Former Hearts midfielder Ryan Stevenson says the decision to sack Steven Naismith was the right one, but believes the issues at Tynecastle run deeper.
Naismith was relieved of his duties on Sunday after eight straight defeats, and Stevenson believes the style of football under the former Scotland forward didn’t fit what Hearts is all about.
“I don’t think the DNA of Hearts was getting played,” Stevenson told the BBC’s Scottish Football Podcast.
“Nasimith wanted to play out from the back. Especially at Tynecastle, it’s a ‘go get at them’ type of club, but I don’t blame Naismith. He had to go because of the results, but I blame the board.”
Stevenson criticised the club’s decision over the summer to not sign another striker to alleviate the burden on Lawrence Shankland.
The Hearts captain scored 31 goals in all competitions for the club last season, but Kenneth Vargas was next highest with just nine strikes in 42 appearances.
“The glaring issue is there is one guy who can score goals,” Stevenson said. “There’s a massive hole behind Shankland and Hearts did nothing to sort it.
“We needed two strikers in that window. You cannot ask one guy to score you 33 goals one year and do the same again next year. Unless you’re [Cristiano] Ronaldo or [Lionel] Messi, it’s pretty much impossible.
“I would love answers of who made that decision? Who made that decision to not sign any other strikers? Who made that decision not to look at any other strikers?
“Ultimately it has to fall to the board. They make these big decisions. We have a guy from the SFA in Graeme Jones who, as I’m led to believe, has no background in recruitment. So what does he come in to do?
“There’s just so many questions that we could be on this podcast all night and I could rant and rave about Hearts right now. But I just think there’s so many big holes.”