I fear for Steven Naismith at Hearts says Kris Boyd as Rangers hero fires warning to ‘brainless’ Nick Montgomery
HIBS and Hearts were a disgrace last weekend.
Their performances against Rangers and Celtic were nothing short of an embarrassment.
The Edinburgh pair face the Old Firm again this weekend and I hope for their managers’ sake they show a marked improvement.
Otherwise Steven Naismith could soon be added to the long list of managerial casualties at Tynecastle and Nick Montgomery will begin to face some serious scrutiny at Easter Road.
Results have just not been anywhere near good enough from either capital team this season.
Naisy is someone I played alongside for Kilmarnock, Rangers and Scotland and I’d love to see the wee man do well as a young manager.
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But right now I fear for him.
To try to go toe-to-toe with Celtic — the best team in the country — was just crazy and they came out on the end of a 4-1 thumping.
It beggared belief, to be honest, because he just doesn’t have the players to do that.
That’s the bigger issue with Hearts.
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They have a sporting director in Joe Savage, yet he’s claimed he doesn’t take anything to do with the recruitment.
If that’s the case, what do you do?
Time will tell whether Naismith will cut it in the coaching world. But he hasn’t been given the proper tools to do that job.
You could argue he didn’t deserve the job in the first place as a rookie coach.
When Robbie Neilson was shown the door, he just seemed to be in the right place at the right time.
I see the Hearts job as one of the biggest in the country and a position that has to be earned.
We’re talking about a proper football club here, with a brilliant stadium and a passionate and loyal group of supporters.
But that loyalty is being pushed to the limits.
I used to love going through to Tynecastle as a player and I thoroughly enjoy it when I’m working there now.
Those punters have put their money with their mouth is in recent years and I have nothing but admiration towards them.
Even when they dropped into the Championship, the Jambos supporters kept turning up every week while also paying their monthly subscriptions to the Foundation of Hearts.
But those supporters are clearly becoming disillusioned with what’s going on and I can’t blame them.
The Foundation of Hearts own the club. With two representatives on the board, they have a big voice that I’m sure Ann Budge, James Anderson and others will be aware of.
That’s why I fear for Naismith because whenever directors are getting it tight from fed-up supporters, there is usually only one outcome and the manager pays with his job. The punters seem to recognise the squad isn’t good enough.
Plenty of Rangers supporters were up in arms when youngster Alex Lowry was allowed to join the Jambos on loan, but if anyone still thinks that then they should watch the game last weekend.
Put it this way, I tipped Hearts to finish third this season, but there is no chance of that now.
They are staring at fifth spot at best, behind Aberdeen and St Mirren.
Hibs aren’t any better than their city rivals and that sometimes papers over the cracks at Tynecastle.
Rangers were broken a few weeks ago when Aberdeen went to Ibrox and turned them over.
But, even so, the Dons didn’t go toe-to-toe with Michael Beale’s side.
They defended well and played on the counter attack.
As much as Barry Robson realised Rangers were there for the taking, he knew playing an open game would be asking for trouble.
But that’s exactly what Montgomery did. He went with a formation which was effectively 4-2-4 and ended up being ripped apart 4-0. It was bonkers.
I read his comments after the game and he insisted that he won’t change his ways, that playing expansive football is the way forward.
Well, if that’s the case, we’ll be saying cheerio to him soon.
I’m sorry, it’s just brainless to be so naive.
If Montgomery doesn’t alter his thinking there will be only one outcome today at Easter Road and that will be another easy win for Brendan Rodgers’ Celtic.
The way it’s going there will be no stopping Celts winning the title again.
Rangers may get their act together in the coming weeks and months and put points on the board under Philippe Clement.
But after the start Rangers made, the bottom line is they need the other teams in the league to make life difficult for the defending champions.
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And when Hibs and Hearts, two of our biggest clubs, are being dismantled then what hope do the rest have?
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