Andrew McKinlay says Hearts’ new manager is unlikely to be Scottish with the club looking to take a “different route” with their next appointment.
The Tynecastle club have narrowed their search for Steven Naismith’s successor to seven candidates and are currently holding talks with those individuals aimed at drawing up a final shortlist to present to the board. Around 100 names were put to the club for the position while Hearts have trawled the football world with the help of Tony Bloom’s Jamestown analytics tool. But while Kilmarnock boss Derek McInnes and Alex Neil have been quoted among the favourites to take over the Jambos, chief executive McKinlay all but ruled both out.
Vikingur boss Arnar Gunnlaugsson – frontrunner for the position with the bookies – is also “not a name we are looking at” according to the CEO. McKinlay gave an update on the manager hunt ahead of this evening’s Europa Conference League clash with Dinamo Minsk in Azerbaijan and said incoming sporting director Graeme Jones has been helping the process despite not officially starting his role until November.
Hearts hope to have a new man in place by the end of the international break when they return to action at home to St Mirren. And McKinlay said of the new boss: “Probably non-Scottish, but not 100 per cent on that yet. There’s a mix then after that of people from different countries.
“What I would say is the list doesn’t contain anyone that I’ve seen quoted anywhere, I don’t think. It’s not the same old same old, to use that phrase. Although I think sometimes that’s a bit disrespectful to managers.
“I’ve got no issue with some of the managers that are being mentioned, it’s just not what we’re looking for. We’re looking to go down a different route.
“It’s all very well with analytics, but then it’s our job to make sure we get someone that fits in with our culture. Someone that I can work with, someone that the sporting director can work with.
“Because our structure is that the manager reports in to the sporting director. And they have to have a good relationship. So there’s all those sort of things you need to tease out of the individual. Which the analytics just can’t do.
“It’s a fascinating process. And then the other thing of course is you need someone that’s prepared to work with analytics going forward. Because that’s going to be a big part of what we do when it comes to our recruitment.
“Steven was a young rookie manager. The way the analytics is done is it looks at managers who have improved teams where they’ve been. So by definition you have to have had some experience. So yeah, on that basis it’s a different profile from Steven.”
Aberdeen have raced 17 points ahead of Hearts after just six games on the back of a record breaking 12-game winning run since appointing Swedish boss Jimmy Thelin from Elfsborg in the summer. McKinlay wouldn’t rule out hiring a Scandinavian but added: “Because Aberdeen have got a Scandinavian manager, I think that’s flavour of the month.
“And I think that’s what he’s doing brilliantly, so why wouldn’t it be? I’m not saying we won’t end up with a Scandinavian manager. But you’ve got to be very careful that you don’t suddenly go ‘Oh well, that seems to be what works this month, so that’s what we’ll definitely go for’.”
Liam Fox is in a caretaker role having stepped up from B team duties. But McKinlay wouldn’t put a firm timeline on when the new man will be appointed. He said: “We had around about 100, I wouldn’t go as far as saying applications, but notes of interest.
“We also have our own views on managers that we’ve been keeping an eye on or looking at. And now, of course, we have the third part of it, the analytics firm also have a view on managers.
“So what we’ve done is everything’s been fed through the analytics piece. As at the back end of last week, we’ve got a long shortlist, probably seven or eight. And we are now speaking to individuals on that list. Now, what will happen is some of those individuals might drop off.
“It’s just the nature of it. Once you start speaking to them, they might have expressed some interest, or it might not have been as much interest as it seemed. Some of them drop off. We’re now speaking to people. I had one conversation yesterday, which was myself and Graeme Jones with one individual. I’ve got two more today.
“And then I’m hoping to have a few more over the weekend, so that we can get to a stage where hopefully next week we can get down to a shortlist, which we’ll then take to the board with a recommendation, or allow them to speak to a couple of people and see where we get to. Now that makes it sound like it’ll be sorted out next week.
“It’s never as straightforward as that. That’s just where my head is at the moment. It’s bound to drag on a bit. We’re bound to hit snags here and there. Once you then get down to negotiating contracts, you have some people that are in work, some aren’t in work. So it’s very difficult here and now to know how long that’ll take. But no, listen, it’s progressing.”