STENDEL QUERIES LEVEIN’S METHODS AT HEARTS
HEARTS boss Daniel Stendel has taken an extraordinary swipe at Craig Levein after claiming that the football department built by his predecessor lacks ‘professionalism’. And the new manager insists that a complete overhaul is needed if the Gorgie club, currently languishing five points adrift at the bottom of the Premiership, are to fulfil their potential. Despite being axed as head coach and director of football, Levein remains an influential figure at Tynecastle after owner Ann Budge asked him to share ‘sporting director’ duties with former interim boss Austin MacPhee. Both are under contract until the end of the season, with Budge having floated the idea of them staying on in the longer term. But Stendel, whose first act upon arrival was to demote Levein’s entire backroom staff — including MacPhee — is clearly setting himself on a collision course with his predecessor. The former Barnsley boss, who promoted reserve coach Andy Kirk to first-team duties while banishing MacPhee, Jon Daly and
Liam Fox to the shadows, bluntly stated that the work being done behind the scenes at the National Performance Centre wasn’t up to scratch. ‘We need to improve our sports side,’ said Stendel. ‘For me, that is everything on the pitch, on the training pitch, here at Oriam. ‘We try to bring more professionalism to this club on the sports side. ‘When I talk with Ann and other people on the administration side of the club, you can see how they work in the boardroom, it’s so professional. ‘We need to work hard to bring the sports side of the club up to the same level. ‘Then we’re not just a good club but a big club.’ Levein famously arrived on day one of the Budge era armed with a detailed blueprint showing how a football club should be run. But the disastrous Ian Cathro experiment, followed by the director of football’s own ill-fated return to head coaching duties, raised serious questions about decision-making at executive level within the club. Stendel’s best efforts are still being hampered, meanwhile, by Hearts’ inability to secure the release of long-time assistants Chris Stern and Dale Tonge from their Barnsley contracts, which has left the German trying to implement new ideas without either of his trusted deputies. Yet the former Hannover coach is confident that he can not only turn around the fortunes of a team but influence a revamp of the support network needed at any major club. ‘At the moment we try to get all the sports side of the club together,’ he said. ‘A lot of things have changed at this club, especially on the sports side. ‘It’s not only the manager but a lot of things around the team. ‘When we achieve the same level across this side of things, we will have a really, really good club — and a really good team.’