Steven Naismith: Hearts coach to be interviewed for St Mirren manager job
- Published
Former Scotland striker Steven Naismith has been part of the Hearts coaching staff since retiring from playing for the club last summer
Hearts youth coach Steven Naismith is to be interviewed by St Mirren for their managerial vacancy after the Tynecastle club gave permission.
The former Scotland striker, 35, is not the only candidate St Mirren will be speaking to, with Aberdeen player-coach Scott Brown also on their shortlist.
The Paisley club are without a boss after Jim Goodwin joined Aberdeen.
Naismith, who retired last summer, is Hearts' player development manager and part of the Scotland coaching set-up.
"Steven's a great young coach," Hearts manager Robbie Neilson told BBC Sportsound.
"He's started here in the summer with the Under-18s and they're in the semi-final of the cup."
Meanwhile, new Aberdeen manager Goodwin says he "can understand" why 36-year-old former Celtic skipper Brown is among the candidates to succeed him in Paisley.
Speaking before his first match in charge of Aberdeen at Fir Park, Goodwin told BBC Sportsound: "He's very far on in his coaching badges and that's probably the next step in his pathway.
"For now he is under contract, he's out with a hamstring injury today and I'm very much looking forward to having him as part of the group.
"I spoke to him last night, I didn't speak to him about the St Mirren thing, I just wanted to introduce myself."
'Naismith is ready now... he has the credentials' - analysis
Former Hearts and Scotland manager Craig Levein on BBC Radio Scotland
Everybody would acknowledge he's a leader on the field, and a guy who could change matches. He is a clever guy, he is really dedicated to his work. I always recognised he was going to be a manager at one point and we brought him to Hearts with that in mind.
We spoke to him about coming a coach and perhaps becoming a manger if everything went well. He's a really likable guy, was well respected by his team-mates at Hearts.
I would say yes, he is ready now, but that might depend on the staff he has to support him. He has got the credentials to become a really good manager.
He would need to get the right person as assistant. As a young manager, it's like a landslide, it hits you all when you start. You just think it's about coaching and getting a team on the field, but there are so many facets that it's really overwhelming at times.