Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Levein fears ‘madness’ football managers face is growing worse
HEARTS boss Craig Levein fears the “madness” football managers face is growing worse.
The f ormer Scotland manager faces Neil Lennon’s Celtic on Sunday with both having suffered criticism after one defeat each.
Hearts lifted some of the pressure on Levein with an impressive Betfred Cup win at Motherwell, while Celtic were flying until a 4-3 defeat by Cluj in the Champions League was followed by a narrow cup win over Dunfermline.
Levein said: “I think there’s a madness going around just now. If you look around the league everybody’s complaining about everybody. I don’t know where it all ends.
“Thankfully, most of the owners aren’t quite as jumpy as sometimes the punters can be.
“And I’m not sure how much it’s the actual, everyday supporter. I’m not sure it involves them, I think they just get on with their lives.
“You’re always dealing with the extremes in football, particularly in social media. Everybody needs to take a breath and just wait and see.
“Normally you would get halfway through a season before you were judged, now you don’t even get to the start of the season. It is crazy.”
Despite some disagreements when working across the Edinburgh divide between Levein and Lennon, the Tynecastle boss admits there is a togetherness which allows managers to discuss the unique pressures they encounter.
“If we meet socially or other things that don’t involve us screaming at each other on the touchline, then there’s a degree of empathy.
“Anybody who has been in the managerial position and done it understands that.
“You have to be in that position and worn somebody’s shoes before I think you have the right to criticise. A lot of it just now is just noise from people who are experts on making noise.”