The titles may have changed but Steven Naismith has claimed Hearts’ new management team will ‘not be any different’ to when he took over as caretaker boss at the end of last season.
Naismith was handed the reins temporarily for the final seven games of the campaign, with Frankie McAvoy as his assistant and Gordon Forrest as first-team coach.
Following lengthy discussions during the close-season, Hearts finally confirmed last month that the trio would stay in charge but with different titles.
McAvoy was appointed head coach, with Naismith taking on the newly-created job of technical director ’in order to comply with UEFA regulations’ due to the former Scotland striker ‘not having the required Pro Licence qualification, a requirement to manage in European competition’.
McAvoy this week insisted he will have the final say in team selection and other decisions, but said the threesome would employ a collaborative approach to management.
Naismith says no-one will ‘dictate’ and claims it was important that there was no ‘change’.
He said: “It’ll not be any different to what it was through the interim period. Yes, I was the interim manager at that point.
“The structure’s slightly different and that’s something that we’ve had to come up against and work around and try to make as workable as possible.
“We all contribute to making this team a success in each game we go into.
“The way it will work, in terms of match-day and team selections and stuff like that, Frankie is the head coach and he’ll make those calls.
“But I’m pretty sure, and you can talk to anybody that’s in the building, it’s everybody that’s involved. There’s not one person here dictating what happens.
“We’ve all been involved in the game [long enough], especially Gordy, Frankie and myself, where it impacts us most, to understand that not one person knows everything.
“We’ve got a really good relationship and we saw the small success we got with that last season.
“When conversations were being had, we didn’t want there to be any change. That was really important.
“In the times we’ve worked, we’ve all slipped into certain roles within the group, seeing the game differently and working more on different units and having balance with that as well.
“All round, it’s worked really well and now that we’ve got everything settled and it’s confirmed for the longer term then it’s really exciting times.”
Hearts won just two of their final seven games under Naismith at the end of last season and failed to deliver third place - the reason chief executive Andrew McKinlay said predecessor Robbie Neilson had been sacked.
However, with the squad currently in Spain for a warm-weather training camp, Naismith is convinced they continue to make great strides in implementing a new style that can deliver success for the Jambos in future.
The former Rangers and Kilmarnock player added: “Towards the end of last season, the work you’re doing, you’re trying to make change but you’re trying to minimise risk of mistakes, and there’s a lot more factors you have to play with.
“Whereas now, we’ve got a solid period where we can do as much work as we want on the pitch, and this week has been one where you can drill right down to the detail.
“First of all, I was really proud to be part of this, personally. But from the moment I’ve had the chance to be involved in it, the excitement part has been the part I’ve tried not to let myself get too carried away with.
“Off the field, there are loads of great things happening. The structure of the club is trying to improve in every department.
“On the football side, we’re now seeing that at the training ground. We’ve made some significant improvements.
“Then we can get on the pitch and continue on from where we left off at the end of last season.
“The potential of the club is massive and I think it’s a club that should have a style of play. I think we need to produce more young players - all these things now that the dust’s settled we can get on with making that happen.”
