Just In: hearts owner sends strong words to Steven Naismith..this isn’t funny anymore
The Jambos are 11 points behind third spot already and Ryan Stevenson is worried they won’t recover
Ryan Stevenson felt at the start of the season that Hearts could split Celtic and Rangers in second spot.
Now the Jambos legend is simply hoping his old club can keep the pace with Aberdeen in third.
Steven Naismith’s side are without a win this term so far and lost at home to Dundee United last weekend to compound their misery in front of a “toxic” Tynecastle atmosphere where the players were booed off the pitch.
For Stevenson it’s a mess that rivals Gers’ at the moment who just lost 3-0 to rivals Celtic and imploded themselves with fans arriving at Ibrox to abuse their own squad members.
The league table does not make good reading for Hearts and Stevenson insists things need to change with head coach Naismith in serious trouble already.
But it’s not just the boss who must cop the flak, says the former attacker. Instead, the board should be front and centre for some “bizarre” decisions they’ve made including failing to find a striker to partner Lawrence Shankland and a lack of foresight in replacing Joe Savage until Graeme Jones only just arrived this morning
“If ever there was a season where the Old Firm look like they could be split then this is it as Rangers look bang average,” Stevo wrote in his Daily Record column.
“But as much as it pains me to say it, if the Ibrox club are in a mess then Hearts are even worse. And the blame has to go right to the top of the club – to the board who have sat on their hands when there were glaring issues needing addressed.
My old club are miles off it right now and it looks like even Aberdeen will end up running away from them in the race for third – if not second ahead of Rangers. The Dons are already 11 points clear after four games and that is a serious worry. If Hearts finish fourth it’s a complete failure. What an example Aberdeen is because they lost their main striker, their talisman, Bojan Miovski, and it’s barely been noticed. They made the right signings, they have made a good appointment as manager and things are looking really rosy at Pittodrie as opposed to the dark clouds gathering over Tynecastle
Aberdeen made a fortune on Miovski and went out and replaced him with Kevin Nisbet who scored that late winner against Ross County at the weekend just a day before Hearts drew yet another blank in their defeat to Dundee United.
“We’re told Hearts were interested in Nisbet too but Aberdeen were already ahead of them in the process of signing the player. That’s just bad management. This runs deeper than just the manager although Steven Naismith is now rightly under serious, serious pressure.
“This falls on the board. I’m not surprised Hearts find themselves in this situation just three months after finishing third at a canter. Why? Because as I have said a million times – they had one guy last season keeping them ahead of the rest in the race for third. Lawrence Shankland.
“But they have never addressed the situation of getting Lawrence help. Nisbet or someone of his ilk should have been brought in months ago. Joe Savage headed up recruitment but the club knew he was leaving his role as sporting director for a while.
“The board never acted to get someone in as a replacement – they kicked the can down the road because they thought everything was going well. Why did they not transition someone in? Someone should have been there getting a feel for things before the transfer window opened nearly three months ago. There should have been a seamless handover. That’s just good business.
