The 4 weeks between Cathro & Levein

[Enzo Chiefo]

2 hours ago, Cruickshank for Scotland said:

 

“We” hoped????  You mean Levein hoped!!

Daly becoming Head Coach would be like Jeremy ^^^^yn becoming PM

[It should have been ten]

5 hours ago, Icon of Symmetry said:

 

Not after about ten posts. No.

 

So true 

[David McCaig]

15 hours ago, Cruickshank for Scotland said:

 

“We” hoped????  You mean Levein hoped!!

Yes, I was assuming what the club was hoping.

 

The fact that Paulo Sergio didn’t even get the courtesy of a response suggests that the club weren’t particularly focused on making an external appointment.

[TheOak88]

13 minutes ago, David McCaig said:

Yes, I was assuming what the club was hoping.

 

The fact that Paulo Sergio didn’t even get the courtesy of a response suggests that the club weren’t particularly focused on making an external appointment.

Doesn’t surprise me thats how a cup winning manager is treated by the club. 

[Enzo Chiefo]

30 minutes ago, TheOak88 said:

Doesn’t surprise me thats how a cup winning manager is treated by the club. 

And not just any cup winning manager, the guy who delivered the greatest result in our history . To not even get the courtesy of a response was appalling. 

[Thomaso]

1 hour ago, David McCaig said:

Yes, I was assuming what the club was hoping.

 

The fact that Paulo Sergio didn’t even get the courtesy of a response suggests that the club weren’t particularly focused on making an external appointment.

 

Indeed - the “world wise search for the best” was a PR stunt it would seem.

[indianajones]

Easy answer. 

 

No one in their right mind would want to job with Levein as DoF.

 

 

[Thomaso]

1 hour ago, indianajones said:

Easy answer. 

 

No one in their right mind would want to job with Levein as DoF.

 

 

 

Correct - and as a result he can move back upstairs safe in the knowledge that he can appoint one of his disciples as head coach!

[kimosavi]

This donkey thread has done alright 

 

 

[j1964m]

Hope he will walk away with dignity 

[NaturalOrder74]

What worries me is we’d sack levein and replace him with someone like Cathro or Heckingbottom 😂

[kimosavi]

So its pretty much agreed 

 

We panicked and gave Levein the gig 

 

He didn't want it, the fans didn't want him 

 

Fast forward 2 seasons.........

[ri Alban]

22 minutes ago, kimosavi said:

So its pretty much agreed 

 

We panicked and gave Levein the gig 

 

He didn't want it, the fans didn't want him 

 

Fast forward 2 seasons.........

Says the voices in your head.

[Dazo]

17 hours ago, indianajones said:

Easy answer. 

 

No one in their right mind would want to job with Levein as DoF.

 

 

There would be thousands of people all in their right mind wanting this job  if it became available. 

 

Only people not in their right mind are those blinded by their hate for Levein they resort to making all sorts of bollocks up. Puts any credibility back to zero after every post. 

Edited September 9, 2019 by Dazo

[Armageddon]

[kimosavi]

45 minutes ago, ri Alban said:

Says the voices in your head.

You hear them too 

[Tasavallan]

On 07/09/2019 at 13:52, true-jambo said:

I think they thought they had Dougie Freedman tied up, before Crystal Palace made him a better offer

 

Very much this without a Plan B.  For his own agenda, I suspect CL had too much sway in the selection process. I doubt there was a selection panel, resulting in Levein considering himself as the best candidate to 'fix it'

 

All we supporters got was rumours but I am pretty confident that both Pressley and Hartley were on the final short list but Levein had already chosen who he considered to be the best candidate for the job.

 

While he has not covered himself in glory since, I felt that Pressley was the man (but I am biased when it comes to Elvis). He would never have lasted long with an interfering Levein as DoF.

[Bozi]

How we got here is pretty irrelevant now, the facts are that we have 3 matches in 11 days coming up. 

If Levein wins all 3 we can begin to feel optimistic about the season ahead and see that the players we brought in are beginning to gel. 

If he fails to win all 3, he will be sacked, there simply cannot be another outcome. 

 

I also think if he beats Motherwell but loses to Hibs and Aberdeen then he will be gone. 

