What Daniel Stendel had to say in his first interviews as Hearts manager

Daniel Stendel met the media as he begins work at Hearts

New Hearts manager Daniel Stendel revealed the biggest selling point for joining the club was “trust”.

The German was unveiled to the media this afternoon after the club worked tirelessly to get the deal over the line, more than a month after Craig Levein had been relieved of his duties.

The 45-year-old signed a two-and-a-half year deal having been out of a job since being sacked by Barnsley earlier this campaign, refusing to discuss the dispute with the Championship club.

Daniel Stendel was unveiled to the media as the new Hearts boss. Picture: SNS

He said: “Coming to Hearts was about more than money. It was about trust. I hope I can bring success back to Hearts.”

It was a point he outlined in an interview with HeartsTV.

“One big point is I can feel the trust from Ann,” he said. “We talked for a long time, and you need a long time, and there was a feeling that they want me for this club.

“For me, also, a big thing is that I’ve heard a lot of things from the supporters and I hope that we can be as a unit for the next time, for the next game, for the next two and a half years, and we have a good time here

“My experience from my last jobs is that these are important things. Yes, you want the best players, you want the best team and the best facilities.

“That’s all important – a nice stadium – we have all this here but I think the biggest thing for me is the trust from the people with responsibility in this club.

“I can feel it from the first moment, and also when we called and we hadn’t met before, there was a good feeling and I think this is a good start for us to work together.”

Chairwoman Ann Budge is excited for the new era to begin at Tynecastle after a protracted and sometimes frustrating process to get the deal done.

He said: “I am delighted. I was frustrated as everyone but we wanted to do it properly. I am sure he is going to be worth the wait.

“It would be wrong of me to say I never had any doubts it would get done. But we were persistent and we got it done.”

Gegenpress

Stendel has already excited Hearts fans regarding his desire to implement “intensity football”. It could see the ‘gegenpress’ become a popular phrase in EH11.

Made popular by Jurgen Klopp, it involves winning the ball back immediately after losing it rather than dropping back and into shape.

Essentially, Hearts players will be required to hunt for the ball.

He explained: “In England I said ‘counter press’ a lot of times. We want to win games and when you want to win games you need the ball.

“When we lose the ball the best thing we can do is win the ball again. This is the idea from geggenpressing and we will do it.

“Then, I hope, we have more chances and we have a good game and the people who come and watch our games like it and we have more success.”