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Craig Levein


Ted Hastings

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Ted Hastings

I know this may be a slightly controversial topic to start but...

 

I’ve been listening to the sportsound podcasts and Craig has been on a few times now in the past week or two.
 

Despite the way everything ended when the relationship between the fans and himself was poisonous, I’ve found any hard feelings I’d been harbouring over the whole affair dissipate listening to the way he has consistently backed our corner on all things Hearts. It’s clear he’s certainly not holding a grudge with the fans or the club and still wants the best for us. Obviously he definitely stayed too long but it seems clear this was because he was so desperate to turn it around. 


I am too young to have seen him in his playing days but I have lots of great memories from his first spell as manager (and a few from his second as well), I personally think I would give him a wee round of applause if he ever comes to Tynecastle as a guest or opposition manager. 
 

Thoughts?

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6 minutes ago, Ted Hastings said:

I know this may be a slightly controversial topic to start but...

 

I’ve been listening to the sportsound podcasts and Craig has been on a few times now in the past week or two.
 

Despite the way everything ended when the relationship between the fans and himself was poisonous, I’ve found any hard feelings I’d been harbouring over the whole affair dissipate listening to the way he has consistently backed our corner on all things Hearts. It’s clear he’s certainly not holding a grudge with the fans or the club and still wants the best for us. Obviously he definitely stayed too long but it seems clear this was because he was so desperate to turn it around. 


I am too young to have seen him in his playing days but I have lots of great memories from his first spell as manager (and a few from his second as well), I personally think I would give him a wee round of applause if he ever comes to Tynecastle as a guest or opposition manager. 
 

Thoughts?

Agree with you on that.

I was similar that I never saw him play but loved his first time in charge.

The man loves Hearts and it's a pity it fell apart for him 2nd time round.

 

 

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Just now, kila said:

Too soon mate.

 

This. 
Mind you, at least he’s not went all “Gary Mackay”!!!

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Ted Hastings
1 minute ago, kila said:

Too soon mate.

 

 

That was a fear I had going into this. A Pandora’s box not ready to be opened on here. 

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He bleeds Hearts and has certainly done more for the club than Gary MacKay. 

 

Over time, the atrocious end will be forgotten and he'll only be remembered for his good stuff. Don't believe me? I never see any negative stuff on here about Wallace Mercer. Yet he was absolutely hounded out of Tynecastle at the end, crowds gathering outside the Main Stand after matches screaming for Mercer to go and sack the board, folk celebrating in Gorgie when he sold to Dean's and Robinson. 

 

10 years time he'll be back to being a good guy instead of a wank. 

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Guest ToqueJambo

Levein's always talked a good game (although he even lost that ability the last few months at Hearts) and has always spoken his mind. I wish he'd explained himself better when he was in the job.

 

It's really pretty funny that he seems to have replaced his arch nemesis Stewart on Sportsound and is setting about winding up absolutely everyone simply by speaking plainly. The spluttering and frothing on social media every time he appears is an absolute joy. He's certainly done more in his career and has a lot more interesting things to say than McManus, Preston, Stewart, Rae, mcCall and all the others that have had spots on that show for ages. 

 

Levein has had a fantastic career and shouldn't be defined by the last 18 mths-2 years. He's younger than Tommy Wright and Steve Clarke and will get another job no bother if he wants one and will probably do well if he gets back to basics and doesn't try to change the world of football again. Doubt we've seen the last of him. And no matter what some say, he's still a massive Jambo. He's a total dick at times, but so are lots of us.

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14 minutes ago, Ted Hastings said:

I know this may be a slightly controversial topic to start but...

 

I’ve been listening to the sportsound podcasts and Craig has been on a few times now in the past week or two.
 

Despite the way everything ended when the relationship between the fans and himself was poisonous, I’ve found any hard feelings I’d been harbouring over the whole affair dissipate listening to the way he has consistently backed our corner on all things Hearts. It’s clear he’s certainly not holding a grudge with the fans or the club and still wants the best for us. Obviously he definitely stayed too long but it seems clear this was because he was so desperate to turn it around. 


I am too young to have seen him in his playing days but I have lots of great memories from his first spell as manager (and a few from his second as well), I personally think I would give him a wee round of applause if he ever comes to Tynecastle as a guest or opposition manager. 
 

