CATHRO: Of course I’m in charge here

HEARTS head coach Ian Cathro last night addressed questions over director of football Craig Levein sending down messages from the stand and going into the dressing room at half-time by insisting that he is in absolute charge of the team on matchdays.

Television pictures from Aberdeen’s 2-0 win over the Tynecastle side at Pittodrie clearly showed Under-20s coach Jon Daly talking to Levein in the stand and then convening with assistant manager Austin MacPhee in the technical area moments later.

Levein is also understood to have entered the dressing room at half-time but Cathro, having now won just five out of 17 games since taking over in December, has expressed the view that this

is nothing to make a fuss over.

‘Let’s talk about this,’ he said. ‘First of all, one of the positive things about the work with the club and the work with the staff is there is a lot of people engaged.

‘We have good staff, good coaches and I involve them in our work during the week. I am someone who wants to train with a lot of coaches.

‘We have good staff with the Under-20s in Jon Daly, Andy Kirk and Liam Fox — who has recently joined us. We work together.

‘I have always worked in a situation where we have one member of our technical staff in the stand who understands the game plan and the work we have done and so on.

‘That person has the responsibility to me to keep the dialogue active on certain things I have asked them to look at. That’s completely normal.

‘I know there’s a historical aspect to this that turns it into a story for you now and then, but, trust me, it’s completely normal.

‘It’s one of the positive things that we work collectively.

‘I can’t discuss too many positive things right now, but if we are talking generally about this to try and stop some sort of directed hysteria, it’s entirely normal that we work together.

‘More specifically, that a coach sits in the stand, which we vary, through my decision.

‘They work for me. They are doing things asked of them by me, for me.’

Cathro was asked whether or not Levein contributes to the team talk or speaks to players should he visit the dressing room at the interval.

‘With the schematics of Pittodrie, there’s not a lot of space for us to do many things,’ continued the former Newcastle and Valencia assistant manager.

‘You see a different person sitting behind this desk, but, trust me, if you were in my changing room, you wouldn’t be opening your mouth.’