Point finger at Craig for this debacle
From Back Page for the club. I feel a bit sorry for Cathro. He was so clearly not adequate for the job and his shortcomings were clear for everybody to see.
“And the bigger picture for me is the management structure above that put Cathro into the position he was in, because it was such a glaring mistake.
“It wasn’t even a case of, yes, maybe, and mitigating circumstances. It was a guy who was drowning in the position he was in.
“I look up above him, he seemed to get very little support publicly from his boss and his boss has now fired the gun.
“But how can sacking a coach days before the start of the season not draw the question of how did he see this as a good appointment?
“You have given him the summer, recruited players, pre-season to work with players and then you sack a manager days before the start of the league season.
“That is an indictment on the judgment of that director of football.
“He knew Cathro for a number of years yet saw fit to make this appointment.
“While people who barely knew him spotted this weakness in his character in terms of communication and people skills within days.
“Hearts have gone down the route of young, up-and-coming coaches. Why limit yourselves to one sector of the industry?”
Stewart is now backing former Hearts skipper Steven Pressley to replace Cathro but questioned whether he would work with Levein despite their strong relationship.
The BT Sport pundit said: “Bluntly, I don’t think Levein is a positive for the club. I don’t think there’s any danger he will go.
“He has manufactured this position as the director of football for this exact reason, so he is insulated from the criticism to a certain extent.”
MacPhee will take temporary charge of Hearts alongside fellow coaches Jon Daly and Liam Fox ahead of their Premiership opener against Celtic.
Cathro was axed after Tynecastle chiefs, led by owner Ann Budge and Levein, came to the decision during a hastily-arranged meeting on Monday night.
It is understood the Jambos director of football delivered the news to the 31-year-old ahead of a scheduled training session.
Now Northern Ireland assistant MacPhee – who helped secure the services of Kyle Lafferty, Aaron Hughes and Michael Smith – has the responsibility of picking up the squad before the big kick-off this weekend.
Under-fire Levein is focused on finding Cathro’s successor, with increased pressure on him to recruit the right man this time.
Last night former Hearts manager Paulo Sergio admitted he would love to replace Cathro.
And the Portuguese boss – who won the Scottish Cup with a famous 5-1 win over Hibs in 2012 – is so keen on a return to Tynecastle he has already sent his CV to Budge.
Sergio, 49, who’s currently out of work, said: “My CV has arrived to Budge. I show my interest in the job, I put my CV there, and now I wait.
“I still have good friends in Edinburgh. They would love me to go back and I would love to go back. I want to go back there and do a better job. We have to wait.”