Daniel Stendel will officially take over Hearts on Tuesday
Daniel Stendel's reign as Hearts boss cannot come soon enough, says former Tynecastle midfielder Michael Stewart.
Hearts are off the bottom of the Scottish Premiership only on goal difference, with just one win in their last 11 games.
German Stendel will officially take charge on Tuesday, nearly six weeks after Craig Levein was sacked.
"The appointment of the manager has been a long time coming, it's much needed," said Stewart.
"And, if what we hear about a high press tempo style of game, a charismatic figure Daniel Stendel, these are all the things that Hearts need desperately at this moment in time."
Hearts lost 1-0 to Motherwell at Fir Park on Saturday in what was Austin MacPhee's sixth game in charge as caretaker boss.
Stendel left Barnsley in October and previously had a year in charge of Hannover 96.
He steered the Yorkshire club to promotion from English League One in the first season of his 16-month tenure - finishing second above a Sunderland side led by new Hibernian head coach Jack Ross.
But Stendel was sacked after poor start to the Championship left them winless in 10 games and second-bottom.
"Hopefully Peter Haring will come back from injury, he is definitely somebody who will help that style [high press], but I think they need to try and rebalance the squad out," Stewart told BBC Scotland's Sportscene.
"If they do that, there are plenty of quality in there, sort of in the same sense as Hibs, they've got a lot of quality. They just need a few adjustments.
"They need to get pace into the side desperately and they've been needing to do that for a long time now."