[amadjambo]

1 hour ago, farin said:

Beating Motherwell would ease the pressure somewhat but defeat to hibs & being knocked out the cup by Aberdeen if it goes that way would surely result in the button being pushed on Levein. 

I’m actually very surprised the button hasn’t been pushed already. If we fail to beat Motherwell I think the Board will have to act quickly to try and save our season before it’s too late. Dropping points at home to bottom 6 teams does not bode well. 

[graygo]

4 hours ago, Tasavallan said:

 

Very much this without a Plan B.  For his own agenda, I suspect CL had too much sway in the selection process. I doubt there was a selection panel, resulting in Levein considering himself as the best candidate to 'fix it'

 

All we supporters got was rumours but I am pretty confident that both Pressley and Hartley were on the final short list but Levein had already chosen who he considered to be the best candidate for the job.

 

While he has not covered himself in glory since, I felt that Pressley was the man (but I am biased when it comes to Elvis). He would never have lasted long with an interfering Levein as DoF.

 

Levein wasn't an interfering DoF.

Source - previous managers.

[Beast Boy]

4 hours ago, Tasavallan said:

 

Very much this without a Plan B.  For his own agenda, I suspect CL had too much sway in the selection process. I doubt there was a selection panel, resulting in Levein considering himself as the best candidate to 'fix it'

 

All we supporters got was rumours but I am pretty confident that both Pressley and Hartley were on the final short list but Levein had already chosen who he considered to be the best candidate for the job.

 

While he has not covered himself in glory since, I felt that Pressley was the man (but I am biased when it comes to Elvis). He would never have lasted long with an interfering Levein as DoF.

 

Why Pressley? Purely interested as in my mind he has not been a good manager, but it’s possible I’ve overlooked some success, in this world where negatives and failure are more newsworthy than positives and successes.

[Coco]

Made me laugh when it was revealed by Robbie that the most important jobs done by a Director of Football were phoning agents and ordering the kits.

https://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/sport/football/371202/ex-hearts-boss-robbie-neilson-reveals-he-wants-director-of-football-like-craig-levein-at-mk-dons/

 

As for the post Cathro period - I have heard second hand from a Board member that Pressley made an excellently prepared presentation on how he planned to develop the club whereas Hartley had done zero preparation.  However the same Board member said that there was never any appetite at Board level to recruit anyone other than Levein.

 

It is a great shame that they missed the opportunity to make a fresh start and replace Levein and MacPhee at that time.  A return to Tynecastle with a fresh manager, a new squad and coaching staff could have seen great things achieved.

[Enzo Chiefo]

2 hours ago, Coco said:

Made me laugh when it was revealed by Robbie that the most important jobs done by a Director of Football were phoning agents and ordering the kits.

https://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/sport/football/371202/ex-hearts-boss-robbie-neilson-reveals-he-wants-director-of-football-like-craig-levein-at-mk-dons/

 

As for the post Cathro period - I have heard second hand from a Board member that Pressley made an excellently prepared presentation on how he planned to develop the club whereas Hartley had done zero preparation.  However the same Board member said that there was never any appetite at Board level to recruit anyone other than Levein.

 

It is a great shame that they missed the opportunity to make a fresh start and replace Levein and MacPhee at that time.  A return to Tynecastle with a fresh manager, a new squad and coaching staff could have seen great things achieved.

I had heard that Pressley had been offered the job and accepted it. However, over the next couple of days, more stipulations were put on him and he changed his mind. 

[Unknown user]

2 hours ago, Coco said:

Made me laugh when it was revealed by Robbie that the most important jobs done by a Director of Football were phoning agents and ordering the kits.

https://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/sport/football/371202/ex-hearts-boss-robbie-neilson-reveals-he-wants-director-of-football-like-craig-levein-at-mk-dons/

 

As for the post Cathro period - I have heard second hand from a Board member that Pressley made an excellently prepared presentation on how he planned to develop the club whereas Hartley had done zero preparation.  However the same Board member said that there was never any appetite at Board level to recruit anyone other than Levein.

 

It is a great shame that they missed the opportunity to make a fresh start and replace Levein and MacPhee at that time.  A return to Tynecastle with a fresh manager, a new squad and coaching staff could have seen great things achieved.

 

He doesn't say the most important jobs done by a DoF are phoning agents and ordering the kits.

He does day that those, recruitment, and organising scouting are examples of things he didn't have to put time into with a DoF around though.

