Steven Naismith: Levein my inspiration to go into management

Any player or referee who has shared a pitch or a training ground with Steven Naismith could verify his almost constant need to man-manage and his ability to inspire.
Steven Naismith has signed a four-year deal at Hearts.Steven Naismith has signed a four-year deal at Hearts.
Steven Naismith has signed a four-year deal at Hearts.

So, when the 32 year old says that he sees himself as a manager in the future and not just a coach, few could be surprised by his desire to control and his appetite for responsibility.

Following the announcement that he has finally seen out his lucrative Norwich City contract and put his signature to a long-term contract at Hearts, he is laying out his ambitions. They include helping the club fulfil the promise they showed early last season and again when they made it to the Scottish Cup final, gaining more international recognition and seeing out his playing career somewhere where he can also build on his coaching abilities and mould his management style.

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There are some in the Gorgie support who will be surprised but their hero believes that one of the best guys to help him hone those skills is Hearts manager Craig Levein.

“The biggest thing in coming here is probably my relationship with the gaffer,” said Naismith. “It started with the national team and he obviously saw traits in me that he liked. On the flip side, I enjoy working with him. He is a different manager than he was as national team boss and puts more onus on the coaching staff and senior players, which is perfect for me.

“I’ve taken a lot of notes from managers throughout my career because I enjoyed it. But, as you get older, it means a bit more. I do want to go down that route and since I’ve come here I’ve naturally done that with the players, especially the younger ones. I have those characteristics and the manager lets me get on with that – he’s good like that. But I understand the balance. It’s just me passing on advice at the moment but, looking back, Hearts have got loads of young guys into coaching. Jack Ross was here, Foxy [Liam Fox] and Jon Daly as well. It’s a club that gives you that opportunity so why would I not be interested?

“I enjoy tactics and man management more than just being a coach but if you are going to be a manager you need to be able to coach, otherwise the players will question you. I do naturally want to go down that route. Time will tell. That’s even after seeing the stress on managers – I like that! I enjoy it. I like the idea of that challenge.”

A man always making demands of himself and his team-mates, while the new deal may have been an entire summer in the waiting, now that it has been signed, the Gorgie side’s creative and driving force can’t wait to make up for lost time.

The inspirational attacker, who spent the past 18 months in the capital on loan from Carrow Road, has agreed a permanent deal that will tie him to the Tynecastle club until summer 2023 and having battled back from the knee injury that prematurely ended last season he says he is ready to get things going again, starting with this weekend’s Premiership opener at Pittodrie on Sunday.

The hope of the Hearts manager and fans is that he picks up where he left off in a season when, despite injury absences, he still claimed the club’s Player of the Year award and led the scoring charts. Top of the league and flying in the first few months, without him the side faltered badly and results suffered.

That poor end to the league term allied to the side’s failure to roll over the top of lower-league allcomers in the early season League Cup group games has piled the pressure on Levein but the man who buys into the belief that what’s for you won’t go by you – so much so he has it tattooed on his arm – sees no reason why the current squad cannot emulate the bright start of 12 months ago and build momentum.

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People have asked me when I knew Hearts were the club for me – and it was probably just after the start of last season,” he said. “We started really well and were kicking on as a club. You can see where the club is going. The manager already touched on me staying after I finish playing and with the stadium development, the new pitch, things like that, it’s a great place to be playing and enjoying football. We’ve made a couple of very good signings in Conor [Washington] and Jamie [Walker], who is back, and that is only going to help the cause.

“People are talking about the League Cup games but they are slightly deceiving. Clubs are at different stages and you have to give all the players game time. Last season we scraped through and nobody seemed to remember that when we got to the semi but you have to start the league campaign well. We need to gain traction if we want to challenge at the top end.”

Opening their fixtures away to Aberdeen is not the easiest start but Naismith could bolster the mood and the chances of collecting points, having declared himself fit to feature in his first competitive match since March.

“We’ve had that conversatio and although I’ve only had the one game, at the start of the week, I told [the manager] I’m ready to play. I would need to use my experience a bit more later in the game but whatever he needs from me, I’m ready,” he added. “I didn’t say that lightly, like a young boy might, I said it because I know I am ready. So we will see what happens. If he says I am playing at the weekend I’ll happily be involved and I know I would be fine.”