I'm furious Hearts chiefs are going backwards and the Steven Naismith 44 day clanger beggars belief - Ryan Stevenson

So Hearts CEO Andrew McKinlay reckons the club had to sack Stevie Naismith because they “cannot afford to stand still”.

That’s rich considering it’s the board who are responsible for this team going MASSIVELY backwards. They’ve got some cheek laying the blame at a manager’s door. I mean it’s only 44 DAYS since they handed Steven, his assistant Gordon Forrest and Frankie McAvoy new three-year deals! Forty four!

McKinlay came out at that point and said it was the board’s “belief that they can continue to take the team on an upwards trajectory”. Well that’s some show of faith! Six weeks later and they’re out on their a***!

Listen, I’m not denying that Naisy had to go. It’s eight straight defeats and one win in 15 if you go back to the end of last season. Any manager will struggle to survive that run of form. But Naisy has been pointing out the weaknesses in this squad for months while somehow overcoming those shortcomings to steer the club to a third place finish which now looks all the more remarkable given this season’s start.

I have been making this same calls in this column all year and so too have the supporters. The only ones who refused to listen were the directors. That’s the only conclusion you can draw when you consider the Tynecastle top brass have allowed the club to go through two windows without properly addressing the huge need for extra firepower.

The club didn’t just require another striker to share the goalscoring burden with Lawrence Shankland this summer, it probably needed two. Yet they’ve done pretty much nothing to solve that issue and help reduce the unbearable pressure levels poor Lawrence must be feeling have to single-handedly drag this team along with his goals.

Obviously they’ve dried up this