So Hearts CEO Andrew McKinlay reckons the club had to sack Stevie Naismith because they “cannot afford to stand still”.
That’s rich considering it’s the board who are responsible for this team going MASSIVELY backwards. They’ve got some cheek laying the blame at a manager’s door. I mean it’s only 44 DAYS since they handed Steven, his assistant Gordon Forrest and Frankie McAvoy new three-year deals! Forty four!
McKinlay came out at that point and said it was the board’s “belief that they can continue to take the team on an upwards trajectory”. Well that’s some show of faith! Six weeks later and they’re out on their a***!
Listen, I’m not denying that Naisy had to go. It’s eight straight defeats and one win in 15 if you go back to the end of last season. Any manager will struggle to survive that run of form. But Naisy has been pointing out the weaknesses in this squad for months while somehow overcoming those shortcomings to steer the club to a third place finish which now looks all the more remarkable given this season’s start.
I have been making this same calls in this column all year and so too have the supporters. The only ones who refused to listen were the directors. That’s the only conclusion you can draw when you consider the Tynecastle top brass have allowed the club to go through two windows without properly addressing the huge need for extra firepower.
The club didn’t just require another striker to share the goalscoring burden with Lawrence Shankland this summer, it probably needed two. Yet they’ve done pretty much nothing to solve that issue and help reduce the unbearable pressure levels poor Lawrence must be feeling have to single-handedly drag this team along with his goals.
Obviously they’ve dried up this term and no wonder. One man can only do so much. And now we’re seeing the grim, brutal results of that drought with the team nailed to the Premiership floor.
It was McKinlay’s name on the statement announcing that Naismith, Forrest and McAvoy have been binned. He finishes it off by announcing “the club shall be making no further comment at this time” – again, I had to laugh!
Considering they work for a club that would have ceased to exist were it not for the fans pouring their hard-earned cash in to keep it alive, you’d think they’d be quicker coming up with some answers. McKinlay says he intends to “update supporters shortly about next steps in both the short and long term” but whatever fluff he comes up with, it better be good. Because if the fans are feeling as furious as I am, the nonsense we’ve been fed lately simply won’t wash again.
For starters, they better figure out an explanation for why they couldn’t get another frontman to help out Shanks. Then they better tell us why in their wisdom they thought it was a good idea to allow sporting director Joe Savage to leave in the middle of a transfer window.
And while they’re at it, they’ll have to spell out why they thought former SFA performance chief Graeme Jones was the man to replace Savage because it sure beats me when you consider he’s got no experience whatsoever when it comes to recruiting players.
Naisy was always going to be working with one hand tied behind his back with those kind of decisions behind the scenes. But I don’t think he helped himself at times.
Every club has a DNA that runs through the ages when it comes to a style of play and that includes Hearts. I’ve always thought we should be up-and-at-em, especially at home on a tight Tynecastle pitch. But I just never got that feeling with Naisy’s team. They lacked that aggression, that smothering pressure that all the great Hearts sides I played with or against had as a key ingredient.
The side have played some nice stuff over the past year but there were too many passes and not enough penetration for the Gorgie faithful’s liking. Perhaps that was why the fans were so quick to turn on the manager.
Yes, it’s been a dreadful start to the campaign but we’re talking about a boss who had the team sitting well ahead of the chasing pack last year as they finished only outside of the Old Firm. The “Naisy get to f**k” chants in Paisley on Saturday would have sounded like an alarm bell. I can’t remember a manager ever surviving that kind of treatment from the punters. But if he had to go that begs the question – why on earth do those doing the hiring and firing get to stay?
It’s not as if they have done much to help the situation. And it’s not as if bringing in someone new will make a difference either. After all, they will have to work with the same group of players who seem incapable of hitting the target too.
If you ask me, I’d go for Derek McInnes. He showed at Aberdeen what he’s capable of and is doing a terrific job at Kilmarnock. I’m sure there will be plenty of other applicants too as Hearts remain a huge club.
However, do I trust this board to make the right call? No chance. But why don’t you ask me again in 44 days’ time…