Thoughts?

He was a great player, destined for Manu or  the like before his injury!

Better than Hansen/ W Miller/ Narey/ McLeish or Hegarty...........but not as good as Alan Anderson!

Hope that helps put him into context!

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Neil Dongcaster

My opinion after hearing him several times is that he needs a job because he actually needs the money.

 

He indicated there had been several approaches from clubs abroad. I would imagine these are from really poor leagues if indeed the interest was genuine. 
 

Another thing that occurred is that nothing was his fault, blamed our situation on injuries and took no blame for squad recruitment.

 

Blamed a player leaking the 4-6-0 squad rather than admitting he just wasn’t good enough.

 

Bled us dry, good riddance.

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21 minutes ago, Ted Hastings said:

I am too young to have seen him in his playing days

Probably the best game I saw him play was against Argentina at Hampden . His speed of recovery and tactical awareness was awesome. Far superior to centre backs at Ayebrokes and Darkheid.

as a manager was far to defensive imo..

 

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Dusk_Till_Dawn
4 minutes ago, The Real Maroonblood said:

I’ve missed a Levein thread.

Wage thief and a loser.


:rofl:

 

Aaaand we’re off

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35 minutes ago, Ted Hastings said:

I know this may be a slightly controversial topic to start but...

 

I’ve been listening to the sportsound podcasts and Craig has been on a few times now in the past week or two.
 

Despite the way everything ended when the relationship between the fans and himself was poisonous, I’ve found any hard feelings I’d been harbouring over the whole affair dissipate listening to the way he has consistently backed our corner on all things Hearts. It’s clear he’s certainly not holding a grudge with the fans or the club and still wants the best for us. Obviously he definitely stayed too long but it seems clear this was because he was so desperate to turn it around. 


I am too young to have seen him in his playing days but I have lots of great memories from his first spell as manager (and a few from his second as well), I personally think I would give him a wee round of applause if he ever comes to Tynecastle as a guest or opposition manager. 
 

Thoughts?


No hard feelings from me. He did his best but it didn’t work out. Happy to remember the good times, and move on. 
 

 

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Guest ToqueJambo
20 minutes ago, OldGorgie said:

Probably the best game I saw him play was against Argentina at Hampden . His speed of recovery and tactical awareness was awesome. Far superior to centre backs at Ayebrokes and Darkheid.

as a manager was far to defensive imo..

 

 

 

Levein was a true thoroughbred. Unbelievable pace. One of the fastest sprinters at the club. Hard as nails. Skillful on the ground and excellent in the air. Basically he was the perfect defender.

 

It's actually been difficult to watch our other defenders since he retired, even though we've had some more good ones, or indeed any other Scottish central defenders. 

 

He only missed out on more caps because Miller and McLeish played in the same team. Levein was better than both and better than Hansen. Better than Terry Butcher. Better than Gough. Better than any of the OF CDs at the time. He was on the cusp of a move to England at only 22/23 when his injuries stopped him in his tracks (sounds familiar). He could have had the kind of impact and career Andy Robertson had when he moved to Liverpool. Despite his horrific injuries he still had a fantastic career with us and Scotland. A lot of players would have given up sooner.

 

Anyone who says something like "show us your medals" referring to Levein is a ***** of the highest order.

Edited by ToqueJambo
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Complicit in a large part of the shit we are in at the moment!!! 
Glad he’s eventually gone and don’t think we will see his face around Tynecastle anytime soon.

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Ted Hastings
32 minutes ago, Jambo61 said:

He was a great player, destined for Manu or  the like before his injury!

Better than Hansen/ W Miller/ Narey/ McLeish or Hegarty...........but not as good as Alan Anderson!

Hope that helps put him into context!


Yeh my dad used to (and still does) always say that he could have played anywhere he wanted if he’d not picked up those injuries. Well that and that he was a hard b@stard. 

Edited by Ted Hastings
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53 minutes ago, Ted Hastings said:

I know this may be a slightly controversial topic to start but...

 

I’ve been listening to the sportsound podcasts and Craig has been on a few times now in the past week or two.
 

