De Vries: Craig was close to tears when he broke the news

CRAIG LEVEIN was almost in tears as he told his Hearts players he was quitting the club to become the new manager of Leicester City.

Levein broke the news to the squad in an emotional get- together before training yesterday at the club’s football academy at Heriot-Watt University.

Having been aware of the mounting speculation over their manager’s future, the players had braced themselves for the worst as they reported for duty in Riccarton to put the final preparations together for today’s league visit of Dundee to Tynecastle.

But the news that Levein had taken charge of his last game for the Jambos - the 1-1 draw with Dundee United at Tannadice in midweek - came as a hammer blow to the men who had forged such a strong and successful bond with their boss since his arrival in Gorgie in December 2000.

"We had all heard and read the stories about the gaffer and it was a sad day for the club when he said he was leaving," said strike star Mark de Vries.

"After all he has done for the club I think it is a great loss for Hearts.

"He told us the news yesterday at the academy. He got us all in the dressing-room and started off by having a joke as he always does.

"He said: ‘I don’t know if you’ve heard anything...’ which helped break the ice but to be fair it was always going to be difficult for him.

"We were all able to relax after that and listened to what he was saying.

"We could see he was pretty upset and I think he was close to tears.

"It’s the most upset we’ve seen him as previously when he has been giving us talks he was always focused on whatever game was coming up."

Levein’s impressive record at the Tynecastle helm since succeeding Jim Jefferies saw him race to the top of Leicester’s wanted list.

And after the Foxes made an official approach to Hearts late on Thursday afternoon, there was only ever going to be one outcome.

"You know these things happen in football as clubs always lose their managers eventually," said De Vries.

"But under normal circumstances it is because of bad results, which obviously isn’t the case on this occasion.

"This time he is going out on a high after what he has achieved at Hearts."His sentiments were echoed by skipper Steven Pressley, who said: "Every player in our dressing room has always feared this day would come. But you sometimes lose managers because of failure, not always because of success.

"One consolation for us is that we have lost Craig because of his success and the manager can be proud of that and so can the players.

"We have all been part of his success at Hearts and the best of luck to him in his new job.

"He spoke to the players yesterday morning and there was a great disappointment amongst the players.

"He wasn't just respected as a manager, he was respected as a man. He was a great man-manager for Hearts and he will be sorely missed."

De Vries and Pressley are just two of a number of Jambos who owe Levein a huge debt of gratitude, both players having seen their careers reach new heights under his guidance.

The Dutchman was plucked from the obscurity of Dutch Second Division outfit Dordrecht two-and-a-half years ago and has since gone on to establish himself as one of Scotland’s most feared marksmen, finishing top scorer in his first two seasons at the club and now linked with a move to a host of Europe’s top clubs.

"I have got a lot to thank him for," he said. I am grateful that he was prepared to stand up and take a chance on signing me from Dordrecht more than two years ago."

And Pressley added: "Craig is a fantastic manager who works extremely hard on the training ground and over the all the aspects that help a player.

"He has got great consistency and I’m sure he’ll make a great success of himself down at Leicester.

"We have all been part of his success at Hearts and the best of luck to him in his new job.

"Craig helped me enormously over his time here. We did a lot of video analysis work with him and that helped me progress as a player."

Levein hopes to be at Murrayfield to see his former club take on Schalke in the second game in Group A and Pressley is determined the team will do its utmost to progress from the group stages.

"With or without Craig we can do something in Europe," he said.

"We have said before that we’re not just happy to be in the group stages, that we want to do something in the groups.

"It’s a great opportunity for us all and we don’t want to let it pass us by."

Taken from the Scotsman