Hearts fans on former player and manager Craig Levein's 'boo' comments

Craig Levein will be returning to Tynecastle as an opposition manager for the first time since 2009. The 59-year-old is, of course, no stranger to the Gorgie streets having been a Jambo for 14 years as a player and a further six years collectively as manager.

Levein was also the director of football at Hearts from 2014 until May 2020, a role that ultimately saw mixed success. In his first stint as manager, Levein guided the Jambos to third place in the SPL in two successive seasons and therefore into the European competitions becoming the first manager to do so in successive years since the 1960s.

While fans applaud the accolades that were achieved during the former sweeper's first stint at Tynecastle from 2000 and 2004, there is less optimism when looking at the second period from 2017-2019 during which time he acted as both manager and director.

Ahead of this weekend's fixture which sees Levein manage St Johnstone, the Hearts man - who played in 401 fixtures from the Jambos - has anticipated he will be the recipient of plenty of boos from around the Gorgie stadium.

Hearts fans, however, are not so sure this will be the case as they prepare to show their respect for man who has long since been inducted into the club's Hall of Fame. Here are some of the best reactions from the Jambo fanbase...

Hearts fans commenting on Facebook have said of their former player and manager:

"Great servant as a player and manager 1st time around"

"He'll get welcomed back by the majority. Great servant for Hearts"

"He imagines wrong, we will be celebrating!Celebrating he is no longer manager, and we will be laughing and pointing at the St Johnstone supporters..."

Meanwhile the Jambo faithful on Twitter (X) offer similar sentiment with one even suggesting a course of action for the weekend:

"Any proper Jambo would never boo this man. Mr Hearts"

"A very small minority will boo or jeer him, fans and ex-players are entitled to their own opinions but overall I'll not be carrying any grudges towards the man I once admired as a player and wanted so badly to succeed as a manager."

"One guy I would never boo, great servant to the Club as player and manager. Had the pleasure of meeting him in the Gorgie Suite when I celebrated a milestone birthday, took time to speak to me, pose for photos, etc."

"Levein did a few good things at Hearts like giving young players a chance, even though ultimately he wasn't successful."

"Comedy ‘boo’ for 10 seconds then unfurl the ‘Natural Order’ TIFO with a few chants of ‘there’s only one CL’."

"CL is a good manager and he has stated that he over stretched himself with other duties when he was managing the team. This is probably a major factor behind some of the poor results..wish him all the best, except when he plays against Hearts."