News

Billy Davies Interested In Hearts Job, But…..

|
Image for Billy Davies Interested In Hearts Job, But…..

As could have been easily predicted after Hearts’ move for Motherwell manager Mark McGhee fell through this week, the club are now being linked with moves for all of the other candidates whom the press believe the Romanovs were interested in before McGhee became the favourite.

One of those is former Motherwell, Preston and Derby manager Billy Davies, who is currently out of work. Many Hearts fans seem quite keen for Davies to be interviewed for the job, but although he said today that he’d be interested in speaking to the club, he has also made it very clear that anyone interested in his services should contact him first, not the other way around.

Davies was quoted as saying:

‘My track record speaks for itself. I’ve got no intention of applying for the Hearts job or any other job. People know what my record is and they know what type of manager I am. My pedigree is quite clear, they (Hearts] either want that type of manager or they want something different.

‘If any interested party wants to speak to me, I will listen to them and then make a judgement from there. At the moment there has been no contact from Hearts. I’m very open-minded. I have no preference as to where the next job may lie, whether it’s Scotland, England or abroad.

‘I’m happy to listen to what people would have to say and only once I sit down and look at the club, the people at the club and the whole package would I make a judgement on my future.’

I’m just wondering when it was exactly that Billy Davies acquired a managerial record to rival that of Sir Alex Ferguson? Just who does this little runt think he is?

There’s always been something about this guy that’s irritated me and perhaps his quotes have helped to establish exactly what that is – arrogance. I’m not saying that having arrogance is necessarily a bad thing when it comes to the world of football management, but he really should be clever enough to realise that coming out with quotes like this in advance of seriously achieving anything in his short managerial career really does give off negative vibes. Fair enough, he did a decent job with Preston and Derby, but that was all he did – a decent job. Before that at Motherwell he was unsuccessful. Does this all equate to giving it this sort attitude? Hardly.

I didn’t want Hearts to touch Billy Davies even before I read these quotes, but now it’s fair to say that I want them to even less!

Share this article

MrH

Come on the famous!

18 comments

  • StockportJambo says:

    You can bet if the Rangers job came up he’d apply for that! Tend to agree with you MrH, whilst he is a ‘decent’ manager, he’s no Mourinho. But I guess with an attitude like that he’ll be out of work for a long long time… and five years from now when he’s run out of money he’ll be wondering why nobody calls him anymore.

  • Dalien says:

    I still want JJ back.

  • MrH says:

    Maybe not the most forward-thinking move but we could do worse Dalien.

  • DigitalTwisted says:

    What managers are actually “available” as in out of work? Davies, Rijkaard. Any other known names?

  • Specs Haver says:

    I’m starting to think that only a miracle will save Hearts from an agonising death. That miracle will be a manager who can energise a group of overpaid players to show pride and passion in what they do, and to coach team skills and discipline into them. Appointing a new manager under normal circumstances has a risk attached – but in our case the risk is huge, since we desperately need to find that miracle manager. We found one in July 2005, but are there any more out there ?

  • MrH says:

    Something else – I’m really not convinced that our squad is as talented as some people seem to think these days. It maybe was a year to 18 months ago, but not now. We need new players as well as a manager…..

  • Dalien says:

    I agree MrH I continually read posts on other forums and in places like the EEN and there are hearts fan who think we have a good squad and all they need is a good manager. I feel that the squad is relatively weak, where will the goals come from, where will their supply come from and who will stop Falkirk or Killie running the rule over us at the back? I know JJ is a step back. But I feel his appointment would bring back the soul of the club and it would allow the team to build up it’s reputation again. My ideal timeline would be JJ to steady the ship and progress the team (and get the manager picking the team again, he wont let Romanov do that), followed by him stepping aside in a few years to take up a director of football type post with a younger manager coming in with our reputation a little higher at least than it is now. Ultimately we will have to wait and see, but as many of you know I am a pessimist. But I know if we did have JJ at the club I would consider a season ticket again.