Despite the way everything ended when the relationship between the fans and himself was poisonous, I’ve found any hard feelings I’d been harbouring over the whole affair dissipate listening to the way he has consistently backed our corner on all things Hearts. It’s clear he’s certainly not holding a grudge with the fans or the club and still wants the best for us. Obviously he definitely stayed too long but it seems clear this was because he was so desperate to turn it around. 


I am too young to have seen him in his playing days but I have lots of great memories from his first spell as manager (and a few from his second as well), I personally think I would give him a wee round of applause if he ever comes to Tynecastle as a guest or opposition manager. 
 

Thoughts?

where in this trouble because of him so a will never forgive him...mans a clown and done nothing as a manager..

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Guest ToqueJambo
18 minutes ago, Ted Hastings said:


Yeh my dad used to (and still does) always say that he could have played anywhere he wanted if he’d not picked up those injuries. Well that and that he was a hard b@stard. 

 

 

For context, Danny Wilson got huge plaudits and went to Liverpool for 2-5m at 19 or so. Levein was about 30 times the player Wilson was at a similar age. In today's market at his peak he would be at the level just below van Djik, Piquet and Kompany  - so worth around 40-50m in EPL money - but with the potential to reach the level of those players. I reckon he would have ended up abroad eventually though. I'd compare him to Rio Ferdinand in playing style and ability

 

The only defenders I've seen come through the ranks at Hearts who have looked similarly composed and unflappable at such a young age or even younger in defence are Alan McLaren (who would also have gone onto be a much bigger star if it wasn't for injury) and Aaron Hickey. 

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Unknown user
18 minutes ago, ToqueJambo said:

 

 

Levein was a true thoroughbred. Unbelievable pace. One of the fastest sprinters at the club. Hard as nails. Skillful on the ground and excellent in the air. Basically he was the perfect defender.

 

It's actually been difficult to watch our other defenders since he retired, even though we've had some more good ones, or indeed any other Scottish central defenders. 

 

He only missed out on more caps because Miller and McLeish played in the same team. Levein was better than both and better than Hansen. Better than Terry Butcher. Better than Gough. Better than any of the OF CDs at the time. He was on the cusp of a move to England at only 22/23 when his injuries stopped him in his tracks (sounds familiar). He could have had the kind of impact and career Andy Robertson had when he moved to Liverpool. Despite his horrific injuries he still had a fantastic career with us and Scotland. A lot of players would have given up sooner.

 

Anyone who says something like "show us your medals" referring to Levein is a ***** of the highest order.

 

Can't argue with any of that, he was sheer quality

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As much as I hated his management and blame him for dragging us down and wasting millions, he always talks a good game.

agree it’s far too soon and he really should be waiting until we know our fate before showing up on every show that’ll have him.

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heartgarfunkel
26 minutes ago, ToqueJambo said:

 

 

Levein was a true thoroughbred. Unbelievable pace. One of the fastest sprinters at the club. Hard as nails. Skillful on the ground and excellent in the air. Basically he was the perfect defender.

 

It's actually been difficult to watch our other defenders since he retired, even though we've had some more good ones, or indeed any other Scottish central defenders. 

 

He only missed out on more caps because Miller and McLeish played in the same team. Levein was better than both and better than Hansen. Better than Terry Butcher. Better than Gough. Better than any of the OF CDs at the time. He was on the cusp of a move to England at only 22/23 when his injuries stopped him in his tracks (sounds familiar). He could have had the kind of impact and career Andy Robertson had when he moved to Liverpool. Despite his horrific injuries he still had a fantastic career with us and Scotland. A lot of players would have given up sooner.

 

Anyone who says something like "show us your medals" referring to Levein is a ***** of the highest order.

 

That’s the player I adored - very pacy, hard as **** and could make the time to play the fancier stuff as well as he could do all the defensive basics. One of the best footballers Hearts have ever had IMHO.

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54 minutes ago, Jambo61 said:

He was a great player, destined for Manu or  the like before his injury!

Better than Hansen/ W Miller/ Narey/ McLeish or Hegarty...........but not as good as Alan Anderson!

Hope that helps put him into context!

This. There haven’t been many Scottish players who made Hansen and Miller look ordinary. He was destined to be world class at a top club but injury took it all away from him.

 

As manager first time round he was somewhere between okay and good. Got results. Got league position. Not great to watch sometimes but generally had us where we ought to be. Shocking record against the OF ensured he got nowhere near a trophy 

 

As manager second time around he was an unmitigated disaster and the fact that he had us down there when we were in the best financial position we’ve probably ever been in, is unfortunately how he will be judged and remembered. 
 

