Hearts hero in running to replace ex-Hibs ace as boss of SPFL club after 'over 100 fines' dished out to stars

The League One side are hunting a new gaffer.

The former Hibs midfielder has left the club with a Hearts hero in position as a possible replacement.

A Hearts hero could replace a Hibs favourite in the dugout at League One side Queen of the South.

The Doonhamers have parted company with Marvin Bartley after a dismal season in the third tier. They have finished seventh and just two points above the relegation play-off spot as a full-time team, sitting 12 points off the promotion equivalent.

It’s now claimed in the Daily Record that Danny Grainger ‘is in the running’ to replace Bartley alongside Annan Athletic manager Peter Murphy. Grainger departed his role as the boss of Cumbrian side Workington boss last week after two years in which he guided them to promotion up to the Northern Premier League.

A left-back in his playing days, the 37-year-old spent two years at Hearts between 2011 and 2013, scoring one of the goals in the famous 5-1 Scottish Cup rout over Hibs. His name has been ‘put forward’ as an option and Grainger would be inheriting a club in distress it would seem ahead of the summer transfer window.

Sign up today for your free newsletter from the Edinburgh Evening News, with a bespoke headline round-up, as well as breaking news updates

Bartley - who won the Scottish Cup and Championship at Hibs - has been scathing in his verdict of some players’ professionalism and club budget.

He said: “Anyone who knows me knows I’m a massive professional and this season I think I have handed out over 100 fines. It’s just not been good enough from certain individuals. There will be a fair few that will look at themselves and be disappointed. Budgets dictate who you get. Sometimes players are at this level because they want to go up the way.

“Sometimes they’re at this level because they just want to float around and sometimes they are at this level because they are going to try and trick you that they will come in and do the right things and be the right professionals but have no plans of doing it. That’s been the biggest difficulty for me.”

“There’s this stigma around part-time and full-time in this league. We are a full-time club with a budget much closer to the part-time teams. You saw it when Edinburgh City players were leaving there. We tried to sign them and they were saying they were on the same wage part-time at Edinburgh City as we were offering them to go full-time.

“Going forward nothing’s going to change unless the new board decide to get a vastly bigger budget to get closer to the full-time teams then there’s going to have to be a patience to allow the young players to grow.”