Axing Berra was best for club, insists Hearts boss
DANIEL STENDEL has vehemently defended himself over his handling of Christophe Berra’s situation at Tynecastle. Five points adrift at the foot of the Premiership, the Hearts boss has taken radical action to reverse the side’s fortunes, with the skipper’s demotion to train with the reserves one of only a number of eye-catching measures.
Glenn Whelan and Aidan Keena have already departed this month, with Jake Mulraney, Craig Wighton and Colin Doyle all possibly set to follow.
The former Barnsley boss has also shown first-team coach and former interim manager Jon Daly the exit door — a move that prompted an angry reaction from the Irishman at the weekend.
The decision to effectively end Berra’s Hearts career was by far the most controversial, though, with the veteran, who has made more than 250 appearances for the Gorgie outfit over two spells, claiming he was ‘hurt and angry’ at being told he could leave the club.
Adamant he did not treat the captain with a lack of respect, Stendel defended his modus
operandi during an interview with club channel Hearts TV.
‘We tried to talk with all of the players,’ said Stendel. ‘I know that some players were big players for the club with lots of experience. They love Hearts and this club and we look for all of the right solutions, with respect.
‘But, in the end, it’s not easy to find the best way so that they are all happy.
‘There are always two sides, but I can only say that we tried to do the best for the club.
‘We respect all of the players that play for Hearts or sign for Hearts — especially our skipper, Christophe Berra.
‘He gives his best for this club, not only the last two-and-ahalf years but also before.
‘He is a really good player but we talked about the situation and we tried to find a good way for him and for us and especially for this club, and I hope that we find the best way.’
With a number of first-team players seemingly heading for the exit door, Hearts are desperate for reinforcements.
Stendel has been linked with the likes of Matty Kennedy, Liam Boyce, Mamadou Thiam, Jordan Green and Charles-Jesaja Herrmann.
As yet, however, no deals have been done and Stendel concedes that the January window is a challenging one to navigate.
‘It’s sometimes hard, for every club in January, to find the right player for the right money,’ he added.
‘But I can say that the club is working hard to bring the players in. I hope that we can give news this week. We are very close to signings.’
Stendel, who believes that new assistant Jorg Sievers ‘can help us to improve at Hearts in the future’, has revealed that he will make a decision regarding the captaincy of the club this week in light of Berra being in limbo.
Craig Halkett took the armband against Aberdeen and is the clear front-runner for the post, having previously held the role at Livingston.
‘We will talk this week about the situation,’ Stendel continued ahead of Saturday’s Scottish Cup clash against Airdrie.
‘Especially in the game against Aberdeen, it was good, you could see that Craig improved with the armband.
‘He took the responsibility for the Hearts team, for my team, on the pitch. It was a good reaction from him and he had a good game — but the decision will be made on Friday.’
The German is hopeful that Conor Washington, John Souttar and Steven Naismith will be able to soon play a part following lengthy battles with injuries. ‘All three are important players for us,’ he said.
‘We hope that they stay fit and can play in the second part of the season, so much more than they played in the first. ‘I think we have some new players in the squad that we missed in the first half.’