Glad he has gone. If he still loves Hearts he’s not alone and good on him for talking us up but he’s caused some serious damage.

Edited by JimmyCant
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Guest ToqueJambo
2 minutes ago, heartgarfunkel said:

 

That’s the player I adored - very pacy, hard as **** and could make the time to play the fancier stuff as well as he could do all the defensive basics. One of the best footballers Hearts have ever had IMHO.

 

If he'd played for the OF he'd still be getting talked about as one of Scotland's greats. Keiran Tierney for example has nowhere near the quality Levein had.

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heartgarfunkel
3 minutes ago, ToqueJambo said:

 

If he'd played for the OF he'd still be getting talked about as one of Scotland's greats. Keiran Tierney for example has nowhere near the quality Levein had.

 

He would - 13/14 years at one club, over 300 appearances despite a couple of years out with injuries.

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My saddest night as an Hearts fan was the Dunfermline game where his knee went again and the whole stadium knew it was the end...apart from the young woman sitting in front of me who was busy dripping over Gary Locke, the whole stadium...

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Ted Hastings
13 minutes ago, ToqueJambo said:

 

 

For context, Danny Wilson got huge plaudits and went to Liverpool for 2-5m at 19 or so. Levein was about 30 times the player Wilson was at a similar age. In today's market at his peak he would be at the level just below van Djik, Piquet and Kompany  - so worth around 40-50m in EPL money - but with the potential to reach the level of those players. I reckon he would have ended up abroad eventually though. I'd compare him to Rio Ferdinand in playing style and ability

 

The only defenders I've seen come through the ranks at Hearts who have looked similarly composed and unflappable at such a young age or even younger in defence are Alan McLaren (who would also have gone onto be a much bigger star if it wasn't for injury) and Aaron Hickey. 


That’s high praise indeed to be mentioned alongside those names. 
 

Think the top 3 centre backs I’ve seen in a hearts jersey have got to be Jose Goncalves, Christophe Berra and Steven Presley (absolute leader), Webster would be up there as well. 

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Guest ToqueJambo
1 minute ago, Ted Hastings said:


That’s high praise indeed to be mentioned alongside those names. 
 

Think the top 3 centre backs I’ve seen in a hearts jersey have got to be Jose Goncalves, Christophe Berra and Steven Presley (absolute leader), Webster would be up there as well. 

 

Levein was streaks ahead of all of them. The one thing he maybe lacked was Pressley's leadership.

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Guest ToqueJambo
Just now, Cruyff said:

I sincerely hope the mods close this thread and ban the next person who starts a Levein thread. 

 

Or you can choose to reminisce about one of our greatest every players, which was the purpose of the thread. It's not like we produce many genuinely world class footballers.

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Just now, ToqueJambo said:

 

Or you can choose to reminisce about one of our greatest every players, which was the purpose of the thread. It's not like we produce many genuinely world class footballers.

😴 No thanks. 

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45 minutes ago, ToqueJambo said:

Levein was a true thoroughbred. Unbelievable pace. One of the fastest sprinters at the club. Hard as nails. Skillful on the ground and excellent in the air. Basically he was the perfect defender.

 

It's actually been difficult to watch our other defenders since he retired, even though we've had some more good ones, or indeed any other Scottish central defenders. 

 

He only missed out on more caps because Miller and McLeish played in the same team. Levein was better than both and better than Hansen. Better than Terry Butcher. Better than Gough.

Totally agree. Miller and McLeish were slow and cumbersome. Gough only got caps because he played for Rankers. None of these three came even close to Levein as a player.

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Always Hearts, Only Hearts. We can stuff up and some spectacularly but if it’s in your blood it’s in your blood. 

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Guest ToqueJambo
8 minutes ago, Cruyff said:

😴 No thanks. 

 

Fine don't but maybe others can. How petty do folk have to be to discount an entire career like his after one poor 18-month period as manager (during which he had the worst injury criss we've ever had, and had a heart attack and still got us to within 10 mins or so of taking Celtic to the wire in a cup final with basically a team of reserves, certainly up front )?

