Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.
Steven Naismith has been confirmed as Hearts head coach, replacing Frankie McAvoy who returns to his assistant role.
The club says it was “always the intention” to revert to the structure that was in place for the final months of last season once their European campaign was over.
Naismith, who does not have the pro licence coaching qualification required to manage in Europe, insists that while the Tynecastle job titles have now changed, the “core of what we’re trying to achieve has not”.
He added: “Of course, this is a proud moment for me, but I’ve long said that Frankie, Gordy [Gordon Forrest], Gal [Paul Gallacher] and I are a team.
“We work together, tirelessly, and today’s announcement doesn’t change that. We want to build this team up to play attacking, front-foot football that wins games. That attacking football was in evidence at the end of last season although we would obviously have liked more wins to go with it.
“I have also seen some signs of that over the past month, but I want to see more. We all know the last few results have not been what we expected, but we now have the international break to work on the training pitch and put it into practice at Tynecastle on our return.”
Hearts CEO Andrew McKinlay says McAvoy remains “an important part” of the coaching team and stressed the focus is now on improving Hearts’ early-season form which was yielded one win from four league games.
“It is important that we now put all our energies towards targeting the top end of the league and qualification for European competition for a third year in a row which would be a first in the history of the club,” he said.
