Candidates dropping out shortens the odds on me being the Hearts boss
HE’S making it difficult for them, certainly. Even laying the slightest hint of a guilt trip on the Hearts board. And, as Jon Daly watches a series of big-name contenders ducking the on-field salvage job going on at Tynecastle, he can’t help but feel more confident about his chances.
The 34-year-old remains an outsider in the running to replace axed head coach Ian Cathro, with Steven Pressley and Paul Hartley — both former Jambos, both with more experience in management — leading the race.
But. Ah yes, there is a but. Daly is holding down the caretaker position in an encouraging enough manner.
He also has a ready champion in director of football Craig Levein, reluctant to abandon the youth-oriented coaching model that has so far produced one hit in Robbie Neilson… and one godawful miss in Cathro.
If there are others on the Hearts board pushing for a more tried-and-tested candidate, stranger things have happened than a raw interim boss being promoted as a compromise candidate.
Daly, quick to remind everyone that he cut short his playing career and took the Hearts Under-20s job precisely because it offered excellent prospects of advancement, is at least still interested in the gig.
That’s more than could be said for previous frontrunner Dougie Freedman, now the new sporting director at Crystal Palace.
At least he stayed around for the interview process; former England boss Steve McClaren teased Hearts with a ‘maybe’ then took a gig with Maccabi Tel-Aviv before the parties could even chat.
And, just this week, Billy Davies managed to annoy everyone — always his forte — with a statement explaining why he was too damned radical and edgy for Hearts, man.
Daly, who has led Hearts to their first away win in the Premiership since February and earned a battling draw at Ibrox, smiled as he acknowledged: ‘People have dropped out.
‘Some have got jobs, some have just withdrawn their names. It shortens your odds, doesn’t it?
‘That’s football, I suppose. That’s what happens when there is a job available. You get high-calibre names coming in and some will naturally go on to take other high-profile jobs.
‘I am just enjoying the whole day to day, dealing with training and dealing with players.
‘It’s something that hopefully — whether it’s now, or in the future — I get an opportunity to do.’
Insisting that Cathro’s failure shouldn’t be held against every young coach with aspirations, Daly pointed out: ‘Hearts appointed a rookie manager in Robbie Neilson — and it worked really well. I don’t see why it can’t work again.’
That argument has found traction among some at Tynecastle, with several influential figures wedded to the idea of retaining the current structure — a head coach willing to work under Levein.
Davies ruled himself out of that scenario in fairly spectacular fashion this week, declaring that he had offered Hearts an alternative vision of the way forward — but claiming that club owner Ann Budge was not interested in ‘changing the figurehead’.
Daly is having none of it, instead offering up a passionate defence of the system that prompted him to quit playing — at the age of 33, in the middle of a season — and take up coaching.
The Irishman said: ‘The main reason I retired from football was to come into that structure.
‘I would probably have played on for another couple of years if I hadn’t been offered this opportunity.
‘I don’t think I would have taken a coaching role at that stage of my career had it been anywhere else other than Hearts.
‘The model of the club was set in place after they’d come through a very difficult period and it’s something that has worked previously. So I don’t see why, after a difficult seven or eight months, they should change that.
‘Billy’s had an interview and I’m sure he’s had the structure explained to him. He obviously likes working with a different structure, so he’s entitled to his opinion.
‘But it’s a structure that, in my opinion, is very good. It’s geared towards helping younger coaches — and also younger players come through into the first team.’
Daly has confirmed, meanwhile, that recruitment has continued despite the lack of a permanent head coach.
The Gorgie club have landed former Burton Albion goalkeeper Jon McLaughlin — and could throw him in against Motherwell at Fir Park tomorrow.
The 29-year-old former Bradford goalkeeper impressed the Hearts coaching staff in a trial this week — and earned himself a contract.
Hamilton, now 23, has lost his place as second back-up in the Scotland squad to Jordan Archer and has struggled at times in an under-pressure Hearts team.