JIM Jefferies and Craig Levein are expected to head the short list of
desired candidates for the vacant managerial post at Hearts when it is
finalised later this week. The Kilmarnock manager appears far more
likely to agree to a return to Tynecastle than Levein, who is settled
at Dundee United, but the Tannadice boss remains the preferred choice
of the most influential figures within the Hearts hierarchy.
Campbell
Ogilvie, the Tynecastle club's operations director, and Pedro Lopez,
the deputy chief executive, have been charged with compiling a list to
present to majority shareholder Vladimir Romanov. Jefferies, 57, said
after his team's
1-1
draw with Hearts that he would make no specific comment until his
chairman told him there had been an official approach. He and
assistant Billy Brown, however, are believed to be ready to welcome
any such approach.
A
former Hearts player and manager, Jefferies is the longest-serving
manager in the SPL, having been in charge of Kilmarnock since February
2002. In his first full season in charge he took the club to fourth
place, while in the last two seasons they have finished fifth.
The new full-time manager will be expected to work with Stephen Frail
and Anatoly Korobochka, the sport director. Jefferies will be
comfortable with that arrangement provided he has the real day-to-day
power on the football side of the club, and provided that he can take
Billy Brown too.
