davieG Posted 21 May 2006 Share Posted 21 May 2006 Source Craig Levein craves another job, but not in Edinburgh. Alan Campbell reports It is 116 days since Craig Levein was sacked by Leicester City, and not one has gone by without the former Hearts and Scotland defender asking himself where it went wrong at the Walker Stadium. The answer, as he walks his two dogs or plays another round of golf, is still blowing in the wind.At least the anger he felt on January 25, when he was dismissed after just 14 months in the Midlands, has given way to a more considered analysis of the fate which eventually befalls all but the most fortunate of his breed. The charlatans walk away, their bank balances topped up, but when you are as committed to a job as Levein, the sense of injustice lingers. More of that later, but, as one season gives way to another, the priority for Levein is to find new employment. Intriguingly, his old position at Hearts is currently vacant while a similar gap may arise at Easter Road if Tony Mowbray is tempted to pastures south. Talk of the former is met with a firm assertion that caretaker head coach Valdas Ivanauskas deserves the position permanently. The prospect of managing Hibs is greeted with a Hearty laugh. “I couldn’t do it,†he replies, when he has recovered his composure. “I’ve been associated with Hearts since I was 19. I joined the club in 1983, and was there for 14 years as a player and four as manager. “I wouldn’t get much patience from the Hibs supporters. One defeat in a row would be enough for them. Plus, none of my friends would forgive me.†The world, though, is changing, and Jim Duffy recently crossed the Edinburgh divide briefly, but Levein knows there is too much maroon running through him for his candidacy to be a starter if Mowbray moved to one of his English suitors. “I’ve enormous respect for Tony and I love to see Hibs doing well because I’d rather the Edinburgh clubs prospered than the Glasgow ones, but I’ve been at Hearts so long it would be impossible,†he says. So what about Tynecastle? Before Levein left for Leicester, Vladimir Romanov, who was on the brink of purchasing former chief executive Chris Robinson’s shares, made a last-minute attempt to persuade him to remain at Hearts. A second approach is unlikely. “There is only one candidate for the Hearts job, and that’s Ivanauskas,†Levein says. “He’s done well, the players like him, and he knows how Mr Romanov operates.†In which respect, and while it’s not for him, Levein can understand why Ivanauskas may be prepared to take Romanov’s counsel on team selection. “It drives me completely scatty when I hear people say that whoever the manager is at Hearts, he’s just a puppet,†says Levein. “It’s disrespectful. Provided the boundaries are made clear to you when you take the job, and you take it on these terms – one of which might be you don’t have a full say in who is in the team – you can’t complain. “It’s common in other countries but we just can’t get our heads round it. Mr Romanov has been fantastic for the club and also for Scottish football. Just look at where Hearts were when he came in, and look at where they are now.†Although, as an unemployment statistic, he cannot afford to be too choosy, Levein would prefer to uproot from his home on the outskirts of Dunfermline and return to England to complete unfinished business. If anything, he points out, his experience at Leicester has only reinforced his desire to be a successful Premiership manager. First, though, he needs the opportunity to return to the Championship and overturn any perception that he was a Scot who couldn’t cut it in England. Being unexpectedly reacquainted with his P45 in January hasn’t dented his self-belief. “What I want to do is get back and prove to everybody I can do a job,†he says. “The reason I went down there was to get into the Premiership and that hasn’t changed. I look at half the managers in England and I think I’m better than them. You live and learn from your experience, and I want the opportunity to put that into practice.†At Cowdenbeath, where he cut his teeth, then Hearts and later Leicester, Levein found himself implementing serious cost cuts while simultaneously being expected to improve the clubs’ standing. He was successful in Fife and Edinburgh, but wasn’t allowed to finish the job he’d started at Leicester. Seen from his perspective, an agreed medium-term strategy to rid the club of its ageing bloated wage earners was being successfully implemented. Under his stewardship, £5 million was slashed from the Championship club’s £12.5m annual wage bill, while the average age of the first team squad was reduced by almost 10 years. Levein will go to his grave believing that Leicester, a club which had fallen by the wayside, were being turned around when his tenure was cut short. But he also knows he made mistakes, not least in failing to bring an experienced Premiership striker to the club when David Connolly was sold to Wigan last August. The end, when it came, was undignified. After an uplifting 4-2 defeat of Sheffield United in late November, league results deteriorated. The solace of an FA Cup win over Spurs at the start of the year was short-lived and three successive one-goal defeats saw Leicester plunge into the relegation zone. It proved too much for the board. “They’d obviously decided at some point that if we ever dropped into the bottom three that would be it,†points out Levein. “As directors they’re probably patting themselves on the backs now that they’ve stayed up, but at what cost to the long-term planning?†Every sacked manager has a hard luck story to tell, but Leicester’s results after Levein and his assistant Peter Houston departed seem to bear out his assertion that a chronic inability to convert chances into goals cost him dearly. The next three league games were won, and caretaker manager Rob Kelly was given the post full time. Levein has no issue with the former Blackburn Rovers academy coach, but equally it can’t be easy to see the other man take the kudos for Leicester’s improved results. There has been ample time to look back, but he knows that only the future can prove, or disprove, his assertion that he was taking Leicester in the right direction. He wouldn’t rule out a job in Division 1 or 2 in England but, after years of fire-fighting at Cowdenbeath, Hearts and Leicester, it is the circumstances, rather than the status, of his next club which will matter to him. “Two things are more important than anything else,†he points out. “If you’ve got money it gives you a far better chance. If not, and fewer and fewer clubs have money, you’ve still got a chance if the club has a really good youth policy. If you’re heavily in debt and have got no youth policy – forget it. “Despite what happened, I loved it down there. It was fantastic going to different places and coming up against new players and managers. You just gradually get to know the scene, whereas up here if an 18-year-old made his debut for Arbroath I would know about it. “I enjoyed going to the lower divisions in midweek and building up a knowledge for the players there. And at weekends it’s massive with the crowds and some of the clubs like Leeds, Coventry, Derby and others who not so long ago were established Premiership teams. “It’s difficult to get your foot in the door there. In this game you can take two steps forward and one back, but what you can’t do is take two forward and two back. “I made two steps forward in Scotland and one back at Leicester. I felt I stuck to my side of the bargain there, but when I get the chance again I’ll do things differently and make sure we look after the short-term results by making us very difficult to beat. “Football is a hard game. There is no quarter given and when things aren’t going well it feels as if the whole world is caving in around you. That’s the first time in my life I’ve felt under intense pressure. But it doesn’t scare me, and the further away I get from it the easier it is to rationalise. “Ten years ago the average time-span of a manager was over two-and-a-half years. Now it’s 18 months. Perhaps I was a little naive in focusing so much on the long-term picture – all my signings were based on that.†Those bracing steps on the golf course and with his dogs have convinced Levein of one thing. The next one he takes will be forward. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chairman of the Bored Posted 21 May 2006 Share Posted 21 May 2006 “As directors they’re probably patting themselves on the backs now that they’ve stayed up, but at what cost to the long-term planning?†Bit ripe. Kelly clearly has an eye on the long term. Levein might have given credit for the job he did. And we all know the arguments by now....players out of position, zilch motivational skills, tactically nieve. I hold no grudge against Levein (unlike McGhee, Little and Taylor), but why can't he admit he simply couldn't cut the mustard here? Too many people in footy seem to have acquired Mourihno syndrone ("they are the chosen ones"). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevosevic Posted 21 May 2006 Share Posted 21 May 2006 Interesting. just backs up my dislike for the man. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willy37 Posted 21 May 2006 Share Posted 21 May 2006 I look at half the managers in England and I think I’m better than them haha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The People's Hero Posted 21 May 2006 Share Posted 21 May 2006 What a fu cking penis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dandannieldanok Posted 21 May 2006 Share Posted 21 May 2006 Source a club which had fallen by the wayside what tit wrote this Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lets Be having You Posted 21 May 2006 Share Posted 21 May 2006 Tosser Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cal Posted 21 May 2006 Share Posted 21 May 2006 Made my day Hahaha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thracian Posted 21 May 2006 Share Posted 21 May 2006 I look at half the managers in England and I think I’m better than them haha Just like so many others, Levein believed his own publicity and that he always knew better. In fact he was told week on week what he needed to do to put things right but was too sodding arrogant to bend. If he wants to do things differently in future he might start there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manwell Pablo Posted 21 May 2006 Share Posted 21 May 2006 “I made two steps forward in Scotland and one back at Leicester. I felt I stuck to my side of the bargain there, but when I get the chance again I’ll do things differently and make sure we look after the short-term results by making us very difficult to beat.[/quote]That bold statement sounds awfully familiar. Hmm beg your pardon Craig but wasn't that philisophy employed at Leicester after we, well... got beat alot. We then went on to draw 0-0 with every team we played for about a month, before beating Sheffield Unted. This was then followed by a two month period I want to forget but doubt I ever will. Seems to me he still hasn't learnt, the Spurs game should of showed him that setting yourselves out as hard to beat isn't always the answer when the oppostion is better then you. 4-5-1 when your the home side (4-5-1 with Joe Hamill in it... even woese ) is just not accceptable. Its not even like we turned into a potent attacking force when Elvis came on, it just balanced the side out better, got rid of that Scottish liabilty on the left and gave us a extra option up front. I think he will be lucky to get a job in the Championship thats for certain, and I honestly don't see why a League One team would look at him. If that interview is suppouse to show he's learnt from his time at Leicester, and that the experince has made him grow as a manager. Then it has failed.....miserable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Milky Posted 21 May 2006 Share Posted 21 May 2006 the words toss and piece come to mind. "sign on, sign on, with a pen. cus you'll neeever get, a job, you'll neeeevver get, a job, sign on, sign on..." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Durnerz Posted 21 May 2006 Share Posted 21 May 2006 I didn't think Levein was a bad person, his idea's were right it was just that he couldn't implement them in the right way but as managers go hes still young and hopefully this will have taught him a lesson. Luckily it didnt cost us our Championship status, had it have done I would not only have been angry with Levein but also with the board. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wils Posted 21 May 2006 Share Posted 21 May 2006 the words toss and piece come to mind. "sign on, sign on, with a pen. cus you'll neeever get, a job, you'll neeeevver get, a job, sign on, sign on..." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anish Posted 21 May 2006 Share Posted 21 May 2006 He was a nice kinda bloke but just not good enough for the job. I doubt he'll get a high profile job now and he'll have to go back to some debt ridden club and rebuild his reputation again, because it took a complete battering after what he did here. I wish him well but I can't see him ever being a successful manager, he doesn't have any of the ingredients needed to be one. Still, his geeky look might fool a few chairman somewhere to think he's an intellectual and intelligent manager that deserves a job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marko Posted 23 May 2006 Share Posted 23 May 2006 I look at half the managers in England and I think I’m better than them haha He probably is, I bet he would do a cracking job in the conference and League 2. It's just a shame for him he ain't as good as those in the top half of english management. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sackmycook Posted 23 May 2006 Share Posted 23 May 2006 good luck to him i thought he was a decent bloke shame it didnt work out here for him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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