It's taken a bit longer than expected but Steven Naismith’s appointment as Hearts boss is spot on. Well, technically, he’s the technical director because of his lack of a UEFA Pro Licence but make no mistake he’ll be the man calling the shots.
I’ll be honest, Naisy has been a slow burner for me in terms of who I wanted to replace Robbie Neilson. But each passing week of his caretaker reign was a warming to the idea of him as the permanent choice. In his seven games, he steadied the ship and led the club into Europe by cementing fourth place in the Premiership and barely put a foot wrong.
Naisy’s a strong character, he was a winner as a player and he’s brought that desire to succeed into the dugout. The crucial thing for Hearts was to name someone who already enjoys a connection with the support. I was at a few games during the run-in at Tynecastle and you can sense the relationship Naismith has with the support, earned during his time as a player. The energy and intensity is clear to see – he cuts an animated figure on the touchline and isn’t someone who’ll ever suffer fools gladly.
It’s a huge job for a guy who’s relatively new to coaching but the high regard in which he’s held by Scotland boss Steve Clarke is such that he’s an important part of the national side’s backroom team. That’s a massive statement on his abilities and it will have been factored into the thinking of the Hearts board.
Frank McAvoy has been named head coach and he’s been around the block. He’s also worked at some big clubs so there’s going to be an experienced coach to lean on and learn from. Gordon Forrest is also highly thought of by people within the game so it all appears to be the perfect fit for a talented coaching team.
I said last week I thought it was time to give Naismith the job but of course it would be naive to think the custodians of the club wouldn’t have a look elsewhere too. They were also considering a move for Hammarby boss Marti Cifuentes so it would have been a tough call.
In Naisy you’ve got a guy who, while inexperienced as a front line coach, has been there and done it in British football, working with top managers like Walter Smith and Davie Moyes and picking up the knowledge they have to offer. He knows the squad inside out and with every week that went by with him as caretaker, I could see him growing more and more into the role.
But Ann Budge, Joe Savage and the directors are paid to look out for the best interests of the club and they wouldn’t be doing their job right if they didn’t take a moment to see what else is out there. On the face of things, Cifuentes looked a decent option having led Hammarby to third in Sweden last year but appointments are always a gamble. It comes down to a judgment call.
He might be a top coach but he needs time to get to know the squad, work out who he wants to keep and who is dispensable and then work up a list of targets to bring in. The silence from within Tynecastle has been deafening as there’s no time and a firm decision needed to be reached.
It just seems like the board haven’t learned the lessons of the past when they dithered on sacking Craig Levein and then took an age to get Daniel Stendel in the door. The players will be back for pre-season in only a couple of week’s time ahead of what is a huge campaign with another European group stage campaign at stake – a massive prize that’s crucial for Hearts’ development.
Every day that passed without a permanent boss in place would have been another day wasted. I remember when Paulo Sergio got the job in 2011 thinking it was a strange, left-field appointment.
But within a minute of meeting him I knew he was the real deal. It was the way he held himself, with such confidence and assuredness.
He’d clearly done his homework too. He marched straight over to me in the dressing room and said, “Hey Ryan, how are you?”
I just remember thinking, “How the f*** does he know who I am?” The current squad will be more than familiar with Naismith and we’ll watch with interest but it’s the correct call as who knows, Cifuentes may have turned out to be more of a Stendel than a Sergio.
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