Heart of Midlothian

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Liam Fox makes five changes to the Hearts line-up in his first match in interim charge following Steven Naismith's departure.

A new look defence comprises Adam Forrester, Frankie Kent and Kye Rowles alongside Stephen Kingsley, who is the only survivor from last week's back four.

In midfield, Cammy Devlin takes over from Malachi Boateng while Alan Forrest replaces Blair Spittal.

Fox's team looks like a 4-3-3 with Forrest and Kenneth Vargas either side of captain Lawrence Shankland as the hosts look to arrest an 11-match winless streak that stretches back to May and includes eight successive defeats.

Just one change for Ross County following last week's draw with St Johnstone. Michee Efete replaces James Brown in midfield.

Hearts: Gordon, Forrester, Kent, Rowles, Kingsley, Grant, Baningime, Devlin, Forrest, Shankland, Vargas.

Substitutes: Clark, Halkett, Oyegoke, McKay, Spittal, Dhanda, Tait, Boyce, Penrice.

Ross County: Laidlaw, Campbell, Wright, Lopata, Leak, Efete, Nisbet, Randall, Chilvers, Hale, White.

Substitutes: Hamilton, Brown, Loturi, Grieves, Telfer, Samuel, Brophy, Smith, Nightingale.

Brian McLauchlin
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

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Hearts have told BBC Scotland they have received close to 100 notes of interest for the vacant managerial position after the sacking of Steven Naismith.

The list of applicants is made up of individuals making direct contact and agents acting on behalf of those interested in the vacancy.

As well as UK-based candidates, there have been applicants from around the world.

The formal process to whittle down the number of names to a manageable number of serious contenders will now begin. A sub-group of executive and non-executive members within the club will be handed this task.

The club's new sporting director Graeme Jones, who does not officially start in his new role until November, will play a part in in the process as Hearts have reached an agreement with his current employer, the Scottish FA. He can work a number of days prior to joining up with Steve Clarke's squad for the next two Scotland matches.

Jamestown Analytics, who are in talks with Hearts regarding a partnership, will also be heavily involved in the process.

Once interviews take place and a preferred candidate is nominated, this will go to the full board for the decision to be ratified.

No timescale has been placed on finding the successor to Naismith but it’s highly unlikely this will be before next Sunday's trip to Aberdeen in the Scottish Premiership.

Vikingur head coach Arnar Gunnlaugsson, the former Leicester City manager, is now the bookmakers' favourite to take over at Heart of Midlothian. (The Scotsman), external

Read the rest of Saturday's Scottish gossip.

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Hearts right-back Gerald Taylor is facing a long-term lay-off with suspected ACL damage so teenager Adam Forrester is set to be promoted to the squad. Frankie Kent returns after an ankle injury but Calem Nieuwenhof (hamstring) is still out.

Ross County will be without defenders George Harmon (ankle), Ricki Lamie (Achilles) and Josh Reid, who is still recovering from a heavy knock.

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Interim Hearts head coach Liam Fox says that managers are "lucky" to survive 18 months in a job and some choose to be assistants because it's "safer".

Fox, 40, who lasted just five months in his only role as a head coach at Dundee United, has stepped up from his position as B team manager after the sacking of first-team boss Steven Naismith.

"Every manager and every coach needs time and sometimes you don't get that," said Fox.

"You are lucky you get 18 months. That's just the nature of the job and how it is.

"Everyone wants success today. When you step into that you are aware of what the consequences could be.

"I've been there and gone through that. I think there is always a thing at the back of your head or an itch to scratch to test yourself and know you can do it. But the timelines are so short and the game is so ruthless.

"I can see why people want to be assistant managers or being coaches. It's maybe a wee bit safer.

"Am I happy doing that? I’ve gone on record at some point to say that in the future I would want to have another shot at it, but I'm in absolutely no rush to do that.

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Interim Hearts head coach Liam Fox has been speaking to the media for the first time since Steven Naismith was sacked.

Here are the key lines from his press conference:

• Fox is very disappointed to hear that three good people - Steven Naismith, Frankie McAvoy and Gordon Forrest - have lost their jobs. "Every manager needs time but you don't get that."

• He adds that managers are "lucky" if they get 18 months in a job. Fox says that's just "the nature" of it, because everyone demands success today.

• Fox has spoken to Naismith. While Fox wouldn't go into details about the conversation, he says Naismith was "really supportive" and "that's how he is".

• The interim boss believes there is a good group of players at Hearts who can still salvage the season.

• Full-back Gerald Taylor is out "for a long period of time" with a knee injury sustained against St Mirren last weekend. Fox doesn't know the exact timescale for the Costa Rican's return and says 19-year-old Adam Forrester could be promoted from the B team in Taylor's absence.