Big difference. 

[Coco]

1 hour ago, Smithee said:

 

He doesn't say the most important jobs done by a DoF are phoning agents and ordering the kits.

He does day that those, recruitment, and organising scouting are examples of things he didn't have to put time into with a DoF around though.

Big difference. 

 

The point is what he didn't say.  All the examples in the article are about the things an administrator takes away from technical staff.  Of course we have someone disorganised in this role anyway.

 

He doesn't say what a boon it is to have someone serially unsuccessful in management setting the principles of play for the club.  

[Beast Boy]

3 minutes ago, Coco said:

 

The point is what he didn't say.  All the examples in the article are about the things an administrator takes away from technical staff.  Of course we have someone disorganised in this role anyway.

 

He doesn't say what a boon it is to have someone serially unsuccessful in management setting the principles of play for the club.  

 

F-me...

 

Desperate times.

[Guest ToqueJambo]

6 minutes ago, Coco said:

 

The point is what he didn't say.  All the examples in the article are about the things an administrator takes away from technical staff.  Of course we have someone disorganised in this role anyway.

 

He doesn't say what a boon it is to have someone serially unsuccessful in management setting the principles of play for the club.  

 

I read this a lot that Levein is responsible for how we play at all levels. Is this true? Where has it been stated? Not all DoFs or Sporting Directors have that in their remit. 

 

From what I can tell looking back at when Levein and Budge arrived, they wanted a DoF to be in charge of the football aims, which included a focus on youth, being smart in the transfer market, and training coaches to hopefully uncover new potential Hearts head coaches. I haven't read anything that says there is a particulate "Hearts style of play" that needs to stay the same no matter who the manager is. 

 

I don't see how a club like Hearts could implement that anyhow. It's easy for a Man City or Liverpool who can lay down a style of play and buy whoever they want to fill particular roles within it. Hearts can't do that as we're mostly scraping around in the lower regions of the transfer market and free agent list for whoever we can get. Enforcing a style of play would severely limit our recruitment. I just don't see any evidence at all that Levein as DoF will influence how we play football.

[Dusk_Till_Dawn]

Well Pressley not getting he job is a silver lining to this debacle. An absolute toaster.

[Beast Boy]

2 minutes ago, Dusk_Till_Dawn said:

Well Pressley not getting he job is a silver lining to this debacle. An absolute toaster.

 

Still needs to earn a crust though.

[Unknown user]

24 minutes ago, Coco said:

 

The point is what he didn't say.  All the examples in the article are about the things an administrator takes away from technical staff.  Of course we have someone disorganised in this role anyway.

 

He doesn't say what a boon it is to have someone serially unsuccessful in management setting the principles of play for the club.  

"Made me laugh when it was revealed by Robbie that the most important jobs done by a Director of Football were phoning agents and ordering the kits."

 

He didn't say that, that's all I'm saying. 

[Coco]

14 minutes ago, ToqueJambo said:

 

I read this a lot that Levein is responsible for how we play at all levels. Is this true? Where has it been stated? Not all DoFs or Sporting Directors have that in their remit. 

 

From what I can tell looking back at when Levein and Budge arrived, they wanted a DoF to be in charge of the football aims, which included a focus on youth, being smart in the transfer market, and training coaches to hopefully uncover new potential Hearts head coaches. I haven't read anything that says there is a particulate "Hearts style of play" that needs to stay the same no matter who the manager is. 

 

I don't see how a club like Hearts could implement that anyhow. It's easy for a Man City or Liverpool who can lay down a style of play and buy whoever they want to fill particular roles within it. Hearts can't do that as we're mostly scraping around in the lower regions of the transfer market and free agent list for whoever we can get. Enforcing a style of play would severely limit our recruitment. I just don't see any evidence at all that Levein as DoF will influence how we play football.

How about from the horse's mouth?  

 

2. What style of football would you like to see Hearts playing in 2016/17? Would you like the team to be entertaining to watch?


