It appears that the Hearts players are much happier now that Stevie Frail appears to have full managerial responsibilities at Tynecastle.
Speaking about the situation, Hearts’ longest serving player Robbie Neilson said:
‘If Stevie can get the job full-time, it would be great. It would settle the uncertainty just now about whether he is going to be the full-time manager or not.
‘I would be delighted if Stevie got the job. Training has returned to what we were used to in the past. Stevie was under a lot of pressure before, when he was just the coach. But he has full responsibility now, so he can do his own thing. There is no pressure on him to explain decisions made by others.’
It’s certainly good that at least someone at Tynecastle has the sort of remit that a manager needs to organise a team properly, but that man should not be Frail on a long-term basis. And I’ll tell you something else, if Hearts DO ever get a manager worth their salt into the job (and that is a big ‘if’ now), players like Robbie Neilson should quickly become a thing of the past at the club. I don’t want to be too critical of Robbie as he does the best he can within the limitations that he has, but he is and never has been of the standard we’d like to see in that position.
Frail himself was a far better right-back than Neilson will ever be, and only a string of injuries prevented him from finding out exactly how far that his playing career could have gone. However as far as managers go he is a rookie just now, and to be perfectly honest I’m not sure if he seems to have the sort of personality required to go to the top in football management. He just doesn’t seem tough enough to me, and as one poster on here rightly pointed out recently, the players calling him ‘Stevie’ rather than ‘the boss’, etc only goes to back that theory. Potentially a great guy to have around as a coach and someone to help bond the players together, but a manager? Not convinced.
Still, the situation would appear to be better than it was a month ago, so that’s a start…….
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I?m sure it would suit Neilson and others down to the ground if Frail was to appointed as the manager of Hearts. It would however be a terrible decision for the club as a whole. We have rehearsed the many reasons for this elsewhere on this site but to name two: his ?chummy? relationship with the players is simply not appropriate and he does not have the experience or tactical know-how to do the job. This is all about self-preservation for Neilson who must know that he a very lucky boy to be holding on to a place in the Hearts first team on a regular basis. What worries me is that the Hearts official site is carrying quotes from Neilson and Banks promoting the case for Frail to be given the appointment. Hearts must have some editorial control here ? are we being prepared for the worst?
I think we are…..all the signs are there.
Not much more to add here, it’s a good point about the official website giving them the oxygen of publicity!!!!! I’m now pretty despondent over the managerial position.
Broadly agree with you, Mr H. As you and others have said, Stevie is a good guy who has at least steadied the ship after the disastrous coaches sent by Vlad. Possibly for that reason the players see him as a ‘victim’ – much the same as they maybe see themselves. So after what went on before, the players will give him some response. But given the difficulty of finding a decent manager who actually WANTS the job, there may be little alternative but to go with Stevie permanently.
Even if that’s until the end of the season I don’t have a problem it, but after that someone else HAS to come in and take over.
I can’t believe there is little alternative other than Frail. The players may see him as “victim” but I also think they see him as a “soft touch”.
Frail is the easy option but letting him have the job for the rest of the season is a complete non-decision! We’d be absolutely no further forward!
Absolutely – as they used to say on the telly. We need an excellent managerial appointment and good player signings now to lift the spirits of the whole club and help us make real progress for what’s left of the season and beyond. Appointing Frail (yes I know he is a good guy – no doubt about it) would be pathetic.