and hit the ground running,” he pointed out. “I was a big part of it [recruitment]. It was a group. You had Joe Savage, the sporting director, you had the recruitment team, you had a club and a board that would back you. But, as I said, it was probably the weakest point of me as a coach. I had no recruitment experience.

“Hearts were doing what they could to go round the world to try to find players. There were players there and, especially in the first season, it was really slow. But, again, my naivety as a coach and me as a person is, I would make the team decision. In the summer, we probably needed another striker but I didn’t see any who I thought: ‘He’s going to make a big difference.’ So I wasn’t going to waste that transfer but you get no value in that when you don’t win games.

“We went into the second season with [Kenneth] Vargas, [Lawrence] Shankland, James Wilson and Liam Boyce as the four strikers. Liam Boyce broke down. James Wilson will be a good player but I wanted more from him. He was young and he was inexperienced. Vargas didn’t score enough goals, and Shanks had the whole summer of ‘is he leaving, is he not, what’s going to happen?’ and didn’t really hit the heights that we’re seeing now. That was naivety on my part, to think that would be all right. These are the things I’ve gone away thinking about.”

Most managers, if offered cash for the transfer market by their club, would spend it. “That’s a lesson I’ve learned but I still don’t think that’s right. If you are in a culture where everybody is together then, if we miss out on a target and we need to suffer, then maybe that’s the case. There are probably very few clubs out there who are that fully-connected way where it’s a group decision.

“So, yeah, there were mistakes made but ultimately I think there were positives to my time at what I see as the third biggest club in Scotland. I was there when the Jamestown stuff was happening in the background. Speaking to people who had worked with Jamestown and been at other clubs with it, there was a real excitement. I said early on that it’s game-changing.

“It takes my weakest point and makes it redundant, I don’t care. We are signing these players because we believe in them. Just make sure they can perform on the pitch. It was a really exciting thing. I think Graeme Jones coming in [as Hearts sporting director] was going to be big for me. I’d worked with him with Scotland and had a really good relationship with him. I think he would have been excellent for me personally.

“I felt I’d have got to the international break, which was two games [after his sacking]. That’s the one thing I would probably put at the club. I would say they made the decision early - and we hadn’t won a game - where I think if you had looked at the stats, yes we hadn’t got results, but our performances were better than that. Yeah, there’s a bit of: ‘I wish....’

Naismith also explained his thoughts on Jamestown, their data analytics and Derek McInnes’ role in the recruitment process. “I definitely think the manager is critical in that this season,” he said. “Because of his leadership, management, experience, without a doubt, they have got results on his decisions. Definitely.

“The one game that springs to my mind is Dundee away, when they go down to 10 men and they’re holding on. He’s not got any qualms about throwing five, six, seven defenders on there and going: ‘Get them to score a goal, because if they don’t score a goal then we are in a good position.’ Maybe me thinks ‘I still want to win the game’ and make an immature coaching decision that could potentially cost you.

“The manager has been the biggest signing, but the level of player has definitely jumped. You can’t argue with that. I think we suffered in the second season when Shanks is coming out of contact. What’s he going to do? That’s a lot to play on a player’s mind. To be Player of the Year in Scotland, have the season he did, and not get a move, you’re going to be deflated - 100 per cent. I got the brunt of that at the start of the season but Shanks was an unbelievable player for us.

“Now you are seeing Shanks has jumped again. I think that’s because the players round about him are on his wavelength. The wee intelligent touches, Kyziridis can eliminate his man and get quality, Braga has taken a lot of the burden up front. The players who have come in have definitely jumped up [in quality]. It’s a bit of both but I would love to have had it [Jamestown], definitely.

“I’m a big one for stats. To take a big-picture look at it, you need to look at the data. People don’t like certain data metrics. That’s fine. I think it gives you a good guide of where you are. That’s shown. The recruitment in world football have shown that works. Brentford and Brighton have both shown at exceptional levels that it works. A head coach will always think they are right, whether it be on a player or tactics: ‘No, this is the right way.’

“The data might say differently. If a club’s model is the data, then the manager has to swallow it and accept it. There is that marriage. Stuart Findlay coming in to Hearts, it’s got to be Derek McInnes making that decision because he’s got a relationship with him. Is his data better than what was there? Probably not but the manager has got that relationship. That shows you how Hearts have done it so well. They’ve managed to allow both to happen and I think that’s the perfect blend. A manager gets guys who can relay his message into the squad his way, and you’ve got the data that brings in great quality players.”

Naismith admitted he does intend to return to management when the right opportunity arises. “Yeah, at the right time and in the right situation,” he said.

Chris Sutton, Kris Boyd and Steven Naismith appeared on The Warm-Up, the William Hill SPFL’s weekly preview show. Check out the full episode here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjuV5Qe-I54