• He also highlighted how a big week this is for the club, with a Premiership clash against Ross County on Saturday before a trip to Dinamo Minsk in the Conference League on Thursday. Says it's imperative "we get them back on track and winning games of football".

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The Athletic's Jordan Campbell believes potential investment from Brighton owner Tony Bloom could give Hearts a "long-term lift".

Bloom has held talks with the Tynecastle club that could lead to Hearts utilising the entrepreneur's analytical company for player recruitment.

"There's been a bit of distraction off the pitch with the Brighton link and how that might change them long-term," Campbell told the BBC's Scottish Football Podcast.

"So, you've got that sort of dichotomy of the short-term pain of losing momentum over the last couple of years, crossed with the fact that there looks to potentially be something really exciting.

"It could give them a lift long-term, Hearts have just got to get over the line."

Steven Naismith was sacked as Hearts head coach just six Scottish Premiership games into the season, with the club sitting bottom of the table without a win.

"At a club like Hearts where the fans would expect them to finish at least third and win a cup, it's difficult to get out of that when you make such a bad start," added Campbell.

"Hearts need to turn the corner and get [Lawrence] Shankland back to the player that we've seen in last few years.

"I don't think this is a true reflection of that Hearts squad. It's a much stronger squad than where it is. I don't think over one summer it completely collapses.

"So, I expect Hearts to, over the next couple of months, regain some sort of foothold in the league and beat Ross County at home this weekend."

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Former Kilmarnock goalkeeper Cammy Bell is not surprised Rugby Park manager Derek McInnes is being linked to the vacant managerial position at Hearts.

The 53-year-old guided his side to a fourth-placed finish last season, securing European football for the first time in five years.

"He's done a brilliant job since he's come in," Bell told the BBC's Scottish Football Podcast.

"They've not hit the ground running in the league, but they've got a good squad there.

"I expect him to stay at Kilmarnock, but there's no surprise for me that a manager of the calibre of Derek McInnes is getting linked to Hearts.

"Hopefully, certainly for my sake, he does stay at Kilmarnock and continues the journey he's going on.

"But they need a result as well. They're desperate on getting a league result and getting three points on the board to kickstart the season."

Craig Halkett aims to enjoy Hearts' Conference League campaign after injury prohibited his involvement last time out. (Edinburgh Evening News - subscription), external

Motherwell manager Stuart Kettlewell expresses "disappointment" at Steven Naismith losing his job as Hearts head coach. (Edinburgh Evening News - subscription), external

Read Friday's Scottish gossip

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• Hearts have lost just one of their 15 top-flight home games against Ross County (W6 D8), going down 0-1 in March 2017.

• After their 2-1 win in March last season, Ross County could win back-to-back top-flight meetings with Hearts for the first time, with this the 30th such clash between the two clubs.

• Hearts have just one point from six Scottish Premiership matches this season (W0 D1 L5), the fewest by any side at this stage of a season in the competition since Dundee in 2018-19 (0).

• The last side to have one or fewer points from their opening seven games in the division were in fact Ross County in 2014-15 (0).

• Ross County are winless in their last 19 away league games (D7 L12) since a 1-0 win at Kilmarnock in September 2023.

• The last side to go 20 consecutive top-flight away games without winning were Dundee from August 2004 to August 2012, while the last to do so without being relegated during the run were St Mirren from November 2009 to October 2010.

• Ross County have conceded more second-half goals (eight) than any side in the Scottish Premiership this season, with this also accounting for a league-high 73% of their total goals shipped this term.

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Former Queens Park Rangers boss Gareth Ainsworth has applied for the Hearts manager's job and is keen on a move to Tynecastle. (Record), external

Hearts right-back Gerald Taylor, 23, left training on Wednesday on crutches and could miss the club's next three matches. (Edinburgh Evening News - subscription), external

Read Thursday's Scottish gossip

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Andrew McKinlay is "absolutely focussed" on his role as chief executive of Hearts - a job he "loves" - and dismissed reports linking him to the vacant CEO position at Rangers.

The Ibrox club have been searching for James Bisgrove's successor since he announced his departure at the end of last season.

But McKinlay, who spoke with Sky Sports, external following head coach Steven Naismith's sacking, said he has had "no conversations" with Rangers, despite reports suggesting he was a possible candidate.

"I can put on record very clearly that I've had no conversations with Rangers and Rangers have had no conversations with me," McKinlay, appointed by Hearts in August 2020, said.

