Hibs star Stevie Mallan warns Hearts stars what life would be like under Daniel Stendel

Midfielder was at Barnsley with German

Stevie Mallan

Hibs midfielder Stevie Mallan has warned city rivals Hearts they’d better be prepared to get their heads down and work hard if Daniel Stendel becomes the new boss of the Tynecastle club.

The German coach has emerged as the frontrunner to replace Craig Levein, although the Gorgie outfit have already spoken with Stuart McCall, Neil McCann, Steve Cotterill, Alan Irvine and Jack Ross before he agreed a three-and-a-half year deal with the Easter Road club.

Mallan briefly crossed paths with 45-year-old Stendel as he became manager at Barnsley, where he became a popular figure as he guided the Yorkshire club to automatic promotion from League One.

However, the former St Mirren player left shortly after Stendel’s arrival as he was lured to Easter Road by Neil Lennon. But even so, Mallan believes he saw enough of Stendel – who was sacked by the Tykes six weeks ago – to confidently predict what could be in store for the Jambos’ players.

He said: “I only worked with him for a couple of weeks, but even then it was evident it was just all about pressing and high-intensity running off the ball. We were always in groups of twos and threes, pressing the ball.

“The first few days he came in the door it was all games, high pressing stuff, different to what I had the year before.

“I watched a bit of Barnsley last season because I still have friends there and it was evident in their play. They won promotions and it was just all high pressing, high running.”

Mallan believes Stendel, who is still negotiating his pay-off package with Barnsley, was as highly rated at the club.

He said: “I think a lot of the fans bought into the style of play Stendel brought in. I know from speaking to a few of the boys there that they rated him really highly as well and a lot were gutted when he got the sack.

“Every manager comes in with their own tactics, we have already seen that here with Jack, who has a different philosophy to Hecky. Hopefully that’s a positive for us and takes us forward.

“Both teams are changing managers and are looking to get up the table. I just hope we come out better.”