Rangers boss Philippe Clement has repeatedly used "sports science" as a justification for why he cannot start certain players over the past few months.
Clement emphasised that he would be called "stupid" should be ignore advice from specialist staff, which was a comment that seriously irked former Rangers striker Kris Boyd.
Especially since the Rangers manager decided to introduce two of the men he previously insinuated should be rested during the half-time interval with the Light Blues two goals behind against Motherwell on Sunday.
Boyd made it clear on Sky Sports after the 2-2 draw that Rangers' sports scientists won't have Clement's best interests at heart and continuing to listen to their every word could cost him his job.
Now ex-Heart of Midlothian sporting director Joe Savage has shared his perspective from his time at Tynecastle Park, stating both Robbie Neilson and Steven Naismith would've always had the final say during their time in Gorgie.
"Certainly, at Hearts they didn’t tell our manager ‘you can’t play him’. They would say look, his training load is a bit high, his workload is a bit high, he’s maybe close to the red zone but you can’t not play him.
"Our manager would always have that final decision. In no way would our Head of Performance at Hearts ever just come in and say to Robbie or Steven ‘you’re not playing him’ – because that’s not his choice, it’s not his decision and as [Kris] Boydy said yesterday, the manager gets sacked, it’s not the sports scientist.”
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Savage, who stepped down from his role at Hearts in July, expressed his disbelief at their late collapse against Ross County on Sunday.
The Gorgie club looked set to earn three valuable points at the Global Energy Stadium when the clock hit 95 minutes after two strikes from 17-year-old striker James Wilson.
However, they squandered their two-goal advantage when Joshua Nisbet capitalised on a corner that wasn't cleared.
Then the situation worsened from a long ball seconds later as Hearts goalkeeper Craig Gordon failed to deal with a long ball, allowing Jordan White to score and deliver a crushing blow to Neil Critchley's squad in the ninth minute of second half stoppage time.
Despite knowing that the players are capable of delivering so much more, Savage feels their low league position is a fair reflection of their Scottish Premiership season so far.
“I couldn’t believe it, I cannot put my finger on what’s happened there," he recalled.
"It’s easy for me to say now I’m away, but that squad is too good to be sitting where it is but it’s sitting there for a reason.
"On another personal note I’m delighted for James Wilson because we worked so hard to get him to sign a new contract because he had so much interest in him. For him to do what he’s doing at 17 years of age is brilliant."
