Monday 4 November 2019 13:21, UK
Hearts are in "no hurry" to appoint a new manager following the sacking of Craig Levein, according to the Scottish Premiership club's chief executive Ann Budge.
Levein was dismissed last Thursday not just as manager but from his secondary role as director of football, a position Budge confirmed that the club will be removing in favour of a sporting director.
Although Levein will remain at the club until the end of the season to work with "backroom and youth operations", Budge re-asserted that the 55-year-old will not be involved with the first team and that his presence should therefore not prove uncomfortable for the club's new manager.
"We want to get a new manager in place as quickly as possible, but that said, I'll take as long as it takes to find the right person," Budge said at a press conference on Monday.
"I'm in no hurry. It's not that we have someone in our sights, despite what some of the media have been saying.
"I want to go through the process rigorously and thoroughly and explore a lot of avenues, so the net will be cast quite wide.
Levein was dismissed with the club second-from-bottom in the Scottish Premiership, with only goal difference keeping them above St Mirren.
Having returned to the club at board level in May 2014, Levein was appointed manager for a second time in August 2017.
Budge admitted that allowing Levein to keep his boardroom role along with the managerial job was something she regretted.
"I think our need for the director of football role that we had when I took over the club has changed.
"After five years I think our club's changed, so has football, so I've no intention of replacing or appointing a director of football. We'll appoint a different structure that I think is more appropriate for today.
"We've seen it in other clubs where they've been appointing sporting directors or technical directors. I do think that's right. The complexities around managing all of the parts of the football department are such that it's too much expect of one man."
