Levein makes Hearts dugout return for first time in 4 years

That was four years ago. Sunday, October 20, 2019. 

Within 11 days he had been relieved of his duties as the club's head coach, the director of football and, it was confirmed in a club statement, he would step down from his role on the club's board. 

A draw at Livingston had been followed by a depressing night in Perth on Halloween eve as Hearts went down 1-0 to St Johnstone without much of a fight. The result had given the board enough of a fright to dispense with the Hearts legend's services. The win for Saints lifted them off the bottom. The Gorgie side were 11th on account of having scored more than St Mirren.

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A 3-2 defeat at home to Motherwell in September of that season prompted a protest outside of Tynecastle Park calling for Levein to go. He survived to lead Hearts to another win in the derby and progress to the League Cup semi-final. But on that night in Perth fans saw a team going only one way and made their feelings known once more.

Since then, a lot has happened.

For Levein he has been involved at Brechin City in advisory capacity and emerged as a hugely popular pundit, complete with his own podcast, the excellent and amusing 'Sacked in the Morning' with Amy Irons. But for someone with so much experience and so much still to give the management bug never left. He was a consideration for St Johnstone when they replaced Callum Davidson last season and then was viewed as the experienced hand to guide the team following the removal of Steven MacLean, the former Hearts striker who was signed by Levein.

His appointment certainly raised eyebrows. but it made complete sense.

"You saw the names being bandied about when MacLean left, a lot of it was guys who might be taking their first job or the usual names," St Johnstone fan Jamie Beatson, editor of We Are Perth, told Hearts Standard. " I think Levein was probably the best choice. 

"People think of his time at Scotland and only the 4-6-0 game or people think about his time at Hearts and only the most recent spell. Maybe it is fair enough but he has a track record which goes both ways. He didn't become Scotland manager by accident.

"He's coming into a club which needs a turnaround on the park and off it. That might just suit him down to a ground.

"His big thing, certainly at Dundee United, was he put a structure in place behind the scenes which helped them progress. Something we have been absolutely crying out for. If he can build a base to go forward from, that's what we need."

St Johnstone have been circling the drain of Premiership relegation places for the last two seasons, while there has been movement off the field in terms of those running the club which has been up for sale. Beatson noted they need someone to "rebuild" the footballing side of things.

It was a role he performed at Dundee United. He took over the Tannadice side when they were bottom of the top-flight at the end of October 2006. He guided them to ninth then back-to-back top six finishes before leaving during the middle of a campaign which ended with a third-place finish and Scottish Cup success. As well as what he did on the field, he provided the club with a structure off the field.

Yes, it soured in his second spell at Hearts but he performed an important role as director of football when the club was a mess, helping pick up the pieces following the end of Romanov's reign. As for his first spell. Back-to-back third place finishes while continuing to slash the budget is one of the finest feats from a manager in the Scottish top-flight this century. That Hearts team is hugely underrated and will be the focus of a lengthy feature in the coming months.

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"Craig was fantastic," one player told Hearts Standard. "Hugely demanding, very intense coach and had a massive passion for Hearts. You could see that and it rubbed off on the players."

At St Johnstone he is very much the manager rather than coach, taking a largely observational role at training. "I want to stand back and watch" was Levein's message after he spoke of it being a "horrendous mistake" if he came back into the Premiership and tried to do too much, as he did in his second spell as Hearts boss.

The nitty gritty of preparation is left for Andy Kirk, the Northern Irishman who played more than 130 times for Hearts, coached in the academy and was in charge of the women's team before taking the head coach job at Brechin City. Speak to young players who worked under him at the academy and he is regarded as a hugely influential coach. 

“The reason I’ve brought Andy is that he can take some of the load – mainly the day to day coaching stuff,” Levein said. “His understanding of tactics is extremely good. The way he had the team at Brechin playing, if we can replicate that, which is our aim and I think we have the players here to do that, improving the players and the team is eminently possible.

“Andy has his own ideas about how the team plays. The reason I’m bringing Andy with me is we’re going to play the same style. I like it and I know from working with him for three years what he’s trying to do, tweaking things here and there."

He added: "I'll be managing everything and I'll be managing him doing the coaching."

And it's a case of so far so good. Levein and Kirk have added four points to the club's total, taking them off the foot of the table, in their first two games in charge following Alec Cleland's success in his only match as interim boss.

"The early signs are obviously positive," Beatson said. "The big change you can see straight away is that he's brought Ryan McGowan back in after being frozen out by MacLean. What's gone on in the background there, nobody knows but he's steadied things up at the back a bit.

"Overall, the last two or three games, we've just played better football. The fact he's put points on the board straight away gives us a bit of breathing space now. 

"The Ross County win was almost like a Tommy Wright game. When we were struggling he would s**t out a 1-0 win and that's what we needed to do, especially after the Motherwell game where we should have won that.

READ MORE: How Hearts can get the most out of Beni Baningime, Cammy Devlin and Alex Lowry

"MacLean always talked about wanting to play this high-pressing style, he never had the players for it. It was never working and never really saw any evidence of it. I think Levein is going to be a lot more pragmatic and that's pretty much what we need at the moment, plays to its strengths and doesn't try to do anything it is not capable of. That's what I'm expecting going forward and that's probably what you will see on Saturday."

Levein was dealt a huge blow ahead of the Hearts game with Nicky Clark picking up an injury in the most recent victory, a 1-0 success over Ross County. His return coincided with the upturn in form. Stevie May is expected to take his spot in the starting XI which will line-up in a 3-4-3 system but look more like a 5-2-3 with Dan Phillips providing the steel in midfield and Welsh international Matt Smith the more forward thinking of the pair.

The shape was clear in the win over the Staggies. A game where St Johnstone didn't look to dominate possession with the visitors having 54 per cent of the ball. Expect that number to rise by ten per cent for Hearts on Saturday.

On this week's Scarves Around the Funnel podcast, McGowan spoke of the coaching team's influence, notably how the team are organised when they are in possession. No longer are they as easy to play against when they lose the ball. Therefore Saints will be stuffy and well organised. Levein and Kirk have had two valuable weeks on the training ground to get their message and principles of play across to their players, including working in double sessions. Kirk, during his time with Brechin, proved himself to be a flexible coach who is not afraid to change personnel or shape.

But all eyes will be on Levein on his Tynecastle Park return after nearly 1,500 days and he's in the visiting dugout. It all makes for an intriguing afternoon.