Steven Naismith: Has Hearts manager turned doubters into believers?
- Published
Stephen Kingsley's free-kick sealed a memorable 2-0 win at Celtic Park as the Hearts revival gathered pace
When Rangers scored three in 14 minutes to blow away Hearts in the League Cup semi-final at the start of November, Steven Naismith was a manager under the spotlight.
That Hampden capitulation came on the back of a miserable run that saw Hearts concede two goals in two minutes to surrender a 2-0 lead against Hibernian, suffer a chastening home defeat by Celtic then ship two added-time goals to lose in sickening fashion at Ibrox.
It left Hearts seventh in the Scottish Premiership with 11 points from 10 games and one of their chances to lift a first trophy since 2012 gone.
It left the wisdom of the Hearts board's decision to give the untried Naismith the keys to Tynecastle seriously up for debate.
The natives were restless. Some were not convinced the rookie was right for the job in the first place, perhaps not helped by the bodged nature of the job titles because of his lack of badges.
But those dispiriting results in October and November were trying even the patience of his advocates too.
Chief executive Andrew McKinlay hardly extinguished the rancour at the AGM when he stated "it was a results business" and seemed to question the style of play.
That kind of situation, with an atmosphere that was two more poor results from being toxic, is difficult for anyone to turn round. For a 37-year-old in his first job, it must have been daunting verging on overwhelming.
Doubters to believers
Yet click on the Premiership table now and you'll see Hearts in third, their form guide lighting up like green traffic lights on Cameron Toll roundabout.
Naismith's side took 13 points from a possible 15 going into the winter break and are five clear of Kilmarnock with a game in hand. Thirty-six points from 21 games is a whole lot better than 11 from 10.
And they aren't just doggedly accumulating points. Naismith and his side have been making memories.
The late, late win against Hibs in the Edinburgh derby and the long-awaited victory at Celtic are days Hearts fans will talk about for years to come.
Naismith has therefore surely turned some doubters into believers in the past six weeks. Hearts legend Gary Locke certainly thinks that should be the case.
"At the start of the season with games in Europe your squad gets tested and the team was quite unbalanced," he told the Scottish Football Podcast.
"Over the last five weeks we've got influential players back and a settled formation. You can see the fruits of that with the results.
"So if you told me at the start of the season we'll get to the winter break in third, five points ahead with a game in hand, any Hearts fan on the planet would have taken that."
And yet Robbie Neilson was sacked with the team in fourth after five defeats in six games. His replacement has moved the side up precisely one place - into a position Neilson had them sitting regularly.
That is the dilemma, as it has been since the late 1980s when Celtic and Rangers started to dominate again. What is a good season?
Hearts are 10 points behind a Rangers team that is hardly vintage but is still picking up more than two points per game. Is it realistic for Hearts to do that from August to May?
Or does Hearts' significant playing budget compared to almost every club in the league except the Old Firm mean they should also have ambitions of 46 points from 20 games?
"With a club the size of Hearts, the least the fans expect is third or fourth," Locke added.
"There's so many experts out there that think they can do the job better than the guy in the dugout. He was under a wee bit of pressure, but Steven's handled himself really well."
The Scottish Cup remains a target and third already looks to be Hearts' to throw away. Journalist and Hearts fan Joel Sked sees hope of long-term gain.
"Everyone wants the results yesterday, whereas everything Naismith talks about is long term. He's got a view on how to bring through young players, how recruitment should work, how squad building works," Sked told the podcast.
"He never got bogged down in the noise. He's the one person in the club who's been composed all the way through. Slowly but surely there's been progress."
Lawrence Shankland's goalscoring form has put him in demand
Could they thrive without Shankland?
Of course there is a cloud on the horizon. Lawrence Shankland's scintillating form means he is now being eyed by other clubs.
The Scotland striker has 18 goals this season - more than the next 10 players in Hearts' chart combined - and scored for a sixth consecutive game in the pre-break game against Livingston.
Losing those goals would clearly be a big obstacle for Naismith to overcome.
"No matter how bad Hearts are playing, he can win a game for you," said Sked.
"It would be heartbreaking for Hearts fans if he was to depart - he's the difference between getting into Europe through third and potentially European group stages."