  • Specs Haver says:

    Good comments, Dalien – and I agree that JJ would be the most appropriate guy now, for the fans and the team. A Hearts man with a strong presence – not sure how he’d cope with the stream of big-money-but-average-ability players that Vlad would throw at him though (continuing the Beslija, Pinilla, Karipidis, Screpis pattern). But having him hands-on, then as Football Director (assuming Vlad didn’t fire him after 10 games) would be very positive., and would help persuade the NEXT manager that working at Hearts might just be possible. Unfortunately I just can’t see Vlad letting anyone outside his inner circle getting any real control on football matters.

  • Specs Haver says:

    Mr H (and Dalien) – I agree that the performance level of the current squad is a shadow of 2 years ago. But I think you’d have to see the current squad perform under a proper manager to fully decide on their true worth to the team. I think we’re all agreed that every outfield player has under-performed this season, with no-one really putting together a run of impressive games, and the team is devoid of leaders (as Frail has admitted recently). By the way…..did anyone else get a lump in their throat watching the news footage of the Scotland team leaving Glasgow airport yesterday for Prague ? The camera focused on Burley, and there beside him were Elvis, Hartley and Gordon. Seeing that made me quite angry, actually, thinking on what Romanov has done to our club. This really is his last chance to prove that he’s got any interest in Hearts welfare, as far as I’m concerned. And I’d put money on him blowing it.

  • StockportJambo says:

    See, that annoys me about the Romanov-bashing that goes on amongst Hearts fans (and outsiders too). What Romanov “has done to our club” with regards Burley, Elvis, Gordon and Hartley (et al). First off, there would not have been a club if it wasn’t for Romanov (there weren’t a whole lot of other options floating about at the time). Secondly, Romanov hired Burley and paid his salary. Without him being there, there is no way in *hell* any manager of his repute would even have considered coming to a club like Hearts. Similarly, Skacel, Bednar, Kingston, etc. Thirdly, Elvis, Gordon and Hartley would have been sold that first season at Murrayfield to pay the bills… probably to some stupidly insulting bid by one or other of the Ugly Sisters. Those are the basic cold hard facts of the matter as far as I’m concerned, and whilst I’m quite happy to lob missiles at Vlad for some of his more eccentric decisions that have hurt the club since then, the whole Burley/Elvis chip that so many Hearts fans have on their shoulders is *old*. Without Romanov, none of these people would even have been at Hearts for long enough to BE top of the league for a few short weeks, get us into the Champions League, or win the Scottish cup. Ahem. That’s my rant done… 🙂

  • Specs Haver says:

    To quote a Scouse phrase, SJ …”Calm down, calm down”. I share your “appreciation” of Romanov, in that he saved Hearts from oblivion. Its the next part that makes me angry – namely, that he is now presiding over what looks like our return journey to oblivion. Having stripped the club for almost no reason of its soul (Burley, Pressley, Webster), the grandiose plans for a new stand are not matched by evidence of a genuine desire for the team to do well. In fact, you could argue (as Mr H hinted a few weeks back) that the regime seem (at times) to be undermining the football operation (Velicka and Tall episodes for example). I’m not blaiming Romanov for the McGhee saga – although I question why it was felt necessary for McGhee to spend EIGHT days in Vilnius. Your point about Burley and the star players not being at Hearts in the first place without Romanov there is EXACTLY my point too – having the done the early positive things, he then destroyed them… and the consequence we have to live with is that no amount of money is now going to be enough to convince men of principle (managers or players) to join Hearts. I don’t undertsand why he did it – is he an extremely naive man or just incompetent ? Perhaps its just the disease of autocracy – “I did it because I can”

  • MrH says:

    It’s a fair point to say that we cannot judge the talent of the current squad when they continue to be mis-managed – in fact it’s one I’ve made several times myself. But I do genuinely believe that the overall quality now is not what it was – that’s just a hunch rather than a fact though. As for the beautifully titled “Vlad-bashing”, I think we now have a right to come out with phrases like “what he’s done to our club”. Fair enough he did come in and ‘save’ us at a critical time, but what he’s done subsequently you could argue is almost if not more damaging than anything that the previous regime did. Can you ever remember not caring as much about Hearts games as in this last season? I certainly can’t – even when we were fighting relegation in the mid 90s the fans could still relate to the club. We can’t now – there’s too much facelessness in there, which is perhaps why an appointment like Jefferies now would help to restore some of this.

