The word coming from the Hearts dressing room is ‘honesty’. Brutally so. Steven Naismith doesn’t soft-soap anything and it’s an approach I wholeheartedly applaud. It’s a lost art.
Football is full of players who can’t handle the truth. It’s a sport which has been allowed to put the sensitivities of professionals far too high up when it comes to telling like it is. More of them need to man-up and shoulder a bit of responsibility. Young players in particular struggle to confront facts they don’t want to hear so when I hear Naisy is telling it like it is, then honesty is the best policy.
He’s not the type to care about winning any popularity contests and he has a ruthless streak. Some of the squad may not agree with him but they should at least appreciate him being up- front and it’s what the club needs at this current crossroads. Some won’t like it, too bad.
I recall winning a game with Hearts at Motherwell and I came off the pitch feeling good about myself as I’d played well. Jim Jefferies was the boss and he walked into the dressing room and absolutely emptied me.
He told me if it I didn’t buck up my ideas I’d be back at Ayr in a flash. He tore me to shreds and I believe it was because I had played well and he wanted to bring me back down to earth by refusing to give me praise.
When I was younger I had it in my locker to be a bit big-headed. Now that I am older I appreciate why a manager would act in the way Jeff did. Paul Jewell did something similar to me when I scored in a win for his Ipswich side and he filleted me at full-time – and again I believe it was to make a statement.
As a young manager myself I take all of these experiences from the range of managers I worked under and my Glenafton dressing room is one of brutal home truths. The best managers I had were the ones who would walk into the room and you could see boys mutter under their breaths, ‘s***, here comes the manager.”
Jeff had that, Paulo Sergio had it and Jewell had it. I used to swear under my breath even when I had to walk by him in the corridor. You would consider whether it was wise to say ‘good morning’ as you were never sure what you would get back.
The best managers aren’t in it to gain friends, they only care about winning games or else they get the bullet. For weeks I’ve sat on the fence over Naismith being made the permanent boss but I’ve slowly been convinced it would be the right decision. He’s come into the first-team dressing room and made a difference.
I was sceptical about him at the start as I felt the club had to bring in someone who would get a reaction from the squad. Whoever is appointed must also already have a connection with the fans and Naisy has that.
Hearts can’t just keep chopping and changing managers, a period of calm and consistency is called for. Naisy played for the club so he has a history. I was also at the game against Aberdeen and I saw first-hand how animated he was on the touchline so I’m warming to the idea of him getting the job.
There’s a clear intelligence, drive and ambition burning within him. As a manager you need that and he’s also succeeded in making the jump from player to coach. He’s not the type of guy who wants to be everyone’s mate.There has to be a line drawn where the players must understand that he is the manager and Naisy is already convincing in the role which is half the battle.
One of the features of his game as a footballer was his game intelligence, he’s clearly brought that into his coaching and I’m all for young managers being given a chance. If someone had told me nine months ago this Premiership season would end with Stuart Kettlewell as Motherwell boss, Barry Robson at Aberdeen and that Steven MacLean would be in charge of St Johnstone I’d have laughed.
Dougie Imrie at Morton and John Rankin at Hamilton, – management is like playing, everything changes over time. Throw in Naisy at Hearts and it would have sounded absurd but I think it’s terrific all of these guys are being given a chance rather than jobs going to the same old faces.
He’s worked under guys like the late and great Walter Smith as well as Davie Moyes at Everton so those experiences will have seeped into the way he goes about his own business as a boss. Brutal honesty with both of those men.
Footballers as a breed will take a mile if you give them an inch and management requires taking no s***. The biggest thing for any manager who is just starting out is the need to set their stall out clearly and Naisy has done that. Hopefully he gets the nod to take the team moving forward.
A final word on Saturday’s derby. Naisy did well to keep his composure when Lee Johnson barged into him at full-time. If he’d done it to me I would have knocked him clean off his feet.
READ NEXT
