Steven Naismith feels it would be wrong to frame Saturday’s fourth-place shootout with city rivals Hibernian as make or break for his prospects of becoming Hearts manager on a permanent basis.
The 36-year-old has won two of his six matches in charge since replacing Robbie Neilson on an interim basis last month and has been unable to stop Aberdeen claiming third place in the cinch Premiership.
Naismith acknowledges “results have not been perfect” but he is adamant Hearts, who have been praised for their attacking intent in recent matches, are now “a much better team” than when he first took the reins.
A 2-1 win over Aberdeen last weekend followed by Wednesday’s 2-2 draw away to Rangers has helped strengthen his case in the eyes of many supporters.
Naismith feels his ability to lead Hearts forward in the longer-term should be of more relevance when deciding his fate than the result of Saturday’s derby, where a Hibs win would see them pip the Jambos to fourth place.
“I would be disappointed if it’s coming down to one game,” he said. “The whole thing’s been a process – not just on a Saturday, every day we train and work.
“The way I work, I’ve been very open with everybody and said: ‘Come and see what we do’, and if it works, it works. In some respects it might be coming across as that way (that the derby is make or break), but I’ve not seen it that way.
“I’ve seen it as taking over for this period of time and at the end of it I’ll reflect over what I thought went well, what didn’t go well, how well I’ve done, but that’s for after Saturday.
“I think over the course of the seven weeks, there will be moments where people will have been like: ‘He can do the job’, and there will be moments where people will go: ‘Nah, he’s not got enough experience’.
“That’s why I’m saying I don’t feel I will be judged on one game. It’s a big game because it’s a derby and we’re next to each other in the table but we’ve not been solely focusing on this game.
“We’ve been focusing on a plan to try and win games consistently and have something here that lasts, where we’re building something that doesn’t just give you short-term results.
“The club needs something bigger than that, and since I’ve come in and taken charge, that’s been at the forefront of my mind.”
Naismith, the former Kilmarnock, Rangers, Everton and Scotland attacker, first joined Hearts as a player more than five years ago and has remained at Tynecastle, more recently as a coach, ever since.
He feels his knowledge of the club will stand him in good stead if he is appointed Hearts’ permanent manager.
“I think it’s helped me in the seven weeks I’ve been in the role,” he said of his familiarity with Hearts. “I think it also helps me that I may be considered for the job longer term because I’ve got a real understanding of this club.
“I came here and in my first six-month loan spell, there was a lot I didn’t know about the club even though I’d been in Scottish football for 15 years, in terms of the demand, the size of the club, where the club’s ambitions were.
“I didn’t really know that from the outside but then you come in and very quickly you understand that, which then gets you an understanding that we need a certain type of player characteristic that can deal with the pressure.”
Kris Doolan pushed Partick Thistle promotion dream from day one – Kyle Turner
Kyle Turner revealed Kris Doolan targeted cinch Premiership football immediately upon becoming Partick Thistle boss as the Jags stand on the brink of a return to the top flight.
Doolan stepped up from his role as under-18 coach in February to take over, initially on a temporary basis, from Ian McCall and the turnaround in form since has taken the Maryhill side all the way to the play-off final.
The Jags are 2-0 up from Thursday’s first leg against Ross County – the victory extending their unbeaten run to 11 games – with the return game taking place in Dingwall on Sunday.
Thistle are the first team to finish fourth in the second tier to go all the way to the play-off final – during that run Doolan had to cope with the death of his father Lawrence – and they are looking to make more history by completing the job against the Staggies.
Malky Mackay’s side played most of the game in Glasgow with 10 men after 16-year-old defender Dylan Smith was sent off in the first half for denying Aidan Fitzpatrick an obvious goalscoring opportunity and midfielder Turner is hoping Doolan’s ambition is soon fulfilled.
The 25-year-old said: “The gaffer has been brilliant. He has had a hard time in the last few weeks and it has been tough for him.
“But when he came those were his first words, ‘let’s try to get to the Premiership’.
“He constantly goes on about it in the changing room, that we want to be looking up the way and how we want to get there.
“It is the top league in Scotland and he instilled a belief in us that we can do this and so far so good.
