Steven takes over reins at Tynecastle

Steven was appointed yesterday and after being in charge of training last night he said: “My initial thoughts off the field are that Tynecastle is a very well structured club and in chairman Douglas Dalgleish they have a man who has been around a long time and who is dedicated to this club.

“As far as the current team is concerned, we need to turn things around. They have conceded 22 goals and scored only five in their previous five games. The bottom line is that any team cannot possibly win conceding that amount of goals.”

Steven, who managed Edinburgh City for four seasons, was their most successful manager when he led them to the Premier Division title in season 2005-2006 and became the only team outwith Spartans, Whitehill Welfare and Annan Athletic to lift the Championship Trophy in the past 19 seasons.

Shaun, Tom’s young brother, will be his assistant and already they are working to strengthen the squad.

“We have a few players definitely lined up and some more in the pipeline,” said Steven. “My initial talk to the players was to tell them that we are all starting from scratch and that every position is up for grabs.

“They all know that they have to prove to me that they are good enough to pull on a Tynecastle jersey and play for this team in the Premier Division. The players need to understand that they are at a top club and that they need to start producing the goods.

“It does not take a genius to work out that if a team does not concede any goals then the minimum reward is at least one point.

“Therefore, we must sort out our defence and defending is a collective aspect of football which starts from the front third of the pitch. Shaun and me are at Tynecastle to win games and move them up the table, starting with a home game against Selkirk on Saturday.