Gareth Ainsworth to Hearts - what ex QPR boss has said as Liam Fox and John McGlynn considered

Former QPR head coach Gareth Ainsworth remains a frontrunner to land the vacant manager position at Edinburgh giants Heart of Midlothian as the club continues to look for a Steven Naismith replacement.

Naismith was sacked by the club on September 23 after a torrid eight-game losing run with Liam Fox being promoted into the hot seat on a temporary basis. It is expected that Hearts could confirm an appointment over the international break.

Ainsworth has been out of work since being sacked by QPR in October 2023. The former Wycombe Wanderers has been linked with several opportunities since leaving Loftus Road but is believed to have been biding his time for the right opportunity.

What has Gareth Ainsworth said about Hearts job?

Ainsworth took the unusual approach of announcing his candidature for the Hearts job publicly last month. The manager gave an interview to the Daily Record outlining his desire to take up the 'enticing' post at Tynecastle.

He said: "Football has to be about having a sense of belonging and I look at Hearts now and I think it's a club which is a bit lost. The big factors in what appears to be about Hearts are both the size of the club and what it has been through.

"Looking at all of that and then seeing a glimpse of what has and can be achieved with their qualification for Europe a few years ago you see a club which is now crying out for an identity and I want to bring that back in droves You look back at the administration period and the progress since then, they need to get back to having that identity as being the third biggest club in Scotland.

"For Hearts, winning the league is finishing third and that's what I want to achieve, not once in a decade but to make it the norm, season on season. I want to bring people along with me, it's a club which has been used as a stepping stone by players for far too long.

"I don't want that, I want to bring players to Hearts who know they are going to achieve great things, it's the message I want to portray to the fans and then prove that with results. Being proud of being part of something where everyone at Hearts from the club, players and fans all achieve something together, that's what entices me about Hearts."

Hearts to employ Brighton recruitment model

Hearts are expected to use a similar recruitment plan to that favoured by Premier League club Brighton to pick their new boss. The south coast club has cultivated a reputation for scouting the perfect candidate in recent years.

The Seagulls have excelled under Graham Potter, Roberto De Zerbi and now Fabian Hurzeler in somewhat curveball appointments over the past five years. Hearts are believed to have set up a sub-group within the club made up of board members and executive staff to handle the manager search.

Jamestown Analytics, the club owned by Brighton's Tony Bloom, is also set to be used. Bloom is close to agreeing a deal with Hearts.

Talks of a potential £10 million investment in the club from Bloom had been reported at the start of September. Sky Sports claimed that 'the proposal is centred around Hearts using Bloom's analytical company for player identification and recruitment'.

Liam Fox and John McGlynn in running

It's unsurprising that Ainsworth remains a strong favourite for the Hearts job with his public comments, but the former QPR coach does have competition for the role.

In September, Liam Fox was appointed interim manager, being handed a promotion from his role with the club's B team. Since then, the Edinburgh outfit drew against Ross County and beat Dinamo Mink in the Europa Conference League, before losing to Aberdeen on Sunday. The 40-year-old has steadied the ship having taken over with the side being defeated in their previous eight.

That has made Fox a new frontrunner to be handed the job on a permanent basis. When asked about the next couple of weeks on Sunday, the interim boss said: "I've no idea until somebody from the club tells me differently but until such times that is, I'll be back to work tomorrow.

"We've also got the international break now which will probably allow the club a wee bit of time to go through the process which I'm sure they're already going through. It's been a privilege and an honour for me to do this role and even in the short term, I'm just disappointed that we didn't take something from today."

Falkirk manager John McGlynn is also in the running. The former Hearts boss led Falkirk to promotion from League One into the Scottish Championship last season, going undefeated for the whole campaign and winning the players' Manager of the Year award.

When asked about the vacancy, McGlynn said: “I'm happy here [at Falkirk] right now. The boys are playing really well and I'm quite happy working away here now.”