  • StockportJambo says:

    You make a good point about the facelessness of the club MrH, but this CAN be fixed and the club do appear to be moving in the right direction regarding that. So I will wait and see. I agree that there is still plenty of scope for Vlad to screw it up again though. As to the quality of the squad – this again is down to a manager. There is not a single player (not one) who I would be disappointed not to see in a Hearts jersey next season based on what they’ve done over the past couple of years. Whoever the new manager is (and JJ looks to be the best bet) his first job will be to assess the squad – and anybody who he doesn’t like, simply gets offloaded or otherwise doesn’t play for us again. He then brings in people who ARE worthy of the maroon. Players do not neccessarily sign for clubs, they sign for managers. Witness Skacel. If someone like JJ came in, I don’t think he’d have any trouble enticing “men of principle” to come and join him. Whatever, I’m actually looking forward to next season – I think the team on the park will be vastly different to what it is now, and with a proper manager in place, will be well organised & play with passion, which will ultimately reflect in the crowd and in all our moods.

  • Specs Haver says:

    SJ – you are the first Jambo I’ve come across who is actually looking forward to next season …. I salute your indefatigability, etc !! Having been a “believer” for more than a year that Vlad had a masterplan to bring good times to Hearts, I now have almost no faith that he has football success on his agenda at all. Therefore I don’t believe that even JJ would last more than a few months before he fell foul of Vlad’s tantrums – but I’d love to be proved wrong about that !!

  • StockportJambo says:

    I think the fact that they came out and said they were actively looking to appoint someone like Mark McGhee has lifted my spirits somewhat – it gives me hope that there is someone there (probably Campbell Ogilvie) who is aware of what Hearts really need to GET that success on the park. There has been enough evidence of late that Romanov is taking a much more hands-off role, and may even have lost interest a bit. He has treated Hearts like a rich man’s plaything, which has obviously made him very unpopular in Scotland, but if you were in his shoes, you’d probably buy Hearts “for a laugh” too if you’re being honest with yourself. I know I would. If he does indeed have genuine business reasons for taking control of Hearts, they must surely be unsustainable with the current setup. There is no point in building a big stand with corporate facilities if no bugger wants to come any more. So for those reasons, I think next season will be vastly different to the past two. Blank slate, and all that…

  • Specs Haver says:

    Well, I hope you’re right, SJ. My feeling though is the loyalty of the fans in supporting mediocrity (oops.. guilty as charged) is something he knows will give him the scope to contunue to meddle. Just having a former Hearts man in the dugout didn’t equate to a hands-off policy to me. The regime still dictated when Velicka would leave, and they seemd to dictate that Tall was not to play again. As for Ivaskevicius getting a run of sub appearances …. well, that says it all, really. As you say, we are the play-thing of a madman – and I simply don’t believe he will see any sense in funding a football venture in a foreign land if he doesn’t get his kicks by making lots of the decisions. Maybe if the Council approve the stadium plans (and the work actually goes ahead !!), then we MAY see a change in his attitude, for the better – but I’m not holding my breathe on that one either.

  • MrH says:

    “indefatigability”…..marvellous!

  • Dalien says:

    Some great points, especially SH I have found myself carving mediocrity which is worrying and I even started to moan less when Miko got dropped for a couple of games. I just hope JJ comes in. Although I will only believe in the new stand when I see people sitting in it. Fact is that the great lord Vlad giveth and can easily take away. He did save the club but he also left me as a jaded fan over the last year or so.

Leave a Reply to StockportJambo Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *