'I’ve not heard that' - Steven Naismith makes Heartss boardroom admission

Hearts sit fifth in the Scottish Premiership following the first round of league matches and were knocked out of the Viaplay Cup last weekend following a 3-1 defeat to Rangers in the semi-final.

To quote their manager, their performances so far have been "inconsistent" and this has not gone unnoticed. Steven Naismith took over from Robbie Neilson in April 2022, guiding them to fourth in the league and is hopeful of improving on that finish this season.

It is seemingly becoming much harder than anticipated with losses against Dundee, Motherwell as well as a Edinburgh derby draw all accounting for a mixed bag of results so far.

Earlier this week, Edinburgh News reported that the club's quarterly report showed a variety of positives and negatives with the general view of 'must do better' summing up the consensus.

While the Tynecastle manager is aware of his team's struggle to compete with the required consistency that best befits arguably the third biggest club in the country, Naismith admitted he had not heard the latest noise around the board's frustrations.

Speaking ahead of the upcoming clash vs Motherwell, the ex-Hearts striker said: “I’ve not heard that. I speak to the board every couple of months, we have a board meeting. Most weeks I’ll speak with somebody at board level, just to check in.And obviously (Chief Executive) Andrew (McKinlay) is about every week as well.

“It’s very calm and very comfortable.A lot of what we’ve discussed at the start, about what needs to change and what needs to get better has shown up.That’s part of the process."

“This need for instant success ain’t happening. If somebody can name me a team that from one week then boom, that’s it and they’ve been a successful team for the next 10 years, it very rarely happens, if at all.

“I’m comfortable with everything internally and what decisions we can make to make things better and get results and improve performances."

The sentiment of vexation is something not unfamiliar to Naismith and he has confessed that he, too, cuts a frustrated figure when looking at his side's performances so far this season.

"For me, I’m someone who through my whole career has been desperate to have things perfect and be winning", the 37-year-old said.

“But what I’ve also learned in my career is that very rarely happens and you need to have some setbacks and you need to understand the lessons that need to be learned and then move forward.

“There would be nothing better than coming into this job and you’re flying and competing at the top of the league and you’re in the group stages [in Europe] and near-enough qualifying from that.

“But I understand that’s not real football. I’ve had loads of moments in my career where I’ve had challenges and I’ve got to get better, and I’ve risen to those challenges most times."

Naismith believes there is still "a lot more to come" from his side as they head into the next round of Premiership matches this weekend ahead of another international break.