"There have been press reports, I have no idea where those press reports have come from, but there have been press reports about other individuals who were about to become chief executive and it didn't come to fruition.

"I have no idea what Rangers' plans are for the future. I wish them all the best in their search, but I am absolutely focused on my job with Hearts and I love my job and will give it my utmost going forward."

Brian McLauchlin
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

Although much of the attention at Tynecastle this week has been about the departure of Steven Naismith and his backroom team, the focus on Saturday will certainly be about what happens on the pitch when Ross County come calling.

Other than a strong showing against Rangers on the opening day of the Premiership campaign, a match they arguably should have won, poor performances have led to a run of eight straight defeats.

In modern day football, that's a run few would survive

The players will know themselves they have let down those who have now departed. It’s now up to those players to show the fans more than anyone else they still have what it takes to be a success at Hearts.

County will know as well, however, if they can keep Hearts at bay in the early part of the game then the atmosphere at Tynecastle could become quite toxic.

Indeed County boss Don Cowie has first-hand experience of what Tynecastle can be like, having played over 70 games for Hearts.

The next couple of weeks at Hearts could be pivotal in terms of how this campaign pans out.

On the pitch after County, it’s a long trip to Azerbaijan to face Belarusian side Dinamo Minsk. Then it's Pittodrie prior to the international break.

Results on the pitch must improve, that goes without saying, but off the field the board, with the use of Jamestown Analytics, will need to come up with the right person to take the club forward.

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Hearts chief executive Andrew McKinlay discussed an array of subjects in an in-depth interview with club media.

Here are the key things he said...

On sacking Steven Naismith and his backroom team:

"The football over the last few weeks has been difficult. We had been hoping – the fanbase, all of us – we could turn this around but it became evident at the weekend that we just weren’t seeing signs of it turning around.

"If we lost 2-1, but had a second-half performance that was unlucky or really spirited or we just didn’t get the rub of the green, then that might’ve made me think slightly differently, but we didn’t. We had a very average second-half performance and that, unfortunately, left me in no doubt that we had to look at making a change."

On recently awarding the past management team new contracts:

"The deals that we had with Steven and his assistants were two-year deals with an option. Steven and I had conversations over the summer, particularly around his assistants more so than him, that they would be going into the final year of their deals, and if we didn’t exercise the option they would start looking for other jobs. I get that. Any one of us, if we think our job is going to finish at a finite time, would do that.

"He was keen that we didn’t have that instability among the coaching team."

On the new manager search and timeline:

"The timeline is a difficult one because I’d love to be able to bring in a manager tomorrow or as soon as possible. As long as I’m here, I would never speak to anyone else about the manager’s job until such time that there is no manager in place. You see many examples of other clubs who appear as if their process is 24-hours and suddenly a new manager appears. That’s not the way we work.

"We do, though, always have lists of people that we’re looking at, that we update and refresh on a two or three-monthly basis, and we’ve been doing that recently.

"Where we are now is that we’ve had our own lists and we’re also working with an analytics company. I can’t really say too much about who that company is, there has been a lot of press reporting recently but for commercial confidentiality reasons I can’t go into too much detail, but we are working with an analytics company."

On the role of the analytics company:

"They will be part of the process and they will have some views on some individuals and we will also feed them any individuals we think might be right and any applications we might have, and we’ve had a significant amount in the last 48 hours. "We’ve had a significant amount in the weeks previous to that, such is the nature of football. They’ll all be fed into that analytics and that will give us an idea of a ranking of managers.

"That ranking is just based on analytics, you then have to take that and look at those individuals; are they within our ability to get them, are they in current roles or not, there are various factors – will they fit into our culture, what style of football will they play, you can go on and on, and the analytics won’t give you all those answers."

On the interim management team:

"I’m thankful to Liam and his guys for stepping in at this difficult time, I think that he was the right person to bring forward.

"He understands that this is an interim period and that he’ll give it his best shot. He knows that we need to start winning games.

"He is also aware that we are looking externally for the longer term and he fully understands that and appreciates the reasons why we’re doing that."

On possible outside investment:

"Until such a time we have a deal with anyone, I can’t actually talk about who it’s with or what it would look like.

"I’ve made comments in the past about my views on multi-club ownership, and not being hugely supportive of them. I want to be clear that when I was talking about that, I was talking in the context of feeder clubs. I do not want Scotland to become a feeder league. I, and the board and Foundation of Hearts’ firm position is that we will not become a feeder club for any club elsewhere. We will not have a formal link with any other football club.

"Anything that we do would be done on the basis of there may be an individual involved, or they may not be, that has involvement with other football clubs but there will be no links between those clubs."

