Levein's happy as Hearts' top man

BY GRAEME CROSER

CRAIG LEVEIN today insisted that he had never given a thought to leaving Hearts despite being tipped to make a name for himself in England.

Ahead of today’s SPL clash between the two clubs, Livingston coach Allan Preston claimed his former Jambos team-mate had already proved himself as a manager in Scotland and the next logical step would be to take his skills south.

Having remoulded an underachieving squad and performed minor miracles by drastically cutting costs and improving performances, Levein has reason to be proud of the job he has done in three years at the helm.

Nevertheless, Preston’s flattering words caught him by surprise and the head coach was adamant that he had never felt the need to review his situation with the club he led into Europe last term.

He said: "Everybody knows that I have a great depth of feeling for this club .

"I’m here just now, I’m enjoying my job and I don’t see anything changing. I’ve not thought about what might happen next at all.

"I’ve never thought about leaving here or getting sacked or going to another club - it just hasn’t crossed my mind.

"I have a good relationship with the playing staff and I’m fairly confident about the relationship I have with the directors. They’re the ones who will ultimately decide if I’m going to get the sack.

"I don’t see the need to do anything different and I’m not giving it any more thought."

Given his record since leaving Cowdenbeath for the club with whom he spent most of his playing career, Levein is now regarded as one of the brightest managerial talents in the game.

Eloquent in his dealings with the media and showing a shrewd eye for a player in his transfer dealings, his stock has never been higher.

He has the respect of his players as well, as club captain Steven Pressley revealed.

The skipper feels one of the coach’s main strengths is his ability to foster and maintain a high level of team spirit among the squad.

He said: "I think that when the manager brings players in he likes to make sure they are the sort of guys who really want to win.

"When you look through the current squad I think there’s a real desire to do well for this club.

"The manager also has a presence. He demands performances and he demands results and if any player does not do his best he can find himself watching from the sidelines.

"That was shown recently by the changes which were made in the wake of our defeat at Celtic Park.

"A few players lost their places after that match and we managed to bounce back and get a couple of wins which shows that the players waiting to come in also have the same spirit. They have waited a long time for their chance but when it came they made the most of it.

"But that’s to take nothing away from those who have been left out because you can’t look at just one game. They have done tremendously well over a long period of time which goes to show that it’s not just about 11 players here.

"As many as 22 or 24 guys have been important to what we have achieved and we will continue to need contributions from a large number of players."

Hearts are back in European action this Thursday when they travel to France to take on Bordeaux.

The strength of the Jambos’ resources is being tested by the battle to maintain the fight on two fronts with domestic progress still of prime importance to the club.

Pressley added: "I think even Rangers and Celtic’s domestic form has been affected by their European commitments in recent seasons so yes it’s something which might impact on ourselves. Having fought so hard to get into Europe in the first place it’s not something we want to give up easily.

"And equally we know that the way to get back into Europe next season - something we are all hoping for - is to perform in the league so we have to be focused every time we play."

Taken from the Scotsman