Sport: Levein takes Cathro flak and vows to revive Hearts
● New boss signs three-year deal and takes responsibility for Cathro tenure
Craig Levein held his hands up yesterday and admitted he had got it wrong with the appointment of Ian Cathro. Now, he is the man charged with putting things right.
The former Scotland coach returns to the Hearts dugout for the first time since he traded in Tynecastle for the Leicester City job 13 years ago and while he concedes that the nomadic start to this season renders the role something of a poisoned chalice, he intends to rise above those difficulties and win points as well as the hearts and minds of doubters.
“Look, this is a demanding club. I know that more than anybody,” said the man, who has been given a contract to oversee first-team matters for the next three years. “Part of me likes that challenge and my hope is to change the mind of anyone who is unhappy with things. I want to get into a position where they are not voicing that opinion because we are winning games.”
Brought in as a stabilising force by owner Ann Budge, who said that, while other candidates impressed, none ticked all the boxes like Levein, the 52-year-old will reprise the dual role of director of football and manager he performed at Dundee United as he guided them into Europe and the latter stages of cup competitions.
The plan is to bring in two new signings before the transfer window shuts to bolster his chances of success but, with or without reinforcements, Levein believes he is better placed to wring the best out of the current squad of players.
Sticking to his assertion that Cathro is a promising coach, he conceded that there had been turmoil in the past season and said that the fledgling manager had perhaps been unable to correlate his own ideas on how the game should be played with the calibre of player at his disposal at Hearts.
“Then what happens is that you lose a game and people get a little bit frightened and stop wanting to take the ball,” said Levein. “Everything Ian was doing was fantastic but if your players don’t feel comfortable and confident taking the ball then there is an issue.”
But having made the mistake of appointing a man who could only deliver eight victories from 30 competitive games, Levein admitted there was an element of wanting to make things right in his decision to head back into the dugout.
“I made the decision last time [to appoint Cathro] and Ann and the board listened to me, so it is on me. Ian had been in the building three years ago and nearly became the under20s coach and I wish he had because he would have experienced more. Although he was at Dundee United, he was never anywhere near the first team or the culture of football in Scotland. Headers, corners, set pieces, long throws, second balls, all these things are synonymous with Scottish football but they aren’t in Portugal, certainly not in Spain and to a lesser degree in England.
“My thought wasn’t immediately that I would have to fix this, that wasn’t my first thought. But I looked at the amount of away games and thought ‘that is going to be tough’. Maybe that was me thinking ‘the club is in this position just now, what’s the best thing I can do to help?’ ”
Levein does not believe that, three years ago, he could have combined being director of football with managing the first team but, with so much of the groundwork carried out at the academy and throughout the rest of the football department, he now has the desire and the time to be able to focus on delivering in the dugout.
Having earned third place finishes and European football in his first incarnation as the Hearts boss, Levein is targeting the same goals this time around, promising a team that will “work hard and compete”, insisting that if they do that they will win more often than not. Assisted by Austin Macphee and with Jon Daly and Liam Fox sticking around
CRAIG LEVEIN “I made the decision last time [to appoint Ian Cathro], so it is on me”
as first-team coaches, he says the primary concern is negotiating the run of matches away from Tynecastle while the new main stand is completed.
In 2004 he was at the helm when the club were forced to play ‘home’ European ties at Murrayfield, winning 3-1 against Braga, and he will return there for his first match back in the technical area, on 9 September, against Aberdeen. By then he hopes the squad reinforcements will be in place, with more pace and creative options at hand.
“Playing all these matches away from home is an unusual set of circumstances. Then comes the next unusual set in that I think come November and December we’ve got nine games at home. If we can get ourselves into a place where we are hanging onto coattails coming in to that period, then things can quickly change.”
If he can do that then Levein knows he will go a long way to at least silencing his main critics among the Hearts support. It is as simple as that.
Now that he has accepted a job he neither asked for nor expected, his managerial juices are flowing and his eyes light up at the mention of derbies and the idea that he will no longer be castigated for perceived influences but will instead be judged on his own managerial decisions.
“I miss being out there. I miss the pressure of standing out there, being 4-2 down to Hibs two minutes into injury time. I miss that. That’s why I want to get back. Now I have got responsibility for all the results – not just the defeats. That’s a big thing for me.”