Former Stoke City and Sunderland boss Alex Neil is the bookmakers' favourite to be Hearts head coach ahead of St Mirren's Stephen Robinson, Vikingur's Arnar Gunnlaugsson and Falkirk's John McGlynn. (The Scotsman), external

Read Wednesday's Scottish Gossip in full here.

Greg Playfair
Fan writer

In the words of Nick Lowe, 'you've got to be cruel to be kind'. And that's probably the best way to look at Steven Nasmith's sacking as Hearts head coach.

Naismith had mentioned we had a similar start last season and he was able to turn it around, with two semi-final appearances in both cup competitions and comfortably securing third place in the league.

However, with just one victory from the last 15 competitive fixtures in all competitions, that isn't just relegation form, it's terminal decline and can set a team back for a few seasons if decisive action isn't taken.

Jambos will feel Naismith was afforded too much kindness and should have exited earlier - the Motherwell game cited as to when his P45 should have been handed out - but I think the defeat in Paisley was the right time to end his tenure.

In terms of what happens next, this is when the excitement starts. As has been speculated in recent days, I would expect prospective Hearts minority shareholder Tony Bloom and his data analytics company to take charge of recruitment.

One thing I would wager on is we won't see any of the usual suspects from Scottish football. I see this as an opportunity to try something different and look for a bit of a reset in terms of what we want from a Hearts manager and Hearts team.

We can see from Bloom's involvement in Brighton, they are willing to be trendsetters and go for the relatively unknown names - both in terms of coaching staff and players, and that brings a lot of intrigue.

I'll throw a name out there that's left field and I would go Henrik Rydstrom of Swedish side Malmo.

Now, once everyone has searched him and discovers he has lead Malmo to the 2023 title and is on course to do it again now, I would ask the question: 'why not?'.

Aberdeen plucked Jimmy Thelin from Elfsborg, who finished runners-up to Rydstrom’s side, when Aberdeen were quite frankly a rabble last season.

I'd argue that Hearts are in a much more attractive position on and off the pitch, and that's without Bloom's involvement.

In terms of why Rydstrom is the sort of profile we should be after - well he's had success in a comparable league and has totally transformed their playing style with something known as 'relationism', inspired by Brazilian manager Fernando Diniz and studied by Marcelo Bielsa.

It’s attacking football and he also is happy to blood younger players as well - two things Hearts supporters would favour.

Rydstrom was rumoured to be on Brighton's shortlist a few months ago before they eventually settled for Fabian Hurzeler and Bloom may want to snap him up this time before he inevitably loses out on the Swede.

There's no doubt he will cost some money to prize over to Scotland, but I think if you factor in the potential he has to make a generational impact on Scottish football, by getting us competing with the Old Firm, that's a huge lure.

The game this week versus Ross County feels like it’s had the glaring attention on it lifted following Naismith’s departure. That said, there is still pressure the players as many of them have underperformed this season.

Failure to pick up three points at home to a County side that are also struggling for form will reflect badly on this squad and might explain why Naismith wasn't able to stop the rot.

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Kilmarnock manager Derek McInnes "would be fantastic" for the vacant managerial position at Hearts, says former Tynecastle striker Lee Miller.

Steven Naismith was relieved of his duties as head coach after a woeful eight-game losing run, which leaves the club bottom of the Premiership.

Since being appointed Rugby Park boss, McInnes has led Killie back to the top flight and secured a fourth-placed finish last term.

His side, however, are also yet to win a league game this season and sit just a place and a point above Hearts.

"I think McInnes would be fantastic," Miller told the BBC's Scottish Football Podcast.

"They would obviously need to pay money to get him out there, but he's done a tremendous job everywhere he's been. He's turned into a real force in Scottish football.

"Yeah, Kilmarnock have not had a great start to the season, but he understands how the game works in Scotland and I think he's been very good.

"He's very good at recruiting, but the thing is he would have a really good squad to work with at Hearts if he went there."

Naismith was dismissed by Hearts following the 2-1 defeat at St Mirren on Saturday.

The former Scotland striker vowed to fight on at the club, but ex-Falkirk manager Miller suggests he knew what was coming.

"Having been a manager myself, I know how it feels," Miller added.

"Everything just gets on top of you. Everything kind of builds up. You lose your focus slightly and there's just so much pressure.

"Whether they were right or wrong, I think the pressure was building through the fans and through the lack of the results this season having not won a game."

Falkirk's Finn Yeats says he is "not surprised there is interest" in John McGlynn, with the Bairns boss linked with vacancies at St Johnstone and Heart of Midlothian. (Daily Record)

Read the rest of Tuesday's gossip.