Saturday 2 November 2019 09:40, UK
Sky Sports News reporter Charles Paterson examines what went wrong for Craig Levein at Hearts after he was sacked on Thursday.
The downward spiral suffered by Hearts under Craig Levein in 12 months has been remarkable.
Last October, the club was top of the Scottish Premiership and in a League Cup semi-final - this weekend they return to Hampden Park but now sit joint bottom of the league, and without a manager.
Hearts have won 15 of their 51 games since losing to Celtic at Murrayfield, with seven of those victories in cup competitions. For a club possessing the third biggest budget in Scottish football, it has been a pitiful slump.
After only one league win since March, and one goal in the last five games, defeat to St Johnstone on Wednesday proved to be the final straw for Ann Budge.
Levein has blamed injuries for Hearts' form falling off a cliff. Steven Naismith, John Souttar, Christophe Berra, Jamie Walker and Craig Halkett are just some of his stalwarts who have spent long periods of time on the treatment table; yet Hearts' squad depth is greater than any team in the league outside the Old Firm.
A more worrying trend has been the player turnover, coupled with the stalling of youth development. Only one youth academy graduate, Aaron Hickey, played at St Johnstone. Two of the best homegrown prospects, Harry Cochrane and Anthony McDonald, who made their debuts at 16, have been farmed out on loan.
Meanwhile, in the five years since Budge and Levein took over, Hearts have signed more than 20 strikers. Much of the recruitment policy has been scatter gun at best.
Budge perhaps never thought she would need to sack Levein, who was her football confidante when he returned to Hearts as Director of Football in 2014. It was not long ago that she gave him her full backing, while reiterating he "wasn't bombproof".
What happens next is crucial; Budge is due to begin handing over control of her shareholding next summer to supporters, although she has stated her intention to stay on for another year to oversee the transition to fan ownership. The next manager could be in charge well beyond her departure from the club.
The plan Budge implemented on her arrival at the club of promoting coaching staff from within appears to have been discarded. When Ian Cathro's appointment proved a failure, it was Levein who stepped in as manager to remedy the mess - comfortable in the Director of Football role, he had initially implied he did not envisage himself being involved in first-team affairs. Now that he has relinquished both roles, Budge finds herself rather exposed.
One question is whether Hearts need a Director of Football at all. Regarding a new manager, Budge could revert to her original structure and appoint from within - caretaker and long-time assistant Austin MacPhee will lead the team into Sunday's League Cup semi-final against Rangers. He was unwilling to say whether he desires the job on Friday, but he may feel now is the time for him to make the step up.
What is more likely is that Budge will start anew with a candidate that understands Scottish football; Motherwell manager Stephen Robinson is a strong favourite, but there has never perhaps been a better time for this club to think big.
Kilmarnock plucked Steve Clarke from obscurity; he turned around their fortunes so fast it landed him the Scotland job. A candidate of his calibre and experience would certainly fit the bill.
All these questions will be answered in the coming days and weeks. In the short term, MacPhee needs to stop the rot fast - but a rampant Rangers present a most unwelcome proposition for him to tackle on Sunday.
Sky Sports pundit Kris Boyd analyses some of the possible candidates to take over from Craig Levein at Hearts and reveals why he thinks caretaker Austin MacPhee might just be the right man for the job.
Austin MacPhee
He's waited a long time for an opportunity and I hope he is given that chance to show his managerial credentials.
For me he should be given an opportunity, he has been there for a long time, he knows he may have to tweak one or two things but he understands the set up and knows the players.
Even if it was for a month or so to see what he can do - give him a crack at it and see what happens. The older, more experienced guys like him, they like the way he goes about his business and sometimes clubs have people in the building who are the right people for the job already and that may just be the case at Hearts.
Stephen Robinson
If there is one manager in Scotland who deserves a crack at a big club then it is Stephen Robinson.
He has done really well with Motherwell, he has recruited well on a shoestring budget - especially when you compare what he has done with what Hearts and Hibs have done - and he's got results.
Jack Ross
I think the question of why he left Hearts [as development coach] a few years ago would need to be answered first. I think Ross is actually more suited to Hibs with the way he wants to play. That's the style of football that Hibernian fans would want to see.
I've said it before but I think Paul Heckingbottom has underestimated Scottish football and the league - it has not been good enough. This league is not as easy as some people make it out to be and the results have not been good enough.
The league is of a far better standard and I would not be surprised if Heckingbottom follows Levein out of the door very soon.
There are managers about now who are ready to take on these jobs - that maybe was not the case a couple of months ago.
Derek McInnes
I know this is a long shot purely because of the amount of money it would cost Hearts to get him down the road.
I mentioned McInnes as a candidate previously because it has seemed as though Aberdeen fans have started to get a bit fed up with him but I can assure you there are Hearts fans who would snap him up if he was available!
