‘ It’s now, it’s not two days from now. We don’t switch off’
Naismith reflects on thriving on relentless nature of the Hearts job
STEVEN NAISMITH was prepared for Hearts’ trip to St Mirren. Then the call arrived on Friday night. “Shanks is ill,” was the unfortunate news on the other end of the line. Hearts would have to do without their leading scorer for one of the more demanding challenges in the cinch Premiership.
Ahead of the clash with Livingston, the Hearts head coach is reflecting on 12 months in the main job at Tynecastle Park.
“Everybody says to you being a manager is a 24/ 7 job,” Naisimth said. “And you think at the time you understand that. But when you’re in this environment in the football department of a club, it’s not like any other business. It’s reactive, it’s now. It’s not two days from now. We don’t switch off at 6pm and think we’ll get that in the morning. To be successful at any club, that environment has to be created. We’ve created that and that’s why we have progressed as well as we have this season.”
Early in his tenure when fans expressed doubts about his ability to do the job Naismith remained unfazed. The demands and pressure of being manager of Hearts doesn’t seem to be a challenge or an issue for someone who has thrived under that pressure as a player, both at Rangers and in the Premier League.
“Family life, my wife and kids have suffered a lot,” he explained. “That’s the hard part for me and the part I’m still trying to deal with. Football- wise, it’s probably went as I’d expected.”
Being able to switch off, finding a better balance are areas that Naismith is still working on. A keen golfer, he has not been able to play a round for two years. He has spoken to his peers about that element of the job. The answer is often along similar lines.
“I’ve probably mentioned it to a lot of managers I have come up against. It is whatever works for you. I’m good friends with Russell Martin and he is somebody who is as close to me in terms of family life, not long in a job, same type of character. He basically turns his phone off and has a day to himself and the family. I’m not at that stage yet but I imagine we’ll get to that point eventually.”
He added: “You hear managers say ‘ Your handicap goes down when you get the sack’. I can understand that. You choose what you want to do and I want to do this. It’s really intense, it’s really demanding, but I enjoy that more than I enjoy golf so I’ll keep doing it as much as I can.”
Naismith has taken Hearts forward from where they were 12 months ago. He has done it while learning on the job as a rookie manager.
“That there are some better coaches here than me,” Naismith admitted when asked what he had learned as a coach. “If I’m honest, Gordy [ Forrest] and Frankie [ McAvoy] and their experience, I’ll let them lead it because they are better at delivering it than me. I understand that it is a team game. I understand the picture in my head of how I ideally want it doesn’t mean I need to do everything.”