“Since the gaffer has come in we have a siege mentality and we keep going to see what happens.
“In five play-off games we have scored 18 goals and conceded three, so the gaffer has installed a belief in us. He wants us to be free and go and play our own game and it has worked so far.
“We were disappointed this season and we should have been challenging in the final games but we slipped up a few times and we weren’t happy with that.
“We finished fourth and we had to play six games in the play-offs. We felt the worst we should have finished was second.
“When we got past Queen’s Park, then the belief started to grow. We know Sunday will be tough and County will throw everything at us so we have to be ready.”
Turner believes the margin of victory over the Staggies, who finished 11th in the Premiership, could have been greater.
The former Stranraer and Dunfermline player said: “I thought we put on a good performance. We were actually disappointed we didn’t score more goals to be honest.
“We had a lot of chances in the second half but County defended well and they threw bodies in front of the ball to make it hard for us.
“If someone had said to us we would win 2-0 then we would have been happy.
“But the way the game went with them down to 10 men, with the chances we created, on another day we would have scored more. But overall though we are delighted with the win.”
Jordan White insists Ross County believe they can still stay in Premiership
Jordan White admits belief is key to Ross County’s quest to claw back a two-goal deficit against Partick Thistle on Sunday as they battle for cinch Premiership survival.
The Staggies lost 2-0 in the first leg of the play-off final at Firhill on Thursday night where they played for the majority of the game with 10 men after 16-year-old defender Dylan Smith was sent off in the 17th minute for denying Aidan Fitzpatrick, who had netted the opener for the Championship side, an obvious goalscoring opportunity.
Veteran Jags striker Brian Graham struck just before half-time with his 21st goal of the season to put Kris Doolan’s side in the box seat for the second leg in Dingwall.
However, Staggies striker White insists the tie is not over yet.
The 31-year-old said: “I don’t think I would have taken 2-0 at any time but under the circumstances I think we did well to come out the way we have.
“The first half isn’t how we wanted it to go but we have another game to put it right.
“The belief in the group is always there and there’s no point turning up thinking you can’t do it as you are on to a loser then. It is only half-time in the tie, that’s all it is.
“Other than the Kilmarnock game (3-1 defeat) I think we have performed pretty well since the split.
“It all comes down to Sunday now and we have to look after ourselves and put in a performance. No one in the dressing room wants a relegation on their CV.
“Partick have had a good night on Thursday but we have to take our medicine and move on.”
White believes home advantage could be “massive” as County look to turn the tie around against a Jags side who are unbeaten in 11 games.
He said: “Partick played well but coming up against 10 men for 75 minutes probably made it a bit easier for them.
“We can’t use it as an excuse but we know what we can do and we are confident going into the game.
“It was disappointing on Thursday but we need the fans behind us and they can be a big help, especially if we get an early goal.”
Hearts and Hibernian given SFA notice of complaint after incident at Tynecastle
Hearts and Hibernian have been served with a notice of complaint by the Scottish Football Association after disorder among their players and staff at the end of last weekend’s fiery Edinburgh derby at Tynecastle.
At full-time, following a clash that ended 1-1, two skirmishes erupted on the pitch, one directly in front of the two technical areas and another just moments afterwards in the centre circle.
Hearts goalkeeping coach Paul Gallacher and substitute shot-stopper Ross Stewart as well as Hibs manager Lee Johnson and unused substitute Rocky Bushiri were all shown red cards for their part in the post-match chaos.
And on Friday it emerged that the two clubs have been charged, alleged to have breached disciplinary rule 204, which states that: “All clubs and recognised football bodies shall procure that its officials, team staff, employees and players conduct themselves in an orderly fashion at all times during and/or after a match.
“In particular, clubs and recognised football bodies are responsible for ensuring that its officials, team staff, employees and players refrain from any one or a combination of the following: (a) becoming involved in a confrontation; b) conduct that is likely to lead to or to exacerbate or prolong a hostile or argumentative situation with players and/or team staff from the opposing team and/or match officials; (c) conduct that may otherwise incite disorder.”
The hearing for both clubs is due to take place on June 29.
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