Steven Naismith
‘There have been too many non-football stories at Rangers. It’s sad to see that’
ONE of the crueller side-effects of the SPFL’s post-split fixture lottery has left Steven Naismith exposed to yet another afternoon of hostility at Ibrox.
The Hearts forward chuckles at the prospect of playing pantomime villain for the second time since making his loan switch from Norwich City in January but acknowledges that the Rangers support have graver matters to concern them than the return of a fallen idol.
Naismith experienced dark times as his club was sucked into a financial black hole and placed into administration in 2012.
He did not expect Rangers to remain a lightning rod for chaos six years on.
The suspensions of club captain Lee Wallace and striker Kenny Miller brought fresh scrutiny of Rangers in the wake of a 4-0 drubbing against Celtic in last Sunday’s Scottish Cup semi-final.
As a former team-mate for club and country, Naismith knows both players well, but claims no inside knowledge of the confrontation with manager Graeme Murty that led to their summons before managing director Stewart Robertson.
‘There have been many times I’ve been in dressing rooms that harsh words have been said or there are guys boiling over,’ reflects Naismith. ‘But it wouldn’t normally have come out or had such a big deal made of it.
‘Maybe you’d go away for a day or two and the heat would be taken out of it and you’d sit and think about it logically. But that’s not been the way of this.
‘It’s sad to see to be honest. So many times from 2012 to now we’ve heard too many stories about non-football things. It is sad that’s still the case.’
As Naismith says, it does seem as if the problems that descended upon Rangers after David Murray sold to Craig Whyte in 2011 have never truly gone away.
Naismith was recovering from a cruciate knee injury when the administrators were called in and was soon facing up to the fact he had played his last game for the club he had supported all his life.
Aged 25 and already a full international, Naismith would have no trouble finding a new club but felt for the staff at Ibrox who have subsequently been let go.
‘You couldn’t go a week without some sort of meeting that wasn’t about football,’ he recalls. ‘It was everything but football.
‘The first game after administration was Kilmarnock at home and we lost. There was maybe one training session all week because we were in meetings with the administrators.
‘That’s going to take away from your performance, not just out on the pitch training but tactically, how you are going to set up, what is expected of you.
‘So it is inevitable it is going to have an effect, and it did. There was collateral damage too, so many good people suffered.
‘The more the process went on the more you could see it was going to happen and that you were irrelevant in the whole situation. That’s the saddest thing.
‘I subsequently went on to Everton, where the club is filled with these people who drive the club. These people make sure that when guys like Marouane Fellaini and Kevin Mirallas come in, they understand what it’s about.’
Naismith exercised his rights to leave for Everton under freedom of contract when Rangers went under.
He was vilified for claiming he felt no affinity with Charles Green’s Newco and, while he has expressed regret over the manner of his departure — he and Steven Whittaker held a joint press conference to explain their decisions for walking away — Naismith maintains he did the right thing for his career.
‘It was the hardest decision I ever had to make in my career,’ he says. ‘But when you look at what I have managed to achieve since personally it has been a good one.
‘But it is sad to see what has happened — take away being a fan or being at the club before or anything like that — just for Scottish football.’
When Naismith left for Merseyside, the game was not in a healthy state. Rangers’ problems were colossal but not unique, with Hearts suffering under Vladimir Romanov and also bound for insolvency.
Naismith has pitched up at Tynecastle amid a period of renewal, not just for the Edinburgh club but for the wider environment.
Ann Budge and the Foundation of Hearts have taken their club into a promising new era while, elsewhere, Motherwell continue to punch above their weight under fan ownership, Hibs look stronger for a rebuild in the lower leagues and Naismith’s first club Kilmarnock have enjoyed a notable resurgence since the appointment of Steve Clarke.
‘I have been surprised,’ he admitted. ‘For me the future of Scottish football was cloudy but clubs have made great decisions. Hearts and Kilmarnock... Billy Bowie picking Steve Clarke was probably the best decision by anybody in Scottish football in the past season.
‘It is more competitive, there are no dead rubbers and there is a lot riding on these games. It’s great to see, if we could now just get everyone involved in that.’ With Budge, Hearts have stabilised and increased the capacity of Tynecastle through the construction of a new main stand. ‘The club is run very well and, without being huge risk takers, they are pushing the boundaries as far as they can, which is great to see,’ says Naismith. ‘The squad is good, the facilities are good and they don’t just think: ‘Ach, we’re here, we’ll just drive up on the day of the game.’ ‘Everything is done to a professional standard and driven by how can we get better, which is a good thing. With Ann everything seems to be calculated and professional when it comes to her decision-making. ‘You talk to her and nothing really fazes her, even if football isn’t really her ground of expertise. ‘She delegates well and puts good people in the right positions, which has definitely brought the club further forward than it has been in the past five or six years.’
On the field, progress has not quite marched at the same pace this term but that hasn’t stopped Naismith enjoying his loan spell. Ring-rusty when he arrived after an extended period of inactivity he has started to look like his old self.
Three goals in his last six games have provided flickers of former glories while his three bookings have posted a reminder of what he was like at his feisty best.
Manager Levein prizes the 31-year-old and, as the loan nears its completion, Naismith will at least try to broker a deal with Norwich that allows him to leave Carrow Road as a free agent at the end of the season.
With Kilmarnock in such good form, it’s unlikely Hearts will rise above their current sixth-place perch but Naismith still sees an opportunity to influence the league table — starting today.
A solitary victory in their last five games has left Rangers toiling and he senses a chance to capitalise.
‘For us, this is probably a good opportunity,’ he said. ‘If we can start well then it will probably put a bit of pressure on the manager and team and everyone around.
‘That’s what we’ve got to aim for.’