Director Of Football: Duffy

After months of speculation about who was going to step into this role, Duffy, who was employed seemingly as a coach by Graham Rix only a couple of weeks ago, has been given the opportunity.

The move is bound to come as a surprise to the Hearts support and like the appointment of Rix, will underwhelm many of them. Big names do not guarantee success, but having seen the club interviewing the likes of Bobby Robson and Claudio Ranieri in the past and being linked with Nevio Scala, it’s easy to see why they would not be too impressed by this appointment.

Jim Duffy is a man I admire greatly. His reputation as a coach is, like Rix, excellent. The way he handled himself when Dundee were having all their problems a couple of years ago was very admirable too and he has a lot of respect in the game. However is he the best man to take on this role at Hearts? Time will tell but I do have my doubts. On the positive side at least this will take some of the heat off Rix and allow him to concentrate on his strength, coaching.

Duffy is contracted in the Director Of Football role until the end of the season.