Hearts’ home truths are still pressing for Levein

THE noise of supporters protesting outside the old main stand provided a discordant backdrop to Craig Levein’s earliest team talks as Hearts boss. Pies would be propelled at the directors’ box during games and chairs hurled at the club’s annual general meeting. This was an era in which boardroom unrest was an occupational hazard of managing at Tynecastle.

Yet while those four years were stormy, Levein insists the past season has provided a far greater challenge to his managerial skill set.

First time round, Levein proved a thick-skinned and driven leader who established his team as the third best in Scotland before making a timely leap to Leicester City just as Hearts stood on the cusp of a regime change that would bring the club to the brink of collapse.

After the chaos of the Vladimir Romanov years, the arrival of Ann Budge and her fan-backed board restored stability to Tynecastle in 2014. Levein’s installation as director of football was a key component of the plan but he admits he has struggled to maintain the same level of serenity on the playing side.

‘I haven’t really got to where I want to get to,’ he muses. ‘Our intention at the start of the season was to be in the top four and we haven’t got there.’

With Levein occupying the dual role of manager and director, Hearts are consigned to finishing the season in sixth place. The team’s away record has been dreadful and supporters are not turned on by a side which has witnessed the introduction of several academy prospects yet lacks dynamism.

The decision to install Ian Cathro as the club’s head coach last season has been the biggest contributory factor in the struggle and Levein (right) was effectively told to fix his own mess when Budge reappointed him as manager last August.

Money was wasted on a group of players ill-suited to Levein’s preferred style of play but that hasn’t been the only cash drain at the club. Far more was invested in a much wiser fashion to construct the stadium’s new main stand and that ongoing financial commitment will limit scope to fix the squad’s problems. Levein insists he has a clear idea of how he wishes to proceed but has reined in his natural firebrand instincts in addressing the issues inherent within the dressing room.

‘I have not put the pressure on that I need to but that will happen next season,’ he states coldly. ‘I have not pushed as hard as I normally would but I need the summer to allow me to do that.

‘I believe there are reasons for where we are. We have had an unprecedented amount of serious injuries and that, along with a lack of confidence, has made it a bigger challenge to get results.

‘It could have all slid horribly and once things start to slide they can be really difficult to turn around. That was always at the back of my mind. We got into sixth place — it’s not where we want to be but it has given us a bit of relief, knowing we won’t be anything worse than that.’

With Cathro dismissed in the lead-up to Hearts’ first Premiership fixture at Celtic Park, Jon Daly took charge of the team for the opening match of the season.

Former England boss Steve McClaren noted an interest and talks were held with the club’s former captain Steven Pressley but ultimately it was Levein who stepped back into the frontline, his first match coinciding with the team’s temporary flit to Murrayfield while the stand was made ready for occupancy.

Hearts are unbeaten at home since moving back to Gorgie in November but look fragile on the road.

‘This has been the hardest of all my seasons at Hearts by far,’ he continues. ‘I come back to the fact we spent £15m on a stand and have a new pitch going in this summer too. It is a perfect storm which is why it is without doubt the hardest season I have had. ‘When I came in first time round we were having to move a lot of players out and there were protests. But we managed to shift things around,’ he says.

‘This year, there are a number of things we need to add to make sure we are successful next year. ‘I’ve been frustrated with us playing really well one week and then going away from home the next and not getting the same performance.

‘It is bizarre. I need to look at that because it is obviously psychological. The good thing is that it is my job to fix it.’ There may be growing impatience among the club’s support but news that 10,000 season tickets have already been sold for next season suggests there remains a solid backing in place — for now at least.

Budge places her manager under scrutiny but he maintains that his own self-analysis is just as intense.

‘There is nobody who puts more pressure on me than myself,’ he adds. ‘I attended a board meeting on Thursday and we talked through this season and next. I just want to get as many good players as I can. I want speed in the team, creativity. We have struggled to create and score goals this year, so I need to do something about that.

‘The frustrating thing is that once the stand is finished, and it is making us money, then we can increase what we do on the field. But we have to get to that point. This season and probably part of next will be tough but you don’t build something like that and increase your playing budget at the same time.’

Hearts’ current staff were good enough to blow today’s visitors Celtic away on Brendan Rodgers’ last visit to Tynecastle in December.

The 4-0 defeat was Rodgers’ first domestic reverse as Celtic manager and marked an emphatic end to the champions’ ‘Invincible’ status. Celtic have gone on to clinch the title comfortably and, with the League Cup already secured, are close to doing an unprecedented back-to-back Treble.

Rodgers spoke out against Hearts’ recruitment policy in the wake of Cathro’s dismissal last August and would later brand Levein ‘obsessed’ with Scott Brown after he repeatedly spoke out about the Celtic skipper later in the season.

‘I get on well with all the managers,’ deadpans Levein. ‘You have your little spats and little fall outs but very rarely are they big enough to spoil any common bond or empathy that you have for the person in the other dugout.

‘Brendan was fantastic the day we beat them. He is a decent fella. I think Brendan has done a brilliant job and I think in both seasons they have been in third gear at times.

‘There is definitely an argument that, with the amount of money they are spending, they should be able to win Trebles every year but you still have to go out there and do it.’