Daniel Stendel: New boss 'worth the wait' as Hearts turn attention to sporting director

Hearts owner Ann Budge thinks new manager Daniel Stendel "will be worth the wait" and is happy to bide her time again to choose a sporting director.

The 45-year-old German has signed a two-and-a-half year contract five weeks after Craig Levein was sacked.

Levein had also been director of football and Budge wants a replacement.

"I have a pile of applications sitting on my desk - if we don't have a sporting director for a few months, I can live with that," she said.

"But we needed a manager and I've said from a very early point that I wanted to focus on that."

Budge admitted she felt "extra pressure" to get the appointment right "because I did not have a director of football guiding me".

"It is not an easy process because there are so many good candidates out there and we interviewed quite a number, many of whom are capable of running a football club," she said. "But it is about identifying the one who can bring about some change and a style of football you want to play and the personality to fit in with the club."

Stendel, a former striker with Hamburg and Hannover 96, was sacked after less than a year in charge of Hannover and then dismissed after 16 months with Barnsley following a poor start to the Championship campaign following their promotion last season.

Asked why the German was her choice, Budge said: "His track record, but almost more importantly, his passion, which came across very very clearly during the interview process.

"As well as that, I think we decided we wanted to try something a little bit different, bring in a new face and all of these things made us believe that Daniel was the right person."

Austin MacPhee, who had been Levein's assistant, stood in as caretaker and was a candidate for both the manager's job and sporting director.

"He is still part of the coaching team and is helping Daniel understand how things operate within Hearts and within Scottish football," Budge said. "There are a whole of things that Austin's also been involved in - one of them is recruitment and that's something he will focus on moving forward."

She stressed that coaches Jon Daly and Liam Fox also remain part of the back-room team, although Stendel would like his former assistants at Barnsley, Chris Stern and Dale Tonge, to follow him to Tynecastle.

Hearts went ahead with appointing Stendel, who was sacked by Barnsley in October, despite the English Championship club saying that "we have attempted negotiations of a settlement with Heart of Midlothian Football Club for the services of Mr Stendel, Chris Stern, and Dale Tonge to no avail".

Budge repeated her vow that Hearts would contest any claim from Barnsley and admitted that, at times, she did have doubts that she would secure her target.

"Of course, any complication that arises in a process is going to create a bit of a delay," she added. "I wanted it to happen, so we just kept going.

"I'm satisfied that, at this point in time, we have had nothing to suggest there is any compensation due and, on that basis, I am carrying on.

"I was as frustrated as everyone else that the process was taking some time, but I said at the outset, it would take as long as it would take and we wanted to do it properly and I'm sure it will be worth the wait."

Former Scotland forward James McFadden on BBC Radio Scotland's Sportsound

He hasn't really managed too many games. His track record is 100 games in management, which is not a huge amount. It is a bit of a gamble.

I know he got Barnsley promoted to the Championship, but then he lost his job and I know the chairman said it was because he was trying to engineer a move to another club and bring members of his staff, but I think if they were winning games then they wouldn't have got rid of him for that.

Too often we see managers coming in from other countries and telling our Scottish players and clubs that we're doing it wrong and they'll do it his way or the highway. But we've heard he likes to immerse himself in the culture of the club and I think that's going to be key.

On paper, they have players who are far too good to go down, but a few years ago, Hibs went down when nobody expected them to.

Partick Thistle manager Ian McCall on BBC Radio Scotland's Sportsound

Ann Budge said one of the reasons he got the job was a good track record. Having looked at it, I don't see that.

With any appointment, there's an element of risk, but there are one or two people in Scotland who I think would have been ideal for that job. I think John Robertson would have been a great choice.

I am wish Daniel Stendel all the best, but I'm just wary of following the trend down the road in England just now. It seems that, unless you come from a different league or different background, you don't get the bigger jobs.

The Bournemouth manager and Burnley manager, Sean Dyche and Eddie Howe, are overachieving and have done for many years, Why do these guys not get a chance at an Arsenal or a Spurs?