We want to win and yes, we want to be entertaining, although people?s ideas on what constitutes entertainment will differ! It?s very subjective. Some games, depending on how the opposition set up, don?t allow for it. What we have developed at the club are our own ?principles of play?, and these were developed collectively by myself, Robbie Neilson, Stevie Crawford, John Daly and John Robertson. These principles represent what we wanted to do in a football match, what was important and what would allow us to win, and what would also hopefully allow us to be entertaining. Playing the ball out from the back is one of the key principles. Having three in the box is another. Playing through the lines was the third principle, and switching the play was the fourth. It actually took us six months to fully develop the strategy for the football department and we?ll keep improving it as we go on. Our strategy is primarily for the first team but we also bring it in at youth level, we want to acclimatise and introduce youngsters to the way we want to play. 

[Guest ToqueJambo]

10 minutes ago, Coco said:

How about from the horse's mouth?  

 

2. What style of football would you like to see Hearts playing in 2016/17? Would you like the team to be entertaining to watch?


We want to win and yes, we want to be entertaining, although people?s ideas on what constitutes entertainment will differ! It?s very subjective. Some games, depending on how the opposition set up, don?t allow for it. What we have developed at the club are our own ?principles of play?, and these were developed collectively by myself, Robbie Neilson, Stevie Crawford, John Daly and John Robertson. These principles represent what we wanted to do in a football match, what was important and what would allow us to win, and what would also hopefully allow us to be entertaining. Playing the ball out from the back is one of the key principles. Having three in the box is another. Playing through the lines was the third principle, and switching the play was the fourth. It actually took us six months to fully develop the strategy for the football department and we?ll keep improving it as we go on. Our strategy is primarily for the first team but we also bring it in at youth level, we want to acclimatise and introduce youngsters to the way we want to play. 

 

Yes but does that strategy carry over from head coach to head coach? It sounds like an idea that is not fixed, but whatever it is it certainly worked under Neilson when this interview took place.

 

Either way, it's hardly revolutionary stuff. It sounds very basic. It's not like it's the Liverpool high press or anything. There's nothing about formations. Principles of play almost read like best practices to me and there's nothing controversial there.

 

My point is, how do we know Levein wouldn't develop different "principles of play" with a different coaching team? That certainly doesn't read to me like Levein is dictating how we play.

Edited September 9, 2019 by ToqueJambo

[gedster]

1 hour ago, Dusk_Till_Dawn said:

Well Pressley not getting he job is a silver lining to this debacle. An absolute toaster.

 

Carlisle fans hating him just now. Reckon he's lost the dressing room

[Boab]

1 hour ago, Dusk_Till_Dawn said:

Well Pressley not getting he job is a silver lining to this debacle. An absolute toaster.

 Big time.

If there was a preference poll between him and Levein, the bold Craig would win it hands down.

Tells you all you need to know !

[Dusk_Till_Dawn]

17 minutes ago, gedster said:

 

Carlisle fans hating him just now. Reckon he's lost the dressing room

 

There’s a surprise 

[Robbo-Jambo]

10 hours ago, Bozi said:

How we got here is pretty irrelevant now, the facts are that we have 3 matches in 11 days coming up. 

If Levein wins all 3 we can begin to feel optimistic about the season ahead and see that the players we brought in are beginning to gel. 

If he fails to win all 3, he will be sacked, there simply cannot be another outcome. 

 

I also think if he beats Motherwell but loses to Hibs and Aberdeen then he will be gone. 

If he fails to win all 3 he should be gone. 

 

Tell you what though, nothing would surprise me. 😏

[Dusk_Till_Dawn]

11 hours ago, Robbo-Jambo said:

If he fails to win all 3 he should be gone. 

 

Tell you what though, nothing would surprise me. 😏

 

More lives than a cat. Every time it’s ‘let’s see what happens in the next 3/6/9/12 games’.

 

We all know what’s going to happen in them. We’re just wasting time.

[Bozi]

11 hours ago, Robbo-Jambo said:

If he fails to win all 3 he should be gone. 

 

Tell you what though, nothing would surprise me. 😏

I would be shocked, stunned and a little bemused 

[Robbo-Jambo]

2 hours ago, Dusk_Till_Dawn said:

 

More lives than a cat. Every time it’s ‘let’s see what happens in the next 3/6/9/12 games’.

 

We all know what’s going to happen in them. We’re just wasting time.

He must be close to using up all 9!!! 😏

[Robbo-Jambo]

1 hour ago, Bozi said:

I would be shocked, stunned and a little bemused 

Think we all would tbh. 

 

Surely he wouldn't survive that 😏