 

The disrespect shown to Levein, especially from the likes of Stewart and the Hearts fans who lapped up what he said about medals, has been incredible. He could easily have given up as Hearts player and manager but kept going - a bit too long as manager mind you but we all make mistakes... he'd earned the right to think he could turn things around.

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1 minute ago, ToqueJambo said:

 

Fine don't but maybe others can. How petty do folk have to be to discount an entire career like his after one poor 18-month period as manager (during which he had the worst injury criss we've ever had, and had a heart attack and still got us to within 10 mins or so of taking Celtic to the wire in a cup final with basically a team of reserves, certainly up front )?

 

The disrespect shown to Levein, especially from the likes of Stewart and the Hearts fans who lapped up what he said about medals, has been incredible. He could easily have given up as Hearts player and manager but kept going - a bit too long as manager mind you...

I couldn’t have put this better myself 

bravo TJ  👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻.    👏🏻

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Bazzas right boot

He'd be a good dof for us. 

International experience, loves the club. 

 

:HeartsManspotrun:

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1 hour ago, Ted Hastings said:

I know this may be a slightly controversial topic to start but...

 

I’ve been listening to the sportsound podcasts and Craig has been on a few times now in the past week or two.
 

Despite the way everything ended when the relationship between the fans and himself was poisonous, I’ve found any hard feelings I’d been harbouring over the whole affair dissipate listening to the way he has consistently backed our corner on all things Hearts. It’s clear he’s certainly not holding a grudge with the fans or the club and still wants the best for us. Obviously he definitely stayed too long but it seems clear this was because he was so desperate to turn it around. 


I am too young to have seen him in his playing days but I have lots of great memories from his first spell as manager (and a few from his second as well), I personally think I would give him a wee round of applause if he ever comes to Tynecastle as a guest or opposition manager. 
 

Thoughts?

 

I'm old enough to have seen him in his playing days and he is the best centre back I've ever seen pull on a maroon jersey.   If it had not been for his terrible cruciate ligament injuries, he would have gone on to play for a top English side.  He seemed ready made to fill the boots of Alan Hansen when he retired at Liverpool.  

 

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If he wants to be a friendly face in the media then I'm happy with that. We've got enough of those clowns hating us for nothing so someone who can balance that slightly is appreciated. 

 

Not going to talk about how things ended. Been done to death. Not good enough, we move on. 

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Finlay James

Love him, he was a superb footballer, make no mistake about it.  Someone said earlier that he was on the way to being world class before his injury and that is no exaggeration.

 

Oor Craigy will always be one of us

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My Favourite Craig Levein moment will always be the incredible volley he scored at Easter Road in a early nineties new year game. 

 

 

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1 minute ago, jambogemz said:

My Favourite Craig Levein moment will always be the incredible volley he scored at Easter Road in a early nineties new year game. 

 

 


the 1-4 New Year’s Night game. Brilliant. I was there and that was the same season as the Mercer derby too I’m sure.

 

he was an amazing player . Times a healer and recent memories will fade and (myself included) we will remember him as the player not the 2nd stint as manager etc

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Can we please just leave the loser in the past and try and move on from his utterly pish time at the club?  It is difficult just now because so many of his bad decisions still linger about the club like a bad smell but we have to just try and move on. 
 

Will take us years to recover from his many mistakes but hopefully we can learn from them now. 

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The best, and classiest, defender I’ve ever seen play for a Hearts.

 

The stick he takes on here is really poor, mainly unjustified, and sometimes just downright ignorant.

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3 minutes ago, 1971fozzy said:


the 1-4 New Year’s Night game. Brilliant. I was there and that was the same season as the Mercer derby too I’m sure.

 

he was an amazing player . Times a healer and recent memories will fade and (myself included) we will remember him as the player not the 2nd stint as manager etc

Yeah I believe it was the same season. 

 

The New year game was televised on BskyB (remember that). Think it was possibly the 1st Scottish game to be broadcast by Sky.

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1 hour ago, Jambo61 said:

He was a great player, destined for Manu or  the like before his injury!

Better than Hansen/ W Miller/ Narey/ McLeish or Hegarty...........but not as good as Alan Anderson!

Hope that helps put him into context!

Alan Anderson? He was a great servant and captain, but nowhere near as good as Levein, who oozed class.

 

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